Sound and Fury: individual practice in group settings?

I'm an experienced school string teacher. I've gone through loads of coursework and professional training over the years, and have seven years of full-time, professional school experience under my belt.

However, I think that being a parent is teaching me more about the processes of teaching and learning than I ever could have grasped through reading, practice, or any pedagogical training. Two of my three children have been studying with good Suzuki studio teachers for some time now (one is playing piano, the other violin), so I have a front row seat in watching the whole process unfold.

Sometimes things become obvious when you change your perspective.

That long introduction was intended to lead into a fairly simple point: one of my daughter's private teachers threw me for a loop a few weeks ago when she advocated for students to practice periodically with lots of distractions. She specifically mentioned playing pieces in one key while someone else in the same room practices an entirely different piece in another key.

This is something I would never allow in my lesson groups. Since the first time I started studio teaching well over a decade ago, I've always instinctively encouraged students to listen hard to what's going on around them. In the opportunities I've had to start or take over school string programs, one of the first things I've always done is to forbid students from practicing individual parts during lesson groups or rehearsals. I always try to have students in group lessons play either in unison or complementary parts - I have always tried to break the habit of students playing without listening.

Now, a very good teacher who I pay to help teach my own children has me thinking I may have done all those students a disservice. Did I discourage them from developing the skill of focusing in the midst of distractions?

Music teachers and musicians: any thoughts?

Here are some of the points that I've thought about. I've obviously come to no conclusions:

-The teacher in question got this idea while hosting Japanese Talent Education teachers and students years ago. As I understand it, Japanese families are used to living in very close quarters and don't share the same need for "personal space" that I do . . . I've noticed that many of my students (who, by and large, come from "inner city" backgrounds) are also accustomed to very close quarters and are not as leery about "close personal contact" as I . . . so, by not allowing them to be noisy or to work on parallel paths, am I "shutting them down"?

- I personally have a very high ability to tune out and focus on singular tasks with lots of noise and distraction when necessary. However, I find it impossible to focus specifically on teaching in the midst of any noise or interruption. So, ultimately, am I silencing the kids just for my own convenience?

- Many of my kids, for a variety of reasons, don't or can't practice outside of school. Should I let them have the time to do it during our scarce group lesson time? Is some better than none? Does anyone have experience integrating practice time into lesson time?

I'm looking forward to getting some input on this one . . .

The elementary orchestra: nuts & bolts

One problem that's been nagging me lately is one I'm sure other instrumental teachers will recognize: the challenge of maintaining motivation, interest (and enrollment!) in the school program, retaining as many members as possible, while simultaneously trying to challenge the more gifted and faster-moving students, encouraging them to participate in select ensembles outside of the school.

My orchestra program is based very heavily on the concept of "teamwork". A large part of what motivates students to continue with the school program is their involvement with their peers, working toward a common goal, playing different parts, contributing to the same music. This means that students who are part of my orchestras (elementary, first through third year players, most of whom have no additional experience or instruction on their instrument) spend most of their time working on "ensemble music". I do the best I can to help them develop good technique and musicianship through their studies, but due to limited available time, most of this is done through the ensemble music they need to play for concerts or upcoming auditions, and not necessarily closely tied to a sequential method of instrumental study. Unfortunately, much of the "skills-based" material covered in the student's method books tends to fall by the wayside as they struggle to prepare themselves for school concerts, all-district orchestra auditions, and all-county auditions. I've yet to have any all-state players come through my program.

At this time of year, this seems to cause a chronic problem. All of the students have done their best to prepare and perform for a "seasonal concert" which is done before winter break. Most of the second and third year players are encouraged to go on to the all-district orchestra, which requires an audition to enter. By and large, the students (especially the second year, but also a large contingent of third year sixth graders) Are not able to competently learn their audition pieces without a lot of help. They depend on me to make sure they know how the notes and rhythms in their excerpts go. It's an exceptional case who can take the music home and read through it on their own without a huge number of basic mistakes. Most of them are usually just not ready to accomplish this: it's analogous to a kindergarten student being asked to read and comprehend short stories that are beyond their reading level without assistance. The few who can handle the material on their own are generally preparing for additional auditions, like the all-county orchestra (which is far more competitive.

Here's the problem: all of these students are in lesson groups with others, some of whom are not preparing for these select ensembles due to lack of interest, scheduling problems, or simple lack of ability to handle the material. All of these students are, however, still part of the school group. Meanwhile, they don't receive as much attention or help during this period, as we're busy working on audition material.

I make it my goal to keep those kids. I'm not sure why: many of the teachers in my district are more than happy to lose the students who aren't making adequate progress and focus on the select few who are handling the material more competently due to a variety of factors. But the way I see it, I need to retain as many of the "fair to middling" students as I can. I even make every effort to retain poor and problematic students. I need them on stage, my program needs the enrollment, and, though there is very little idealism left in me at this point in my life, I like to think that their involvement in the music program will help them in the long run, even if they don't do everything the way I want them to.

This is a train of thought I'll have to come back to later. I appreciate any input via email or comment (below).

Practice Stand Link

Here's a book I wanted to point bassists to, as it's an excellent resource and hard to find. It's the Reinke edition of the Sevcik bowing exercises, a very thorough method for practicing bowing, focusing on different areas of the bow with varying bow speed and articulation. I've been working with it for the last year or so, and wish I knew about it earlier.

Sevcik Bogenstudien (bowing studies), Reinke ed.

There's another edition of these etudes called Strokin' (apparently edited by Hal Robinson). I've never had a chance to look at that one to see if there is any appreciable difference. If anyone has an opinion about it, feel free to contact me via email or comment ("comments" link is below).

If you do use the link above to order the Sevcik from Sheetmusicplus, be prepared for a longer-than-usual wait: it's a European import and takes a little while to ship.

Free Online Resources - Portnoi's book

I'm sure this one has been floating around for a while, but I just found out about it this weekend, thanks to LHoward's post on the TalkBass Forums.

It's a pdf version of Henry Portnoi's "Creative Double Bass Method", which I heard about years ago, but have never before seen. He starts the book with a section on bowing practice and styles, then moves on to "the fingerboard". Oh, and just what we need: yet another position-numbering system. He starts the player in what he calls "V" position (which would correspond to Simandl's "III" position), relying on the "tuning" harmonics to get the student in the right position.

This seems to be a very well thought-out and thorough method, and Portnoi seems to have gone to great pains to explain the "how" and "why" of all the technique very thoroughly.

To find the book, follow this link, click on "technique books" at the bottom of the page, then you can select the Portnoi book to download in .pdf format. I've already printed the whole thing out and will certainly be giving it a closer look (I don't think I can stand another trip through the Simandl at this point . . . )