Concert Programming and Performing as a Model for Lesson Planning and Teaching

Self-Evaluation

First, performers take stock of their capabilities and limitations in their performance medium to select music that is suitable for their register, technical capacity, endurance, and other traits. ⁵ In the short term, this evaluation reveals certain inadequacies as performers and may, in some cases, result in an equally limited range of music that may be selected for performance. In the long term, however, this self-evaluation encourages performers to practice more diligently so that they may one day perform music that currently lies outside their performance capabilities.

In a music education context, self-evaluation enables teachers to select lesson materials that correlate to their strengths as musicians and as teachers, and to their specific areas of training and interest. Effective teachers also use this self-evaluation to identify areas of needed improvement wherein they might grow as teachers and minimize their pedagogical deficiencies. For example, an instrumental conductor who has been asked to produce a school musical may recognize his or her limited knowledge of singing and the differences in vocal and instrumental conducting. This awareness may lead the conductor to research vocal techniques, age and developmentally appropriate performance literature, and a host of related topics that will directly impact the teacher’s knowledge and ability. The idea here is not that shortcomings result in a limited selection of instructional materials but that knowledge of limitations encourages continued research and growth as music educators.

Audience Considerations

Next, it has been suggested that an audience can have a significant impact on the success of a performance and should be a key consideration when programming concerts. ⁶ Music researcher Albert LeBlanc also recommended that planning a concert or recital with a particular audience in mind may minimize the impact of stage fright during the performance. ⁷ Therefore, it is beneficial for performers to consider the audience members that are likely to attend a concert or recital. A performance at a national conference or convention, for instance, would be decidedly different than a concert in the park or other outdoor venue.

Just as performers consider their audiences in choosing program selections, teachers account for a multitude of student characteristics that influence pedagogical choices. ⁸ While student demographics may impact course content to some degree, there is much more of a consideration for the manner in which content is presented based on student demographics. A teacher’s knowledge of students’ prior experiences, for example, enables him or her to plan lessons that move from the known to the unknown and to present musical challenges at all levels of learning. Similarly, a teacher’s knowledge of demographics, behaviors, learning styles, and other student personality traits enables him or her to structure lesson delivery in a manner that reaches all students and to handle classroom management in the most appropriate means. ⁹ In my first year of teaching, I became exasperated at the behaviors of one student who refused to follow what I perceived to be fairly simple instructions. When I learned that the student did not speak English, I apologized and addressed the student again in his native language. Now as an experienced teacher, I mentally revisit that moment as a means of reminding myself of the importance of speaking the students’ language, whether from a literal or figurative vantage point.

Time Considerations

Performers also consider the factor of time, as it pertains both to the length of the program and to the amount of time required to prepare for the concert. The first aspect helps performers determine the appropriate number of pieces to program. The latter helps performers determine the appropriate amount of rehearsal time to be spent on each piece, when rehearsals with accompanists or other ensemble members should begin, when dress rehearsals should be scheduled, and other related details.

Time considerations are also essential in effective lesson planning, as they pertain both to the length of a lesson and individual activities and to the amount of time required to prepare for the lesson presentation. According to music education researchers Clifford Madsen, Jayne Standley, and Jane Cassidy, effective planning is a key attribute in determining a teacher’s potential for success in the classroom. ¹⁰ This sentiment was also supported by Joseph Labuta and Deborah Smith, who stated, “Effective teaching begins with effective planning.” ¹¹ Careful planning also enables teachers to maintain a comfortable pace throughout their lessons and thereby enhance the overall quality of their teaching. ¹² While short-range planning influences the pace and sequence of individual lessons, long-range planning is equally essential to ensure that students are on target to address objectives at the proper time in their musical, cognitive, and kinesthetic development.

Music and Lesson Considerations

The most important factor to consider in concert or recital preparation is the music that will be performed. In most cases, performers select music of contrasting style or time periods. Other times, performance selections are chosen based on a unifying theme, concept, or other element. Once the appropriate selections are made, performers then choose the most appropriate performance or program order. Musician and author Gerald Klickstein recommended that a concert should begin with a showy or flashy piece that gets the audience engaged and allows the performer to demonstrate his or her virtuosity from the onset of the concert. The introductory piece is usually followed by a lyrical piece or something considerably more lighthearted than the opening number. The difficult or demanding selections should be programmed after an intermission, when the performer is sufficiently warmed up but not yet mentally or physically exhausted. Finally, the last piece of a concert should again allow the performer to demonstrate his or her virtuosity but should also be technically easier than previous selections, as fatigue will have undoubtedly set in by this point. ¹³

Like the pieces in a concert performance, the most important factor to consider in lesson planning is the content, National Standards, and type of activities to include. Frequently, the activities in a music lesson are selected for unity of theme and for contrast of content presentation or student involvement. In some instances, multiple standards are covered through one activity, while other lessons use various strategies to teach, reinforce, or assess one theme or standard. ¹⁴ In either case, a teacher’s ability to select appropriate content and activities directly affects student success and mastery of the chosen standard.

Once the appropriate activities have been selected, the next task is to order them in the most logical sequence. Usually, a lesson begins with a bell ringer, anticipatory set, or other introductory activity that engages students and allows the teacher to demonstrate the overall point of the lesson. A bell ringer is also commonly used as a formative assessment to evaluate the students’ prior knowledge of the content and observe the students’ mental focus, energy level, and other factors that contribute to, or inhibit, their participation with the lesson. ¹⁵ The more difficult activities are usually placed near the middle of the lesson, when the students are cognitively and musically prepared but not yet mentally or physically exhausted. Activities in the middle of a lesson also usually vary in style so that passive activities are juxtaposed with those that require more direct involvement from the students. The final component of the lesson summarizes or reviews the day’s content while generating a cliff-hanger for upcoming lessons and allows the teacher to evaluate the students’ level of mastery with the lesson. The information gathered through this evaluation becomes the foundation on which future lessons are constructed.

Extraneous Factors

The final aspect of consideration in concert programming is the variety of extraneous factors related to the performance. The number of events for which a performer must prepare, for instance, and the types of music performed at each concert have a significant impact on the type and amount of music that can be performed at any one of the upcoming events. Other administrative details include reserving performance and rehearsal space, coordinating schedules with collaborative pianists and other performers, organizing a reception, promoting the concert, typing program notes, and a host of additional behind-the-scenes duties that are essential to the overall success of the event.

Just as performers consider extraneous factors in concert programming, teachers should calculate for the seemingly unrelated or unimportant factors that impact lesson planning. The amount of time a teacher must devote to a class- or gradewide production can reduce the time the educator has for planning, grading, or other aspects of lesson preparation. Music teachers also commonly collaborate with classroom teachers, art teachers, or other faculty to implement gradewide curricular themes that may impact content. Finally, statewide testing, field trips, fire drills, personal responsibilities, and other factors influence when certain lessons can be taught as well as the planning that each lesson requires.

Performance

After performance selections and lesson components have been chosen, they must be prepared for the upcoming concert event or music class. For performers, the rehearsal process usually begins with a very rough read-through of the chosen music, listening to demo recordings, talking with composers, and perhaps conducting a theoretical analysis of each composition. This first reading and theoretical analysis usually reveal musical and technical challenges that performers incorporate into their daily warm-up routines as they begin informal run-throughs of each selection. It is also during this phase that performers commonly begin experimenting with various phrasings, dynamics, and other elements that enable them to insert their personality into each composition. As the performance date nears, performers transition to a more deliberate, purposeful rehearsal regimen, finalizing musical and artistic decisions and replicating with precise detail every decision in each run-through of the music.

As a final component to this rehearsal process, performers also rehearse the nonmusical elements of a recital or concert. In preparation for a recital, for example, performers commonly practice how they will walk onto the stage, where they will stand, how they will bow to the audience, and where they will place their water, mutes, or other necessities. Some performers also physically walk through each phase of the recital and visualize the concert hall full of people as they practice their bows, page turns, and other nonmusical components. Conducting this type of run-through eliminates small surprises, minimizes the effects of stage fright, and enables performers to focus more intently on the music during the performance. ¹⁶

Teaching

Just as performers conduct extensive rehearsal processes, music teachers’ lesson planning procedures should include thorough rehearsal of lesson delivery. Usually, this process begins with a rough read-through of the lesson, focusing more on the large-scale objectives and curricular and pedagogical decisions. As class time draws nearer, the process transitions to a more deliberate, purposeful practice regimen: addressing minute details of the lesson, rehearsing the sequence of each activity and the transitions from one activity to the next, practicing the verbal delivery of the lesson, and replicating with precise detail every instructional decision in each run-through of the lesson.

This process may involve other smaller yet important details. All materials, for example, should be compiled and assembled, and located so they can be conveniently accessed at the appropriate time in the lesson. Instructional technology should be plugged in, cued up, and checked and double-checked, and it should be supplemented by a contingency plan for the possibility of technical problems. Novice teachers especially may also consider rehearsing where they will stand or sit at certain points in the lesson; how and when they will access materials, technology, or instruments; and even walking and talking through each lesson to an empty classroom to prepare. Conducting this type of run-through reduces the risk of surprises, minimizes the potential for classroom management problems, and enables the teacher to focus more intently on the lesson during class time. Conversely, poor planning affects pacing and organization and can be a great hinderance to effective teaching. ¹⁷

Music Awareness

First and perhaps most obvious for performers is a constant and unwavering focus on the music, remembering all of the musical and artistic decisions that were made during rehearsal, and conveying these decisions to the audience. Restless audience members, rustling of programs, and cell phones are just a few examples of the many factors that may draw a performer’s attention away from the music, causing memory lapses, mistakes, and frustration.

Similarly, effective teaching requires a keen awareness of the lesson plan and every aspect of each activity as it is presented. On a larger scale (macroawareness), teachers should be fully aware of prior lessons so that new terms and concepts of the current lesson may be delivered in their appropriate contexts. Teachers should know precisely where they are in the lesson at any given moment to avoid inadvertently skipping components of the lesson or teaching a concept out of sequence or at an inappropriate time. On a smaller scale (microawareness), teacher’s awareness of lesson components should encompass the minutest of details, including specific steps in each activity, transitions from one activity to the next, and specific terminology to incorporate or avoid during the presentation of each activity.

Self-Awareness

The next focal point for performers during a concert or recital is consistent self-awareness. As a point of clarification, there is significant carryover from awareness of the music to self-awareness. Throughout a concert, performers remain cognizant of each and every detail of the music they have rehearsed and convey those details to the audience. To do this, they must remain equally conscious of the personal and physical attributes necessary to perform each piece effectively. There are certain attributes of the performer that change or evolve through the course of a recital or concert that may directly contribute to the success or failure of the overall performance. The symptoms of performance anxiety, for example, are usually exaggerated in the opening selections of a concert and dissipate as a performer becomes more comfortable onstage. ¹⁸ Therefore, in the first pieces of a concert or recital, performers are more prone to experience dry mouth, shakiness, increased adrenaline, quickened heart rate, and other physiological symptoms. Nearer the end of a recital, however, the physical symptoms of stage fright usually give way to mental fatigue, embouchure fatigue, dehydration, and other endurance issues.

Apart from performance anxiety, there are other self-awareness factors that contribute to the success of a concert. Poor posture, for example, may constrict breathing, impact tone quality, diminish endurance, and negatively impact other performance techniques. Also, a performer’s physical location on stage affects his or her ability to communicate with audience members, conductors, accompanists, and other ensemble members. These and other factors also contribute to stage presence.

Just as there is a lot of carryover between music awareness and self-awareness for the performer, there is significant carryover between lesson awareness and self-awareness for the teacher. Regarding self-awareness, teachers’ mindfulness of their overall presence in the room and their ability to engage students in the lesson through their physical demeanor will have a direct impact both on the lesson and how they are perceived by their students. ¹⁹ Physical location in the room, proximity to students, eye contact, and facial expressions can be powerful tools for enhancing instruction and minimizing off-task behaviors. ²⁰ Additional research has cited the need for teachers to consider their overall mood or health and the potential impact of personal circumstances on classroom performance. ²¹ A teacher in the midst of a personal or financial crisis, for example, may find it difficult to focus and may inadvertently present a lesson incorrectly, or he or she might sternly address a behavior that would have otherwise been corrected with a simple verbal reminder.

For preservice and early-career teachers as well as inexperienced performers, the ability to simultaneously attend to self and to music (content) may seem inundating. There is extensive research, however, suggesting that with a fair amount of practice, many behaviors become automatic or procedural so that they require little focus, freeing the mind to attend to more in-depth matters. ²² As a result, certain aspects of awareness may seem more laborious for preservice and early-career teachers but usually subside over time.

Audience Awareness

Finally, an effective, high-quality performance can be enhanced through performers’ awareness of their audiences. According to music education researchers Alessandro Antonietti, Daniela Cocomazzi, and Paola Iannello, musical performance is a means of communication between performers and their audience members. Antonietti and his colleagues also referred to music as a language or means of expression from the performer to the audience, reciprocating back to the performer. ²³ In light of this view, it could be argued that performers need to maintain awareness of their audiences throughout a recital or concert. Performers commonly indicate that they are energized by participatory or receptive audiences, feel more at ease on stage, and are more likely to perform well. LeBlanc also stated that audience demographics can have as much impact on performance anxiety as the size of an audience, indicating that musicians are motivated to perform well by audiences that they perceive as welcoming and encouraging. ²⁴ Contrarily, some performers may feel discouraged by nonresponsive audiences and thereby feel less motivated to perform well. Other performers may unintentionally overcompensate for nonresponsive audiences through spontaneous or perhaps inappropriate stage antics that diminish the overall quality of the performance. In either scenario, a performer’s keen awareness of an audience can have a significant impact on the overall performance.

Much as a performer reads an audience, an educator observes and evaluates the body language of each student in the room and the overall chemistry of the class. This body language reveals students’ level of involvement with the course content, interest in the subject matter, and comprehension of the lesson objectives. Students’ body language can also provide insights into the personal, psychological, or physical needs that individuals might not otherwise divulge. Through a keen awareness of students’ body language and an understanding of the students’ academic, social, and psychological development, teachers are able to modify instruction, adjust pacing, proactively address classroom management issues, and generally enhance the effectiveness of their teaching and the classroom environment.