Hunter Wolfram

Reflections on Rehearsing the Band, by John Williamson

Rehearsing the Band, by John E. Williamson, was a very helpful and insightful piece of

literature when it comes to being a band director. Every conductor that was cited in the book was

very reputable and had very good advice on different areas in the band rehearsing world. In this

reflection, I will cover the topics of tone, intonation, rhythm, balance, interpretation, technique,

rehearsal pace and environment, and non-verbal communication.

This book had a lot to say on the topic of tone. Every director cited in the book held tone

as a very important musical concept. According to John Whitwell, tone is the most important

part of playing. Whitwell even goes as far to say that students should not be sent home with their

instruments until they have a good understanding of their embouchure, so that they do not make

the mistake of developing bad habits and therefore learning an incorrect tone. Professor Allan

McMurray argues that tone should be worked on, for students, individually and in a one-on-one

setting, so that you can deal with each instrument and player individually based on the needs of

that individual and instrument. This is not where tone ends though. McMurray argues that tone is

also very important as an ensemble, and that the tone comes from breath support and breathing

deeply and in the right places. (58) In the end, the conductor is the ultimate authority on tone,

because he or she leads the ensemble. I think that James Croft says it best, when he says that it is

okay to try out different tones and sounds, as long as you stay within the parameters of a good

sound. (21) We always need to be conscious of the tone of our ensemble, but most importantly,

we need to make sure that our ensemble is creating a good tone.

other in an ensemble, then nothing will sound as it should. The frustrating thing about this is that

it is one of the most difficult things to do. So how do we achieve this as an ensemble? According

to Frank Battisti, we need to make sure the students know to listen to each other, otherwise they

will not be able to play in tune. Specifically, as conductors, we should ask the students to listen

to the root, and sing it so that they know where the foundation of their intonation is. If they

cannot do that, they should not move on. I really like what Donald R. Hunsberger says about

intonation, that No one is right and no one is wrong. (32) We need to emphasize listening to

our neighbors to that we all can play right as an ensemble. In addition, John E. Williamson

reminds us that teaching students about intonation is a long process, and it is something we need

to train students on (with ear training exercises) on a daily basis, so that they develop good

intonation tendencies.

We would not have good music, or music at all, if it werent for rhythm, so naturally it is

something important for directors to address when we are teaching our ensembles. According to

H. Robert Reynolds, there are certain tendencies that players, especially young players, play

when it comes to rhythm, like speeding up when there are more notes and playing slower when

there are less notes in a measure. Different directors have different solutions for this. One

solution could be, as stated by Reynolds, could be encouraging foot patting so that they can feel

the beat. Other directors, like Jerry F. Junkin, recommend focusing on articulation in rehearsal. I

think that I agree with James Croft best when he recommends conducting in a way that is precise

and well subdivided, so that your kids can see a good example of good tempo and not rush.

This book was very helpful when it came to addressing balance issues within a band. This

is something that all bands struggle with, and even experienced directors like Jerry F. Junkin are
still trying to figure out what a good band balance is. Junkin has been experimenting for over 15

years on the subject, and found that the best way to get a good band balance is to just make sure

that all students are making a good sound on their instrument, and not trying to be like another

instrument so to speak. H. Robert Reynolds makes the argument that if you go for one specific

sound as a band, then you may have no room for interpretation and musicality. It is important to

learn as much about the music as possible, the composer, etc., but one should apply those

stylistic approaches to the balance of their band. I like what Eugene Corporon suggests to do

when rehearsing the band when the students are playing, you need to be actively conducting, so

that you can focus on things like balance and listen for what you want and what the music needs

from the performance.

Similar to balance, interpretation is an important stylistic choice when it comes to

rehearsing the band. According to John Whitwell, this area of rehearsals in modern music

programs is most lacking. He makes the argument that directors nowadays are tempted to play it

too safe because of the contest atmosphere that we have in our schools, and that the judges want

to hear everything the same way. Whitwell argues that the way to combat this is to vary the

music, because that makes the music have a certain spontaneity to it and makes students more

open to different interpretations of the piece. Craig Kirchhoff argues that your interpretation of a

piece happens over time rehearsing pieces, and to leave each piece open to interpretation as we

play and perform. Donald R. Hunsberger talks about how interpretation is deeply connected to

style, so therefore if your students have a good understanding of the style of the piece, they will

have a good interpretation of the piece.

Jerry F. Junkin makes the point that all students are in different places with their music

life, and that applies to technique as well. Because bands are so big, and you will have so many
students potentially in your school, it is important to keep in touch with private teachers. I also

really like how James Croft talks about how it is okay to go to those good players in an ensemble

to lead their sections in technique and get things like fingerings from them, because odds are

they are better at that instrument than you because they specialize in it, in a sense. I think that H.

Robert Reynolds puts it best when he says If you dont know your craft, you cant get the art,

and you can never know too much about the instruments. (71) We, as conductors and directors,

need to know the technique as well or better than the students so that we can properly teach them

to play.

Rehearsal pace and environment is something that can go easily unnoticed if one does not

go out of their way to address it. One thing that is very important is that there is a normal warm-

up routine before the rehearsal really begins, and that it is well-defined as Frank Battisti puts it.

In my own high school band experience, that meant playing a concert F right on the first

downbeat. Our director didnt even have to explain what he was doing, all he had to do was give

the downbeat and we knew what to do. Then we would get into the rest of the warm up. I like

how Craig Kirchhoff rehearses in a macro-micro-macro way. Introduce the student to a concept

or piece, and then break it down and put it back together. That can arc over the time of a concert

cycle and happen within a rehearsal as well (imagine sight reading, then rehearsing, then

performing). Within each rehearsal, John E. Williamson recommends a P-R-E cycle, or

preparation (which should happen before the rehearsal), rehearsal and evaluation. I think that this

is a very effective way of rehearsing our bands, and should be used most of the time.

A good conductor is not one that just focuses on keeping time and telling students what to

do. They are very good at giving non-verbal cues and are very expressive. In fact, Eugene

Corporon argues that his students have the best rehearsals when he did very little talking. So how
do we achieve this as a director? Donald R. Hunsberger argues that conductors need to know the

pieces and composers as well as they possibly can, and even pieces that were written at the same,

in order to not conduct with our hands tied. If we know the music, it is easier to live the music

so to speak. Also, James Smith makes the observation that directors need to watch how other

directors move, and make a conscious decision to move with intention when conducting. The

more we work at it, the more natural our non-verbal cues become.

Overall, there are a lot of important details in being a director, and the more that you

work at them and study them, the better you will be at directing.