Sheet Music for School > Running Ensembles at School
Schools are a fantastic resource for lots of musicians from beginner to advanced. However, it can be quite tricky forming groups which suit the ability ranges you have. This article may give you some ideas on how to put together clubs and ensembles which your pupils will enjoy and keep coming along to!
Start by getting to know each and every one of the children who have lessons on a musical instrument, both inside and outside school. This will give you a good idea of the sorts of ensembles which you could put together. Usually, there will be a clear divide between woodwind/brass ensembles and string groups. However, even in schools where your instrumentalists are limited in number, there is still music available which caters for mixed groups of any instrument! Kaleidoscope is one such series – they produce music which can be adapted for any combination of instruments.
If you find that you have a decent group size for a beginner AND a more advanced ensemble, make sure that there is a difference in the way that you deal with them. For instance, I would always suggest that the younger groups have a rehearsal during lunchtime – tends to be shorter and there is no problem about getting home – while the older players can easily cope with a longer rehearsal after school. The choice of music needs to be thought through carefully as well – fun, jazzy, catchy pieces for the younger groups (possibly adaptations and arrangements of things they know) and more well-known, standard repertoire for more advanced groups which will stretch their playing.
This is key to the success of any group or extra-curricular activity. Keep careful registers of members which you take every week and send reminders to any pupils who are not turning up. This will ensure that your group size does not dwindle. Always make sure that there is enough music to go round and that you have spare copies to give out so that there isn’t a delay in your precious rehearsal time. Give each desk of players one folder in which they keep their music – try to enforce the rule that there are only 2 players per desk! Collect the folders at the end of every rehearsal and keep them in big boxes which stay in the room in which you rehearse. Allow the students to take music home to practise but make sure that the folders stay in school. Start rehearsals promptly as a rule to make best possible use of available time – this way the children will get used to arriving and starting punctually.
This again is key to the success of your group. Be constantly on the lookout for any possible new recruits to your ensembles. Check the peripatetic notice boards for names you don’t know and ask other teachers in the department for recommendations from their classes. Then make it your business to make contact with the child and send them a personal invitation to join the group. Keep doing this and you’ll find that your membership grows continually!
It’s often very easy to spend lots of time chasing the pupils who are not turning up – sometimes to the extent where we can overlook the ones who religiously turn up every week and form the backbone of your group. Make a big effort to reward those who do show you this commitment – send letters home, postcards (if your school runs such a praise system) and say frequently to the child how pleased you are with them and how great their loyalty is.
Keep challenging your group by finding music which stretches them. Prepare several pieces for one concert to keep their interest levels high and give them lots to do. Pick out the best players and ask them to do solo parts or find music which features a particular section if they are strong – for instance, a jazz piece which features the saxophone section.
It’s easy to understand that if you enjoy what you’re doing and are finding it fun then the children will too. Make rehearsals enjoyable – after all, they’re giving up their free time to be there. Form a happy relationship with the children in your groups and you’ll find that they come back again and again. Fill rehearsals with laughs and fun and the success of your clubs will grow and grow.
Sheet Music for School > Running Ensembles at School