The Creative Habit

I recently read The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. This was a great book with lots of applications to my life both as a teacher and as a musician. A model for transforming ideas into creativity is presented at one point in the book which I have thought about the great deal. I'd like to share that model and some of my thoughts about how it applies to my life as a teacher, conductor, and as a performing musician. I feel like this model points to the way many of my ideas have become something more. Of course, I didn't know this model until recently. But, when I think about the process I go through, this certainly clarifies the important steps.

From the book, page 94:
"Harvard psychologist Stephen Kosslyn says that ideas can be acted upon in fourways. First, you must generate the idea, usually from memory or experience or activity. Then you have to retain it—that is, hold it steady in your mind and keep it from disappearing. Then you have to inspect it—study it and make inferences about it. Finally, you have to be able to transform it—alter it in some way to suit your higher purposes."

Let's take a look at each of these four important steps: Idea, Retention, Inspection, and Transformation. Then, I will try to give some examples of their application in my creative process and in the specific areas of creativity in my professional life: music-making, pedagogy, and the rehearsal process. Perhaps you will find some similarities in yours.

IDEAS

I feel like we all have ideas. Some of them are good. Some of them are great. And some are better left undeveloped. The real trick is to retain them and ultimately transformed in into real creativity. This takes a great deal of mental effort and as well as physical effort.  But, I believe that we all have good ideas. String Pedagogue Jacqueline Dillon once told me that we all have ideas others are interested in.  The important next step is willingness to share them.  She suggested writing them down.  I took her words to heart and began a pattern of writing.  (This blog is an extension of that advice.) You have great ideas.  We all simply must commit to developing and sharing them.  The first step is to believe in the idea and the next is to retain it.

Examples:

• Pedagogy: "I should create a system for teaching upper positions."
• Music Making: "I am going to write a song for looped guitar and electric violin."
• Rehearsal Process: "I feel like this passage should be slower than the previous section to create anticipation."

RETENTION

I can't tell you how many times I have had a good idea while driving or engaged in some other activity and never came back to it.  How many great ideas in history have been left on the chopping block as a result of simply not following through.  I strongly believe in writing things down.  My e-mail inbox is littered with one-line notes to myself.  These include lists, ideas, and recommendations from others.  I have also become a fan of the voice notes apps for smartphone.  It is so easy to leave myself a voice note and come back to the idea later. 

I have shared this before, but it is worth mentioning again. The publication Goal Setting:  A Motivational Technique that Works, from the Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC explains a great model for getting goals and ideas to completion:

1. Setting Goal - 6-8%  likelihood of completion (have the idea)
2. Setting a Goal (idea) and Writing It Down - 25-30% likelihood of completion.
3. Setting a Goal (idea), Writing It Down, and Verbally Sharing It with Others - 55-60% likelihood of completion.
4. Setting a Goal, Writing It Down, Verbally Sharing It with Others, and  an ask a friend to hold you accountable - 85+% likelihood of completion.

We all have good ideas.  But, we must follow though and retain the idea.

Examples:

• Pedagogy: Start a lesson plan with a piece of paper and leave it front and center on your desk
• Music Making: Tell a friend about your idea for a song and ask them if they will listen when it is finished.
• Rehearsal Process: Mark the section in your score to come back to later

INSPECTION

This is another tricky aspect of the process.  We must always inspect our ideas and determine if they are valid and worth developing.  This is where the research comes in.  Is the idea really unique to you?  Is it a version of someone else's idea?  What do others have to say about the topic?  I once saw an interesting model of leadership that I have adapted to this topic.

• Ordinary ideas relate a traditional story as effectively as possible.  This is probably ~50% of ideas.  This could be a nice pop with traditional chord changes or a rock solid lesson plan for a class.  Traditional stuff presented effectively.
• Innovative ideas bring a fresh twist to a story that has been latent in the population.  (~10%of ideas) This could be a new and unique musical composition using a traditional orchestral instrumentation or a new and unique approach to teaching as playing technique such as  the Bornoff Cyclic Method.
• Visionary ideas create a new story (~2% of ideas) This might be the invention of the synthesizer or Schoenberg's rules of Serialism.

In the end, we must inspect our ideas and determine if they are worth pursuing.

Examples:

• Pedagogy: Learn all you can about the various systems and pedagogy for teaching upper positions.  Ask questions. Is my idea valid?  Is it efficient?  Is it sequential?  Am I providing context? 
• Music Making: Learn the chord structure songs that are similar that the one you want to write.  Listen to favorite artists and analyze their work.  Do you have the appropriate gear and experience?
• Rehearsal Process: Listen to multiple recordings of the work.  Can you  justify the tempo change?  Does your vision work from a historical perspective?

TRANSFORMATION

Once we have retained the idea and inspected it, we can then transform it into something concrete.  This is where our imagination meets our content knowledge, goals, background, and intuition.  We are compelled to take the fully inspected idea and let it become all that it can be. This requires thought and some dedicated quiet time.  I often find my quite and transformation time in the car with the radio off. Interestingly, I also find it in the early morning with a cup of coffee in the quiet and relative calm of the coming day.  In the end, however, this is where the idea develops into something I can ultimately use.

Examples:

• Pedagogy: Create your system and try it with students.  Is ti effective?  Make some changes or additions and try again.  This is a never-ending process.
• Music Making: Go to work.  Create a melody.  Put some chord changes together. Do you have a bass line or riff?  Do you still like it?  Try again.  
• Rehearsal Process: Give the idea a try and see how it lands for your players.  Does it create the desired effect?  Try is a little more or less subtle.  Is this better.  Again, this process is ongoing.  but, the idea has survived and has begun to take life!

Even this blog post went through this very process.  I read The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp.  I made a note of the Kosslyn quote on page 94 right when I first read it.  In my case, I made the note in my blog app and figured I  would come back to it later.  In fact, I made that note almost 1 year ago.  But, in that year, the idea didn't go away.  It was written down for me to stumble upon later. And, that certainly happened.  Next, I inspected it. I ran across the quote in my notes a couple of weeks ago and began to ponder the idea.  I made a few notes, put it away, and came back to it several times. I decided it was worth pursuing as a result of some of the teaching I have done this summer and began the task of transformation.  As I began to transform the idea, I decided to work with my three primary creative areas: pedagogy, conducting and rehearsals, and music-making.  These made sense to me and gave me a frame from which to build this post.  And, here we are.  My original idea for a blog entry has turned into creativity by using this very model.  By the way, I would classify this as an "Ordinary" idea.  It is (hopefully) simply an effective way to relate a traditional story.  The framework of this idea is not my own.  It is Kosslyn's.  I simply tell the story in my own words to my own audience from my perspective.

I am wondering if this resonates with any of you?  Have you ever with taking an idea from the earliest stages to completion?  Perhaps some of these thoughts will help you with the process.  I welcome your reaction and thoughts.

Peace.
Scott

By the way, I do recommend The Creative Habit.  I picked up a great deal from the book.  I mostly found it to be affirming of the way I have approached creativity for many years.  In the end, it provides a sequential system with great nomenclature and certainly a harmonic underpinning.  (For those of you that know my work, you will recognize this.  If not, check out this post.

Context

Context is so important. For those of you that know my thoughts on pedagogy, context is very similar to the "Harmonic Underpinning" aspect of my pedagogical model.  When we have context and/or harmonic underpinning, everything makes more sense.  We are not playing in a vacuum.  With context, we play with a sense of greater understanding and investment.  I believe that as educators, most of us really understand this.  But, it is easy to leave it out or move quickly past it.  We can't.  We must continually provide our students with the "why?" of the work we do and the lessons we assign.  Learning without context is pretty hollow.

For those of us that lead orchestras, it is absolutely vital that we provide context music that we play. Lots of pedagogical repertoire even provides explanations of the composition on the inside cover of the score.  This might include the story behind the piece, pedagogical priorities, and other composers notes.  But,  this wasn't the case in the time of Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven.  My Orchestra is currently working on Mozart's Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter." We had been working on this piece for about four weeks leading up to the holidays. For the last rehearsal before winter break, I decided to take some time and outline the context of the piece.  I wanted the students to understand many of the intricacies of the composition and the wonderful little secrets that within the piece.

My remarks that day included things as basic as the date of composition (1788), other works that were composed the same year (Symphonies 39 and 40, as well as piano trios in E major (K. 542), and C major (K. 548), piano sonata No. 16 in C (K. 545), and violin sonatina K. 547), some of the details of Mozart's life during that time, and basic structure of the work. I also included obligatory explanations of form as it applies to a Viennese Symphony. We talked briefly about Sonata-Allegro form, structure of a Minuet and Trio, and other standard details of form.

We discussed many other interesting details surrounding this work. We discussed the significance of subtitle Jupiter. From Wikipedia: "The celebrated finale of the symphony is a re-working, albeit a majestic one, of the opening movement of Carl Ditters's symphony in D, Der Sturz Phaëtons (The Fall of Phaëton) of 1785. In those days of classical education, members of the Philharmonic Society, of which Salomon was a founding member, will have known that the planet that the ancient Greeks called "Phaët(h)on" is the same planet that the ancient Romans called "Jupiter."  We discussed the significance of this piece historically and we covered the great deal interesting details the composition itself

One of the coolest aspects of this piece is that the first movement includes a reference to an aria entitled "Un Bacio di mano"  (A Kiss on the Hand) to which Mozart composed the music earlier that year. There is a direct quote of the music that accompanies the aria at the end of both the exposition and recapitulation of the first movement.  It is a compositional joke that reminds us of Mozart's true greatness and mastery of the symphony and artistic expression of the time.  Tom Service from The Guardian calls it, "an intertextual gag of the highest musical and dramatic subtlety."  

We discussed the weaving of themes throughout all 4 movements, the direct foreshadowing of the first theme of 4th Movement Fugue found in the 3rd Movement Trio, and the great significance and compositional achievement of the intertwined sonata allegro form and 5 themed fugatta 4th Movement.  We also discussed the historical significance of the 4 note theme which is originally found in Josquin des Prez's Missa Pange Lingua from the 16th century and eventually in the work of Michael Haydn, brother of Joseph.

Honestly, there is so much more.  I was so glad that I took the time to do this right before the holidays.   One student, thanking me on the way out of class, told me that it was really meaningful to her.  And, I think that the information has impacted our performance of the work.  So often, students erroneously look at Mozart's compositions as light and even perhaps insignificant compared to the great Romantic Symphonies.  This simply isn't the case.  It takes so much control to shape every phrase and keep the performance elegant. There is nothing simple about it. Honesty, I learned a great deal by doing a little bit of light research and the kids were certainly the beneficiary as well. 

So this is my reminder for today. Provide context work the works you are preparing.  Whether you are working on  arrangements of great works, new pedagogical compositions, or the masterworks, provide the context.  Encourage your students to act and think like scholars.  (CAST)

Context increases our scholarship, our understanding, and our investment in the work.  It will certainly impact your performance and enhance your students' learning and appreciation of the music you are preparing.

Peace.

Scott

Harmonic Underpinning

Those of you that know me and my pedagogy, are aware that I'm a firm believer in utilizing harmonic underpinning while teaching melodic instruments and concepts. That is, providing some context for melodic line when teaching parts in the orchestra or in private lessons. I really believe that everything makes more sense when there is a chord progression behind or underneath the melodic line.

This week in Interlochen's Intermediate Concert Orchestra, we do not have the privilege of having a student bass player.  We will have a faculty and staff bassist for the concert, but not until the dress rehearsal.  So, we are working with an incomplete voicing in the orchestra and I have noticed that there has been a great deal of difficulty in truly tuning from bottom to top in all of our repertoire. So, today I asked my stage services staff member to set up a piano in the front of the orchestra. Throughout today's rehearsal I played bass lines and chord progressions as best I could, accompanying all of the pieces that we are working on.

Wow! What a transformation in the orchestra. I was reminded yet again that harmonic underpinning is so important for true musical understanding and learning. Quickly, everyone in the orchestra was tuning in a much more meaningful, informed manner. I had to step back and asked myself, "Would we be better off having this harmonic reference right from the beginning of the rehearsal process?" I am sure that many orchestras use an accompanist throughout a concert cycle to help with this very issue. That is not something that I typically do, but today I am really convinced that it paid huge dividends in this orchestra.

This can be done either by realizing chord progressions on the piano or on another chord playing instrument like guitar, mandolin, and others. I realize that this isn't rocket science. But, it is always good to be reminded. I'm reminded of when my children were younger and studying violin repertoire. I would frequently play piano or pick up my guitar and play along with them. Or, other days I would pick up the bass and create a bass line while they were playing the melodies of the pieces . I have particularly fond memories of performing the Monti Czardas with my oldest son, Matt. I played guitar and he played violin. We did something similar with both of the Vivaldi A minor Concerto movements that are found in the Suzuki Book 4.

All of this goes to encouraging the student to hear the function of every note of a melody. Is the note a chord tone? Is the note a passing tone? Is the cord a tonic? Is it a dominant? Or is it something else? When a student hears a secondary dominant progression on the guitar or piano common, suddenly those accidentals make a lot more sense.

I know this is a quick one but I just had to get this off my chest tonight. It was a great rehearsal and I can't wait for tomorrow!

Peace.

Scott

Backbeats as a Vehicle to Steady Tempo (Groove)

Exactly where does the intersection of folk, rock, and jazz idioms and classical music lie?  To me, the answer to that question is "Everywhere."  Certainly, the experts in each of these genres can clearly articulate and perform their idiom's most important aspects.  But, how do we bring the best of each to the other.

I have been thinking about this a great deal lately, especially since my conversation with Chris Howes on his Creative Strings Podcast. 

Last week, my orchestra was in the middle of rehearsing the Double Clarinet Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn for our upcoming Concerto Concert. There are a couple of passages in the work that are very metronomically stable, but, somewhat rhythmically difficult to master. My string section was having trouble holding a steady beat without pushing the tempo. 

I decided to experiment a little bit with pulse and backbeats in an effort to provide context for my students to remain steady. This idea grew from the conversation that I had with Christian just  a few weeks ago.  Of course, I had done this before with student ensembles, but it has come to front and center in my thinking and it was time to get some data!  (Incidentally, I alwasy encourage my students to practice and rehearse like a scientist.  Limit variables and gain data with every pass though a section. )  

I decided to first have the students play the passage slowly without any oral or clapped pulse. Results: rushing and instability.  Then, I ran the passage, clapping on beats 1 and 3.  Results: about the same. Following the less than moderate success with that scheme, I decided to try backbeats. I clapped on two and four while the students were playing a very traditional classical piece. After running the passage 2 or 3 times the passage became beautiful and steady. The backbeats were the answer.  My friend Christian would be so proud!  He is definitely on to something here. 

I wanted to collect some more data, so I asked the kids about their reaction to the exercise. Here are some of the thoughts that they gave me:

1. "Initially it's more difficult because it's unfamiliar."  
2. "After getting over the initial shock and discomfort, it caused me to think more deeply about exactly what was happening."
3. "It provided something that I could lock in to rhythmically and I had to take personal responsibility for the strong pulse."
4. "It really helped to steady the tempo."

I am convinced that  there is something much deeper going on here, but am not sure how to articulate it yet.  I will need to do more study.  But, here is what I know anecdotally:  Providing backbeats helps to establish groove.  By the way, I am not talking about  swinging the pulse in any way.  We are simply providing backbeats or the "snare drum" in the pop/rock setting.  

Which brings me to my hypothesis.  Student musicians are used to hearing groove in dance music and there is always a backbeat provided there.  Conversely, in classical repertoire, the backbeat is rarely provided and students feel more compelled or premitted to "fudge" the pulse a bit.

More research is required here. but, I am interested in your experience with backbeats in classical repertoire.   Meanwhile, I will keep digging.

Peace.

Scott

Christian Howes Interview

Hi all -
I was recently interviewed by renown jazz violinist, Christian Howes for his podcast.

You can find the interview here:  https://soundcloud.com/christian-howes

I hope you enjoy it. We cover a lot of ground in the interview and I feel like it brings out some of my thoughts about ensemble, pedagogy, and teaching.

Peace.
Scott

More Habits

A few weeks ago I published a post entitled Five Habits of Successful Musicians. A few days after that post was published, I was discussing it with my orchestra at Interlochen. The kids listened with great interest and really took the notes to heart. Following my remarks, the kids begin adding their own suggestions of habits that are important for successful orchestral musicians. I promised them that I would publish them as soon as I had some time to sit down and write the article. So, here it is. More Habits of Successful Orchestral Musicians as discussed by the Interlochen Intermediate Concert Orchestra in the summer of 2016.  The habit and the person that suggested it are in bold, followed by my commentary.

1. Stop playing immediately when the conductor stops conducting. ~Abigail. 

Nothing derails a rehearsal faster than students playing past the conductor's direction and wastes valuable time. It is such a good habit to stop immediately. Also, by playing beyond the conductor's direction, there really is a question as to whether the musician is truly mentally with the ensemble. Great advice!

2. Listen to each other at all times. ~Yael

It seems so simple. But, listening is key. So often, students get tied up in reading the notes and the part that they forget to listen. This habit must be developed very early in a young musician’s life.

3. Mark Your Parts independently without being prompted. ~Alma. 

Student who mark their parts independently are clearly demonstrating that they're thinking independently. Ultimately, that is the goal in any orchestra rehearsal. We want students to be independent musicians that are tied into the greater good of the group. And, we want them to mark their part so much that it will be impossible for them to make the same mistake the next time.

4. Ask questions when you are confused. ~Julietta.

This is such great advice. So often, if the student has a question, they worry about being the only one with that question. The fact is, if one student has a question, probably many are thinking the same thing. As hard as conductors try to be clear, sometimes it just doesn't happen. Ask questions when you're confused. More than likely, others need that answer as well.  We can handle it!

5. Practice the most difficult parts first outside of class. ~Charlie.

Human nature is funny. We want to practice the things that sound the best. The fact of the matter is that we don't need to practice the stuff we already can play. Go directly to the most difficult passages and practice them first when your attention is at its highest. Practice them slowly and accurately. Then go back and play the stuff that you can play well and like to play. Those passages are much better held until later in the practice session.

6. Make a plan for turning Pages. ~Katelyn.

So often, student musicians turn pages way too late. The inside player should always stop well in advance of the page turn and be prepared to get that page turned before the downbeat of the first measure of the new page. It is always the inside player's responsibility. Anytime the outside player feels compelled to turn the page, the inside player has dropped the ball. This is standard etiquette of orchestral playing and should be adhered to in every situation.

7. Be prepared for every entrance two bars early. ~Gloria.

I always instruct my ensembles to have instruments up and ready to play two bars before any entrance. This consistency helps everyone in the section know exactly when to enter. If someone has lost track of a long series of rests to be counted, they can jump back in if the entire section is bringing their instruments up exactly to bars early. Consistency is the key here.

8. Bring water to rehearsal. ~Eva. 

I am not sure that I would have included this in my list. But, at Interlochen where we were making the list, it is close to 100 degrees in many of the rehearsal spaces during the summer months. Hydration is absolutely key for these kids. And, as I think about it, having a bottle of water on the floor is actually a pretty good idea in any rehearsal setting. As long as it doesn't distract from the rehearsal, a sip of water can be quite refreshing in the middle of rehearsal and can actually provide a little bit of extra energy toward the end of a long rehearsal. 

9. Mark your mistakes so you can go back and practice them later. ~Eva.

It is always good to put a little note in the music on passages that need to be reviewed. This, again, demonstrates independent thinking and musicianship. Anything that makes practice more efficient is always welcomed by a conductor!

10. Look through the section not just at the conductor. ~Julietta. 

Musicians that get in the habit of looking not only at the conductor, but also at the front stand and those around them tend to be the most accomplished ensemble musicians. They should be paying attention to the bow placement of those around them, bow direction, style, articulation, and many other facets of the ensemble's work. This would include those in their own section and those in other sections around them.

11. Breathe into phrases. ~Yael

I always ask section players to breathe into every entrance, just as if they were playing in a string quartet. Every player is the conductor.  That breath and preparation into a phrase is vital to strong ensemble performances. And, it is a great habit to take to the chamber ensemble as well. (By the way, soloists need to develop this as well!)

12. Look the part.   Play the role.  ~Yael.

I always tell students that if they don't look like they know what they're doing, they probably don't. The first step is always to look good in an ensemble. That means sitting on the front edge of the chair, having feet firmly planted on the ground, and holding the instrument in a beautiful, perfect playing position. Other aspects of looking the part include bow hold, position relative to the conductor, general posture, and many others.

I hope that you find these helpful and encourage you to share them with your students.  What have we forgotten?  Please share your thoughts in the comments section.  

Best wishes for a successful 2016-2017 academic year!!

Peace.

Scott

The Company of Angels: Dorothy Straub

I learned yesterday of the sad news that my dear friend and mentor Dorothy Straub had passed away. Dorothy Straub is one of the most influential individuals in my teaching life and certainly in my career trajectory in string education. From the day I met her, she encouraged me to think of my work in string education as an opportunity to positively influence lives, and to view my work as a mission, not just a job. As I reflect on my nearly 30 year friendship with her, I feel compelled to tell the story, from my perspective, of this wonderful educator who had so much influence on my life and the lives of other string students and teachers around the United States. 

I first encountered Dorothy Straub in the summer of 1988 when I attended a string pedagogy workshop at Central Connecticut State University. Dorothy was one of three instructors for that workshop along with the great Marvin Rabin and James Kjelland. Each of the three instructors had a specific influence on those in attendance and a clear role to play in the workshop. Dr. Rabin introduced me to the pedagogy of George Bornoff and the concept of finger patterns. Those of you that know me well know that I continue to give workshops built on that foundational material to this day. (In fact, I will be speaking on finger patterns at several conferences during the upcoming school year.) Jim Kjelland provided a more philosophical approach and outlook for those in attendance.   I remember him introducing me to the concept of Gestalt philosophy and thinking.  Again, those of you that know me, know that I have built on many of Jim's philosophical foundations and am a frequent presenter on topics that have grown from his ideas. Some of those include Habits of Mind, Ethics and Leadership, Core Philosophies, and others. I remember many late night discussions with Jim centering on his ideas about string education and larger ideas that could be related to our craft. 

Dorothy, however, had a very different role to play in the workshop. She played, in my opinion, the role of the quintessential traditional school string educator. In fact, I grew to learn that is exactly who she was.  She worked with us on the intricacies of teaching beginners, strong foundational techniques, more advanced techniques, and classroom management. She also introduced us to much of the great standard repertoire for young string orchestras. We dealt with various grade levels of repertoire and the challenges that the works provided for students.  In fact, I am certain that she introduced me to Percy Fletcher's Folk Tune and Fiddle Dance at that workshop. Every time I conduct that work I think of her. She was patient. She was encouraging. And, she was accessible. I asked questions. She offered strong responses built on a lifetime of truly best practice. But, beyond the content, she was so supportive of me as a young teacher with so much to learn. She let me know in no uncertain terms that she had faith in my ability to succeed with students and to become a leader in our field. She affirmed my musicianship and playing ability. Even though at times my ideas that were little bit outside the box, and she allowed me to grow through the course of that week both as a teacher and as a friend. 

Over the years, we've remained in very close touch. She would always attend when I was presenting sessions at conferences when she could. By the early 1990's, I was living in teaching in Maryland and working every day with her sister, Mary Ellen Cohn, the Executive Director of the Maryland Music Educators' Association. Mary Ellen and I developed a strong friendship and professional trust that always had her sister Dorothy at the center of it. That friendship continues to this day.

Interestingly, many years after the fact, Dorothy and I realized that she had an impact on my life even when I was a senior in high school in 1983. I had attended the All Eastern Orchestra Festival held in Boston that year, and she was the chair of that event. As I look back on that event, I can still remember the friendly, authoritative, articulate, sharply dressed woman who was running the event.  I could  tell from the start that she was a person that others respected and looked to for leadership.  Of course, it was Dorothy.

In later years, Dorothy, who served as String Music Supervisor for the Fairfield, CT public schools, invited me to conduct an all district event for her district. I was so honored to be invited to conduct by the great Dorothy Straub. I wanted to do such a good job for her. But of course that is who Dorothy was; someone who supported others and whom others wanted to please. I felt such a great responsibility to be an exemplary conductor and educator at that particular event. Interestingly, I can recall one young student who tested my patience right up to the moment of the performance. My recollection is that I didn't handle the situation very well.  Dorothy, in all of her wisdom, helped me navigate a difficult teaching situation with grace and love as she always did. 

In recent years, Dorothy was recovering from the effects of an aggressive brain cancer. I had the great pleasure of participating in a ceremony in her honor at a recent ASTA national conference. As part of that ceremony, and a new work by William Hoffeldt was commissioned in her honor. He entitled the work In the Company of Angels, and Dorothy was presented with this gift and honor at that time. Just a few short months after that ceremony, I was honored to conduct the first public performance of that work with the Intermediate Concert Orchestra at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. That piece will always serve as a perfect remembrance of Dorothy and the spirit with which she approached all of her relationships and teaching. Those of us that knew her always felt that we were "in the company of an angel" when we were with her. I know that today I am comforted by the thought that she is now "in the company of angels." ( I have to take this moment to thank Bill Hofeldt for such an insightful title and beautiful piece of music that bears a dedication to Dorothy Straub.)

Of course, throughout the course of her life and career, Dorothy had many other important and influential roles. She served as president of MENC, a leader in the American String Teachers Association, and published many important articles on string pedagogy and education including  “The Impact of the National Standards on Music Performance.” in Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, and "Strategies for Teaching String and Orchestra." She served as Chair of the MENC Committee for String and Orchestra Education, editor for “School Teachers Forum,” in American String Teacher, and Chair of the MENC String and Orchestra Task Force.  She was awarded the American String Teachers Association Citation for Exceptional Leadership and the National School Orchestra Association Lifetime Achievement Award.  

From her MENC vitae: "One of only two American String Teachers Association members to serve as MENC president, Dorothy Straub took office at a time when the national focus was on curriculum and standards. Her presidency was marked by concerns for advocacy and promotion of the National Arts Standards, and in March of her term, the standards were completed and delivered to Secretary of Education Richard Riley. Although many of Straub’s monthly president’s columns in Music Educators Journal and Teaching Music focused on the standards, she also wrote about the importance of providing each child with rewarding musical experiences. In her columns for American String Teacher, she encouraged string teachers to provide students with a challenging and enjoyable curriculum, calling it a “myth” that children learning string instruments could not produce good sounds for several years."

In the end, Dorothy was an advocate, friend, and mentor.  I simply can't articulate how much she influenced me throughout my professional life.  She was a dear friend and trusted colleague.  She supported and advocated for me.  She taught me how to be a whole teacher.   There isn't a day in my teaching life that goes by that her influence isn't felt in some way.  I only hope that I can be the advocate, friend, and supporter of young teachers the way she was for me.

I will miss you, Dorothy.  I hope that we can one day celebrate together again "in the company of angels."

Peace.

Scott

Chasing That Emotional "High"

In the summer of 1981, I attended a week-long church camp that was simply a blast.  It was called “MAD” Camp and focused all week on music, art, and drama.  It was part of the summer program at Westminster Highlands, a Presbyterian Church Camp facility in Western PA,  where I usually spent a couple of weeks each summer.  My time at Westminster Highlands and the relationships that I established there had a profound impact on my development as a young man in many ways.  I had just finished 10^th grade and was beginning to realize that I had a little something to offer in the area of music and peer leadership.  I wasn’t particularly interested in the visual arts, but I was open to working in drama as well as music.  That summer, we created a musical out of the book, The Singer Trilogy, by Calvin Miller.  We wrote original songs and music to accompany the text and I ended up playing the lead role in the production at the end of camp.  I wrote and performed much of the music as part of that experience. 

It was truly a “mountain-top” experience.  I had never invested so much of myself into a project.  I had never been part of such a close-knit community of artists. I had never been part of such an impassioned performance.  I certainly had never garnered that type of attention from my peers and friends for my talents and accomplishments.  It was intoxicating and I wanted more!!

I remember talking with my Dad on the 3 hour ride home and telling him  all that I had learned and accomplished.  I also expressed concern that things at home could never be as exciting as the past week had been.  Things at home were so mundane.  I didn’t relate to the people in the same way.  How could I ever re-create that experience again?  I will never forget my Dad, response.  First he acknowledged what a great thing I had experienced.  But then he told me that we couldn’t sustain that mountaintop experience all the time.  If we were always on the mountaintop, how can we appreciate it when we get there again?  There have to be peaks and valleys.  He encouraged me to use the experience that I had as motivation to get there again.  And, to use the ideas that I had developed to make the ensembles and communities that I lived with on a daily basis better.   He reminded me that the folks that expect the mountaintop all the time are rarely satisfied.  He encouraged me to keep seeking the mountaintop, but to also embrace every day.  Even the ones that aren’t mountaintop experiences. 

What amazing advice!!  It is advice that I have used over and over again in my lifetime.

I feel like I am constantly chasing that mountaintop experience as a musician all the time too.  I love that “emotional high” that I experience after an amazing performance.  Those goosebumps on your arms or the warmth of an amazing ovation in completely intoxicating.  That knowledge that you just moved the emotions of an audience is what we strive for.  I want it as a conductor.  I want it as a violinist.  I want it as a teacher.  I want it as a student. 

I am keenly aware that much of my work as a conductor is done in the festival setting.  I am fortunate to work with kids at Interlochen summer arts camp in the summer.  We are chasing that mountaintop musical experience with every rehearsal, practice session, and performance.  I am fortunate to conduct numerous local, regional, and all state festivals as part of my work and we are doing the same thing in that setting.  We are looking for that amazing musical experience – not just technically, but emotionally as well.  Even my work at NCSSM is similar to this.  Our time together is limited and then the students go back to something else.  In the two years and limited rehearsal that I get them, I want to bring them together for a mountaintop, special, emotional musical experience.  And I think in some ways they expect that from me.

So, what is it that leads us to that end.  What gets us from the mundane to the extraordinary?  What moves us from “physics” to “metaphysics?” (I love that phrase and concept!!)  I will throw out a couple of thoughts here. I am sure there are more and I would love to hear from you with your ideas.

When I look back to what I wrote at the top of this post about my MAD Camp experience it was the following: personal investment, a close knit community, impassioned performance, positive feedback.  Let’s explore each of these briefly. 

I have written before about the power of community.  I firmly believe that strong communities are the foundation of strong ensembles.  I have been in musical ensembles that weren’t strong communities, but, for me, it always better when they are. We have to want to work together. We have to trust each other.  Form me, smiles and friendship works better than fear and intimidation.  Personal investment is a key as well.  When we give freely and passionately of ourselves, we are more likely to get more in return.  Sometimes it hurts to be fully personally invested, but it is usually (always) worth it.  I find this in relationships.  I find this in my daily work.  I find this in musical ensembles.  I also believe that as a leader, I have to set the tone of personal investment if I want my ensemble members to give in the same way.  It doesn’t seem to work in reverse.  Positive feedback is also key.  There is nothing like an “atta-boy” to keep us going when the going gets tough.  And it will get tough at some point.  (See “personal investment.”)  That “atta-boy” for musicians can be the applause.  But, it can also be the feeling you get when the ensemble really hits that passage in rehearsal.  It can be the relationship between a musician and their stand partner.   It can be the conductor’s comments.  It can be the personal knowledge of a job well done after a long rehearsal.  It comes in many forms.  Finally, an impassioned performance can really be the key to the mountaintop experience for the musician.  That only comes with great rehearsals, a well prepared and in-sync ensemble, and active mental and creative investment and preparation from all involved.    This category is really a sub-category of “personal investment,” isn’t it?

Before wrapping up this post, I would like to offer up a few thoughts about the nuts and bolts of the “impassioned performance” idea here.  What does this entail from a technical and musical perspective?  I have been thinking about this and I believe the key is that notion of a well prepared and in-sync ensemble.  Orchestrally, each musician must have a common concept of the priorities, direction, and goals of each note, phrase, section, and piece.  So, as conductors, we have to be heading in that direction in every minute of every rehearsal.  We should be striving for that idea of unification and common notion within and between sections.  This is a bit tough to articulate, but here goes.  We are seeking precision that is driven by the goal of a passionate performance and, ultimately, an emotional response.  My friend Eugene Friesen says that once you have done the rigor, you are free to emote and express.  That makes sense to me.  Rigor leads to freedom, which leads to that “emotional high.”  We should be seeking precision in rhythm and rhythmic concepts, intonation and tonal concepts, phrasing and musical concepts, a common vision of dynamic variation within the piece, tone quality and concepts in color, and finally conceptual precision and common vision.

On another note, it is also vital that we remind students in the midst of a mountain top performance that it is their responsibility to take that experience back home to their daily lives. They must bring their newfound enthusiasm and passion back to the daily routine so that it might be infused with new energy for the folks that don't have the same opportunities. We really need to stress the "Pay It Forward" concept to our top students who get awesome opportunities. Take the elements of that mountain top experience back home with you and share it.

So, there are some of my thoughts on seeking that “emotional high.”  As I look back over that post, I just finished a great rehearsal on the work Aspire: A Dream Fulfilled, by Bob Phillips.  It occurs to me that I am definitely seeking that “high” with this work.  We are working on all of those concepts outlined in the previous couple of paragraphs.  I want that mountaintop experience for myself and my students on this one.  It is in reach.   I will let you know how it goes.

Peace.

Scott

               

How can I possibly look up when I have to play all of these notes?

Watch the conductor. Look for the downbeat. Make eye contact. Watch. Make eye contact. Watch. Look. Follow. Watch. Watch. Watch.

Watching, looking, following, are all an integral part of orchestral musicianship and performance. Every conductor wants their musicians to watch, to follow, to connect. But, I often wonder if the young musicians that find themselves in my ensembles are thinking, "How am I supposed to watch when I have to play all of these notes?"  If they aren't thinking this, they certainly are saying it with their actions.

Yesterday, in the Intermediate Concert Orchestra at Interlochen, we addressed that very issue while working on William Hofeldt's beautiful composition, "The Faraway Place." This is a lovely slow work in 3/4 time that has lush string sounds, several interesting divisi sections, and rich close harmonies. The first violins are asked to play up to sixth position, but outside of high pitches, the technical challenges are minimal. The beauty of that situation is that the ensemble and musical director may then focus on the elements of ensemble that truly make a work dynamic.  This, of course, includes the skill of watching the conductor and being very aware of all that is happening in the ensemble.  

With this work, I will focus on phrasing, the intricacies of truly moving dynamic changes, and the all important skill of following a conductor and allowing the conductor to push and pull temple in meaningful purposeful ways. All of these skills require the musician to lift their eyes up to, to watch, and to communicate purposefully with both the conductor and the other musicians in their section, as well as the other sections.  The musician must not only know what their part is doing, they have to know what all of the others are doing as well.

In a rehearsal yesterday, we were working on some of these skills with minimal success.  The students were playing their parts reasonable well, but there was very little sense of ensemble or unity.  I decided to create an etude out of a simple major scale with the goal of eliminating the note reading aspect of the task at hand.  This, essentially, eliminates one of the multitude of tasks that the ensemble was asked to complete.   I used to an old trick that many directors and teachers have used in the past by creating a round out of a 2 octave major scale.  I had the ensemble play 3 quarter notes on each pitch (same meter as the piece) of an E flat major scale (key of the piece) in 2 octaves.  The Violin I section played first, on the third note of the scale, the 2nd Violins and Violas entered on the tonic, and on the fifth note, the celli and bass entered on the tonic. When we arrive at the top of the 2 octaves, we don't repeat the tonic and simply come back down.  Some directors will have one section hold a pedal tone on the tonic. This creates a beautiful round, reinforces the key, and provides an opportunity to drive home the need and benefits of watching the conductor and each other throughout the exercise.  I conduct throughout the etude.  I never let the 3rd pulse of the measure rush. (This is a common problem with young ensembles.)  At times I stretch the tempo and other times I push it.  Sometimes these changes are subtle and other times they are drastic. 

I also usually have the violins and violas stand for this exercise, because I am always trying to promote more movement in their playing.  This is another related concept  and I will address it in a future post.  But, the natural movement of playing while standing is often lost in the young orchestral musician.  I see so many "statues" in ensembles of every level.  We must promote movement in the orchestra so that students may give and receive visual communication from not only the conductor, but every individual piece of the ensemble.  Movement is also a key component to expressive playing, regardless of the visual communication aspect.  I see fluid movement in young ensembles less and less in my work.  I will continue to "wave this flag" in all of my work as a conductor and clinician!

This etude is wonderful for driving home the necessity of watching and lifting up one's eyes.  It invariably is less than terrific the first time we do it.  Students lose focus on the task, become passive, and, ultimately, it doesn't' really work.  Often the 2nd time through, it works better.  Yesterday, I went back to the piece after we did the etude twice, and it was much more cohesive!  Then we returned to the etude and it was much better!  The concept was beginning to realized.  

Many of you know that my belief that all good pedagogy has 4 important components.  There is a SYSTEM, it is SEQUENTIAL, It has strong, authentic, NOMENCLATURE, and involves a HARMONIC UNDERPINNING.  This exercise has all of this.  It is a system designed to encourage young musicians to watch and communicate with purpose.  It is a starting point in the sequence for this skill that ultimately comes back to the repertoire.  With this, I introduce the nomenclature of push, pull, ritard, rubato, upbeat, downbeat, etc.  And, of course, the major scale, possible pedal tone, and tonality are the foundation of the harmonic underpinning.  All of this is rock solid, from my perspective.

So, regardless of whether you are rehearsing a grade one arrangement of "Let it Go," from Frozen, or Barber's "Adagio" with an all state level group, the challenge remains of getting the group to watch in a meaningful, purposeful way.  Perhaps this exercise will provide the foundation for a lesson for you to use.   I feel like it was effective for my ensemble yesterday.  On we go!

Peace.

Scott

Good = Good: The Challenges of Programming for Scholastic Orchestra

I have been thinking a great deal lately about repertoire and programming for young orchestra and the challenges this task represents for music directors and all of those who have to decide on the type of repertoire students will endeavor over the period of a concert cycle.  A variety of factors go into this decision and the big one, from my perspective, is making decisions regarding the difficulty of the repertoire.  There are really several sides to the decision.

One school of thought is to program repertoire that is easily within the technical capabilities of the ensemble, with a plan to focus more meaningfully on ensemble-building, musicianship, intonation, and performance practice.  This philosophy also opens the door to more advanced students in the ensemble looking down on the repertoire and students, perhaps, claiming they are "bored" with the repertoire.  That being said, I am always ready to challenge those students with advanced musical ideas and concepts.  

Another would be to program music above the heads of the students from a technical perspective with the thought that the students will be challenged throughout the rehearsal process, and thus, motivated to practice and improve as musicians.  The pitfall here is the rehearsal process can be overwhelmed with the act of "chasing notes."  The conductor may never get to the heart of the music-making process and ensemble building so many of us truly enjoy and value. Another possible by-product is a less than satisfying performance.

Those of us who have lived in the Music Performance Adjudication culture understand over-programming is the kiss of death from a grading standpoint.  We have learned it is always a wise decision to go with repertoire that is a little easier so that the judges will hear rock solid intonation, exceptional technique, and well-shaped phrases.  A "superior" rating on a grade III program is more impressive than an "excellent" rating on a grade IV.  

I have been known to utter the phrase, "Hard isn't necessarily good.  Good is always good." to my students over the years.  I think many students (and teachers) fall into the trap of thinking performing a hard piece of music is a worthy goal.  I would submit that simply performing a piece, if the quality is not there, is not a very lofty goal.  As a conductor, I am much more interested in the musical impact a piece has on the audience.  I am convinced that audiences are rarely impressed with the difficulty of a piece, particularly if it is not performed in a aesthetically satisfying way.

So, at this point in this essay, you are probably thinking, "Well, I know where he sits between programming harder music verses easier music for his ensembles." And, in truth, you would be correct for the most part,  But, in recent days, I have been rethinking the degree to which I hold that belief.  Last summer, I had a wonderful conversation with a colleague who teaches applied violin at a major university.  She expressed some concern that another conductor/colleague had programmed music that was too easy for the ensemble they were conducting and that those students weren't being properly technically challenged for the amount of rehearsal time they were given.  She told me stories of her childhood at summer camps where she played music which was way over her head from a technical perspective and it motivated her to work even harder to learn the notes and rhythms, eventually propelling her to Julliard, and a successful career as a violinist.  I must admit, her stories reminded me of similar experiences I had as a student.  I participated in the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Orchestra beginning at age 15 and I know that many of the pieces I participated in were way above my technical capabilities, especially in the early years.  We certainly grow with these challenges.

I was discussing this idea with one of my Humanities Department colleagues today and she reminded me of the phrase, "No Pain, No Gain."  And, frankly, I agree to with the "no pain, no gain" philosophy to some degree.  Back when I was deeply into power weightlifting in the 1980's, we would often remind each other of this precept.  Not pain as in injury, but pain as in struggle.  We all have to struggle to improve.  We had to feel the bump up from one weight to the next.  After a few days of struggle, that weight would not seem so "painful."  Artists must struggle to ultimately communicate.  Struggle is good.  Struggle is essential.  For, only through struggle do we truly grow.  I can remember struggling with violin repertoire over  the years.  I am sure that I am better for it.

So, how does this fit with the idea of programming repertoire for a scholastic orchestra.  Is the struggle my responsibility as conductor.  Or, can I find and reveal the struggle to my students in repertoire that is more readily within their technical capabilities.  Or perhaps, programming requires a bit of both.  

For many years, I have felt that the bulk of the technical stretching should come in the private lesson studio.  The orchestra, I have felt, is for musical and ensemble stretching.  Those of you that know my conducting and rehearsal style, know that I am passionate about building great ensembles.  Students must learn what to listen for, how to think within an ensemble, how to move in an ensemble, how to lead from any chair, how to communicate with each other, the conductor, and the audience, how to refine intonation, and how to shape phrases.  These are always my priorities in rehearsal.  And, chasing notes, just takes away from my opportunity to share my perspective on these important ideas with  the students.  But now, I am softening on this position.  Sometimes, we just have to provide a technical challenge.  

The key to success, I believe, is to also provide tools for succeeding in this struggle.  We must provide practical solutions to technical problems and proper motivation to spend the time that it takes to overcome these difficulties.  We must have a plan.  We must have a system.  For more on my thoughts on systems, see my post from 1/24/15. I don't believe that it is a good idea to simply throw difficult repertoire at a student and not provide tools for mastery.  That is just a bad idea.  I am reminded of the old commercial that featured a 2 year old child looking at a plate with a whole steamed lobster.  The child simply had a look that said, "What am I supposed to do with this?!"  A technical challenge with under prepared students is like the child with the lobster.  We must provide them with the tools to crack that technical shell.  If we can't provide those tools, we shouldn't put the lobster in front of them.  

So, how do we make solid repertoire decisions that challenge students both technically and musically?  How do we select repertoire that encourages the best practices in ensemble playing and musicianship?  I think the answer lies in variety. Young music students must experience the value of the "perfect" performance. They need to experience the thrill of the "push/pull" that creates tension and release in great ensemble music without the fear of wrong notes and sloppy licks.  They need to experience that perfectly tuned chord; the exhilaration of  steady, accurate tempo with clean, accurate runs.  Similarly, motivated music students must have a sense of what they are striving for.  How will they know the goal if they can't see the horizon.  We can certainly provide both.  But it is a constant struggle and we will never be perfect in the endeavor.  All we can do is continue to evaluate and reevaluate the repertoire we select and be willing to admit when we make a mistake.  After all, from the audience perspective, good is good.  Hard isn't necessarily good.  

I promise, I will keep trying.

Peace.

Scott