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I thought I would share this recent email from the MD of one of the community bands I play in:

A gentle reminder- I enjoy having a relaxed atmosphere in rehearsals, and kibitzing comments that involve the whole group are fine. However, I always come with a plan, with things to be accomplished and goals to reach. Private conversations during rehearsals are distracting to me, make it difficult for others to hear, and detract from the focused atmosphere necessary to have a good band. Let's respect each other, and the rehearsal process. Get into the habit of listening when I stop conducting, and our work together will be much more effective and enjoyable. Thanks.

The MD is very good to work with, always prepared, musically accomplished and has had a very strong positive impact on the band. The band members all appreciate his efforts. But, it always amazes me that a group of adults (many of them teachers) can quickly revert to a type of behavior that they would not tolerate in their own classroom or business situation. Community band is a very social place, but we need a bit of decorum and discipline if we are going improve our music making abilities.

(And of course, there is always the one trombone that keeps playing long after the baton has come to a halt...or wants to do some covert practicing while the MD is talking to the flutes.)

Is this common behavior in other community groups? If so, how is it handled?

I think your MD did something very appropriate for the group. People sometimes forget their musical manners and need to be reminded.

Hope the e-mail will be enough.

I have found the same things. The talking is no different than in school, a sign of reverting to immature behavior, and yes, I'm as guilty as the next person.

But my pet peeve, as you, is the person who buries into the stand and does not watch and see the director cut and keeps going. To me, that is more a waste of time than the low-level background noise of sectional conversation.

The MD has handled these matters in a profoundly diplomatic way, and this should be a guide for any MD of any community band to consider in passing out introductory materials.

[quote="Tortuba"]
(And of course, there is always the one trombone that keeps playing long after the baton has come to a halt...or wants to do some covert practicing while the MD is talking to the flutes.)
[quote]

I wasn't aware he was playing in your group too.

I'm no better. When the mp is off my lips I can't help but flap 'em. What's more frustrating is when someone PLAYS when the MD stops.

I used to play regularly in a brass choir with this problem. This group was also composed primarily of teachers and retired teachers. I don't recall ever getting an email but the MD had to stop and give us a talking to on almost a regular basis. I don't think these problems will ever stop, especially in a volunteer based group. Sometimes an etiquette lesson is necessary, but its really only a temporary solution. Maybe if the MD could treat their band members the way some teachers treat their noisy students (making them put down their drumsticks, take out their mps and unplug their guitars).

The Big Ben wrote:I think your MD did something very appropriate for the group. People sometimes forget their musical manners and need to be reminded.

Hope the e-mail will be enough.

After more thought:

When i was in a community orchestra last, I only saw people I really liked at orchestra practice and I always wanted to chat with them. I had to remember to be quiet on my own and, for the most part, I was OK.

The other thing was more a time management problem on the part of the conductor. We'd all be in our places at the beginning of practice and he would proceed to work with the strings for 1.5 hrs of the 2 hr rehearsal and did not allow us to leave and we had to twiddle our thumbs for all that time. This would always make me want to sit and jabber. (S'pose I could have done a "Tommy Johnson" and had a small TV on the floor with an ear plug to watch Dodger games during sessions. Then, again, I'm not Tommy Johnson.) One of the reasons I stopped being in that orchestra in that I had to carve out that two hours of time each week and spent too much time sitting and not playing. I wish he would have told us to go home or not come at all if we weren't going to play at least half of the rehearsal time.

There are community bands and there are community bands. Both are fun and enjoyable. I just have to make sure I know what I'm walking into when I join a group for the first time. There's always a fine line with these things...take it seriously, but not too seriously.

The comments here thus far are very interesting. .... about what one would expect to read. As some have already touched upon... there are many forms of community bands... ranging from very social groups to highly professional ones. I founded "The Old Dam Community Band" nine years ago as a way for amateurs and come-back players to get back into music. I have served as the president of the group for the entire nine years. We are governed by a Board of Directors who are elected by The Band. We have five or six conductors who 'share the stick'. I can tell you this.... the demeanor of The Band is a direct reflection of the conductor who is in charge at the time. Too much or too little control and I get complaints. The most important element is to give The Band adequate time to take care of their socializing. I'm at the rehearsal hall usually an hour before rehearsal. Folks start arriving shortly after I get there. They have time to take care of their socializing prior to rehearsal. Also, about 40 minutes into a two-hour rehearsal, we take a short break of about ten minutes. After the 2nd half folks generally hang around for from 15 to 30 minutes or so. The socializing part is a very important part of our weekly sessions. Our conductors make every effort to make rehearsals fun without allowing the 'inmates to run the asylum'. Tyrants don't last. Nice guys at least have a chance.

BTW... if you REALLY want to ignite a discussion from a very broad cross-sections of community bands.... post this question here:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/c-m/messages

Concert Band Pet Peeve

Tuba players who show up unexpetedly at irregular intervals, do not warm up, can only minimally play the music and have a comment everytime the playing stops. Oh, and in the breaks...will brag about all the great tuba players they ever played a B flat with. --like I'm impressed?

I'm guessing this happens with other instruments as well. Heck, I may have done this myself at some point. Was I that irritating?

HGillespie wrote:Concert Band Pet Peeve

Tuba players who show up unexpetedly at irregular intervals, do not warm up, can only minimally play the music and have a comment everytime the playing stops. Oh, and in the breaks...will brag about all the great tuba players they ever played a B flat with. --like I'm impressed?

I'm guessing this happens with other instruments as well. Heck, I may have done this myself at some point. Was I that irritating?

Are you sure you weren't in the trumpet row?

Ya mean it happens there too?

OMG I'm going to faint!

I'm sure the pet peeve I described happens in every section in every band. As well, I'm sure there are other common peeves that could be brought to light.

Perhaps some enterprising person on this forum can make a pretty .pdf file of say the 12 Commandments of Community Band Etiquette...or 15 Commandments or what ever...depending on how many tablets Moses dropped.

Thanks for bringing this up.
Quite honestly, in the community band that I'm in, I do my fair share of blabbering...if not more than .
I think that the idea that the elephant's community band had is great. I think the community band I'm in almost needs that...unless it's just me . I know there's times that even though rehearsal's over, that I'll stand just outside my car, talking horns with someone else. I think I did that for almost a half-hour one night. But I guess I wouldn't be going to the same school if I didn't enjoy doing that...

My pet peeve, based on my community band expierences.....is the compulsive noodler. Every band has at least one player, who cannot not play. The only way they stop for more than 1 to 2 mins, is if they put the horn in it's case.

I've been lucky in that I've been exposed to very few "chatty" music directors, most of them want the band to PLAY, not jabber about 'sound qualities'. if something is not tuned well, they'll work on the section as it will be played, not each note.

I play in a community band that is approx. 80% high school students and 20% adult amatures. Talking is a BIG problem. The MD is a middle school band teacher and is mostly very tolerant of it and only occasionaly will stop the idle chit chatting . Whats so irritaing to me is this is my ONE chance a week to play in a group while most of these kids play every day and some even play several times a day because of marching band or being in 2 groups. When I am there I want to PLAY ! I save my socializing for before and after rehersal. I usually will have worked 8 to 10 hours at my job and am tired and stressed out . This is my one night a week to relax. I turn the work cell phone off and don't take any calls during that time. I just don't think its fair to the other adults there that are in the same situation as me.

I suggest to oldbandnerd that you talk to the director, he may not realize that some of the adults are a bit frustrated.

My college doesn't have a regular band, only community band, but the group is made up of the schools music majors (all 10 of us), other students from the college, and for the most part older community members. Sure there are a few high school kids, but most of the people are music teachers or former teachers from the area that still want to play so about the only talking that happens is asking others about parts and who wants to take the tuba solos

HGillespie wrote:Perhaps some enterprising person on this forum can make a pretty .pdf file of say the 12 Commandments of Community Band Etiquette...or 15 Commandments or what ever...depending on how many tablets Moses dropped.

15. Turn your cell-phone to vibrate or off completely. The whole band doesn't need to hear your "Zarathustra" ring-tone and your answer, "Oh hi, cousin Bob! How they hangin'?" even if it's during a repeated section.

What I like about the community band that I'm in is that there is no corporeal incentive for a high school kid to go there (no extra credit, no community service hours, etc.). That effectively weeds out all the high school jokers, so I am usually the only HS kid there (40+ group). There are about five or six band directors in it as well as a few community fellows that freelance and want to play their horns. The band is actually a community college course, so some college kids are there to get the credit and that's where the clowns are, but it's usually just one or two guys who just flat-out don't care. That's an astronomical improvement from what I had in regular school band and that's why, between the band and the orchestra I play in, the band is, by far, my favorite group.

I think the elephant hit the nail right on the head. Our community band also encourages band members to socialize - come early to socialize, use the 10 minute break to socialize, go to our regular after-rehearsal restaurant/watering hole to socialize. However, during the actual rehearsal session there is a lot of peer pressure to rehearse, not socialize. Our MD has also made it clear to the section leaders that one of their responsibilities is to maintain appropriate band etiquette and decorum within their sections during rehearsals. Seems to work for us.