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Date Posted: 19:25:34 01/23/06 Mon
Author: Erika
Subject: Re: Free time
In reply to: Cynthia Holcomb 's message, "Free time" on 11:59:16 02/18/05 Fri

Along with Lindsay I had many days in my high school choir that we just sat around having a study hall. My director just didn't have time for us or at least it seemed that way. Sure, it was nice having an extra study hall to finish homework and talk with friends but it was supposed to be choir and we were supposed to be learning and singing. At the end of the year we had prepared only two songs for our big concert. We should have been able to have had many more songs prepared. Also, during my high school experience there were times in full choir practice that my director would only work with the small show choir. This rehearsal helped the small ensmeble but the large group lost some much needed practice time.
I believe that all scheduled practice time is very important. When a director gives a class a study hall instead of practicing they are wasting the ensemble's time. Also, small ensemble practice should take place at a certain time other than during a full ensemble rehearsal.

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Replies:

[> Re: Free time -- Laura, 20:03:51 03/19/06 Sun [1]

There were a lot of times in my high school band and even in the one year I was in choir that we had study hall instead of rehearsal. It was nice to have a free period, but all we did was sit around and talk. I don't feel like we really got anything done, thereforever we lost an entire hour which could have been rehearsal time. It's not a bad thing to cancel a rehearsal every now and then but to do it all the time really hurts the group and doesn't allow the group to reach their full potential. As the instructor, you should make sure that your group is using their time wisely.


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[> [> Re: Free time -- Molly, 18:36:53 03/20/06 Mon [1]

I can't agree more. Time with an ensemble can be worked in elsewhere- after school, or during a lunch period, but the whole group doesn't need to be left out. I'm very familiar with an "off-day" where the choir/band has a "study hall"- that usually turns into a giant social session. Sometimes the excuse for a social time wasn't even music related, but "educator-in-a-bad-mood-or-with-a-hangover" related.

I know in my high school, we were occasionally afraid of the music program being cut. It didn't go over well when the principal or superintendent walked in to see the choir students sitting on the carpet, chatting, rather than rehearsing. All that money to keep the music department alive so the kids who like to sing can have a social hour.....


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[> [> [> Re: Free time -- Benjamin Lupo, 19:38:34 03/20/06 Mon [1]

Amen my colleagues! I was privellaged to see for myself what an ensemble of 20 high school guys could accomplish after having only 30 minute rehearsals. The sound that they produced was on a level far beyond any high school sound I had ever heard before. And again, their rehearsals were 30 minutes long (during lunch) and I do not believe that they were daily. Those 10 or 15 minutes of free time at the end of a rehearsal or occasional "free day" the day after a concert could be much better spent making music.

As music educators, every moment we have with our students is loaded with opportunity. Any moment with a student during rehearsal that is not used to make music is a waste of your time and that of your students'. Worse than that, it is depriving your students of something: the ability to allow music to change their lives. We have a potentially life-altering responsibility to those we have chosen to share our love of music with...

Ok, I'm done... whew!


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