Developing Your Instrumental Group

DEVELOPING YOUR INSTRUMENTAL GROUP

by Steve Kirby

Personnel - Who Should Play?

· Set Some Standards: Audition. There is no better way of finding out how well an individual plays their instrument than by audition. Good players get frustrated with weak players and weak players get frustrated because they can't play the music. Always remember, excellence breeds excellence. Set up a time away from your regular rehearsal to listen to them play. If they are in school or taking private instruction, ask them to bring something they play well. Let them know they will be sight-reading. Use the same sight-reading material for everyone. A book that has been around for many years is excellent for auditions. It's entitled "Watkins - Farnum Scale Performance Exercises, Form A". It contains thirteen graduating exercises with each exercise written for every instrument in their clef and key. You decide what level is best for your situation. The standard for many who use this book is exercise #5, whether it be for youth or adult groups.
· Part of the audition should be an interview; Name, family, etc. Make sure to ask about their church background. It is important to know if they are believers. Some churches allow non-members (and occasionally non-believers) to play in their groups as an avenue of ministry to them. I have seen people come to Christ because of their involvement in an instrumental ministry. As was mentioned last week, make sure you are on the same page with your pastor and your church's purpose statement before you allow a known non-believer to join your group (remember, no surprises).

· Set Some Standards: Age. This may seem a bit harsh, but it is better to have smaller groups that are age-related than to have one large group. For the most part, middle school instrumentalists do not have the skill set to play the studio orchestrations that accompany the adult choir music. We are asking them to play in keys they have not learned, pitches they cannot reach and expect it to sound like the demo recording! There are some great orchestra "stand alone" specials designed for middle school groups that meet them where they are musically and challenge them to go a bit further. Why don't they accompany the middle school or student choir? If you have the ability to write, try writing something to accompany your middle school or high school choir. They will be thrilled!
· Middle school students need more nurturing and discipline than high school or adult players. Think on this: What would your adult choir do if you asked a few middle school students to sing with them on Sunday mornings? Ok, I'll get off my soapbox… If you have middle school students in your group, consider an additional rehearsal for them on a different day. Work on musicality in the combined rehearsal and concentrate on the basics in the "special" rehearsal; Fingerings, scales, intonation, etc.
· If you have a high school choir you should have instrumental support for them. Even if the numbers are small, start an instrumental ensemble. In many cases, your best singers in high school are also instrumentalists. High school students like to be with their peers. Problem? Maybe. But there is a solution: Part-time players. Utilize your singing instrumentalists on orchestra "specials" and have them sing the rest of the time in the choir. It works great!
· If you pull the youth out of the adult orchestra, you may create some holes. If you have youth musicians who can add musically to the adult group, You are blessed! Use them in both groups. Make it a prerequisite to play in the youth group in order to play with the adults. If not, they will gravitate to the adult group and not play in the youth group. Your middle school orchestra should be the feeder to the high school group, and the high school group to the adult group.

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