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Music teachers tend to form themselves into the pyramid we see in all areas of human talent and human creativity. At the bottom are the bad ones. Most of them dont last too long. They learn that the profession was not meant for them and seek other work. Above them is where most of us dwell; these are the competent teachers. They are found at every level and discipline.
The next level is much smaller. These are the really good teachers. These are the people we look up to. The excellence of their programs has little to do with the socioeconomic status of their school and community and a lot to do with them. They know the tools of the trade and how to use the tools to bring out the best in their groups.
The next level is smaller. These are the great teachers. Most of us have one or two of these in our lives. They are unforgettable. They are special. They changed us for the better. The lessons we learned from them transcended the subjects they taught.
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Above them, above almost all of us are the Leonard Bernstein's, Frederick Fennells, Eugene Corporons, and John Rutters. They are the geniuses, gifted beyond our ability to grasp let alone attain. They possess natural gifts of creation and divine insight. We are in awe of them and their work transcends the time they worked into the future where they influence generations of students and teachers.
I now come to the three points I most want you to gain from this article.
The first is that good teaching consists of mastering the fundamentals of musicianship and acquiring the techniques that deliver your ideas to your performing group.
The second is that while it may be impossible to make a Bernstein out of a competent music teacher it is possible with lots of hard work, dedication and timely help to make a good teacher perhaps even a great teacher out of a competent one.
Third, teachers regardless of their professional strengths and weaknesses must possess integrity, passion, commitment, dedication and love. A teacher who has a toolbox full of techniques to bring out the best musical result but lacks basic human love and respect is not a very good teacher. Great teachers love music and children. They have a toolbox full of techniques but they are driven by a love and concern for children.
What follows is what I have learned about good and great teachers from 7 years in music education. The advice I give to you comes from dozens of people I have learned from over the years. Some are famous Eugene Corporon, Tim Lautzenheiser, Frederick Fennell, Stephen Covey. Others are equally distinguished Ron Jones, Tim Smith, Mallory Thompson, Robert Halseth, Craig Kirchoff, Gary Hill. If an idea I offer helps you, great! If not, forgetaboutit!
I love teaching and learning because of the potential for growth. Personal growth, ensemble growth, program growth. Every year we get to start over. Every year we have another opportunity to grow and learn from our successes and failures. Every year we have a chance to connect with our students in a way that impacts our lives and theirs for the good. I hope you love it too. But if youre not willing to work hard, you have no business guiding young people. Find a new line of work. Music Education has no room for slackers.
Successful people do the things unsuccessful people are unwilling to do. If you want to be a good music teacher read, study, observe, listen, ask for advise, attend conferences, enroll in courses. Broaden your life perspective by traveling and reading great literature. Dr. Robert Halseth, Director of Bands at CSU Sacramento taught me the importance of reading beyond methodology. He turned me on to a great book that every music teacher should read What to Listen for In the World by Bruce Adophe. Heres one of my favorite excerpts from this book
Who is a true musician?
A true musician hears before doing.
A true musician loves ideas better than systems.
A true musician feels before analyzing.
A true musician discovers patterns everywhere.
A true musician connects anything to anything else.
A true musician enjoys the feeling of sound and the sounds of feeling.
A true musician plays through silences.
A true musician can find pulse in a single tone.
A true musician listens to lilt, accent, vowels and consonants not just words.
A true musician listens to the still inner voice.
Students need more from you than course content and a grading system. They need to learn lifes lessons. Music is your medium to teach them the lessons of life. Develop a breadth of knowledge to draw from to impact meaning.
If you teach a performing group learn about the composition, the history surrounding the work, the composers life and times. Music is a composer's response to his/her world. Inhabit that world and share what you discovered with your students. Every musical work has its own lesson or lessons. Even bad compositions can teach.
Good music teaches just as great literature does. Style, line, texture, thematic development and nuance are available to you with great music literature. Dont waste too much time on musical junk food. Being swept away by great musicianship-being blown away in fact, is part of every music teachers formation. You cant hope to impress someone by the force of your teaching and musicianship until it has been done to you.
Attend quality concerts, purchase quality recordings and listen until the music becomes a part of you. I remember the love affair I had with the music of Richard Strauss. I listened to his tone poems for months without hearing any other recordings. I can hear in my inner ear that great horn solo in Don Juan as I write this article. Listen to the mediocre and the out right rotten too. Such experiences help us recognize those things when they begin to creep into our own work, and to steer clear of them.
Spend a Saturday at a music festival on a day when youre not bringing a performing group. Sit with a note pad and jot down impressions of each group, the good and the bad. What contributes to the problems you hear? What could have been done differently? How would you improve the sound if the conductor handed over the group to you? What makes the next group so much better? Look for as many reasons as possible. What are the tangible things you can point to that contributes to the excellence of the group?
Attend honor group rehearsals. Sit in the back and take notes. Some of the best techniques Ive learned were picked up watching great teachers teach. Mallory Thompson, Director of Bands at Northwestern was rehearsing the California All-State Honor Band. She needed a big sound from the low brass and wasnt getting it. She stops the group and heres what she said A good day for my tuba player is when he loses all feeling in his fingers due to lack of oxygen from blowing so hard. If you're not there yet, best blow more air through the horn. What came out after that comment amazed me. From that point on, my groups played with a bigger, fuller sound.
Get your head out of the score and look at your group. Im amazed at how many school music directors look down instead of up. The kids stare at their music and the director stares at his or her score. Theres no chance for you to give expression and nuance to the music when no one is watching. The kids dont need a human metronome. They need you for entrances, tempo changes and defining the musical structure through phrasing gestures. Try this give the group a downbeat and then stop conducting. Chances are they will stay close to tempo. Your job is to bring the music out, the expression out, help with attacks and releases and balance the texture...among other things!
Score study helps, so do conducting clinics. After taking my first one, I realized that what I do at the podium does matter. My bands and choirs improved when I learned what to do beyond beating time and pointing. Your face can be a tool to coax expression out of your musicians. Start the year insisting that they watch you. But be prepared to give them more then the beat. If they look up and see you staring at your score beating time, chances are they wont look up again. Offer them something new and they will look up for direction.
Practice your conducting in front of a mirror. Video tape yourself during rehearsals and analyze your strengths and weaknesses. This can be very painful at first but do it anyway. The height of hypocrisy is the director who expects students to practice their parts before rehearsal but spends no time in score analysis, rehearsal planning or conducting practice.
Buy this book The Modern Conductor by Elizabeth Green The book offers established and innovative techniques that will help you improve your conducting. I promise you, if you work through the conducting exercises in this book you will be a better conductor and teacher.
Most of your teaching time should be spent making music, not talking or lecturing. Studies have shown that student attitude improves proportionate to the amount of talking the director does. The less talk the more students enjoy the rehearsal. If you must stop to correct make it brief and succinct. Never, never, never put a student down in front of the group. Praise publicly, criticize privately. If you want to correct someone, refer to the section instead of the individual. Keep the rehearsal moving and on a high note. Leave them wanting more.
Let the group hear professional recordings of the pieces they are working on. You heard the saying A picture is worth a thousand words. This also applies to music. Theres nothing like hearing the development of a beautiful phrase. Youll accomplish allot more in one listening then a dozen run throughs.
Record your rehearsals and listen back. Students are more aware of their musical shortcomings then we think they are. Musical discrimination is a higher order learning objective. Start developing your student's ability to discriminate between good music making and bad music making. A picture is worth a thousand words. Let them compare and contrast their recording to the professional version. Then work to reach that next level.
Remember to carefully criticize. If youre too demonstrative in your criticism chances are they wont take chances in performance. No one likes to be embarrassed. When commenting use what I call the compliment sandwich. Start with a comment that is positive Im really proud of how we made it all the way through without stopping. Then carefully inject the criticism where improvement is needed We could make it sound even better if we were softer during the pianissimo passages. Then finish with another compliment But wow were we expressive!
Good teachers know their limitations. Whenever possible, bring in guest conductors and clinicians that can add to the students knowledge. A fresh voice can help reinforce skills you have introduced.
If you teach instrumental music all the best teaching in the world can be sabotaged by bad equipment. Insist that your woodwind students use good quality reeds, ligatures and mouthpieces. I attended a clinic by Lorin Levee, Principal First Clarinet for the Los Angeles Phil. He placed two clarinets on the table in front of us. One was his professional model model. The other was a student model plastic clarinet with a standard mouthpiece, ligature and reed. He played each in turn and obviously, his professional model sounded far better. Now catch this He switches mouthpieces, placing his professional mouthpiece on the plastic student clarinet with his special ligature and quality reed. The student mouthpiece was placed on his clarinet. When he played his professional clarinet, it sounded more like the student model. But even more amazing was the sound that came out of the plastic student clarinet. By just placing his professional mouthpiece, ligature and reed on the plastic clarinet he was able to transform the sound into a vastly improved clarinet sound near in quality to the professional model! Do you want your woodwinds to sound great? Of course you do! Insist on using quality equipment. Treat reeds with respect. Insist that your students store their reeds in a reed holder. Leaving the reed on the mouthpiece causes the reed to warp. When you blow across a poorly maintained reed, the sound becomes thin and fuzzy. The point is, learn about the equipment and keep it in optimal shape. Were talking about producing art here!
Good technique and vast knowledge of music education is not enough. As a teacher, you must be a person of integrity. Live by a code of behavior that reflects the best that humans can be. I know this sounds preachy, but its true.
I remember a lesson I was taught by one of my students that has always stuck with me. I was rehearsing my band and things were not going well. I was not in the best of moods. My personal life wasnt going that well and I wasnt very respectful of my position on the podium. I blurted out Damn it! You all need to listen! The room got silent. The kids were stunned. I was out of character. My first flutist leaned back in her chair, looked up at me, and said Mr. Kaweski (with emphasis) you are a teacher! She made me realize the importance of dignity. I needed to be more than Walt Kaweski with all his human inadequacies. Mr. Kaweski you are a teacher! Whenever I feel a bad mood coming on, I hear those words. Teachers are role models. No matter how tough it gets remain dignified and professional.
Be responsible and set a professional tone in your classroom. Dont waste your students time. If you expect the kids to be punctual, start class on time. Be prepared and ready to teach before the bell rings and if possible start early. Have everything you need ready and in place. Be enthusiastic and interested in them. Learn their names as soon as possible. Attend their non-musical events whenever possible. They really love seeing you there! Remember birthdays and special occasions. If you learn of an accomplishment by one of your students announce it in front of their class.
Clearly define your objectives and grading. Dont make exceptions unless you can defend your reasoning. Be available after school and at lunch. Contact their parents when they do something good. Return phone calls within 4 hours. If you make a promise keep it. Never say I forgot. or Sorry about that. Every sorry you give lessens the respect they have for you. Say Ill try less and I will more. Students, especially teenagers are very perceptive. They pick out insincerity sooner than most.
Keep your life in balance. Make time for yourself! Line out days and evenings during the month that are family time or personal time. When you get the inevitable extra request, tell them you are already committed. And lastly, do what you do best and leave the rest for others. If you run a large program, delegate responsibility to your students and parents. Theres no reason why you should sort music and stuff folders when a student librarian could do it just as well.
In addition to the books mentioned previously in this article, I recommend reading the following books. They offer insight beyond the limitations of this article. They will impact your personal and professional life. They are worth far more than the time you will invest reading them.
Tuesdays With Morrie an old man, a young man and life's greatest lesson by Mitch Albom
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Powerful lessons in personal Change by Stephen Covey
The Joy of Inspired Teaching by Tim Lautzenheiser
The Art of Successful Teaching A Blend of Content & Context by Tim Lautzenheiser
I leave you with this excerpt from What to Listen for In the World by Bruce Adophe.
Best wishes for a successful year!
To be musical is to love your work.
Enjoyment is an aspect of learning.
Enjoyment is an aspect of technique.
Musicians never want to stop learning.
Teach through music and your students will learn.
What to Listen for in the World copyright 16 by Bruce Adolphe. Excerpts used by courtesy of Limelight Editions, New York, NY.
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