Dragon Run

By Chris M. Bernotas

Chris Bernotas introduces his concert band work, Dragon Run–named for the 40-mile winding stream that flows throughout Virginia and empties into the Piankatank River. This immense ecosystem is known for its rich wildlife and preserved beauty. Dragon Run by Chris M. Bernotas features strong rhythms, intentional dissonance, contrasting dynamics, and wonderful musical opportunities for all. It echoes the excitement of exploring the views and experiencing the sometimes intense wildlife visitors encountered when journeying along the river and surrounding swamps. Dragon Run is correlated to Sound Innovations, Book 1, Level 6.

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Culture Change

Think about the question they are asking, “What is the purpose of class after the spring concert?” The answer to motivating students post-performance is right there within that very question; “What is the purpose of class?” If students do not know that answer then perhaps we aren’t communicating enough before the concert.

If there is one thing we can agree on, it is that we are goal driven by nature. A concert is certainly one of the goals of a performance ensemble, but it is only one goal. I believe each day in our classroom should be special. There should be some spark, some amazing and wonderful moment that serves as positive motivation for students. A concert as a goal is fine and appropriate but when student “light bulbs” go off every day they will soon realize that we are not just there for the big show. We are not teaching to the test. The music room needs to be a culture of learning, for the love of learning.

I often tell students that our concert is like any other day, we just happen to take the wall down and let other people (parents and community members) see what we do in class every day. This concept and idea needs to be introduced to students in the beginning of the year and reinforced often. When students understand that we teach kids, not concerts, they will ask, “Are we playing today?” less often.

This kind of culture takes time to instill, but it is well worth the effort. Does it end the questioning? No, sometimes a student will still ask, “what are we doing for the rest of the year?” after the spring concert, but maybe it will be with a tone of excited curiosity. It is sure nice to say, “We are doing all of the same, awesome kinds of things we have been doing all year, isn’t that great?”

Special Events

Another strategy that is helpful with the post-concert blues is to plan some extra special lessons after a performance. There is merit to sprinkling some “out of the ordinary” days throughout the year, but I find them especially helpful in keeping students on the learning train after a concert.

Here are a couple of ideas you might want to consider:

Sight-Reading Mania!

Sight-reading is a year-long focus. It is always fun to pass out new music on the spot and see how things go! If your library is like mine, there are some hidden gems that remain untouched.

Our music library is organized by number and during our sight-reading mania days I have a student pick a number between 1 and 900. The one rule is, they can not change numbers and neither can I. I go to the library, get the piece and THAT is what we read. I am sight-reading, they are sight-reading and because a student picked the number, they are always excited for that class.

Conducting Class

After the post-concert reflection, consider focusing on a different aspect of being in the ensemble. Let’s assume students look up from time to time from their music. What? It can happen! Anyway, while most students know, others might wonder why you flap your arms in that that special way, or why you are often looking at them and pointing during the music. This is the perfect time to give a group conducting lesson.

Project the first page of a score on a screen and show them how it is organized by instrument, then teach them a couple of basic conducting patterns. Using a piece that was just performed in the concert, rotate student conductors. Let them conduct a couple of phrases. This is often a win-win because students enjoy performing the music again and they also get a whole new experience as the conductor. Students also often gain another level of respect for what you do each day.

Look and Listen

How many super cool videos do you come across in your musical life? There are so many amazingly talented musicians in our world and there are incredible performance videos that float around the internet all the time. Sharing some of these videos for part of a class period can be a wonderful way to expose students to incredible performances they may never see. It can be a technically dazzling performance, interesting and informative, or something funny or cute. It is just another simple way of engaging your students and maintaining their excitement of learning.

Share a Story

Students love to chat, don’t they? This is their chance! This activity can be great any time of the year, but especially after a concert or performance. Have your students come up with their own story about a piece of music, either one you just performed, or any other in their folder. What do they hear in the music? What story does their mind come up with? Let them imagine and share. If they are shy, invite them to write their story.

Whaddaya call it?

Play your students a recording of a piece of music without telling them the title. Have them listen for a minute or two, then ask them to come up with a title! This can be a lot of fun for both you and your students. Again, they are sharing their thoughts which helps them connect with each other and with you. In my opinion, some titles are subjective. My piece, Dancing Kites, might be some student’s Dragon Mountain or Happy River and that is OK! Kids love to talk and this might be an appropriate time to let them.

Compose Yourself

We always want to find ways to encourage students to try their hand at composition. A great way to start is to have students write unison rhythms, then have the ensemble perform them. Give them some parameters, for example: Write 2-4 measures of rhythm using quarter notes and quarter note rests on the whiteboard. Then you can lead the class in the performance of those rhythms. You can have students clap, stomp, tap pencils, play in unison, play in rounds, any way you would like! You are a creative teacher – design a couple of simple compositional activities for your students that can be used for a portion of your class period. Your activity may be the one that sparks the next composer in our world!

The end of the concert is not the end of our students’ music education. If students understand and believe the purpose of being in band, choir, or orchestra is to learn, connect with, and share musical experiences (as opposed to simply practicing music for a concert) they will realize that every single day in your class is meaningful, right up until the last lesson of the school year.

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We live in a time where the tide is turning. Instead of giving everyone a trophy, we’re beginning to teach students how best to deal with both the ups AND downs of life. We’re moving away from helicopter parenting/teaching. Instead we’re allowing students to take calculated risks and see the benefit from both success and failure – giving them a longer leash by which they can engage in self exploration and discovery. Today there is a shift from giving students the answers to guiding them to discover the answers for themselves. If we are not making those shifts in philosophy, I think it is time we do so, and there is no better place to model that shift than the music room.

Think about it – the music room (band, choir, orchestra, classroom music) is a safe haven for most kids. It is a place where they come and are supported by passionate, dedicated teachers that care about them as human beings, not just as students or musicians. We want to foster and preserve their creativity and love of learning so it reaches far beyond their school years and translates to their adult lives. Although giving music students the answers (i.e. singing their part to them, etc.) and holding their hand may yield short term success (and a fine public performance) I do not believe this approach teaches them the core values that we all believe are most important.

Life Skills We Teach

We want our students to learn life skills through music. In our classrooms students learn skills that are applicable to their entire future. Isn’t that an awesome responsibility? We will teach them how to be a manager, a member of a team, and to work with a diverse group of people with varying skill sets and talents. We will teach them how to be a leader, how to be a follower, how to give direction, and how to take direction. We will teach them ways to come up with multiple solutions to problems and test them. We will teach them to evaluate the results of their experiment and revise their ideas. We will give them opportunities to become self-directed and self-corrective. We will allow them to experience the excitement of achievement and sometimes (even more importantly) we will allow them to experience the discomfort of not achieving excellence on the first try.

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Critical Thinking Defined

Our charge as teachers is to guide students to develop their own skills and help them apply those skills as they practice for “real life.“ Our use of critical thinking helps students as they discover and experience learning. So what is this critical thinking I speak of? According to dictionary.com, critical thinking is, “the mental process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion.” Isn’t it beautiful? Doesn’t it read like poetry?

Think about what is happening when you are teaching a lesson or rehearsal and stop to address an issue you heard. Imagine this scenario: You are working on a beautiful legato section and your students played all the right notes, but the tuning of the last chord was a little off. You stop the band. Then what? You have so many options of how you can handle the tuning issue. One way would be to listen to them play the chord and simply say, “Johnny, your A is sharp. Play it flatter.” Done. Problem solved. While there are definitely times to teach with this kind of pointed direction, I would suggest trying to lead Johnny to the answer and let him discover the feeling of discomfort (out of tune) to comfort (in tune). How? It is fairly simple.

Provide Guidance, Not Answers

The first thing to do is ensure that you are consistent in relaying information about how to solve problems in their musical performance. In class and in lessons, share with your students the many ways to solve common performance issues. For example, in the scenario of tuning the chord, I would have students perform the chord and then I would describe all of the possible problems. “Everyone listen to the chord. Something isn’t matching in it. Maybe it is the tuning, some people may be sharp or flat or flarp! Some students may be spot on with their pitch. Listen around you and think about your pitch. If you think you are sharp, lower the pitch using your embouchure or air speed. Experiment! If you think you are flat, try to raise the pitch, again by experimenting. See if it sounds better. If you think your pitch is right, leave it alone!”

This is the beauty of implementing a critical thinking approach. You are guiding them, and helping them, but letting them find the answer. You will achieve the same result – an “in tune” chord – however, your students will become more willing to make a decision, try something new, test it out, and re-evaluate. It may take a little longer to get that chord in tune, and you will have to be creative in how you approach musical concepts and engage all of your students in the process, but that is another reason teaching this way is so exciting! When they do get that chord in tune you should most definitely celebrate it and let them know that THEY were the ones that made it work.

You are an incredibly important role model in the lives of your music students. If they see you experiment and see you get excited about their musical discovery, they will be willing to do things for themselves. By giving your students the power to make decisions about their musical performance you will be helping them to build true confidence, not inflated confidence. You will be helping them to deal with both the challenges of life and the exciting successes of life. You will be doing what we all set out to do; to help students love learning, stay excited, and remain curious. You will be helping to support students by maintaining their childhood excitement and creativity as they grow into adulthood.

Never forget that you truly make a difference!

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