The Yellow Board

Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by Wondering on 2/4/2021, 1:35 pm

Wondering about this...I've seen alot of directors who talk most of the period and wonder why their students cant do much in middle school...

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by Curious on 2/5/2021, 12:11 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

I can tell you what I THOUGHT I was doing, which is in line with these guys saying 90/10 playing/talking. In reality... nope.
I recorded a 50 minute lesson with audacity, then deleted every section of playing (easy to see because of the increased decibel range). I was horrified to find 35 MINUTES of talking. I did it three more times that semester until I made the change to mostly playing.
Now? I can tell I need to go back and do this again.

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by me on 2/5/2021, 12:05 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

If I have a 45 minute rehearsal where I've talked more than 5 minutes, I'm extremely disappointed in myself. BTW, Today I was disappointed in myself lol. But, my point is that students want to be in band to play their instruments. Your lessons (rehearsals) must be organized to where you're leading them to knowledge and (quite a bit of) self exploration in their playing. If you're telling them everything without them problem solving you're doing it wrong. Took years for me to learn this. Most of my comments are very general during a rehearsal. "Careful clarinets in m. 5, somebody isn't using the key signature there." Usually comments like these fix most things and make the kids not afraid of you and cause a nicer rehearsal environment. Every now and then you have to really talk something out. Now, I was told by a great mentor early in my career that if you find yourself talking a ton during class the problem could be with the music you have picked out. Growth in band programs is very gradual. So I would say that the 5 minute rule is a great one. Small, meaningful comments that are to the point and don't break the flow of the rehearsal are important. They'll appreciate a rehearsal like this. I'm going to do this better on Monday with my high school band!! =)

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by lost my voice on 2/4/2021, 7:14 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

Best rehearsals I've ever had were the times I had no voice and we played 100% of the period (instructions written on the board, lots of sign language)

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by Questioner on 2/4/2021, 6:41 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

The kids notice. Our #1 granddaughter complained often that her director talked way too much. He ruined band for her.

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by Same on 2/5/2021, 6:42 am, in reply to "Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

My child complained about the same thing. Would rather have just played instead of sitting through the daily class lecture on how they weren't dedicated enough and had too many distractions and other things they were interested in besides band and after school rehearsals were important but see earlier discussion on dedication and not enough kids were coming to after school even though they never actually played in class so why would they want to come after school and many of the kids were involved in a ton of things after school like most active kids and why the other bands around them were always better....

Directors made band less fun for my child as well. And I was sometimes guilty of the same thing but it changed my teaching when I would listen to the student side of what was being heard compared to how I thought, as a director, I was saying it.

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by TYB Host on 2/4/2021, 5:01 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

I don’t agree with rigid timing and minimizing of music teacher talk time. To be fair, I have listened to some music teachers talk (yell, whine, gossip, etc.) and agree that the less they talk, the better off the class would be, and that’s a shame. On the other hand, talking is certainly a part of effective teaching, and talking is one of the ways teachers inform, encourage, inspire, and...educate. If you have a desire to talk in your music classrooms and you’re worried you may talk too much about something, then just plan it into your lesson as a part of the lesson. Your metric, as always, is how much learning occurs. You’re the teacher.

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by Agreed on 2/4/2021, 4:19 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

We all know what response we should put down, but I'd be curious to know (myself included!) if I actually get to the ratio I have as my goal: 8 minutes playing : 2 minutes talking...

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by DesertJazz on 2/4/2021, 3:58 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

Once we get started and I'm not having to explain every little way to hold an instrument, I prefer it be 10% talking and 90% playing... 30% talking is a lot to me! (Not that there aren't some days I talk more)

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by BudH on 2/5/2021, 8:50 am, in reply to "Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

I second 10/90.

Re: Student playing vs Teacher Talking

Posted by Me on 2/4/2021, 3:47 pm, in reply to "Student playing vs Teacher Talking"

Option not available...80% playing, 20% talking at MOST!

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