One week ago, my jazz band performed at the Iowa Jazz Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. 15 bands in each class (Iowa runs a four class system) qualified for the opportunity to perform for the state championship. We performed in class 3A, the second largest class offered in the state. Say what you want about the value of competition in music, but I am a believer that competition has it's place and when used appropriately, provides students with a physical goal (yes, a trophy) that they can tie their efforts to.
The day and experience is wonderful. Many fine bands, musicians, and music educators are gathered, ready to showcase their work for the year. The awards ceremony is electric. One of Iowa's college or university jazz band performs for the students, the All-State jazz band participants are announced, and of course, the final awards ceremony.
The band was ready to perform. They had their best performance of the season. I was so proud of them! They felt great coming out of the performance and it made the rest of the day so enjoyable. When the awards were announced however, we were not the state champion. We were not even in the top half of the class. We ended up 11th out of the 15 bands. Should we feel disappointed? Maybe we didn't place as high as the goals we set for ourselves, but we still performed as well as we had all season so no, I don't feel there is any reason to be disappointed. However, the question always arises from students, parents, and other supporters. "I thought we played wonderful! What makes those other bands so much better than ours?"
When we arrived home, we talked about this question. Some answers from the students were, "Their rehearsal situation is different than ours, " "They have more students in their program," "They played harder music." One student then said, "They practice." I asked, "How?" Another said, "They practice more individually." That student hit the nail right on the head. Now, at the risk of making it sound like I don't feel our players are good players, I explained that there is another level of musicianship that very few of us have tapped into.
We could rehearse for hours on end as an ensemble, play every note and rhythm correctly, shape every phrase just how we want it to sound, and perfectly tune every chord, but we will only be as good as the music we play, which means each individual will only be as good as their part.
I challenged the students to take a look at themselves, and not just commit to the ensemble, but commit to themselves. Here is what we talked about:
1. Use every opportunity in our program as an opportunity to grow as a musician.
The day and experience is wonderful. Many fine bands, musicians, and music educators are gathered, ready to showcase their work for the year. The awards ceremony is electric. One of Iowa's college or university jazz band performs for the students, the All-State jazz band participants are announced, and of course, the final awards ceremony.
The band was ready to perform. They had their best performance of the season. I was so proud of them! They felt great coming out of the performance and it made the rest of the day so enjoyable. When the awards were announced however, we were not the state champion. We were not even in the top half of the class. We ended up 11th out of the 15 bands. Should we feel disappointed? Maybe we didn't place as high as the goals we set for ourselves, but we still performed as well as we had all season so no, I don't feel there is any reason to be disappointed. However, the question always arises from students, parents, and other supporters. "I thought we played wonderful! What makes those other bands so much better than ours?"
When we arrived home, we talked about this question. Some answers from the students were, "Their rehearsal situation is different than ours, " "They have more students in their program," "They played harder music." One student then said, "They practice." I asked, "How?" Another said, "They practice more individually." That student hit the nail right on the head. Now, at the risk of making it sound like I don't feel our players are good players, I explained that there is another level of musicianship that very few of us have tapped into.
We could rehearse for hours on end as an ensemble, play every note and rhythm correctly, shape every phrase just how we want it to sound, and perfectly tune every chord, but we will only be as good as the music we play, which means each individual will only be as good as their part.
I challenged the students to take a look at themselves, and not just commit to the ensemble, but commit to themselves. Here is what we talked about:
1. Use every opportunity in our program as an opportunity to grow as a musician.
- Marching band, concert band, jazz band, pep band, solo & ensemble season
- Audition for All-State, and District Honor Bands
- Take assessments seriously
- Jazz camps, city bands, church services, combo gigs, private lessons from reputable professionals.
- Listen to various CD's, and You Tube performances
- Read and research music, performances, participate in blogs and twitter about music.
- Invest in music by buying books and other music
- Perform with your friends and have fun!
- Educate your parents, and the community as to why music is important to you.
- Excite and influence your peers and our younger students positively about music and our program.
