Evan Bossenbroek

Dr. Richerme, M344

9/12/19
Video Analysis

This video was an excerpt from the second rehearsal of a concert cycle for a High School

level band. The excerpt consisted of part of a warmup, a chorale and run through of an

arrangement of “Malagueña”, by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona. Throughout this analysis,

the focus will be on three main areas. First, the concept of intonation and how it relates to

warmups and rehearsals, then the rehearsal techniques used in this lesson and finally how this all

relates to the concept of student-centered learning. Content that is included in the video will be

the primary focus, but a few broader assumptions will be made about the program and learning

over time based on what the content included in the video.

The video excerpt starts with the band playing a Bach chorale in order to tune in their

ears and focus on blending and balancing. This is a good approach conceptually on the surface,

however there are a few key issues with the implementation. It would be more effective to have

the students tune after the scale exercises and before the chorale. This gives students a chance to

warmup their instruments and get mentally situated but still turns their minds towards intonation

for the chorale. If the chorale is all about blend and tuning triads, it helps to have a baseline sense

of intonation for the group. Additionally, the students are not transferring information about

intonation into larger contexts, such as the chorale or the piece they rehearsed. This is evidenced

by the fact that they are not playing in tune for much of the rehearsal.

Around the 9:45 mark, the teacher asks the trombones “are you in tune?”. The students

responded that no, they were not in tune. Despite this knowledge, and the fact that they were
isolated from the rest of the group, they had not fixed the problem. This indicates that they either

were not listening down to the tuba or did not know how to fix the problem. The teacher did a

good job having the two trombones model an out-of-tune pitch, visually and verbally

demonstrating the waves and then having them fix it.

He did not, however, engage the students in this activity or explain how the change was

made. This would be a great opportunity to teach about intonation as a broader concept. It would

involve many of the same elements that the teacher addressed, just tweaking them in order to

involve the students and limit lecturing. He could have one of the trombone players move their

slide slowly up and down until they find that they match the other player’s pitch. “If done slowly

enough the players will hear the beats gradually dissipate until they are eliminated” (Feldman

and Contzius 240, ch.14). Then the students should vocalize the waves instead of observing the

teacher singing the waves. This could go into an explanation that this applies to chords in the

repertoire that they are playing as well. This would engage the students in their education and

provide an opportunity for an informal assessment and the basis for transfer to other contexts.

Once this big idea of intonation is extended past the tuning note, this ensemble would

improve dramatically. A viable approach to this would be introducing sound-to-symbol

influenced ideas in the band room. There was an attempt at introducing singing into the chorale

portion of the rehearsal when the ensemble sang their first pitch. That could be expanded upon,

having the students sing a phrase from the chorale or from the piece they are working on.

“Becoming a better singer is not the most direct path to becoming a trombonist, but it may be the

most effective” (F&C 16, ch. 1). The same is true for the band. If they can sing parts of that

chorale in tune, hearing each pitch they play and how it fits into the harmonic framework, the

chorale will have a much better blend with better intonation when it comes out of their
instruments. “As audiation improves teachers will not need to micromanage what students play.

Director-centered learning becomes student centered learning” (F&C 16, ch. 1).

When the director talks about the front of the note being weak when they sing/play it, he

is focusing too much on articulation instead of the concept of audiation. Having them sing it in

their head, then hum it, then sing and then play would be a more logical way to approach the

problem. “Sound itself is not music. Sound becomes music through audiation” (Gordon, F&C 9,

ch. 1). Additionally, when the director sings the first note he is not engaging in effective

modeling. He misses the crucial third step of Haston’s procedure, for students to engage in

inference learning (F&C 15 ch.1). There is not a sufficient explanation about how he knows what

pitch to sing before he sings it or the generalization of the concept to the point where students

can transfer the knowledge. Audiation and modeling are two crucial concepts for effective

musical education. Unfortunately, it is impossible to model a mental process. By verbalizing the

process of audiation, the teacher could make an effective compromise between using modeling

and simply talking to the class.

Once the band finishes the chorale and they start tuning. This process could be altered to

be more effective. The director chose to tune the oboe first, then the tuba and then from the

bottom up, which aids in students listening down to the bass voices. Unfortunately, concert “B-

flat is not a good note for flutes (and) E-flat saxophones” (F&C 257, ch. 14). A more effective

approach would be to have the group take two tuning notes, a B-flat or F from the principal tuba

for the brass and an A from the principal oboe for the woodwinds. “This is a fast and efficient

procedure, and it encourages players to hear themselves as part of the woodwind or brass family”

(F&C 258 ch. 14). Additionally, this makes sure that everyone has a relatively “good” note to

tune to, without the disadvantages of a one-size-fits-all B-flat.

 For a final note on tuning, tone quality should be more prominent throughout the

rehearsal, especially in the way it relates to intonation. Many of the student’s tones tend to be

quite thin, which leads to the instruments sounding sharp. When the ensemble goes the chorale

by “bopping” it, the instructor should instead “have students ‘hiss’ or ‘blow through’ music that

they are studying and performing. Producing a strong hissing sound... can get across the idea of

the quality of air support necessary for good tone production” (Linklater 31). After all, “good

tone quality and good pitch are mutually inclusive, interconnected and dependent on each other”

(F&C 250, ch. 14). Other exercises to improve tone quality include talking about the importance

of a good breath with brass players, and reviewing reed-care, air support and embouchure with

woodwind players. This would solve a good deal of the intonation problems and help students

perceive intonation better.

While having a consistent warmup helps for student comfort and routine, this warmup

chorale following the scale patterns was a little too formulaic. Integrating warmups into the

repertoire being played would be a much more impactful use of time. When the ensemble did a

run through of the piece, it sounded too difficult for them. This is most likely not the case, but it

sounded like everyone needed a bit of time to get up to speed on everything. Incorporating

different melodies, scale patterns and rhythms from the repertoire into warmups during the

weeks leading up to this rehearsal could have made this a lot smoother. As Fraser Linklater

writes, “prepare the groundwork for new repertoire ahead of time rather than only as drills once

you have already begun the piece with your students” (Linklater 34).

After the tuning note and chord, the entire ensemble does a run through of an

arrangement of Ernesto Lecuona’s “Malagueña”. They then go back and work on specific spots,

though that part of the video was not included in the excerpt. This seems to be an attempt at the
“Macro-Micro-Macro" concept, talked about in Chapter Twelve of the Feldman and Contzius

textbook. Running through a piece when sight reading or when a concert is coming up is all well

and good; however, as noted in the description of the YouTube video, this is their second

rehearsal on the piece. In this context, running through a piece is a misuse of valuable rehearsal

time that could be spent on intonation concepts, rhythms and notes or as time for a discussion

about extramusical aspects that give the piece context. The teacher’s “Macro” is too big for the

scenario. A more effective approach would be to “run a segment of the piece... once problems

are identified, break the piece down by isolating and repairing individual components... Finally,

they place the components back together” (F&C 192 ch. 12). While this may seem tedious, if

done correctly over time, it will result in a much cleaner, more musical product.

This process would also limit the misdiagnosis of issues later on in the concert cycle.

Having such a big chunk will lead to “confusion over what is causing a problem in the ensembles

performance” (F&C 221, ch. 12). By limiting the number of problems in front of the ensemble, it

becomes much easier to choose one to fix today. In no world will this piece be performance

ready tomorrow or in the next week, but by going slowly and doing it right, the musical product

will be much better in a shorter period of time.

Additionally, taking some time to address some of the extra-musical aspects of this piece

would be beneficial. The ensemble should be considering the genre and the many different

interpretations taken by arrangers over the years while performing the piece. It is important for a

teacher to address the original genre of the Flamenco and other compositions by the Cuban

composer, Ernesto Lecuona. Some of the most famous renditions of this piece are by Stan

Kenton and The Madison Scouts, and it sounds like the band has that kind of sound in their

heads. In order to create well-rounded, culturally conscious musicians, it is important to select

quality arrangements and keep the intent of the composer in mind when performing and

rehearsing. The director must answer the question “why program a piece that has been altered

from the composer’s original vision” (F&C 156 ch. 9). The director could have students listen to

other examples of the genre or other pieces by the composer or talk about the tradition of

Flamenco dancing in Spain. This would give context to the piece, further involve students in

their own learning and help the students recreate a characteristic interpretation of the piece.

All of the alterations that have been proposed would lead to a more Student-Centered

approach to music education. When students are at the center of their own education, rather than

a teacher, they are more motivated, engaged and will learn in a much more efficient fashion.

When this is implemented correctly, “no longer are students detached from the music they learn

and the ways the learn it; rather they are connected to each element of their learning” (Brown

31). Devoting more time to extramusical aspects of the repertoire would allow students to lead a

discussion about the music they are performing, creating a greater connection and deeper

understanding. Focusing on more specific parts of the repertoire being played creates more space

for students to come up with creative ways to figure out tricky passages and fix it themselves.

Since it is only the second rehearsal of the piece, time could be spent on analysis. “Shared

analysis of a student-centered classroom can occur with the teacher as the initiation for

discussion into form, melodic and harmonic structures, orchestration, or any number of other

elements of the piece” (Brown 31). This could tie in nicely with the discussion about the

composer, genre, and culture associated with the piece.

There are quite a few positive aspects of this lesson, though some tweaks could be made

to have a more student-centered lesson plan. These issues of intonation, use of rehearsal time and

having a student-centered approach are interconnected and mutually beneficial. This would also
have a positive impact on student engagement and motivation. The use of the chorale, having a

tuning sequence after the warmup, addressing intonation issues among specific sections and the

Macro-Micro-Macro approach to rehearsing the piece are all good starting points. Within those

same areas, the approach could be refined, expanded into larger lessons, allowing the director to

be even more specific. Time could also be taken to talk about things related to the piece being

played, instead of just rehearsing the piece. Taking a student-centered approach would take time

and there would be some growing pains, but it is the best approach in the long run.