10 holiday shows, over three weeks, with a 90% success rate. Not bad. Yesterday was the 10th show, and all I can say is: It's a good thing the first nine went so well, or I would be starting Winter Break with a giant dose of depression.
There are a number of factors that contributed to yesterday's failure. For starters, this school has been undergoing some major renovation that has resulted in the loss of the music room. There is so much pressure on the one available room that we have had to knock back to one day per week for instrumental music. With the once-a-week model, failure is almost guaranteed. Class attendance has been sparse for the last month, because of projects, field trips and just plain forgetting. Also, because of a shows at other schools, I wasn't available for any rehearsal in the venue. So, yesterday morning, students showed up out of the woodwork with instruments, but no clue what we were going to do with them.
Before we walked across the parking lot to the mega-church where we hold our big school-wide performances, I tried to talk the kids through the expectations of the show. When we got there, I tuned everyone and put them on stage to show them where they should stand. The piano, which I rely on for support both in teaching and performance was way on one side of the stage. The crew said they would move it out for me, but it would have to stay there for the entire program, and no other class would be using it. Since we haven't had a piano in class anyway this year, I opted to leave it out, except for one song.
Instead of playing piano, I pulled my flute and violin out and played along with the students It was still a disaster. Half of the students in each group stood looking like deer in the headlights, frozen and unable to remember how to do anything. One 4th grader spent the whole time mugging the audience and twisting around to see the kids sitting on the risers behind him. We had to start over when the cellos didn't start with us on one song, and when no one started with me on on another.
Finally it was over- maybe 15 minutes all together- and sweating profusely, I ushered the kids off the stage, back to their seats. Walking out later- off to the middle school to finish the day, and leaving before the show was over- a few parents gave me the thumbs up and said "good job". I thanked them, grimacing to let them know that I appreciate their support, even though we both knew it was awful. In my email later there was a message from a parent who thanked me for letting all the kids play, and reiterated how excited her son is to play trumpet. If this was 15 or 20 years ago, I would have been blubbering to my husband and feeling like I had chosen the wrong profession. I would have been beating myself up. If I hadn't had nine other, excellent shows before that I would have been mortified at this failure. But as it is I can chalk it up as just one in many shows over many years, and keeping my performance mottoes in my back pocket, move on.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Friday, December 5, 2014
Something for Everyone
I've written recently about the joys and challenges of differentiation in the music classroom, and I have had occasion this week to see the rewards and the pitfalls of this most cherished of educational buzzwords. It's winter concert season. I have five schools whose programs will range from classrooms of kids wearing Santa hats singing Rudolph to full-blown displays of performance art of every genre. For my part, I need to have kids on stage, blowing or bowing and making recognizable sounds. Harmonies would be nice.
With the earlier start to the school year, we do get a bit of extra time to prepare this show. But my first motto of performance is "You never finish, you just run out of time", and this proves true, even with the extra month. So I grab at the things the kids can play, try to polish them up and put a holiday shine on them and know that the audience will have something to enjoy.
My second motto is: "It is what it is". It is not the LA Phil. It is not even what they will be able to do next spring, and it's also not what they were able to do last spring, and that is one thing that needs to be addressed in a class with different skill levels all together. In the elementary classes, the second-year students expect, rightfully, that they will be progressing on to music that is challenging to them, showing off their improving abilities. But because of scheduling, it hasn't been possible to develop much repertoire to reflect this. There are a couple songs that we can split out "advanced" parts and "first-year" parts, but some of the few songs we present are going to be, necessarily, beginners' songs- that they played last year.
Even at that, many of the beginners feel overwhelmed by the looming specter of performance. So I give them my third motto: "Fake it till you make it". Keep your instrument up, look like you know what you're doing, and the audience will not know the difference, especially because we DO have the second-year experts playing along. This sets those beginners at ease, and they get the same thrill from the performance experience as the more skilled players. I hope it's enough to keep them going till they get those skills too.
I have had more than a few students try to quit this week. And they fall into two categories. First are the beginners who are scared to death until they understand the three mottoes. Usually a little pep talk is all they need to hang in there. Then there are the advanced players who are just disgusted with me because I haven't challenged them sufficiently and they don't want to play this baby music. To them I say we are just trying to get through a show, here, that everyone can play in. After the holiday, we start working on District Festival music, which will definitely be more difficult. Usually telling them that convinces them to keep at it.
Developing life-long musicians is my goal. Quitting just before the winter concert doesn't achieve anything for anyone, and it's a fine line to walk to keep the music flowing. But it is worth it when I see happy parents, principals and children all basking in the glow of a successful presentation. It doesn't really matter that it was just Hot Cross Buns and Jingle Bells.
With the earlier start to the school year, we do get a bit of extra time to prepare this show. But my first motto of performance is "You never finish, you just run out of time", and this proves true, even with the extra month. So I grab at the things the kids can play, try to polish them up and put a holiday shine on them and know that the audience will have something to enjoy.
My second motto is: "It is what it is". It is not the LA Phil. It is not even what they will be able to do next spring, and it's also not what they were able to do last spring, and that is one thing that needs to be addressed in a class with different skill levels all together. In the elementary classes, the second-year students expect, rightfully, that they will be progressing on to music that is challenging to them, showing off their improving abilities. But because of scheduling, it hasn't been possible to develop much repertoire to reflect this. There are a couple songs that we can split out "advanced" parts and "first-year" parts, but some of the few songs we present are going to be, necessarily, beginners' songs- that they played last year.
Even at that, many of the beginners feel overwhelmed by the looming specter of performance. So I give them my third motto: "Fake it till you make it". Keep your instrument up, look like you know what you're doing, and the audience will not know the difference, especially because we DO have the second-year experts playing along. This sets those beginners at ease, and they get the same thrill from the performance experience as the more skilled players. I hope it's enough to keep them going till they get those skills too.
I have had more than a few students try to quit this week. And they fall into two categories. First are the beginners who are scared to death until they understand the three mottoes. Usually a little pep talk is all they need to hang in there. Then there are the advanced players who are just disgusted with me because I haven't challenged them sufficiently and they don't want to play this baby music. To them I say we are just trying to get through a show, here, that everyone can play in. After the holiday, we start working on District Festival music, which will definitely be more difficult. Usually telling them that convinces them to keep at it.
Developing life-long musicians is my goal. Quitting just before the winter concert doesn't achieve anything for anyone, and it's a fine line to walk to keep the music flowing. But it is worth it when I see happy parents, principals and children all basking in the glow of a successful presentation. It doesn't really matter that it was just Hot Cross Buns and Jingle Bells.
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