I have noticed my students get bored of rehearsing our pieces for our concert. We’ve been learning our pieces for a month and have another month before our concert. How can I make learning our pieces more engaging for them?
Stephanie Gravelle
Middle School/High School Performing Arts Teacher
American Embassy School, New Delhi
Students and people in general are more engaged and committed when they really feel a sense of ownership in the work. I personally love the Comprehensive Musicianship
Through Performance books for this reason. The ideas in the book go beyond learning notes and rhythms and have students really connect with the text. Have them create visual art or a story or write a letter or talk with the composer or connect the story in the music to their own lives.
How do your students know a piece is ready? Do they have input in rehearsal? Make a student the conductor for part of rehearsal and ask them what they hear. Sometimes
we can’t tell what the piece sounds like sitting in our section. If that’s not working, make sure you are planning some brain break activities that also help with your process—play pass the beat around the room or forbidden pattern or learn a silly canon. Anything to break up monotony but still work toward musical excellence.
Chris Munce
Director of Choirs, Lee’s Summit High School
Founder and Artistic Director of Kantorei KC
Host of the Choralosophy Podcast
My first thought in response to this question is that pacing the rehearsal over the whole span of your time with the choir is more of an art than a science. Meaning, as you get
to know your group, you are also learning their speed. After all, it’s about their speed, not yours. There are some tried-and-true boxes you can reach into to keep things fresh:
- Vary your teaching methods. Encourage the students to HEAR the music in different ways with varied standing positions, articulations like staccato, tempo variations,
neutral syllables etc. How many ways can we sing this and what can we discover from each?
- Part checks. One of our challenges in school choir is individual accountability for academic progress. About two weeks before each concert, we hold graded checks,
two on a part.
- Use technology. Record! Video, audio, and spectrograph recording. Let the kids hear and see themselves. They can even see their own overtones using Voce Vista.
- Encourage creativity. Allow your students to express their creativity by adding their own musical ideas or poetic interpretations. This can help them to feel more invested in the music and motivate them to practice more.
- Perform before the performance. Find ways for them to have an audience BEFORE the concert. Even if it’s just another teacher down the hall or an alumnus who comes to visit.
Remember, keeping your students engaged and motivated requires creativity and flexibility. One of our biggest pitfalls can be making lesson plans that are too rigid. Sometimes, our job is best done by being the first one in the room to know the music intimately, so when the choir comes in the room, we are READY to meet them where they are, be flexible, and create based on their needs that day. Good luck!
Demetrius Robinson
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music
Interim Director of Choral Activities
Louisiana Tech University
Preparing music for concerts can be stressful for both students and teachers. As teachers, we know the potential our students have, and we want to do our best to push them to the next level. However, our students may not understand the importance of the process (teaching/learning) it takes to present the concert (product).
First, we must teach students the importance of owning the process. Yes, learning notes and rhythms, dynamics, and phrasing are not always fun, but they’re part of the process. Only when students have gone through the valley will they appreciate the mountain. Invite students into those valley experiences. Let them see and hear through your eyes and ears.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Record students in real time.
- Evaluate (collectively) in real time.
- Take a brief break from the music (sometimes everyone is simply exhausted). Use this time to reflect. This could also be an opportunity to build community within the ensemble. Hosting in-school retreats or community days where you reground yourself with your purpose could be a start. Don’t worry about losing time from rehearsing. If students are bored and are not giving 100%, then you’re losing. View the reflection as a “halftime talk” to re-position the ensemble to win.
- Return to the music with a renewed sense of purpose and understanding of the process.
Follow-up suggestions:
Incorporate in-class competitions between sections (keep it fun and classy) to encourage accountability and teamwork. Also, consider partnering with other music teachers on campus to co-teach or invite area collegiate directors to clinic your choir. Sometimes, students just need to hear what you’ve said 999 times from 1 other person.
Another facet of this question is repertoire. If the literature is unbalanced (too easy or too challenging), students may react negatively. I recommend Josh Haberman’s 20-60-20 approach: 20% of the music should be relatively easy for the ensemble to sing, 60% should be at the ability level of the ensemble, and the remaining 20% should challenge
the ensemble in some way. Committing to this approach will ensure students experience moments where they are both challenged and instantly achieve success in your rehearsals.
Johnathan Vest
Director of Choral Activities
Instructor, World Drumming and Music History
Centennial High School
I think we have all been there. We introduce a new piece to our students, and while they initially may love it and enjoy the rehearsal process, they can become disinterested or
may even utter those words choir directors loathe to hear: “This is boring.” Here are some ways you might be able to avoid the dreaded “boredom blues” in rehearsal:
First, choose repertoire wisely. Finding repertoire that both engages and challenges your students, can be, well…challenging. While it is important to know your students
and what they will respond to positively, I firmly believe a good teacher can “sell” a piece to a group of students through their enthusiasm, which means you must love it too! There are choral standards I absolutely adore that I know will be good for the students, and that they will either immediately respond to or eventually grow to love.
Don’t lower your standards or cave to pressure from your students, but it is important to know what will catch their attention (even if it takes a few rehearsals).
Don’t underestimate the importance of rehearsal planning. A common temptation for directors is to focus our attention on one piece at the outset. This usually happens
because of our eagerness to get the notes learned quickly, especially if a piece is particularly challenging. When selecting pieces for a particular concert early in the semester, map out your rehearsals so you don’t spend too much time on one piece. Identify those sections that are learned easily, as well as those that will take some significant effort.
In addition, mix up modes of instruction (direct, sectionals, individual practice), and celebrate successes frequently.
