In the classroom - Never Trust a Conductor’s Tempo on Concert Day: While I know many of you are focused on spring concerts, our ensembles are headed to the UIL evaluation this week. Performing for UIL brings several reminders to mind, but the biggest for me is, “Never trust a conductor’s tempo on concert day!”

Performance days bring a myriad of emotions and countless logistical details to a head. We’re often excited, stressed, scattered. We may have spent months preparing and rehearsing, but that doesn’t mean we know what the tempo should be today. A heightened heart rate has more than once tricked me into making poor choices from the podium, and I’ve learned to outsource tempo control. 😂

In the classroom - Watson ABCs: While I know many of you have turned to the final spring concerts, my ensemble is still working on the last few rehearsals of our UIL evaluation literature.  At this point, there are so many things going well that it is easy to get stuck in a rut of ‘Run it again.  Good…run it again.’  To avoid this, we utilize a couple of different strategies to keep ears open and the ensemble growing.  

One of my favorites was brought to me by the great Bill Watson many years ago; we just call it

In the classroom - the cost of the final 5%: I’m a big James Clear fan - if you don’t know him, his book Atomic Habits is worth checking out.  In his weekly newsletter this week (read it here), he discussed the extreme cost of perfection. He asserts that “Perfection is expensive. The last 5 percent of quality almost always costs a disproportionate amount of time and money.”  As you might guess, he goes on to discuss that most things aren’t worth the added cost to get to the end.  While probably true when discussing the cost difference between a Rolex and a Timex (kids…these are watches), the final 5% of quality is where true musicianship lives. 

In the classroom - Legacy Mindset: As we enter the final stretch of the school year, it always brings a mix of emotions.  While an exciting time, it can be challenging for all to remain focused and consistently engaged.  I’ve learned to address the challenges head-on.  In rehearsal tomorrow, I’ll briefly touch on the negative things I see annually (lower levels of consistent focus, immature behavior, apathy, and distant stares instead of active pencils), but we’ll spend more time discussing the exciting opportunity on the horizon.  

Worse before it gets better - regardless of your approach to accountability, be ready for it to get worse before it gets better.  The concert preparation cycle runs from macro to micro, then back to macro.  In the micro phase, I always get the impression we’re getting worse.  Regardless of the strength of my ensemble, when we start digging deep for individual achievement, it sounds worse.  I have to remind myself: Don’t panic; keep pushing.  As students start to truly master their parts, as only individual accountability will ‘inspire’ them to do, I find that it ‘magically’ comes back into focus.  This confidence in their individual parts allows significantly more bandwidth for kids to zoom out and focus their energy on creating, shaping, and emoting the musical line - that’s where the joy is!  Whatever you do, just keep swimming! 

In the classroom - use all the ingredients in every rehearsal: I’m early in the concert cycle and have to remind myself that the most effective preparation strategy includes using all the ingredients in every rehearsal.  Too often, I find myself wholly focused on notes, rhythms, and intonation with complete disregard for balance, blend, and line.  “Getting the notes and rhythms right” so we can “add the dynamics later,” is the musical equivalent of insisting we cook the water, flour, and eggs “just right” before we add the sugar, salt, and vanilla.  I’ve found that identifying line or setting balance priorities while learning the ‘basics’ of a piece often accelerates the pace (and joy) of learning.  

Behind the scenes - the data doesn’t lie:  The data actually can and will lie if you aren’t systematic in how you look at it.  However,