Balancing Music and Difficulty

8/4/2019 Balancing Music and Difficulty

1/4PERCUSSIVE NOTES 26 JUNE 2002

Throughout my career as a percus-sion performer, educator, arranger,clinician, and adjudicator, I have at-

tended several performances of marchingpercussion ensembles in which the per-formance level was below average. Fol-lowing these performances, I always askmyselfwhy? Why are students perform-ing at this level? Is the music too diffi-cult? Not enough rehearsal time? Lack of

preparation? Poor practice habits? Poorleadership?

Though all of these factors can contrib-ute to a below-average performance, thisarticle will focus on how musical diffi-culty affects marching percussion perfor-mance. Of course, these concepts can beapplied to concert percussion ensemblesand solo percussionists, as well as otherareas of the percussive arts and instru-mental music in general.

One of my favorite quotes is, Its notwhat you play but how you play that ismost important. Convincing students to

buy in to this philosophy is not easy be-cause young players want to be chal-lenged and play difficult repertoire. Butwhere do we, as educators, draw the lineas to what we think our students are ca-

pable of playing at a particular point intime? And is it our job, or right, to tellthem what they are capable of? JeffJanssen, Peak Performance Consultantat The University of Arizona states:

In establishing a mission for your sea-

son, it is important to take an honest yet

hopeful look at the teams ability and po-

tential. Not only should you considerwhat the team has the ability to achieve,

but also assess what the team wants to

achieve. I like to present this as, What

can you achieve? and What do you want

to achieve? It is in balancing the can

and the want that effective missions are

createdWhen a teams can and want

are not in the same ballpark, problems

and frustrations are sure to result.

A FINE LINE

There is a fine line between musical

Balancing Musical Difficulty withPerformance Quality

BY PAUL BUYER

difficulty (challenging our students) andperformance quality (ensuring that weput our students in a position to succeed).The following is an excerpt from my dis-sertation regarding marching percussionensembles:

One must always be aware of each

segments present ability level and bal-

ance this awareness with music that will

challenge students and give them the op-portunity to improve. However, challeng-

ing players technical skills can never

override performing at the highest level of

quality.

Paul Rennick, in his excellent articleArt, Entertainment, and Competition,published in the December 2001 issue of

Percussive Notes, states:

Although the two are directly related,

on many competitive levels the quality of

the performance often takes precedence

over the choice of music. That is not tosay that the musical program is second-

ary; its just that what separates groups

on a competitive level is often the nuts

and bolts of playing together.

The term musical difficulty often re-lates to technical difficulty, whether play-ing in a drumline or performing afour-mallet marimba solo. In marchingpercussion, several factors that attractstudents to a particular program includethe difficulty of the book, warm-ups, ca-dences, drill, and show concepts. But

what about performance quality? Accord-ing to Rennick, We have come to valueserious and difficult shows that are per-formed each year by the best drum corps,but would we appreciate the shows asmuch if the performance level wasnt ashigh? What often becomes memorable isthe quality in which a group plays.

MUSIC SELECTION

The following is taken from the fore-word found in the Texas University Inter-scholastic League (UIL) publication

Prescribed Music List:

The art of choosing music carries re-

sponsibilities of the highest magnitude

since our students musical growth is de-

pendent upon the wisdom of each deci-

sion. Therefore, the success of all

performing ensembles and, more impor-

tantly, the music education of the stu-

dents (of Texas) is determined in large

part by how well each director meets thechallenge of providing appropriate, stimu-

lating, and rewarding literature. Always

be mindful of the fact that the music cho-

sen will clearly reflect the depth, quality,

and integrity of our music programs and

our priorities as music educators.

Balancing musical difficulty with per-formance quality is one of the key factorsthat will help students realize their po-tential. In fact, music selection is at thecore of our students experience. For ar-rangers, the decisions and choices we

make when arranging music for our en-sembles are also part of this core. Select-ing or arranging music that is tooadvanced can have negative effects, bothfor the music itself and the students mu-sical experience.

According to Reginald Smith Brindlein Contemporary Percussion, Nothingsounds well unless it is played well, andnothing sounds so awful as percussionwhich is not played well enough. When-ever I am faced with important decisionsregarding musical difficulty, two ques-tions always drive my thinking: What is

best for the music, and what is best forthe students?

REHEARSAL TIME

It is no secret that marching percus-sionists are very enthusiastic about theirart form, motivated by advanced rudi-ments, lightening-fast chops, popular vi-suals, and the most difficult music theycan get their hands on. Instructors mustbe careful to purchase, select, and ar-range music that is challenging and wellwritten, but that can also be performed



at a high level with sufficient rehearsaltime.

Nothing can replace having enoughtime to prepare. Drumlines cannot cramor rush through the rehearsal process in

order to play advanced repertoire. Lead-ership expert and author John Maxwellstates, We must stop microwavingpeople and start crockpotting them.Some factors that influence performancesuccess as it relates to rehearsal time aredifficulty level of the music, length of themusical selections, number of musical se-lections, amount of time until the nextperformance, amount of time forsectionals, and amount of individualpreparation outside rehearsal.

ABILITY LEVEL

Another critical factor involves playershaving the technical skills, reading abil-ity, and chops to play the music. This iswhere marching percussion is unique, inthat some players are usually at differentlevels of proficiency. The ones who are ata high level will want to play advancedrepertoire, and the ones who are not willalso want to play advanced repertoire,even though they lack essential perfor-mance skills. This is not to say they can-not develop these skills, but as Maxwellstates, it will take time.

The instructors job, then, is to do what

is best for the group and perform musicthat challenges the entire drumline whileputting them in a position to succeed mu-sically. The players must put what is bestfor the group ahead of their individualdesires. Leadership and team buildingare critical to the success of the en-semble.

THE STUDENTS PERSPECTIVE

It is common for instructors to facepressure from students to write or selectmore difficult music. Ive often heard stu-dent responses to performing repertoire

that includes, Im bored, I dont feelchallenged, and Can we beef up thispart? One of the ways I have handledthis situation is to talk with my playersabout their concerns and how the march-ing percussion ensemble is a vehicle forteaching music. I use the following ideaswith my students.

1. Discuss how the percussion score fitsinto the big picture.

2. Discuss the contributions each sec-tion makes and how their parts relate towhat the band is playing.

3. Teach musical concepts such as tonequality, timbre, phrasing, and dynamics.

4. Encourage your players to considerthe value of the entire show instead ofhow many flam drags and inverts are

written in their parts.5. Emphasize the goals of playing cleanand looking sharp.

6. Instill pride in playing at a highlevel of excellence all the time, whetherin the stands or on the field.

7. Finally, talk to and treat your play-ers like musicians, not just percussion-ists.

According to Rennick:

Percussionists have a natural tendencyto think in technical terms. Although the

technical difficulty of the music should be

considered (especially when dealing with

younger groups), try not to put too much

emphasis on that when it comes to choos-



ing a program. In the end, the music will

speak for itself, and the most rewarding

musical program is not always the hard-

est.

AUDITIONSA good example of balancing musical

difficulty with performance quality is theaudition. When someone auditions,whether for a drumline, an orchestra, oreven a scholarship, the evaluative crite-ria is based on how an individual playsrather than what an individual plays.For example, a student who performs amedium-level snare drum solo well ismore likely to win an audition than a stu-dent who performs an advanced snaredrum solo poorly.

Unfortunately, this is not always the

mindset of the over-enthusiastic student.Simply playing an advanced piece of mu-sic has little influence on achieving aquality performance. In terms of makingmusic, how someone plays should alwaystake precedence over what someoneplays.

RECRUITING

Another example related to balancingmusical difficulty with performance qual-ity is recruiting. In sports, coaches re-cruit the best players and the best talentto build their programs. Music educators

certainly would not recruit a studentbased solely on his or her repertoire list,no matter how advanced. The experi-enced educator will want to see and hearthe student perform in order to evaluatethe students talent effectively.

PLAYING DEVILS ADVOCATE

The other side of this issue involvesthe philosophy that in order to get betterand keep the interest level of the playershigh, students must be allowed to takerisks and perform more difficult reper-toire. Without question, this approach

will push and challenge students, whileat the same time provide the motivationto work hard. Although this philosophy isvalid, we must be careful not to let therepertoire become the primary motivator.Is it wise to provide students with diffi-cult music just for the sake of keepingthem challenged, interested, and moti-vated?

A fine line exists hereas educators,our first responsibility is to put studentsin a position to succeed. We must askourselves, Can the music be performed

at a high level? More often than not, wehave to make a decision based onperfor-mance quality being the primary motiva-tor.

If musical difficulty is beyond the tal-

ents and skills of the students, because ofeither technical demands or a lack of re-hearsal time, then the students musicalexperience as well as the quality of theperformance will suffer. Another commonscenario is students choosing to give ahalfhearted effort toward music they donot consider challenging. If student effortvaries according to musical difficulty,then we have not done our job as educa-tors.

Author and high-school basketball andtrack coach Dr. William Warren describesthe balance this way: While goals and

expectations should be realistic, theyshould be challenging enough to giveyour players the opportunity to discoverthat they can do more than they thoughtthey could.

A DRUMSET LESSON

The phrase less is more is commonlyused by drumset artists to describe theirapproach to playing. Many legendarydrummers from all genres of music havestated that playing time and laying downa solid groove are their most importantresponsibilities. Although these artists

are certainly talented enough to play dif-ficult fills and impressive solos, they of-ten choose not to because they believethat playing simply is best for the music.

Not surprisingly, young drumset play-ers tend to gravitate toward the oppositephilosophy. Flashy solos, fast hands andfeet, and large drumkits often take prece-dence over playing time, supporting theband, and making a musical contribu-tion. Mature musicians will choose tosacrifice their own personal glory for thegood of the group and what is best for themusic. This philosophy is what profes-

sional players model, and what hashelped them become successful.

CONCLUSION

Willa A. Foster wrote, Quality is neveran accident; it is always the result ofhigh intention, sincere effort, intelligentdirection, and skillful execution; it repre-sents the wise choice of many alterna-tives. If we apply these attributes toourselves as well as our students, we cansay that high intention is our vision forour program, sincere effort is our work

ethic, intelligent direction is our leader-ship, and skillful execution is our perfor-mance quality.

The wise choice of many alternativeshas to do with the choices we make every

day based on what we believe is best forour students, and in the case of themarching percussion ensemble, what isbest for the entire group. How do weknow if a piece of music can be performedat a high level? By knowing our studentsabilities, considering how much rehearsaltime they have to prepare, and trustingour instincts, intuition, and experience.

There are always reasons why somepeople perform at a high level and somedo not. As musicians, understanding thebalance between musical difficulty andperformance quality can be a very impor-

tant step towards discovering what weare capable of achieving.

SOURCES

Brindle, Reginald Smith. Contemporary Per-

cussion. Oxford University Press. 1991.

Buyer, Paul.Marching Percussion Arrange-

ments for the Enhancement of Essential

Performance Skills. UMI Dissertation Ser-

vices, University of Arizona, 1999.

Janssen, Jeff. Championship Team Building.

1999.

Quality, Service, Teamwork. The Foundations

of Excellence. Quote by Willa A. Foster.

Successories Library. 1998.Rennick, Paul. Art, Entertainment, and

Competition. Percussive Notes,Vol. 39, No.

2, April 2001.

Warren, William. Coaching and Motivation.

Prentice Hall, 1983.

Paul Buyer is Director of Percussion andAssistant Professor of Music at ClemsonUniversity. He received his Doctor of Mu-sical Arts and Master of Music degreesfrom The University of Arizona and hisBachelor of Science degree from BallState University. Dr. Buyer is a contrib-

uting author to the second edition ofTeaching Percussion by Gary Cook, andhis articles have appeared in theAmeri-can Music Teacher andPercussive Notes.

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Balancing Music and Difficulty