Integrating Small Ensemble Performances Into Large Ensemble Rehearsals Jacques Rizzo Retired Jbrizzo@optonline.net
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or teachers who have daily ensemble rehearsals, be it choir, band, or orchestra, an ongoing challenge is having a sufficient variety of productive musical activities to keep students engaged. Some common activities are warmups, technical exercises, work in method books and theory workbooks, sight reading, and work on repertoire. But there was one other activity I put1 into practice that I found quite valuable: weekly small ensemble performances by the students for their peers. It was beneficial in several ways: 1) it provided an activity that students enjoyed that was quite different from the regular rehearsal, 2) it was challenging for students, as they were wholly responsible for rehearsal and performance, and 3) it focused student attention on the musical aspects of performance, as they were responsible for critiquing the performances of their peers. A few weeks after the start of the school year, I divided the band (this could also work well for choral and string ensembles) into small ensembles - trios, quartets, and quintets - making sure that each ensemble was balanced with regard to student ability. That is, each ensemble had a more experienced student who could provide leadership as well as less advanced students. Some of the ensembles were made up of a single instrument (flute trio, trumpet quartet, percussion quintet, etc.). Others had mixed instrumentation (woodwind and brass trios, quartets, and quintets) to insure oboes, bassoons, tubas, etc. were included. My only input was 1) the choice of music, to insure that the performance had every opportunity for success, and 2) guidelines for students to follow in rehearsal. The students in the small ensemble, after attendance was taken, worked in a practice room during the week and presented their performance before the band on Friday. The band members were responsible for informally grading the performance, and a guided discussion of the critique areas followed each performance. There was an ensemble performance every Friday, except
for the first few weeks of school, the week or two before a concert when the entire band was needed for rehearsal; the last week or two of school when preparing for graduation; and shortened vacation weeks. Students enjoyed the break from the normal rehearsal, working on their own. In all the years the program ran, I never had issues with student behavior. I think this was due in part to the pressure of preparing the performance for their peers, and the leadership of the more experienced students. These leaders, who had presented ensemble performances in previous years, let younger members of the ensemble know that every moment of rehearsal time was important if they were to be their best. The obvious benefits of the program were the individual responsibility each student had
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to prepare his or her part, and the collaborative interaction needed to produce the group performance. But for me, the greatest benefit was the reflection on the musical aspects of performance required both of the students who were preparing the performance and those who were grading the performance. The carryover of this attention to the more musical aspects of performance into the playing of the larger ensemble was well worth the loss of a few students from rehearsal each week. 1 The Ensemble Critique Sheet, which was in a text on teaching band, was the inspiration for establishing weekly ensemble performances. Although I have searched my library, I haven’t been able to find the source.
JANUARY 2016
