Developing individual practice strategies during full ensemble rehearsals in middle school instrumental music

Abstract

Middle school-aged instrumental musicians commonly lack the strategies needed to practice effectively and independently, a fact made evident to me through observing my students lead sectionals during class or recording and submitting playing assignments. This deficit in middle schoolers’ innate practice strategies revealed how their practice sessions led to the accidental reinforcement of poor habits, hindering genuine progress, and often resulted in frustration. Upon researching this topic, I discovered several methods developed by Picard (2021) that could be implemented to remedy this issue by demonstrating positive and effective practice habits during full ensemble rehearsals. I created and taught a series of lessons for my 7th-grade band where they received direct lessons that explained, modeled, and guided them through various practice strategies, which were immediately reinforced by applying each strategy to a different sight-reading excerpt as an ensemble. It was evident upon reviewing the footage of the ensemble performing that the sight-reading abilities of the group improved throughout the course of each lesson, and those skills will be able to transfer to students’ independent practice habits. In the future, I would consider adding more opportunities for students to implement these new strategies during sectionals or individual practice sessions, so they are able to apply their new skills in a more hands-on scenario rather than in the safety of full ensemble rehearsal. During my time studying at Kansas State University, my teaching philosophy evolved to encompass new skills and ideals. The first major shift in my teaching involved the way I approached preparing for my classes musically with regard to score study, repertoire selection, and conducting mastery. Literature Analysis and History of Wind Bands stressed to me that dedicating time each day to researching quality repertoire and composers is of high importance, so I can foster quality musical experiences for my own students. By selecting high-quality repertoire, I can guide my students through more than merely learning the notes and rhythms, but rather engaging them in analyzing, reflecting, feeling, and performing the music. In a similar vein, Advanced Conducting pushed me outside of my comfort zone and helped me become more introspective on how the mastery and execution of my conducting reflects in students’ confidence and expression in performance. The second change I experienced in my teaching philosophy altered the way I incorporate new research strategies, ideas, and beliefs into my classroom, centering students in my instruction. Research in Music Education taught me how to critically analyze research articles, and I implement this skillset by purposely dedicating time to experiment with new ideas and methods in my teaching as a way to continually learn and grow as an educator. These major changes in my philosophy will continue to evolve and impact how I teach for years to come.