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Re: Improving an "iffy" band

To: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Improving an "iffy" band
From: David Buckley <davebuckley@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 11:19:40 -0500
Priority: low
References: <19991228171725.12443.qmail@web1703.mail.yahoo.com>
Reply-to: brass-band@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Donna. I intended to reply to this when it first was posted but Christmas and
colds got in the way.

You make a very valid point that almost all conductors face, namely, how do I
motivate my band to want to improve? My experience as a conductor and as a
player has been that this element of motivation is key.

Bands improve through hard work. I have played for a former member of top
contesting bands who lead an SA band after immigrating to Canada. He worked us
harder and longer than any other conductor in my experience. But as a band
member, you could recognise the improvement. this is a powerful motivator. He
showed me that pretty ordinary players could play at a high level by repeated
repetition, chord balancing, tuning etc. Often it wasn't fun but the results
showed.

When I took over the same band a year and a half after he had left, I found that
first I had to learn to conduct. this is not as silly as it seems. There are
many conductors out there that do not know the language of conducting. Then over
the long term I wanted the band not just to be able to play 1 piece well but to
have a solid foundation so they could get to a good performance quicker. To do
this we had to have a program of activities that continually challenged the band
to stretch their abilities.

As someone else mentioned, the aim is not to just push people out of the band
but to get them up to speed. Sometimes however it is necessary to take action if
players are hindering the progress of the band by not working at their horn. I
never asked anyone to leve the band but I did put them on the spot in rehearsals
and made it quite clear that what they were doing was not satisfactory. this was
only after a long period of trying to get improvement. They very soon quit and
the band was better for it.

As a conductor then you are part driver, part coach, part teacher and part
psychologist. It is a hard job requiring much more than musical skills which is
why lots of people are not successful at it.

Regards.

Dave.


--

References:
- Re: Improving an "iffy" band
  - From: Donna Lafferty

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