What is your class warm-up routine? Is it effective? Is it clear? Is it meaningful to your students? Does it represent an efficient use of time and make your ensemble better in the long run?

A solid warm-up should be all of these things. It must truly benefit your ensemble.

Why should directors have a warm-up routine?

A warm-up routine should address a variety of ensemble issues in a predictable and enjoyable manner. The warm-up should:

• Promote student focus
• Contribute to refined individual and ensemble tuning
• Develop listening skills
• Develop new and advanced technique
• Promote enhanced attention to the conductor, and/or
• Allow for the development of ensemble nuance

While a warm-up may not be able to address each of these areas daily, it should focus on one or two of them on any given day. Let’s explore each of these areas in greater focus.

Routine/Focus

Routine is imperative for our students. Students crave routine and always respond positively to a meaningful and predictable warm-up routine.

“Routines help children feel secure and comfortable and help them understand the expectations of the environment. They help reduce the frequency of behavior problems and can result in higher rates of child engagement.” (from Imagine Education Australia, Helping Children Understand Routines)

In Learning to Teach…not just for beginners, author Linda Shalaway explains, “Routines are the backbone of daily classroom life. They facilitate teaching and learning. Routines don’t just make your life easier, they save valuable classroom time. And what’s most important, efficient routines make it easier for students to learn and achieve more.”  

We would all certainly advocate for anything likely to make your students feel more secure and designed to save classroom time!

Refined Tuning and Intonation

A strong warm-up should focus on both individual and ensemble tuning. I want my students to think about their own instrument tuning and how they match up with and adjust to the ensemble tuning. For a string orchestra, an important part of my warm-up routine is what I refer to as my “tuning procedure.” This procedure promotes active corporate listening, personal accountability, and eye contact with the conductor.

We begin with a general “A” and everyone tunes their instruments to the best of their ability. I don’t usually do this for younger groups, but there is no harm in everyone giving it a try! When tuning to the general “A” encourage everyone to tune at a dynamic of piano.

Individual Tuning

I believe that tuning is essentially a series of binary questions.

1. Is my instrument in tune with the tuning note? (Yes or no)
2. If no, is it sharp or flat?  If the student isn’t sure, they should try adjusting one way or the other.
3. Did my adjustment make it better or worse? (yes or no)
4. If worse, try adjusting the adjust the other way.  

Group Tuning

1. Have everyone tune a unison A. When in tune, they should make eye contact with you.
2. On your cue, have the viola, celli, and bass to move to a D (and get that in tune as the violins continue sounding their A). When in tune, they again make eye contact.
3. When you are satisfied the low D’s are in tune, have the violins move to D while the violas, celli, and bass continue to sound their D. When you have eye contact from all violins, have the violas, celli, and bass move to the G. When they are making eye contact (and are in tune), have the violins move to G while the violas, celli, and bass continue to sound their G.
4. Do the same for the viola and celli C string. Basses should stay on the G for this, along with the violins. When finished with the low C, have everyone stop playing for a second or two.
5. Then, go back to a unison A. Invariably, some students will need to adjust. By now, they are really listening.

While you can learn the rest of this tuning procedure here, you get the idea: students are listening to each other, they are making eye contact with you, and the process continues to refine their intonation. In time the whole process can become relatively quick and completely non-verbal.

Listening

As you can see, the tuning procedure promotes listening across the room. The treble parts must listen to the lower voices and vice versa. I find that successful ensembles are aware of other voices at all times. So, the repetition of a consistent warm-up procedure promotes this habit. This is one of the reasons so many warm-up routines utilize a chorale as part of the warm-up routine.

Over the course of time, students really learn what the other voices are doing. On any given day, a different voice may be emphasized as part of the warm-up. It can be a great idea to have one of the voices play their part alone and then have the rest of the ensemble sing their part (learning it by rote). This will transform the way the ensemble hears each other for the rest of rehearsal.

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Technique

The warm-up routine is also a wonderful time to introduce and enforce new or more advanced techniques. In a string orchestra setting, I advocate using “cycle form” exercises or etudes. Cycle form was developed by noted pedagog, George Bornoff, and is a magnificent tool for teaching technique in a heterogeneous classroom environment.

I teach these etudes by rote, and once they are in place, they are the perfect vehicle for technique development. The concept is as follows: teach the students a pattern on any string. This can be a scale or interval pattern.

For the purposes of this article, let’s use the first 4 notes of the major scale as an example. (On the G string: A, B, C#, and D.) At the most basic level, each of the pitches will be played 4 times in a quarter note pattern up and down the tetrachord. A more detailed description of this system can be found here with links to handouts, fingerings, and many more resources in the description below the videos.

(sul G string)

This pattern can be reproduced on each of the open strings in exactly the same way.

(sul C String)

(sul D string)

(sul A string)

(sul E string)

The key point is that each string feels the same to the left hand. It is the same pattern on each string. These patterns can be very simple or more complex. The idea is to establish the cycle form as the standard; then new techniques can be taught or re-enforced through the routine. For example, I teach bowing styles (spiccato, martele, etc) rhythmic bowing patterns (hooked bowing), shifting, upper positions, and other left or right-hand techniques using this strategy.

Nuance

When using a regular chorale as part of the warm-up routine, you might encourage the ensemble to focus on nuance. The ensemble will become fluent when a chorale is repeated regularly over a period of time. With fluency, comes nuance.  As the ensemble becomes more and more familiar with the basics of the chorale, you can ask for more nuance such as an emphasis on phrasing, rhythmic push/pull, and dynamic variation. Emphasizing this in warm-ups will facilitate these same discussions in performance repertoire.

Watching

The warm up can also help elevate the attention your students give you as you conduct. As warm-up repertoire is internalized and becomes fluent, you can begin to demonstrate higher expectations of following the stick and utilize more nuance in their conducting. So often, in the performance repertoire, student musicians are focused on reading their part. The warm-up can be a welcome break from the written page and an opportunity to develop other skills including watching the conductor.

What to Use?

How does a director choose solid resources for a warm-up routine? I believe a warm-up book should be clear, comprehensive, and built on the strongest pedagogical foundations. For strings, I use Habits of a Successful String Musician: A Comprehensive Curriculum for Use During Fundamentals Time, by Christopher Selby, Scott Rush, and Rich Moon (GIA Publications). This book presents a differentiated, sequential, and comprehensive method for developing skills that lead to mastery of rhythmic, tonal, and ensemble skills. It provides wonderfully written technique builders that relate to virtually all of the points I have made in this article.

Obviously, there are many warm-up resources available for teachers to select from, and I encourage you to find the one that works for you and your students. These resources can vary in depth, focus, pedagogical underpinning, and even “look.”  All of these factors matter and can have a great deal to do with the overall success of your warm-up routine.

Communicate Your Goals

Finally, we must continuously articulate and reinforce the goals of a warm-up routine to our students! They need to know why this time is so important. If we forget to keep our students reminded of this, they will surely become complacent. And, in some ways, reminding them is a good reminder for us as well!

So, as you approach the coming academic year, I encourage you to consider your warm-up routine. Perhaps it is time for some tweaking. Perhaps it is time for a complete overhaul. Or, maybe yours is just right, and you can approach it with a newfound confidence and resolve. No matter which camp you are in, I wish you much success in the coming school year with the finest of musical and ensemble results!

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In recent weeks, I have been using a model/metaphor of fluency and music a great deal in my classes. Many of you know that my early music training is Suzuki violin instruction and the fluency model seems natural to me as a result of that instruction. I would like to take a little bit of time today to outline some of these thoughts.

What Is Fluency?

Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression. Fluency provides a bridge between word recognition and comprehension. When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly to help them gain meaning from what they read. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural, as if they are speaking. Readers who have not yet developed fluency read slowly, word by word. Their oral reading is choppy. Fluent readers demonstrate accuracy, expression, pace punctuation, and comprehension.

So, in music it is very similar. Fluency in music would be explained as the ability to read and perform a score accurately, quickly and with expression. I often tell my students that there is a difference between “comprehension level” music learning and “performance level” music learning. A fluent musician would demonstrate accuracy, expression, pace, punctuation, phrasing and comprehension within the context of the performance.

I am using the fluency model particularly frequently in my Classical Piano and Guitar course at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. This is a course designed for all levels of instruction. I teach beginning piano and guitar as part of the class and also work with more intermediate or advanced students who have some or extensive experience on their instrument. Many of these students come to me with a blank slate of experience and others come with varying levels of competency in music and music reading. In order to get all students moving in a similar fashion, I ask them all to consider their work in music using the fluency model.

The Fluency Model

The model is as follows:
Everybody learns to speak by learning individual words. As we learn a word we use it over and over. A great example would be the word “hot.” A small child learns the word “hot” and then uses it in repetition until it becomes an active part of their vocabulary. The same is true for the repertoire my students are learning. They learn a musical concept, technique, or song, repeat that technique or song many times and it eventually becomes part of their active musical vocabulary.

We can also add the act of music reading into this model. Initially, small children read one letter at a time, then one word at a time, and eventually read full phrases and sentences with ease. The same is true for music. We can tell when students are reading isolated individual notes, then phrases, and eventually entire pieces.

Beginning Students

For my beginning students, I explain to them that by learning repertoire and maintaining that repertoire, they are developing a vocabulary. They must continuously use that vocabulary of musical techniques to become fluent. Thus, if a student continues to play a basic song over and over, the song eventually becomes fluent and flowing. The student can play the piece much like we speak, without over-thinking the individual aspects of the piece. Thus, they are operating in a fluency model. My beginning piano and guitar students typically learn between 10 and 15 songs in a trimester. By the end of one term, they are fluent in each of those pieces and have a repertoire or “vocabulary” to build on.

Intermediate Students

Often times it is more difficult to convince my more intermediate students of this concept. So many students with some experience come to me thinking that they are much more fluent than they actually can demonstrate. Fluency involves a true understanding of all aspects of the vocabulary. In other words, one must know how to identify individual letters of words, define each word in a sentence, put the sentence together, and say and read it with inflection. That requires a great deal of skill!

It is the same with music.

The fluent musician must understand each individual note, its rhythm, its place in the musical phrase, how to read and perform that phrase accurately, and how to inflect that phrase accurately and fluently. So many students have spent all of their time working on simply notes and rhythms or just imitating their teacher or recordings. It is rare for students to arrive in my class fully fluent in every aspect of the repertoire they are used to learning. This sometimes causes problems because I want them to be able to demonstrate fluency in all aspects of their performance. Many of them have to revert to simpler repertoire to actually achieve this goal.

In Rehearsals

I find that the fluency model is also effective in my orchestra rehearsals. Early in the rehearsal cycle, we are reading. We are sounding out “words,” finding connections and cues in the written score, and operating on a more remedial, functional level. As the students begin to learn a work more extensively, they can perform more fluently. The work is less about the minutiae and more about the larger ideas. Some students never get past the point of the remedial reading phase. Others get to the fluency phase much earlier.

One strong difference between an ensemble performance and my piano and guitar class is the fact that everybody needs to be fluent for the orchestra to perform with fluency. Even a small number of players that haven’t achieved that fluent level can bring the ensemble performance down. Right now, my orchestra is preparing for a performance of a Mozart symphony and it is so imperative that every player is fluent in their part. Even small inconsistencies can yield negative results.

I also find the fluency model to be applicable to the world of improvisation. When we are speaking extemporaneously, we are effectively “improvising” with words. In other words, we are calling on phrases and ideas that we have learned and prepared ahead of time that fit into the context of the conversation at hand. This is improvisation at its best. In order to improvise, we call on our experience with and preparation in concepts surrounding key, mode, rhythm, time, melody, and expression (to name only a few).

Listening

Additionally, fluency in conversation requires listening. So, this model provides a great vehicle for discussing the importance of listening in solo and ensemble music performance. In order to respond appropriately to a phrase or idea, one must be willing to listen to the information that precedes.

I recently had a wonderful conversation on this topic with a student who is bilingual. English is his second language. He learned English as a teenager and did so by putting labels with the names of objects all over his house. There were labels on the table, chair, desk, book, shirt, etc. He told me that now he sees labels in his mind all the time. And, in fact, now both languages require thought. For him, music does not have any labels. It never did. So, now music is his most fluent language.

In closing, I asked my students to articulate their understanding of fluency as it relates to both language and music. One said, “Fluency is getting past small picture to big picture. Another shared, “Fluency is not having to think specifically about the technical. It is simply expression.” Finally, a third remarked, “Fluency is like liquid: free and expressive.”

I encourage to give this model a try with your students. It has really resonated with my students and I feel like they have a more accurate picture of the true goals of rehearsal and performance.

I wish you all and your students many fluent performances!

This article was originally published on the Thoughts of a String Educator blog and is used with permission of the author.

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Student Response: Passion and Emotion in the Performance

Overwhelmingly, the primary response received from my students was they could “see and hear passion in a great performance,” and they could “sense the emotion of top-level performers.” This was particularly interesting to me because neither passion nor emotion have anything to do with the difficulty of the repertoire being performed or the technical prowess or capabilities of the players. My students (and all music consumers) want to be moved by a performance. They want the performers to say something important, and they want to in turn feel something.

How Do We Achieve Passion in a  Performance?

The larger question, of course, is: What do we need to do to give our audiences that same experience? When I asked students that question, the answer was significantly less clear. The students knew what they wanted to see and hear, but were less sure of how to get to the point of giving that experience to their audiences. They definitely knew the first step was to play the right notes. They also had a good sense of the importance of finding the inner dynamic motion of a piece of music. So, I knew I had begun to do my job as their conductor. These, of course, are the first steps in developing a fine ensemble. Students must know and demonstrate correct notes and rhythms; they must play with the appropriate technique, and they must know and demonstrate the shaping of phrases and dynamic contrasts. This, however, is still not the end of the process. There is so much more an ensemble can achieve in order to truly demonstrate passion and emotion in their performance.

I have been reflecting on these same questions. I want to be able to articulate a model to my students which they can fall back on during their process of preparing music. They are all at various stages of working towards a goal of artistry and greater proficiency on their instrument. But, if they don’t have a sense of the path to giving passionate, emotional performances, it is possible they will be less than purposeful in their personal practice and group rehearsals. So, I have come up with a simple model that can begin to tell the story of this process.

Four Requirements of a Moving Performance

I believe an artistic, moving performance requires technique, artistry, purpose, and perspective.

1. Technique

Obviously, the technique aspect goes without saying. Many music students never get past this. The musician must focus on so many aspects of technique in their practice time.  They must also isolate various techniques as part of their practice. For a string player, this includes intonation, fingering, vibrato, bow hand and arm, bow technique, tone production, posture, intonation, shifting, and many, many more. As I said, it’s easy to get stuck right here and never get past it. Technique is the first key to giving a moving performance.

2. Artistry

Next, I would include the aspects of artistry. This includes shaping phrases, adjustments and variations of tone quality, dynamic contrast, fluency, and much more. This is where the young musician begins to find a voice as an artist. Their music begins to take on a personality and the process of true communication with the audience begins. I will never forget the summer my vibrato began to develop as a violinist. Suddenly, my sound was personal. It was me. It was such a motivator for me as a young musician. As I look back, that was probably the beginning of artistry for me.

Technique and Artistry are fairly easy to pinpoint. Now, we get into the nitty-gritty: Purpose and Perspective.

3. Purpose

Purpose, from an ensemble perspective, is understanding the role of each instrument at every given time in the context of the piece. Everyone must know when they have the melody or a supporting role. They must know the purpose of each line, motive, and passage in the repertoire. Sometimes their voice must be the lead. Sometimes their voice is a response to a question. Sometimes their voice provides rhythmic underpinning. Other times, it provides harmonic underpinning. Sometimes they are playing the role of (or imitating) another instrument.

Students must know when the tempo stretches and when it pushes. They must know when the line arrives at an apex. And, they must know how to demonstrate these variations within the piece. These larger questions in the preparation of ensemble and solo repertoire are vital. If a musician performs an ensemble piece in a vacuum, without regard to their role and the role of others, they really can’t be part of a moving performance which requires that they interact with the other voices.

4. Perspective

Finally, I would consider perspective to be a greater understanding of the history of a composition, the artistic possibilities of the composition, and a desire to emote all of the possible responses to the listener in both a sonic and physical way.

I believe that consumers of live music take cues not only from the aural information they are receiving, but also from the physiological information they are receiving. We must look the part in order to convey the message. We must know the message before we can look the part. This, of course, is not a fully objective task. This is where many subjective concepts and decisions come into play. It gets a little abstract. And, thus, can be a roadblock for a young artist. This, in many ways, is one of the great pleasures of the conductor/teachers. We get to interpret and articulate our vision for any piece which we are preparing.

I was talking with a friend last night who is a jazz musician. He was telling me that in order for an instrumental jazz musician to perform a great ballad well, they must know the lyrics to the song. Without knowing the lyrics, how could they possibly interpret the tune? This is perspective. In order to perform an instrumental piece as a soloist, or as an ensemble, the performer(s) must have a unified perspective on exactly what they are saying.

Modeling

Almost 10 years ago, I presented a session to the American String Teachers Association and many other state organizations entitled “The Art of Developing Passionate Ensembles.” It was geared toward inspiring passion in the students rather than inspiring passionate performances. (Although I believe the two are inseparable.)

For that presentation, I recommended that in order to develop a passionate ensemble, the teacher/director had to provide and model the following criteria:

1. The importance of the experience and the relationships between the members of the ensemble
2. A safe artistic chemistry and environment in the rehearsal
3. A clear understanding of the importance and value of the experience
4. A clear demonstration of the human value and overall humanity of the process.
5. The importance of the investment of self in the process

A decade later I still adhere to this model as an instructor. I find it interesting that I don’t list the technical aspects of the whole musician in this model at all. I think that at the time, I believed it was understood. And, I find the variation in the models to be interesting especially as one is directed particularly at the ensemble member and the other is directed at the ensemble leader. It is, I believe, an important distinction.

I welcome your input and thoughts on these ideas and look forward to possibly hearing from some of you. Here’s to many passionate, emotional performances as we all move forward with the new academic year!

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