This is the time of year when music programs in schools are preparing for festivals, honor bands, conferences, etc. Oh, the pressure of sounding great in public so we look good in front of our peers. We must add extra rehearsals, and after school sectionals, and Saturday clinics. But, is this counter productive to what we are trying to do educationally, and what does this really do to the student musician?

Think about this.  If we provide a system for young musicians that allows them multiple chances to get things wrong, will they ever strive to be right the first time? If we make it easy on the student by placing all of the responsibility on us, will they ever take personal responsibility to practice?

How much do we really need to rehearse?

Kids that are in band/orchestra or choir programs in school get class time every day of the week (in most situations). That is roughly 5 hours of rehearsal per week. Most programs begin preparing pieces for concerts months in advance of the concert or festival. If programs are rehearsing 5 hours per week x 3 months, that is around 60 hours of rehearsal on 3-4 peices of music.

There is no way mentally this is stimulating to young musicians. Oh wait, I forgot that we need to add after school rehearsals to this as well. Subconsciously the student feels there is no reason to practice, because there will always be another chance to try and get it right.

Are we scared to turn our groups loose without over rehearsing?

I believe we are. My belief is that human nature is to want to succeed. If you tell a student we have a concert on a specific date, and rehearse and educate them enough to give them the tools they need to prepare, my belief is with less time to get it wrong, they will get it right. . . . . . through their own personal responsibility because they want to succeed.

What if they do not succeed? What if this doesn’t work? Would there not be a great lesson to teach through this process?

Let’s treat these young musicians like professionals.  In the professional world, there might be one rehearsal for multiple concerts instead of multiple rehearsals for one concert.  If we treat students like adults and professionals, will they not rise to the occasion? There is only one way to find out.

I teach multiple chamber music programs with many different school music programs and make it a point to only rehearse one time per week for 1 hour. We have maybe 10 hours of rehearsal and then perform a concert, and it is always miraculous to hear the musical product and to see the level of improvement in each musician individually. It was a scary thing to do at first, but the effeciency in both the music education and the teaching allows learning to happen at a faster pace and higher level, and the students WANT to succeed.

Why are we scared to rehearse less?