Practicing...Writing

January 24, 2009

At the start of this new semester, I have made a new addition to my syllabi for those taking my MUS 105 Percussion Ensemble course and MUS 123B Percussion Private Lesson course. I have added the most beloved part of any course-writing papers.

In continued efforts to ensure that our graduates have as many tools as possible to be successful in their fields, I believe that having the ability to write well is absolutely essential. We live in a society where it is becoming increasingly more common to communicate with quick emails and text messages rather than a well written letter. I know that my students take their required writing courses, but I think that music educators can partake in that role of encouraging and underlining the importance of being able to communicate well with words. Encourage students to write. Just as we take time to underscore the necessity of practicing an instrument, let's take some time to have our students write a little. Perhaps a one page paper about their previous lesson, or even better yet, have them submit it in an email so they can have reinforcement that email can still be used as a proper form of communication.

As I started glancing through some of the papers I have to grade (over Dame Evelyn Glennie's documentary Touch the Sound) I noticed, not only are my students taking the time to write a good paper, but that I learn more of my students. Encouraging our students to write may not only be a necessary skill for them, but it may make us better teachers, allowing us to encounter more ways to be fully engaging in their education.

Keeping them interested

January 23, 2009

The other day I was visiting a school in Evansville, Indiana, telling the students and their director about the great programs and opportunities at Marian College. While I was down there, I met with a former teacher of mine, Alfred Savia, Music Director of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Alfred and I had met for breakfast to chat over some curriculum ideas for the first annual Marian College/Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps conducting workshop entitled The Art of Conducting (June 12-14, 2009 at Marian College) in which the premise of the workshop is to support William Revellie's famous belief "From the 50 yard line to the concert hall, there is no difference". This workshop not only focuses on conducting styles and techniques for the concert hall or the field, but also stresses the importance of leadership necessary to be successful on the podium. Thinking about the leadership skills needed to be a conductor of many sorts, either with music, the classroom, or on the job site you have to always keep thinking about how to keep your musicians, students, or employees interested in what they do.

How to keep them interested? Here are a few of my suggestions.

• WANTING TO BE THERE-One of the biggest beliefs I have as an educator and conductor is wanting my students/musicians to want be there. If they don't have a reason to want to be there for themselves, then you will never get them to fully experience the potential they have. Put yourself in their shoes. Why would you want to be in your class or meeting?
  

• SENSE OF SUCCESS-If your employees believe that they are being successful, even in the most moderate terms, they will continue to want to work harder to acheive greater successes.

• SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY-If you start out saying "this will be hard" you have already admitted defeat. Choose your words carefully and say what you mean and genuinely mean it.

• BE SINCERE-People can see right through you if you are insincere. If you're not convinced in what you're doing, what makes you think that your audience will be?
  

Do you remember the old saying "if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself"? Set the tone, be the example. Be the example that your students or colleagues can look up to.

These are just some of my thoughts of how to keep your audiences fully engaged, they are not strict rules, but guidelines. Be open to different methods of success, you never know-you might stumble upon an idea even greater.