This is the time of year when music educators start getting stressed about upcoming performances and marching band competitions and rehearsals get a bit chaotic and stressful.  As these performances draw closer, let’s remember the phrase author Stephen Covey made popular in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Keep the main thing the main thing. Music Education!

We are in the business of training young musicians to be intentional about their music making. We are also in the business of instructing young musicians to be proactive with their thought process in their individual practice and in group settings. If we are attempting to be successful in our upcoming engagements our rehearsals should be even more focused on the main thing which is educational thoughts and training young minds to engage.

Being more intentional about spending daily time teaching fundamentals, technique, tone production, articulation, etc. will actually help the overall product be more successful without spending time on the actual product itself. Its scary, however. It is our nature to get stressed and feel pressure to make sure the product is perfect for an upcoming performance. What we end up doing is trying to think for the students, which makes them engage even less. Why do they need to think when someone else is doing it for them.

Keep the main thing the main thing.

What is the main thing? We are in the business of helping young musicians be the best versions of themselves. Plain and simple. The challenge is making sure we are continuing down the road of education and thoughtful intent instead of rote teaching out of fear that the students will not acheive what we are asking in time to be successful.

I have heard many times from music educators that they start out with great fundamental training, especially in the marching arts, but as the season progresses they just do not have time to work on the fundamentals of playing any longer. It seems logical, and I have certainly fallen into this trap in the past. If you move away from educational thoughts regarding fundamental playing and breathing what are students thinking about while playing? Probably nothing. The harder the season gets, the more relaxed approach and educational thoughts young musicians need. If young players have thoughts of intent always on the front of their brain, we will not need to rote teach as much.

The harder it gets, and the closer those big shows get, take more time to keep the main thing the main thing. Keep giving your young musicians daily vitamins to keep them healthy! Keep them on the path to success through intentional educational thoughts pushing them to be a more advanced version of themselves. The results will be beyond your wildest dream.

Do you find it difficult to find time for the main thing when important performances are approaching?