[Trombone-l] Rules for Rehearsal

[Charles De Paolo]

I have to agree with Jason.  What's with all this la-dee-dah "director" 
stuff where he/she can't maintain the most basic control.  The director 
needs to have, or grow quickly, a backbone.  As a director, you show respect 
to the musicians, and you demand their respect in return.  I have had 
occasion to be in one of these Tuesday Night Social Club bands where the 
director is disrespected.  I didn't stay.  In those where I have stayed, the 
director simply demands quiet and proper rehearsal etiquette. He makes it 
clear the disruption is not welcome and is disrespectful.  By making it 
clear, I mean he uses actual words addressed to the offending player(s) in 
front of the rest of the band, "Alto saxes, please be quiet and stop 
noodling during stops.  The disruption is not welcome and it is 
disrespectful."  Simple.  He does not lollygag around using 
passive-aggressive psychological wordplay and body language to get this 
point across.  In other cases he has spoken directly with the section leader 
to have them put additional pressure on the player.  Sounds easy, and it is. 
You just have to have the stones to do it.  If someone quits as a result, so 
be it.  The rest of the group will probably be better off.

--Chuck

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jason Smith
  To: Jeff Thompson ; bone list
  Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 3:27 PM
  Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Rules for Rehearsal


  I too play with a community group but I can say that
  none of that crap goes on in our rehearsal.  Our
  director, is an old retired army band master and makes
  it clear that we are there as his guest and that we
  are there to play not socialize and if you dont like
  it go find out somewhere elese to play. I think we
  have a really good band because of it.  Those that
  arent serious about playing dont last very long but
  those that work had and we dont sound all that bad.

  Jason


  --- Jeff Thompson <7cuh-asb6 at spamex.com> wrote:

  > I used to play in a community concert band for five
  > or six years. The socializing and talking during
  > rehearsal was rampant. We used to rehearse once a
  > week on Wednesdays from 7 to 9 pm. We took a ten
  > minute break at 8 pm. That was the designated time
  > to socialize. It didn't help. There was still a lot
  > of yakking during rehearsals.
  >
  > There was one set of people who nearly made me blow
  > a gasket! They talked at every stoppage in the
  > rehearsal. When the director announced which measure
  > number
  > we would play at next, they never heard him. So,
  > they invariably asked, again, where are we starting?
  >
  >
  > One of these guys also made a near annual plea to
  > the rest of the band to be quiet during rehearsal so
  > we could all hear the director. I could barely
  > contain my laughter, as he was the primary offender!
  >
  >
  > Jeff Thompson
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