Community Band Etiquette

[J. Laux]

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

[windshieldbug]

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.

[The Jackson]

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.

[OOMPAH]

[TubaBobH]

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.

[Rick Denney]

When I was first asked to join the board of our band, I asked them whether they intended the group to be a social group or a music performance group. They were unanimous that they preferred the latter.

Based on that, we instruct our music director (who is paid a nominal sum) to program music that is some degree beyond our abilities to force us to stretch and learn. We're unanimous about that, too.

As a result, we play music worth shutting up for and paying attention to. As such, on the rare occasions when there is talking while the conductor is working with us, he merely says, "Please don't talk while I'm talking." That does it. But it's based on respect. A conductor who doesn't earn that respect won't get it. Tyrant? I'm not at all afraid of a tyrant, if the obedience he demands is in the service of music worth serving.

Conductors with no musical vision, whose technique doesn't go beyond floor-door-window-ceiling, and who program Symphony of Sit-Coms and that ilk get what they deserve.

Rick "who knows how to confer with colleagues without distracting anyone" Denney

[Dan Schultz]

..... Conductors with no musical vision, whose technique doesn't go beyond floor-door-window-ceiling, and who program Symphony of Sit-Coms and that ilk get what they deserve.....

HEY! That's one of my favorite pieces!

[windshieldbug]

..... Conductors with no musical vision, whose technique doesn't go beyond floor-door-window-ceiling, and who program Symphony of Sit-Coms and that ilk get what they deserve.....

HEY! That's one of my favorite pieces!

Maybe... but I think it's jumped the shark!

[Mister JP]

I'm just returning to playing, and I'm incredibly annoyed by the percussionists that stand directly behind me. I noticed that as soon as the conductor cuts off the band, the conversation begins. Occasionally it's bout the music, but not often. OK, I make the occasional wisecrack to my neighbor, but it's nothing in comparison.

I think I'll have to discretely mention it to to the conductor before rehearsal tomorrow.

[TubaBobH]

...I'm incredibly annoyed by the percussionists that stand directly behind me. I noticed that as soon as the conductor cuts off the band, the conversation begins...

I don't know what it is about percussionists, but they always seem to be the most talkative group in the ensemble...middle school band, high school band, college band, community band.. doesn’t make any difference. I know part of the excess conversion is a result of them needing to determine who will play what during different musical pieces, and setting up/moving the equipment around. I also think that "standing around" a lot during pieces that don't require their playing probably engenders a need to socialize with their percussionist brethren. Anyway, it is an interesting phenomenon.

[The Jackson]

It's pretty interesting at my band because we only meet with the percussion at rehearsals cloesly prior to concerts. Most times they are in an adjacent room working on the music and chamber music with the percussion instructor.

[windshieldbug]

...I'm incredibly annoyed by the percussionists that stand directly behind me. I noticed that as soon as the conductor cuts off the band, the conversation begins...

I don't know what it is about percussionists, but they always seem to be the most talkative group in the ensemble

Perhaps because they're about the only group in a Wind Ensemble that doesn't use their wind to make music... they talk BECAUSE THEY CAN!

[Mister JP]

OK, I laughed at that... but it's still not an excuse!

[sloan]

In the bands I play with, it's the trumpet section. For some reason, they need to discuss who plays which part before EVERY PIECE at EVERY REHEARSAL.

[Eupher6]

When I was first asked to join the board of our band, I asked them whether they intended the group to be a social group or a music performance group. They were unanimous that they preferred the latter.

Based on that, we instruct our music director (who is paid a nominal sum) to program music that is some degree beyond our abilities to force us to stretch and learn. We're unanimous about that, too.

As a result, we play music worth shutting up for and paying attention to. As such, on the rare occasions when there is talking while the conductor is working with us, he merely says, "Please don't talk while I'm talking." That does it. But it's based on respect. A conductor who doesn't earn that respect won't get it. Tyrant? I'm not at all afraid of a tyrant, if the obedience he demands is in the service of music worth serving.

Conductors with no musical vision, whose technique doesn't go beyond floor-door-window-ceiling, and who program Symphony of Sit-Coms and that ilk get what they deserve.

Rick "who knows how to confer with colleagues without distracting anyone" Denney

Bravo, Rick, for capturing my own thoughts.

This is a subject near and dear to my heart and while there have been lots of exceptional comments, I'd like to add my own (whether they're exceptional or not, who knows?)

First off, I understand the entire "community" band/orchestra vibe. It's a great thing, people have done it for decades, and there is lots of fellowship and friendship involved in making music in that setting. It's that connection with community that allows us to look at ourselves and state with certainty that we're bringing something to the citizens and each other with whom we live.

That said, there is an obligation to the music itself, and to each other as musicians. We have the obligation to put our collective and individual best feet forward to best represent what the composer/arranger had in mind and from a musical ethics point of view, to put our best musical efforts downrange.

All well and good. There are, however, standards that should be met. These standards involve many aspects of musicianship - the physical capability of playing the notes on the page, the ability of the conductor to draw out the essence of the music from the ensemble, and the overall presentation of the ensemble to the public at large. Defining this "standard" is difficult and it means different things to different people, but it very much is the dividing line between musicians.

I've found that my own standards often don't agree with the community band concept. That's perfectly fine. I'm free to participate or not.

As for me, and like Rick above, I like a musical challenge and I tend to gravitate toward ensembles that are going to kick my butt. It's in the process of improving my own skills that I'm able to purely enjoy the experience. While I'm never truly "satisfied" with any performance, there is the element of enjoyment which goes along with knowing that I nailed that passage that I've worked on daily for three weeks, or that intonation, phrasing, and balance between me and the principal cornet (I'm a brass bander at heart) is spot on.

For those reasons, and for the reason that when I commit to an ensemble, I commit to it, I would rather pass up an opportunity to play in one ensemble that features easier logistics, better facilities, no-pay-to-play in order to fully commit to another that isn't nearly as well-developed.

For me, the music comes first. Everything else is secondary.

[sloan]

When I was first asked to join the board of our band, I asked them whether they intended the group to be a social group or a music performance group. They were unanimous that they preferred the latter.

Based on that, we instruct our music director (who is paid a nominal sum) to program music that is some degree beyond our abilities to force us to stretch and learn. We're unanimous about that, too.

This seems to me to be a delicate balance between contradictory goals. I think that contradiction can be resolved - but only if it is recognized as a contradiction.

A "musical performance group" should concentrate on the *performance*. To produce an excellent performance, the music must be well within the capabilities of the ensemble. Otherwise, we're back in middle-school listening to squeaks and farts, but everyone gets patted on the head and praised for making the effort. The goal of a "musical performance group" should be to produce a performance that the audience will love even if they aren't related to the performers.

Stretching and learning are admiral goals (I highly approve of them) - but what happens when you stretch to the limit and don't quite get there? Do you cancel the performance? Do you give a poor performance?

I appreciate conductors who do two things:

a) they are constantly "titrating" the band - working on material that ranges from the "too easy" to the "too hard", and then selecting for actual performance the pieces that are within their grasp.

b) they work on the "too easy" stuff just as much as the "too hard" stuff. It's not a good plan to spend 6 weeks rehearsing the "interesting" stuff, and then slapping together a "too easy" concert full of pieces where the conductor says "we can play that" without every actually checking to see if the band actually CAN (still) play that, or spending any time improving the band's performance of that "too easy" piece.

There are hundreds of pieces that most people consider "too easy" and which receive indifferent performances (medleys of all sort fall into this category). In practice, this means that the band can give a vanilla performance with no obvious wrong notes. They can all be improved 1000% by an hour of intense work on nuance and interpretation. These things, too, require "stretching and learning".

Don't be too proud of the "level" of the music your ensemble attempts - instead be proud when the audience thinks that what you just played was "easy as pie - and lots of fun to play", even though it took you two rehearsals to get the basic roadmap down.

That is: a "musical performance group" gets ZERO credit for "stretching and learning"; you get credit for delivering inspiring performances.

[Tortuba]

Just thought that I would post a follow-up to my original message.

It has been three weeks since the band's MD sent his email to all the band members.

I was a bit skeptical at first as to how the band would respond. I am very please to report that, to date at least, our rehearsals are much quieter, focused and productive. The idle chatter and joking has stopped (for the most part) and the folks seem to be making the effort to maintain decorum when it matters the most. Socializing still takes place, but not during the flute solo. Even the percussionists seem better behaved.

Overall, I would say the MD's message was well received and has been effective.

Let's see how long it lasts.

Torotuba.