For my third observation, I watched a rehearsal for a jazz ensemble with director Tim Warfield.

I think he shows a lot of qualities that are unique and could be incorporated by other teachers in different settings. For one, there is a lot of input from the members of the ensemble. He has certain people start certain sections and has some lead others and so forth. Hes always asking questions of the opinions of the members of the ensemble and incorporating their thoughts into what he feels will work best. I think all of this is great for the students in the ensemble because it prepares them for being outside of school and doing independent projects. Any musician should know how to start a group and lead a session. When a teacher is just directing all the time without taking any input from the students, then the students are only learning to follow directions. This is a useful skill to have but its not the only way musicians should be acting. Being able to act without direction in a musical situation is extremely critical for jazz musicians but it should also be a part of being a classical musician. Other positive qualities to Mr. Warfields directing include the way that he focuses on certain sections that arent as tight as others. Theres a bridge to a song that had some complicated chord changes so as an exercise he had each student take turns soloing on the isolated bridge. This went on for about 20 minutes before he called the head of the tune again. The next time the bridge came up it sounded much smoother. Granted, this is the kind of practice that could and should be done in a students free time. Still, theres a different advantage to practicing such a drill as a group rather than on ones own. Theres a great deal to be said for doing warm-ups or exercises that arent known to the students. Mr. Warfield started his time by having the group run through a series of scales in changing modulations. An example would be mixolydian scale moving down by half-steps. Another example would be Lydian scale moving in major thirds, for three bars, then again raised up a half-step and repeated until every scale is covered. These kind of drills put students on the spot and test their playing skills as well as their ability to focus and keep together. Possibly the most important skill gained from this is how to keep going even if you mess up. As a student would miss a scale, the rest of the group would still be going in the same progression, so the student has no time to correct the mistake and must keep with the group.