SHS Visit 1 - Jazz Band - Sarah Dodge

As a class, we went to observe an early morning jazz band rehearsal at a local high

school. After the rehearsal, to learn that the band director’s main instrument was euphonium was

interesting. I enjoyed the stylistic perspective he brought to the little group, since he hadn’t been

a big jazz player himself. Even though I’m a trombone player, I’m not big into jazz, so I

identified with the band director in this respect.

The group rehearsed three pieces in the time they had before school began. In observing

the teacher lead rehearsal, I noticed a few constants about his teaching and his techniques. He

primarily conducted with his left hand leading the beat, and he conducted often. I’m not sure

how long the students had been working on the pieces, but thinking traditionally, I’m pretty sure

that most jazz conductors simply cue and preside over the group rather than conduct as much as

he did. Still, that being said, I can see the value in conducting the group for rehearsal purposes to

be sure that everyone (even the rhythm section) has a clear idea of where each beat is. It’s also

helpful to throw in cues this way, too. Another way the band director communicated with his

students was by singing and demonstrating how he wanted certain ideas played stylistically. This

is an idea that I’m forcing myself to become more comfortable with. I won’t always have an

instrument on which to demonstrate what I’m talking about, and each instrument may call for a

different kind of demonstration. I appreciated that he was comfortable enough to use his voice to

show what he wanted - this is something I’m working on!

In terms of his rehearsal technique, I thought there was a nice balance of playing in small

groups, talking, running large sections, and simply doing what the group’s ability called for in

the moment. For example, if there were rhythmic or stylistic discrepancies, isolating the group
and the musical section often helped to fix it. This has reassured me even further that it’s ​okay​ to

not​ have the entire group playing all the time - especially in a high school setting. His quick

feedback and concise explanations did enough to keep everyone on task. I also liked that the

teacher asked for student input. A specific question he asked was, “what makes musical sense,

here?” He got a response, and everyone worked together to come up with something that they

collectively liked.

Overall, it was a great setting in which to be reintroduced to a high school jazz band. I’m

looking forward to the next time we get to observe!