Classroom Management Tips for Ensemble Directors (Part 1)

Classroom management is an especially important topic for those of us whose teaching involves large groups of students holding noise-makers, typically aimed directly at us! Almost every music educator I encounter, especially those in their first years of teaching, identifies this as an area for improvement and for which they’d covet more “actionable intelligence.”

Ensemble music teachers who foster a safe, positive, and effective learning environment are usually those who approach the issue on multiple fronts. Noted 20th-century psychologist, Abraham Maslow, stated: "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." There will be times when we need to use an obvious “hammer,” such as raising our voice; but there are many other, often more effective, tools we can add to our management arsenal to create an environment where students can succeed. For Part 1 of this 2-part series , here are the first five (of nine) key strategies for maintaining a good learning environment for ensemble music-making:

1. Set the Tone

I love author John Maxwell’s apt aeronautic analogy: “Your attitude determines your altitude.” The direction a pilot points the nose of a plane is known as its “attitude.” That, of course, determines the plane’s altitude. When you step on the podium, your attitude sets the tone for the rehearsal. If you joke and goof a lot, students will too. Frequently tease students and it won’t be long before they’re teasing right back. I don’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy our time with students, but realize it’s much harder to reign in overly silly or chatty students than to get them to smile when they’ve been working hard.

Every teacher has to be comfortable in his/her “own skin,” capitalizing on personality strengths, but—in general—I suggest you bring four overarching attitudes to your teaching:

• Be positive. In these cynical times it may seem like a Pollyanna viewpoint, but you do attract more flies with honey than vinegar! Which would you prefer: a principal who treats you with respect and maintains a positive, hopeful attitude while challenging you to be your best - OR - one who mostly criticizes you and complains? Our students feel the same way.
• Be businesslike. Convey with eagerness that we all have a job to do. Invite students, via your disposition, to dig into learning and refining music.
• Be passionate. Passion is contagious and your enthusiasm can rub off! Allow students to see what excites you, whether it’s a composition you’re rehearsing, the students’ efforts, or what you did over the weekend.
• Be thankful. When we see students lugging their instruments to and from school, knowing they voluntarily chose to be in our ensembles, it should humble us. Look for opportunities to stroke students for good musicianship and behavior. For example, after working a passage with the woodwinds, earnestly thank the brass and percussion for their patience and courtesy while waiting. Whether it’s an older ensemble executing a well-timed release or a young saxophone lesson group finally achieving a blended sound, celebrate!

Every parent knows that “more is caught than taught.” There is much you can do to set the tone for the rehearsal you want. Students will take their cue from you.

2. Employ Purposeful Routines

To establish order, punctuate meetings with a handful of helpful routines such as:

• Specifics on entering/exiting the rehearsal space and storing instrument cases and backpacks.
• Moving quickly to assigned seats without playing (“We will all begin warming up and playing together.”).
• Use of rest and playing positions during rehearsals. I like to remind students that “Rest position includes resting your mouth.”
• Never start playing when students are talking. The first time this issue crops up with an ensemble, I turn it into a teaching opportunity with a discussion along these lines:
  • "Visual artists use a blank canvas on which they apply their medium (i.e. oil paints, watercolors, charcoal or pastels). What is the canvas on which musicians add their sound?”
  • Common student responses include: “The staff,” or “our sheet music,” or even “our instruments.” The correct answer, of course, is SILENCE! Just as a painter begins with a blank canvas, musicians need silence—their clear canvas—on which to add sound.
  • “Therefore, when I raise my baton to begin, we all need the “blank canvas” of silence on which to add our sound.”
• During the first 2–5 minutes of every lesson or rehearsal we will work through a series of warm-up exercises (i.e. long tones, scale and interval exercises, etc.).
• Very brief announcements will take place at the conclusion of rehearsals. During that time students are to be still and attentive (i.e. no packing up music or instruments).
• No more playing once dismissed.

The above are examples of routines I’ve found useful in settings where I’ve taught. Regardless of the specifics, employing and reinforcing rehearsal routines is an investment that will pay huge dividends as students become accustomed to patterns of conduct. It’s gratifying to hear from a substitute when I return from a sick day that the day went well because the students followed the routines so well!

3. Conceive Preventative Measures

Be proactive, not just reactive. By identifying in advance instructional and logistical challenges, directors can anticipate and disarm potential distractions to rehearsals. Rehearsals devolve when distractions take the focus off of music-making. For instance, including an aisle down the middle of the ensemble allows the director to roam “into the band” to help students or to use “proximity” to quell chatter. Whether it’s instructional forethought (i.e. the shape and pacing of a rehearsal) or having pragmatic procedures in place for common logistical challenges (i.e. dealing with broken reeds, missing music or forgotten instruments), directors can avoid or minimize pitfalls by having a ready response to things that are likely to occur.

4. Use Limited, Concise Rules

Whether you post rules prominently in your room or refer to them often, a limited number of concise rules can be helpful in focusing behavior. Less rules are easier to remember and heed. The following list of “P-words” is an example of a set of rules used by many educators in and out of music:

• Be Prompt
• Be Prepared
• Be Polite

These three, often augmented with Be Positive and/or Be Productive, are great for their brevity and application to all areas of life. Here’s another, similar list of concise rules:

• Be Respectful
• Be Ready
• Be Resourceful

The usefulness of the above rules are somewhat self-evident, yet we could dwell on each to discuss what they include and how they might be applied. For the present, allow me to expand on one in particular. “Be Resourceful” is a rule that has greatly helped my students and program. My definition of being resourceful is “solving one’s own problems.” When students are resourceful, they handle things for themselves rather than having others do so for them. This rule encourages students to quietly take care of many issues that otherwise interrupt the flow of a rehearsal: broken reeds, stuck valves, lost music, assembling music stands, and more. Furthermore, being resourceful causes others to view students as young adults, instead of as children. I continually encourage, through explanation and exhortation, this valuable trait.

5. Play More, Talk Less

One of the main reasons students signed up to be in your ensemble was to make music. Limit the length and number of times you stop the ensemble for explanations, or to work with a small subset of the ensemble. When possible, incorporate non-verbal communication to convey routine instructions. One of the first tips I share with student teachers for quieting a chatty ensemble is to let them play for an extended period of time.

The same “verbally efficient” approach goes for students, too! Insist that students only raise their hands to interrupt rehearsal for a limited set of reasons (such as if there is a medical or bathroom emergency, or if they do not understand the assignment). Otherwise, especially with younger students, hands will continually and urgently shoot up into the air so students can ask if they can play a favorite piece that day, or to share that they are out of valve oil, or that their family will be traveling to Disney World, or any number of things that really can wait. It’s not that we don’t want to speak with students about things that are important to them or for them to “have a voice,” but typically full band rehearsals is not the time for those things.

Be sure to check back for Part 2 of this article in which I share four more helpful strategies, including one I call “the most significant and effective” tool for classroom management!

Sound Innovations: Ensemble Development is a complete curriculum to help beginning through advanced band students grow as ensemble musicians. It thoroughly complements and supplements performance music, breaking down each ensemble concept and preparing students to be ready for any scenario in their repertoire. Learn more at alfred.com/SIdevelop .