Those of you who know me are aware of the fact that I choose to live on the positive, upbeat side of life 99% of the time. It is, therefore, difficult for me to even think about writing a column based on the negative. However, I have observed the same maddening behavior in concert after concert and decided that just once DON’T and STOP IT! may be the only way to get the message across.<\/p>\n
1.<\/span> STOP! bowing to the audience while walking. And DON’T look up as you bow. Both actions look non-professional.<\/p>\n 2.<\/span> STOP! tuning the band in front of the audience, especially instrument by instrument. Even the least discerning in your audience can find your weaknesses under this circumstance. Furthermore, I (and many of my adjudicator colleagues) have yet to hear a band play in tune when the director goes from player to player telling the student “push in, pull out, you’re flat, you’re sharp.”<\/p>\n 3.<\/span> STOP! counting-off concert bands!!! This habit carries over from pep band and jazz ensemble where it is often appropriate for various reasons. The only reason to count-off (or worse yet, conduct “one measure for nothing” ) with a concert band is to cover up that fact that the conductor doesn’t know how to give a preparatory beat. Dead measures absolutely ruin the start of many compositions. Just get the band to breathe with you at the speed of the preparatory; it will always work.<\/p>\n 4.<\/span> STOP! tapping YOUR foot while conducting. It looks ridiculous, it’s noisy on a podium, and it creates two sources of time-beating for the band.<\/p>\n 5.<\/span> STOP! your students from creating ANY kind of distraction during the concert. This includes visible reactions when a mistake is made; it’s a fact that most audiences aren’t even aware of most mistakes. EVERYONE knows when someone in the band flinches or laughs about a mistake. Also, NEVER let members of the jazz ensemble talk or wander around during someone’s ad lib solo; the audience stops listening to the soloist and watches the disruptor.<\/p>\n 6.<\/span> STOP! being distracted by something that happens on the stage while you talk to the audience. Turning away from the mic in the midst of a description about the next selection so that you can give instructions to someone in the band gives the performance an amateurish feeling.<\/p>\n 7.<\/span> STOP! playing music that is not properly prepared!!!!!!!! Just because it’s listed in the printed program doesn’t mean you JUST HAVE TO perform it. Many concerts I attend are ruined by one or two pieces that should never have been programmed. The audience suffers, the band suffers, and the credibility of our profession suffers. Rule of Thumb: If the band can’t play through the composition without breaking down and without sounding awful by the third rehearsal, don’t list it (or 8.<\/span> STOP! apologizing to the audience for music you are about to play, or have just 9.<\/span> STOP! telling the audience that “Mary is missing because…she had to work…is sick…had a volleyball match.” Right away you have signaled to the audience that there is a problem. All of a sudden they have ears. If the piece can’t be played correctly without Mary’s part or by another player, just DON’T PLAY THE PIECE. If you want to say something about a substitute player, do it afterwards, if you can acknowledge that player in a complementary manner. Don’t put that player under more pressure by explaining ahead of time!<\/p>\n 10.<\/span> STOP! dismissing audiences at the conclusion of the concert. Your printed program is enough. If you don’t use one, then announce what you will perform as your final selection.<\/p>\n Watch professionals. If they don’t do it, then STOP DOING THAT!<\/p>\n from Vol 5, #1, p.16 (Aug-Oct 1989)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Those of you who know me are aware of the fact that I choose to live on the positive, upbeat side of life 99% of the time. It is, therefore, difficult for me to even think about writing a column based on the negative. However, I have observed the same maddening behavior in concert after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":2459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[206,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bandworld-archives","category-philosophy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1561"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3153,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561\/revisions\/3153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bandworld.org\/magazine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nplay it) on the program. You can always insert it between two pieces if some
\nmagic cure is discovered. (Chances are, it won’t!)<\/p>\n
\nperformed, poorly!!!!!! When I hear, “We just haven’t had much time to rehearse this next piece, but we’re going to play it anyway,” I know EXACTLY what is going to happen. So does the rest of your audience!!! (Refer to #7 above.)<\/p>\n