THE MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGINE ROOM: 10 ideas to keep your program running hot.
Have you ever considered that your intermediate band – the one in-between the beginners and the more advanced as the engine room of your program?
I first heard the ‘intermediate band’ referred to as the ‘engine room’ by Australian band director and all round fabulous music teacher Amy Young. Amy acknowledges the significance of her ‘intermediate’ band and that THIS is the heart of her program. If her intermediate band isn’t firing, retention figures may falter and the depth required to ensure the ongoing success of her advanced ensembles simply won’t exist.
Have you ever thought of the Middle School like this?
Elementary/Primary School music programs provide the foundations of music literacy. High School programs provide opportunities to explore more advanced repertoire and extend into other opportunities such as athletic bands or chamber music.
But the Middle School (Yrs. 6-8)? Well, that’s the place where most of the REALLY HARD work happens.
In this age bracket, the pre-frontal cortex is awakening and as a result, these students are wanting and needing the opportunity to not only be seen but most importantly, heard. This is a time to collaborate and network information and ideas through a creative lens. It’s a time to celebrate the uniqueness of every individual and give them room to express themselves.
Now that we’re almost a quarter of the way through the 21st century, isn’t it time band educators acknowledged what learning NOW looks like for our pre-frontal-cortex-awakening-screen-obsessed teens? We shouldn’t be teaching like our high school or college counterparts because the people we are teaching are DIFFERENT. And these students spend a great deal of time on screens and are learning a wide range of information in sporadic, ‘snatch and grab’ often visually-focused ways. So perhaps we need to start thinking outside the square and looking at different models of education to ensure our ‘engine rooms’ are still burning hot (and we as teachers aren’t burning out).
A good example is the e-learning “Four door” model as created by Dr. Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan. The “four door” model considers four different aspects of online learning that include:
The library (where learning materials are placed - anything from a podcast, video presentation or article)
The playground (a place for learning through play/games)
The cafe (a place to chat and interact)
The torture chamber (assessment)
Whilst a band director isn’t in the business of online learning anymore, I believe we shouldn’t disregard this model as many of our students are learning this way whilst spending much of their downtime on devices.
As you can see from the graphic below, different students approach learning from different angles (noting that this model reflects an end-goal of passing an assessment).
Some learners are ‘wild and impulsive’ and enter through gameplay, then realise they need to know a bit of background information. Others are major risk takers and try the assessment without any preparation whilst other students mirror the ‘ideal’ student and progress through each stage of the learning process in an orderly, linear fashion.
Image supplied by: https://liquidinteractive.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/thiagis-4-door-model/
Does your academic year go through an endless cycle of “sight read - learn repertoire - perform repertoire - REPEAT”? And if it does, is there a chance that our approach to teaching band centres on one type of student - that is, the ‘law abiding citizen’? Now think about your ensemble - what percentage of them are ‘law abiding citizen’-type learners?
With that in mind, how can you change things around? Stepping into Thiagi’s world, let’s consider TEN ideas to mix things up a bit (always considering that the end-goal is to be able to perform a set of repertoire):
The “Wild and Impulsive” learner
They like to learn through games and don’t appreciate straight away the need to have some fundamental skills behind them before they can play that game really well. Eventually, this kind of learner comes to appreciate the skills they need but they just want to get on with it.
IDEA #1
“DECONSTRUCTION”.
Introduce the basic music foundations of a new work: a rhythmic cell, the main notes of the melody, a harmonic progression. Play around with these foundations in a compositional way - layer them in, feature a soli section, change the tone colours, the tempo etc. (Invite students to contribute ideas).
NOW listen to a recording of the work as written by the composer. Review a section of the piece and pull it apart, ask the question “what has the composer done with the material from measures ___ to ___?” Then play that section a piece at a time.
(See this Professional Development kit for more ideas…)
IDEA #2
“CLEAR OUT AND MOVE”.
You heard me. Invite students to clear the room of all chairs, music stands and instruments and allow students to explore the music they are about to learn through movement.
You’ll need a few building blocks first to ensure emotional safety (find these detailed in the score/DVD of ‘Belah Sun Woman’) and know that once you have introduced them, you will then have an all important new tool in your tool belt.
Remember: when learning through movement we are accessing the brain through the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls things like balance, movement and emotional processing - perfect for developing rhythmic pulse and emotional context.
IDEA #3
“CREATE A STUDENT-LED PLAN”.
Listen to a section from a new piece (preferably a brilliant recording).
Listen again, invite students to “mime” their part.
Invite students to “play” their part along with the recording.
Invite students to “turn and talk” (see Idea #4) about their experience with the question posed “what do I need to know to be able to play this piece really well?”
Mind-map responses on the whiteboard/smartboard
Invite students to MAKE A PLAN on what to learn and in what order.
The “Grasshopper” learner
The grasshopper is a skim reader. Someone who likes to grab information quickly then process through talking about it with their friends, and come to the realisation THROUGH their conversation that a more detailed approach is required. Once they have established what the task involves, then they get on with it, either through games, verbal processing or study.
IDEA #4
“TURN AND TALK”.
This is such a basic concept but one that few use in the rehearsal space. If you ask your students a question, give them time to process their answer first by talking about it with their ‘band buddy’ before you seek a response.
The BEST way to do this is to allow them time to verbally process information by simply turning to the person next to them (either side) to TALK about it.
Consider the importance of the ‘chat room’ to teenagers. They will feel all the more confident to share their thoughts and creative ideas once they’ve discussed it with others FIRST.
IDEA #5
“THE SKIM READ”.
Divide your ensemble into 5-10 groups (depending on the size of your group) but have no more than 5-6 people in each group.
Give each group ONE PIECE of information about the new work they are learning/are about to learn.
Invite them to create one of the following or something else of their choice (the only rule being that ALL members of the group must be involved in some way):
A drawing
A dramatised scene
A dance/movement
A ‘charades’ presentation (guess the word)
Now have each group share their response and invite students to consider what information the group is sharing. You may like to give clues along the way. Use this lesson to introduce a new piece.
IDEA #6
“THE PROPER READ - getting into the detail”
After the students have been learning the notes to a new piece, select a section where different melodic or rhythmic fragments are repeated/echoed throughout the ensemble. Or perhaps the melody is passed around, or other elements such as a bass line, counter melody or accompaniment.
Whatever it is, have students STAND when they are playing that particular section. If you have a small enough ensemble, this strategy works particularly well when sitting in a full circle as it helps them to realise that they are either taking that element of the music from somewhere, or passing it on to another group.
Now invite students to “turn and talk” about their part and how it fits in. Can they work it out?
Create a ‘map’ of their findings and have it hang in the rehearsal space as a poster.
IDEA #7
“THE PROPER READ - Zooming Out”
After the students have been learning a new piece for 2 weeks or so, ZOOM OUT.
Give them the main frame of the whole work, ie “INTRODUCTION - ‘A’ SECTION - ‘B’ SECTION - MIDDLE 8 - ‘A’ SECTION - CODA.
Draw what this structure looks like in terms of dynamic contrast and where the ‘peak’ of the piece is.
Allow students to understand the overall emotional intention of the work through the main form and then allow them to fill in the detail of how their own part contributes to that intention through discussions, mind-mapping, listening and even talking to the composer of the piece!
The “Feeling Lucky” learner
The feeling lucky learner is a “finisher” personality, they just want to get the job done. The instantaneous nature of the ‘YouTube’ school of learning greatly appeals to this kind of learner as they believe that seeing how to do something translates into having the skills without employing any effort. This is a frustrating scenario for music teachers who are teaching the very demanding skill of mastering a musical instrument. So sometimes, the best way for these students to wake up to reality is to allow them to falter in a safe and nurturing environment.
I completely acknowledge that the following ideas are risky - but the ‘feeling lucky’ type of learner MUST be a bit of risk taker - don’t you think? Through risk, we nurture growth so perhaps it’s time to include a few risk-taking learning strategies into your approach to demonstrate WHY a visit to the “library” is important when it comes to learning new stuff.
IDEA #8
“An “A+” performance.”
In 2000 composer Thomas C. Duffy composed an excellent work for the BandQuest series entitled A+: A ‘precise’ prelude and an ‘excellent’ march. This work suggests that “Playing one wrong note can ruin the performance of a piece. However, in this piece, composer Thomas Duffy wants performers to make mistakes.”
The idea here is to take a work you have already learned and deconstruct it - playing it as ‘note perfect’ as you can and then add in a small handful of mistakes with each repeat. It’s hilarious and teaches students a great deal about taking care of their own individual part.
IDEA #9
“PRESS RECORD”
Sightread the piece and record your “performance”. Then listen to that sight-reading recording in comparison to your concert performance. It’s harsh, but a good lesson for the ‘Feeling Lucky’ learner.
IDEA #10
“DON’T PRACTISE”
Yes. I mean it. This is a pretty radical idea, but what would happen if you allowed your students to NOT practise a specific work? That EVERY rehearsal was basically a sightread (and that was expected), and then you performed that work for the audience, explaining the scenario?
Sometimes the best way to learn something is to realise the truth through experience. We can all carry on about the importance of practising, but until a student experiences WHY practise is important, they simply wont believe you, especially the ‘feeling lucky’ kind of learner. This may also be a good experience for your parents too… (but again, only take this risk if you feel the culture of your school would be ok with it…!)
Whatever you do, make sure it’s good for you, your school and your students. But know that by adding one new idea, one new approach or giving the students a chance to lead their own learning some of the time will not only give you a break from the podium, it will also make them feel seen and heard, and that is an empowering experience for everyone, including you.