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I play in a no-audition community band but one that does have member dues. Everyone is welcome as long as they observe the appropriate band decorum. We've had a new addition to the tuba section of our community band. A young women in her early 20's has joined and is working to get her chops back in shape.

The new tuba player could be a welcome addition to the section but, as a true child of the times, she is addicted to her Blackberry.

Whenever we have a long rest, out comes her phone and she checks her messages. She even text-messages while the MD is working with another section. She is quit adept at balancing her tuba with one hand while texting with the other.

I would really appreciate another horn in our section, but need to have our Tuba-Texter focus more on the BBb and less on the BBM.

I haven't said anything to her yet and I don't want to dissuade her from staying with the band. However, her behavior has not gone unnoticed by other members of the band.

Any wise and sage advice to offer?

In the community band that I play, the personnel manager has made it clear to the entire band that behavior such as you are describing is unacceptable. I think that your conductor or personnel manager should state the rules on this issue to the band and if this does not work one of them should have a talk with her.

best of luck,
Mark

Mark E. Chachich wrote:In the community band that I play, the personnel manager has made it clear to the entire band that behavior such as you are describing is unacceptable. I think that your conductor or personnel manager should state the rules on this issue to the band and if this does not work one of them should have a talk with her.

best of luck,
Mark

+1

If I am playing a multi hour rehearsal with an ensemble that I am not getting paid for, I frequently send and receive work emails on my work provided iPhone when not playing. I get paid (although not a lot) by my job and not by that ensemble, and my job expects me to be available near 24/7. I would rather go to rehearsals and email occasionally than sit home every evening waiting for something to happen. If I don't miss any entrances, I don't see any problems with it. For anything professional, and for amateur concerts and church services, the phone stays in the gigbag except for intermission / between services when it does have to be checked.

While the problem is somewhat obvious to us, it isn't obvious to her - and if you consider the difficulty of explaining exactly what the problem is, it's hardly surprising that it wouldn't be obvious. If you haven't worked out a clear explanation of the problem that this causes, in rigorously practical terms, that's the first step.

Not that I'm sympathetic - I'd be jamming cellular phones all over the region if I could - but I recognize that others may have in their vast ignorance come to have a different perspective.

In an extended rehearsal that was about half pros and half amateurs a well known professional sitting next to me spent all of his horn down time studying a Fodor's travel guide of Switzerland. It seems his vacation was starting the day after our church Christmas concert and he wanted to be up the details. A couple of the men in the choir who were observing his behavior were incensed and came to me to get me to tell him to knock it off. I told them that I would be all over him the first time he missed an entrance. I finally resorted to trickery to get him to screw up, you know bringing my horn up a measure early and stuff like that. He leaned over at one point, laughed and said, "May as well give up. I am not going to fall for it." He never missed an entrance, never missed a note and played an impeciible concert(for which he left the book in his case). In the final analysis I guess that impeccible concert performance was what we really paid him for. Now I don't know how smart, aware etc. your girl tuba player is in comparison, this guy is a mensa, but if she can do it without screwing up, what's the problem?

I think Marty has the right of it (without knowing more about her situation).

I will often get my phone out during the long naps between entrances in orchestra while the conductor is teaching the violas how breathe with their mouths closed. My day job comes with a 24/7/365 ball and chain as well.

You don't really get those kinds of breaks in bands/wind ensembles though. I would chat with her in a friendly way and ask what all the texting is about. Maybe she is tied to the job also (somehow I don't think this is the case, but I will often assume the best before concluding the worst).

If she does not seem approachable that way, or if you can't think of a way to ask without making it seem like you are complaining, just make sure the director knows about it and can be looking for it. It's ultimately going to be his/her job to call her out on it anyway unless you have a section leader. Where does she sit in the section?

Is her playing suffering for this? Does she have the thing out in dress rehearsal/concerts? If not you may just want to let it go and reduce your stress level a bit.

Elegant solution Bloke. I was originally going to suggest a Faraday cage.

Anonymous text message sent during rehearsal: "We are watching your through you phone's camera. Why aren't you playing?".

I'm with Marty, too. This is an unpaid (in fact, "paying for") group. I don't see how you have any right to tell her what she can do when she's not playing as long as she's not being disruptive to the group and not missing entrances or instructions.

Why does this bother you? I find this much less offensive than the people who immediately start talking about anything and everything every time the conductor stops. Those people seem to have much less of a sense when they are being spoken to, as well.

In my opinion, using a cell phone during practice should be reduced to maybe a "tuner-app".
MY argumentation to shut off my cellphone during practice:

- using cell phones (rather: anything other than my instrument) adds to the overall background activity in the practice room, as well as background noise. So does reading novels, whispering with my bandmates and taking notes. The latter two may be intended to the benefit of the band, so they should be tolerated to a certain extent.
- This background noise grows in intesity with every person contributing to it. It adds to the chance of distracting every person in the room from the foremost activity they came (and, in the OP´s case, PAID) for in the first place. I´m robbing others of something they bought in currencies such as spare time, dedication or actual money.
- Using cells or whatever shows disrespect towards those who are struggling to get things done: the conductor, the individual or section, because I figure what I´m doing IN PRACTICE is more important than what they´re doing. I´d be paying attention to them otherwise.
- I distract MYSELF from anything that goes on in practice. Conductor gives explanations that become the background noise of MY activity. By the time I realise he´s adressing the whole band, I usually missed the measure number he wants me to start playing. While everybody else is hushed, I have to ask for directions, forcing 75 people to wait for ME.
- Some professions REALLY depend on availability at the very moment a message is sent. Paramedics, firefighters and single parents come to my mind. Still, these people also have their right to pursue a hobby, so their right to receive messages or even answer calls should be a matter of course.
Everyone else should be able to wait for the next general coffee / tobacco break. This is spare time, not business hours, for boss´ s sake !!. If it were, I´d be doing private stuff during working hours and had a right to be fired. On the rare occasions I have to "sit on needles" waiting for a certain message that requires my IMMEDIATE reaction, I´d rather skip practise, because in this case practice REALLY is less important than what ever else is going on.

Sorry for the long rant.

I very rareily sit in rehearsals anymore, but talking always annoyed me. If the Blackberry eliminates the talking and people still come in the right places, I would take the silence...on the other hand, neither talking or texting should really be done during rehearsal.

And to answer the OP´s question: Maybe it would be an option to have the conductor or spokesperson adress the whole band, asking who really needs to receive messages that night, asking everybody else to shut cells off.

A more direct reaction, especially with young people, could be something like "Would You like to share something with us ?" Of course, these are methods used in school. But if people act childish, I feel they have a right to be treated accordingly.

As a board member in one of my community bands, I was selected to address this matter at rehearsal about electronic devices---they are to be turned off during rehearsal--no exceptions. I stated we only require 2 hours of your time per week--only 2 hours of your undivided attention. In my opinion, it should not matter if you are getting paid or not, or if you play in a below average 12 member band or an ensemble that rivals "The President's Own", you should respect to your fellow band mates, your MD, your ensemble, and your art by turning your cell/pda/tablet/whatever OFF. If she was in my section, I would speak to her privately about it.

J "whatever happened to rehearsal discipline and courtesy" J

To distressed tuba player:
I realize that many people have obligations that extend into the evening, and
possible rehearsal times. However, when you join a performing group, you have
obligations to them as well. It is irritating to the extreme to get into the middle
of a St. Saens aria, at the Phil, and have some bodie's Lead Zepilen ring-tone go
off, then somebody goes scurring up the isle, breaking the mood, and ruining the
music for many.
In the situation that you describe, three people have failed to act. The first is
your conductor. Describe the situation to him. If there is a not a formal rule to
cover this, then enact one. Second, is your section leader. As the person charged
with the responsibility for your section, this would fall under his care, and he
should take the person aside, point out tactfully that she is disturbing the section, and ask her to turn off her phone when practice starts, and to wait until
break time to review it, or if a dire situation exists and she cannot wait that long, then she should excuse herself, and as quietly as possible go outside the rehearsal room for the review. Third, and only in the case that the above does
not resolve it, you should approach the person and see if you can peaceably resolve the matter. The combination of the conductor and the section leader is
meant to handle such things.

-
selfa

To distressed tuba player:
I realize that many people have obligations that extend into the evening, and
possible rehearsal times. However, when you join a performing group, you have
obligations to them as well. It is irritating to the extreme to get into the middle
of a St. Saens aria, at the Phil, and have some bodie's Lead Zepilen ring-tone go
off, then somebody goes scurring up the isle, breaking the mood, and ruining the
music for many.
In the situation that you describe, three people have failed to act. The first is
your conductor. Describe the situation to him. If there is a not a formal rule to
cover this, then enact one. Second, is your section leader. As the person charged
with the responsibility for your section, this would fall under his care, and he
should take the person aside, point out tactfully that she is disturbing the section, and ask her to turn off her phone when practice starts, and to wait until
break time to review it, or if a dire situation exists and she cannot wait that long, then she should excuse herself, and as quietly as possible go outside the rehearsal room for the review. Third, and only in the case that the above does
not resolve it, you should approach the person and see if you can peaceably resolve the matter. The combination of the conductor and the section leader is
meant to handle such things.

-
selfa

I would talk to the conductor and tell him that her behavior is distracting keeping YOU from performing your best. Ask him/her to say something to the BAND about phone useage during rehearsals. If the behavior continues, then ask the MD to speak to her directly.

Tortuba wrote:I play in a no-audition community band but one that does have member dues. Everyone is welcome as long as they observe the appropriate band decorum. We've had a new addition to the tuba section of our community band. A young women in her early 20's has joined and is working to get her chops back in shape.

The new tuba player could be a welcome addition to the section but, as a true child of the times, she is addicted to her Blackberry.

Whenever we have a long rest, out comes her phone and she checks her messages. She even text-messages while the MD is working with another section. She is quit adept at balancing her tuba with one hand while texting with the other.

I would really appreciate another horn in our section, but need to have our Tuba-Texter focus more on the BBb and less on the BBM.

I haven't said anything to her yet and I don't want to dissuade her from staying with the band. However, her behavior has not gone unnoticed by other members of the band.

Any wise and sage advice to offer?

I hate to say it but I usually read a book at orchestra rehearsals and it is no problem. I just needed to develop my ability to count rests and read at the same time.

I would say if she plays well, let it ride unless the phone is making a lot of noise.

tubeast wrote:In my opinion, using a cell phone during practice should be reduced to maybe a "tuner-app".
MY argumentation to shut off my cellphone during practice:

- using cell phones (rather: anything other than my instrument) adds to the overall background activity in the practice room, as well as background noise. So does reading novels, whispering with my bandmates and taking notes. The latter two may be intended to the benefit of the band, so they should be tolerated to a certain extent.
- This background noise grows in intesity with every person contributing to it. It adds to the chance of distracting every person in the room from the foremost activity they came (and, in the OP´s case, PAID) for in the first place. I´m robbing others of something they bought in currencies such as spare time, dedication or actual money.
- Using cells or whatever shows disrespect towards those who are struggling to get things done: the conductor, the individual or section, because I figure what I´m doing IN PRACTICE is more important than what they´re doing. I´d be paying attention to them otherwise.
- I distract MYSELF from anything that goes on in practice. Conductor gives explanations that become the background noise of MY activity. By the time I realise he´s adressing the whole band, I usually missed the measure number he wants me to start playing. While everybody else is hushed, I have to ask for directions, forcing 75 people to wait for ME.
- Some professions REALLY depend on availability at the very moment a message is sent. Paramedics, firefighters and single parents come to my mind. Still, these people also have their right to pursue a hobby, so their right to receive messages or even answer calls should be a matter of course.
Everyone else should be able to wait for the next general coffee / tobacco break. This is spare time, not business hours, for boss´ s sake !!. If it were, I´d be doing private stuff during working hours and had a right to be fired. On the rare occasions I have to "sit on needles" waiting for a certain message that requires my IMMEDIATE reaction, I´d rather skip practise, because in this case practice REALLY is less important than what ever else is going on.

Sorry for the long rant.

I am in complete agreement that cell phone use (when used as phones) is completely inappropriate during a rehearsal. Covertly emailing (or perhaps texting, which is best left to the kiddies) should be done so as to not distract anybody and be barely noticeable.
The organizational infrastructure I maintain is in 194 countries, so every hour is a business hour somewhere!

I played a Christmas gig once with a brass quartet. Trombone player's cell phone rings while we are in the middle of performing.

He TOOK THE CALL.

This was not a slouch group, either. Excellent players. It was the epitome of modern technology and lack of professional etiquette gone awry.