sample excerpt from
Igniting Response: the conductor's toolbox
MARKING THE MUSIC
"What s/he's saying is important."  
That's the messages students send themselves when they mark their music.
  • Marking means: valuing and respecting us as musicians and teachers.  
  • Our goal: To insure that, when we make a comment, our students' self-talk is "I'd better mark that down."
  • Not enforcing marking leads to students’ perception that one “does" in ensembles, but "learns" in other classes.  
    Students are unlikely to go to history or math class without a pencil or pen to take notes (to mark their music).
  • Marking the music is one of the absolutely necessary elements of having "enough rehearsal time."  
    Having enough rehearsal is less about the number of minutes and more about what we do with them.
  • You can get most ensemble members in any grade and at any proficiency level to mark their music.
The Key Factor
  • Here's the good news: marking depends far more on our behavior - than it does on theirs.
  • They'll mark if we enforce the law: Mark what I say in the music.
  • Enforcing means not continuing to rehearse until everyone marks the music.
  • You may have to wait a long, long time before everyone does, but it's your ability to wait until they do that's the
    determining factor.
  • Put another way: If we move on before everyone marks their part with a comment we've made - we're actually training
    them not to mark.
  • When we move on without waiting, the message we send loud and clear is: "You don't have to mark.  You don't have
    to do what I say.
  • It’s like: they come home from a first date 10 minutes late and their parents don’t say anything.
    "Ahh," they think, "maybe that curfew isn’t so strict after all; next Friday night, I’ll be 15 minutes late.  
     If the parents still don’t say anything, on it goes.  
  • The parents are, effectively, training the child to come home after the curfew.
  • Training students to mark their music or not: I suggest it's the same, exact thing.
An approach to getting your students to mark their music
  •  What if – after you’ve made an important comment that few/none mark in
    the music – what if you waited with a pleasant expression on your face.
     You look at them.  
     They look at you – they look at each other - what’s up?  
  • You smile.   
  • Maybe you pick up your pencil, smile at it, mark something in your score,
    then look at them like "Does that give you a hint of what I'm waiting for?"
    Little by little, they’ll get it and you’ll hear that beautiful sound of pencils
    scraping against stands.
  • Insist that everyone bring at least one pencil to rehearsal; stress that it's
    as important as bringing their instrument or vocal chords.  Urge everyone
     to bring two.  
  • This is a big subject; read more about it in Igniting.
  • When you make corrections, don’t start rehearsing until everyone marks
    it.  Don’t say a word, just wait.  Every time.  Every single time.  Every
     time.  Every day
  • After a while, they'll get so sick of waiting and so wanting to get back to
    the music...that they’ll mark their music.
     But ONLY if you wait them out.
     Don’t let up.
  • If they know you really (but Really) won't start unless they mark - that
    you'll wait the whole period (I have) - they'll start doing it.
     Do this every day and you'll create a culture of marking in your ensemble.
  • And sometimes - but only every so often - just move on (small font is intentional)
It's important that we mark
our music, too.
  • Young musicians become more
    engaged - and more likely to
     mark their music - when we
     mark ours.
  • "Who needs a really clear cue
    at an entrance?"  
  • "Can everyone see my
    crescendo at letter D?  
    Should I mark that I need to
    make it bigger?"  and so on.
Yes, this approach does take time.  
  •  But, like training puppies, it's best to spend whatever time's needed establishing the habit early on...to avoid having
    to clean up later!    
  • Without marking and observing your comments, they'll make the same mistakes again and again.
    And they'll learn those mistakes real good!  
  • Try this: (secretly) appoint a student to write down every comment you make: verbally and gesturally.
    At the end of rehearsal, ask your ensemble to recall them - they'll answer with only a few.
  • Then ask the note taker to read his/her list; when s/he does, your group will experience the importance of marking;
    they'll see how little they actually do recall.
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