Jeff Bolduc – bandwarmups.com
For Band Students and their Families.
It is hoped that parents go through some of the problems and solutions presented in this article together with their band student. A willingness to explore music performance together is perhaps the key ingredient for families to find satisfaction having a successful musician in the family. – JB
Although instrumental students are always told to practice, rarely are students armed with enough material and knowledge to keep home practice exciting and rewarding. Beyond that, no music teacher can issue enough material to keep every student actively engaged at a level that is challenging to them, and also suits their musical interests. Parents certainly are the greatest advocates for their child’s music education, but few parents have a thorough enough knowledge to steer their child through the highs and lows of a successful experience learning an instrument. This article is intended to empower parents with little musical background to encourage and assist their instrumental student through the ups and downs of developing proficiency on a musical instrument.
With that in mind – any music that gets a student to put their instrument together and play is good music! Parents are encouraged to supplement their child’s school or lesson assignments with songbooks that pique their musical interest. There are countless books for each instrument that often include play-along CD’s. See the Addendum at the end of this article for local and online music stores that have a variety of these collections on site.
There are several variables that need to be established to allow the reader to pick a suitable jumping in point to use these tips.
Ø Years of experience:
*Students who are first or second year players will have limited ‘music vocabulary’, and thus limits as to the difficulty of the music they should attempt. There are countless books geared towards beginner players beyond the book that their band program uses. These will consider range (how high or low the notes are and unusual fingerings), rhythm (how fast the fingers are expected to go), and meter, key, or other theory-based difficulties.
*Students in middle/high school who participate in their school’s music offeringswill be able to read and perform most supplemental material available. It’s important that they also display a functional knowledge of school music and assignments. These students are usually the most in need of music beyond that offered by their music program.
*Students who learn through Private Lessons only are often challenged by the vast amount of music and method book material assigned by their private teacher. However, they may lack the listening and team skills of ensemble participation. Rarely will they need extra materials unless prescribed by their private teacher.
*The school band student who also studies privately will have plenty to practice as they balance the needs of their school music with the assignments issued by their private teacher. This student often needs the least amount of guidance from parents if they seem excited about the amount and types of music they’re trying to master.
Ø Instrument:
Woodwind instruments usually offer the quickest gratification for younger students. If the right buttons or keys are pushed, the correct note will usually sound, making most music accessible as far as hitting the correct notes. For brassplayers, the ability to hit the higher notes depends on the strength of the lips. Pushing the right key or position alone doesn’t guarantee the correct note is going to speak. In fact, brass instruments can hit multiple notes for each key or position that is pressed, potentially making it frustrating for students trying to learn new material. Brass players also need a ‘good ear’ to hear if they are on the right note. Percussionists lose the potential to learn melodies at all. For them, establishing ‘chops’ through rudiments is the biggest challenge unless they have access to a drumset. Repetition and patience are key traits of a successful band drummer. With access to a set they could also learn styles and grooves by playing along with recordings of any music they choose.
Ø Natural ability:
Finally, it is a given that some children possess more natural musical ability than others. There are students who pick up an instrument and never look back, never need encouragement, and seem to ‘get it’ from the first note they play. Others have to work much harder to succeed and find enjoyment in playing their instrument. Most students find fulfillment in the social aspects of music making without ever becoming truly great musicians in the true sense of the word. The beauty of instrumental music is that it takes all types of students to make a successful band or orchestra.
General Practice Tips for Students and Parents
What is needed for effective practice?
Ø A quiet place with good lighting, a straight-backed chair, and no interruptions.
Ø Music stand and perhaps a metronome and tuner.
How much practice should be expected?
Ø As a general rule, a little time each day is better than one or two long sessions each week. As a development skill, a small steady diet is better than ‘cramming’ everything into one weekly session. The point is developing muscle control in the face and the hands. Regular reps are far more effective than occasional lengthier workouts.
Ø For elementary students, four 15-20 minute sessions a week is plenty. Middle school students should strive for four 30-minute sessions a week (or 20 minutes almost every day). High school students have band class every day, which gives them a steady routine. They should practice as needed beyond this to be able to adequately perform all assigned music and to develop endurance for lengthy performances. Those in select groups will need endurance or stamina to make it through a full concert when performing with multiple groups.
PRACTICE STRATEGIES
Ø Establish a regular time for home practice. (After dinner, right when the student gets home from school, after other homework is finished, etc.)
Ø If there is more than one musician in the family, perhaps one practices while the other does homework, and then they switch.
Ø Do not make instrumental practice part of daily chores! If a students doesn’t feel like practicing a few days a week, or has more pressing academic homework, that’s okay. Playing their instrument should be a break from what they ‘have to do’. If it’s an escape from the ‘must do’ events in their life, then music will have found the proper place in your child’s life.
SOLVING PRACTICE PROBLEMS
Ø Short on Time.
As prescribed above, many shorter practice sessions are better than just dedicating one long practice. In this scenario, making the practice session as effective as possible is key. Don’t just play through music that is already mastered. Select newer or more difficult material that need’s attention. To improve 2 or 3 passages of any pressing concert music or etude material is far more productive than just running through old music. It may not be as fun or satisfying, but developing weaknesses in your craft is the point of all practice, whether music, sports, writing, painting, or any skill based activity.
Ø Too noisy.
For students who live in an apartment, have many siblings, or perhaps have parents who work unusual hours, the noise factor may mean there is never a good time to practice. For brass players, a mute is an economical way to dampen the sound and take away it’s carrying power. A basic straight mute for trumpet can be purchased in the 12 to16 dollar range. Trombone mutes may run a little higher. Mutes give the student (and their families) a viable option if practicing with an open bell is occasionally difficult. However, they shouldn’t be used all the time as they may inhibit tone development. For drummers, there are many types of drum pads available, including digital pads that can utilize headphones. Often, students choose flute or clarinet because they have a pretty tone without being overly loud. Practicing a few rooms away from people with the door shut usually makes the noise level a non-factor. That leaves the saxophone as the loudest instrument that is difficult to diminish for practice – not sure there are easy solutions to this problem.
That leads to the second ‘too noisy’ solution: Picking the right time. A musician’s family or home situation/schedule may determine the best time to practice. Right after school may be best, perhaps right after dinner when everyone’s busy with their own activities. For younger student’s, parental oversight is recommended, so an after school time simply because no one’s home may solve the noise problem, but doesn’t necessarily encourage a productive practice session. Try to be fairly consistent with practice time so it becomes a habitual part of weekly life
Ø No motivation (perhaps the most significant problem for young musicians).
The most common causes for this are a lack of interesting material to play, a lack of understanding of how and what to practice, or the pull of other activities that may appear to more fun and less work. Solutions: Anything that makes the students want to open their case and play is a bonus.
1) There are many songbooks with accompanying play-a-long CD’s available. Having a student choose one or two with music they like (movie themes, holiday songs, Disney hits, pop songs, etc.) is a great extension of a student’s band music.For band students, the amount and variety of music available for solo practice or performance is amazing. Many books come with CD to play along with a backing band. Hal Leonard is also the biggest publisher of these types of books. This page is a sample of Pop-style books for Trumpet (some with CD, others without). Click on the top for each particular instrument and musical style. If one looks good, it can be purchased right from Hal Leonard on this site, or you could write down the info and do a full web search for the cheapest price.
2) Encourage the student to play home concerts as much as possible. The reason anyone chooses to be a musician is the chance to perform. These concerts should include all facets of musicianship (scale or warm up activity, concert music from band, fun music the student may be learning on their own or from private lessons). To only encourage the fun stuff sends the wrong message. The total musician is always trying to learn new scales, tackle tough technique builders, and improve their tone and expressive qualities through ‘real’ music excerpts. A parent taking an active role in their child’s music education is perhaps the best way to avoid motivational issues. See Tips for Parents for ideas on helping a student improve at home.
Perhaps the most overlooked motivational tool would be to have your child invite over a ‘practice buddy’ from time to time. This could be a sibling, a parent who also plays an instrument, or a fellow student who plays in the same band. Keep in mind that most instruments are in different keys, so both players should either play the same instrument or have music from the same source. (A flute and trumpet cannot look at the same piece of music, it would sound ‘off’. If they have band parts, or separate books written specifically for flute and trumpet then they have been ‘transposed’ to fix the difference.) Having common music will allow for an enjoyable experience. If an older sibling plays a different instrument, the student could perhaps borrow that band part from their director to bring home. This would allow for home coaching/tutoring.
Tips for Students
Ø Know what a mistake is.
Hold yourself to a high standard and don’t accept ‘good enough’. Pay attention to the detail in articulation and dynamics, and self-critique yourself on every note and passage your practicing. Can it be better? How? Demand good tone, phrasing, and accuracy in everything you play. I always practiced as if the entire neighborhood could hear me (they actually could!). Play every note as if it’s a performance. Many great musicians have underachieved simply because they were good enough to play their band music without much effort. Push yourself towards mastery and move on to more difficult material. Ask your teacher to supply you with more advanced materials, even though you’re skill level already allows you to play any band music pretty well already. Like all skill-based activities, let the challenge for excellence come from within.
Ø Practice things that are difficult.
As mentioned earlier, know your weakness both as a musician, and in the music you’re working on. Practice to fill in the gaps of your skill level. Don’t play it safe, and don’t spend time on old music. If scales are mastered, try them faster, continue the scale into the higher register, or try different articulations (slurred, staccato, etc.).
Ø Demand good posture and good air support.
Stay relaxed, and be very intentional about taking big, down-deep breaths. Make sure you have a straight back chair and don’t slouch. Perhaps practice standing up? Always use a music stand, make sure your instrument is in good working order, and avoid outside distractions (TV!?).
Go several measures on each breath and try to increase your air capacity. Avoid choppy playing that requires a breath every few beats. Music is like speaking in that each phrase, or sentence, should be an extended, connected thought that makes sense. People don’t breath between every word, and good music follows a similar train of thought. Practicing long tones will help develop tone and endurance.
Ø Variety
Avoid the same routine every day – try different rooms where the acoustics may be better, play along with a metronome from time to time, stop and clap a tricky rhythm, sight read through something you’ve never played. Use different warm ups, try different scales, practice different pieces, anything to keep you focused and challenged.
Tips for Parents
Many parents have little or no instrumental experience to fall back on when helping their child to become a successful musician. That shouldn’t matter –good music is good music.
Ø Identify good tone.
Even if you’ve never played the flute, you certainly have heard countless recordings of the flute in all types of music throughout your life. If your child’s tone is very airy, with very little flute tone, you could certainly identify that. Feel free to talk about nice tone with your musician. How can it be purer? Is it something they’re doing with their lips, should they put more air into the instrument? When in doubt, listen to recordings of the instrument your child is playing with them. Don’t dismiss bad habits just because they’re a beginner or intermediate player. Basketball players need to make free throws, whether aged 10 or 30. It may take younger players a lot more practice to reach the basket, but good technique and repetition will get them there. Same with instruments, it should sound like a trumpet no matter the age of the player.
Ø Identify good phrasing.
Can they go several measures on one breath? Again, good music is like talking with each musical thought or phrase a connected, identifiable thought. If it’s awkward and choppy, suggest they take a bigger breath (in the belt area) and push continually through multiple notes or measures as needed. Ex: Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb (breath) Mary had a little lamb who’s fleece was white as snow (breath). Good phrasing would see this played with only one breath in the middle. If your child takes 5 or 6 breathes to play through this – that’s bad phrasing! Hopefully a parent could recognize that. When in doubt, refer to the speaking analogy. Do the musical phrases form connected, comfortable ‘sentences’ or are they breathing after every 2 or 3 ‘words’?
The other key part of good phrasing is a steady beat. Can you tap your foot along to the music? As music teachers, this is one of the most important skills we look for. I’d rather have a good beat with a few wrong notes along the way, than all the right notes but no sense of steady movement. Certainly any audience, including ‘non-musician’ parents, could check this. A metronome could really help a student who struggles in this area.
Ø Look for physical strain.
Are they playing with raised shoulders, tension in the neck, and turning red as they play? Are they resting their instrument on the chair or on their knee? It should not be, or look, uncomfortable for anyone to play a wind instrument. Encourage the student to sit up, relax, and push from the belt area. Raised shoulders and a closed throat are the most common areas of strain – relax. Air should pass comfortably from the diaphragm through the throat and mouth without any noticeable effort. If it seems like the air is getting all backed up before getting to the instrument, they are straining in unnecessary areas – shoulders, chest, and back of the neck. Drummers should barely move their upper arms. Most movement should be in the wrist and fingers.
Ø Check the instrument.
Most problems are really obvious. Are there chips in the mouthpiece or reed? Do the buttons move freely? Do all the slides or instrument parts move freely, but fit snugly? Is it clean inside the mouthpiece? Does the student swab (woodwind) or wash (brass) their mouthpiece and instrument regularly?
Ø It’s all in the attitude!
Every child has moments where they consider life without their ‘stupid instrument’. They have to carry it on the bus in the snow, find time to practice at least a little bit, and be responsible for keeping up with class work that was introduced while at their lesson. In middle school, instrumental music students don’t get to participate in other ‘activity block’ offerings. These can quickly add up to a student questioning continued participation. Anything a parent can do to help their child get over these bumps in the road should do so.
This is where I’m going to dawn 2 hats (teacher and Dad) and climb up on my soapbox with 2 irrefutable facts: I’ve taught band of all ages for almost 30 years; and my own children got a lot out of the arts, whether it was music, visual art, dance, color guard, or theatre. I have spent my life seeing all types of students go through school music programs. The stats don’t lie as far as academic achievement in music students. Students who stick with music are the type of students you want your child to be around. Music offers a unique skill set that really isn’t available through any other school offering. That’s not a knock on any other discipline or activity, but music and the arts are different in ways that I could list for pages. I also believe that all students can be successful in music performance. They may ‘find’ themselves at different times, be it 5thgrade or 10th, but I’ve never seen a student never ‘get it’. The benefits of keeping your child in music when they hit those “I wanna’ quit” bumps are worth the effort. The discipline, camaraderie, self-pride, and attention to detail that students learn are life altering. More importantly, to spend so much time with like-minded, motivated, artistic students makes for many lasting friendships, and a lifelong appreciation of the arts.
I’ve taught tens of thousands of students. I know there is no guarantee on anything, but I strongly believe that keeping a child in the performing arts is as close as you can get to insuring a well-rounded child when they graduate from high school. You may think that extreme, but this is my blog. 
Ø What else can you do?
o Home concerts are fun! Is there anything new they learned, whether it’s a piece of music, a new note, or a tricky scale, that they’re willing to share?
o Take them to: sheet music store; a concert; football game for halftime.
o Invite over ‘band friends’ to practice together.
o Look into Private Lessons at a local music store, or ask band directors for teacher recommendations.
o Check on the cleaning and maintenance of the instrument. Do they have what they need?
o Come to the concerts, bring your family.
o Support home practice. Ignore the noise (even if it’s difficult).
Bibliography
Pinksterboer, Hugo. Tipbook: Music for Kids and Teens (A Guide for Parents and Caregivers). The Netherlands: The Tipbook Company, 2006.
Raising an Amazing Musician. London, UK: ABRSM Publishing, 2009.