“We find that small group opportunities strengthen our large ensembles tenfold. So worth the time.” – @theresawhite
The #MusEdChat held on May 24th, 2010 discussed the importance of chamber ensembles in the music curriculum. The chat was broken into two different parts: “What is the importance of adding chamber groups to the curriculum?”, and “How can we facilitate these opportunities for our students?”
Benefits of Chamber Groups
Educators with experience using chamber ensembles had nothing but praise for the idea of incorporating them into the music curriculum. One of the benefits is that chamber groups give students a sense of personal responsibility and opportunities for leadership. Chat participants pointed out that students cannot “hide” in chamber groups. Rather, they feel the need to practice because they are more exposed. With teachers simply giving advice, students seem to take ownership of their ensembles to get them performance-ready. In addition, this teaches students how to listen across the ensemble for things to improve. Many educators stated that having students participate in small ensembles improves the product of their larger ensembles. @shawdave stated,”My students play better in band after working in trios and quartets.” In addition to this, chamber ensembles allow students to experience more and different repertoire. It was also stated that chamber groups will serve as yet another venue to hook students into music. Community involvement is another plus to these groups. Smaller ensembles not only allow students to have more opportunities to play in public, but strengthens the community-music department bond. This bond is invaluable when it comes to advocacy for your music department.
Possible Problems
The #MusEdChat teachers the discussed possible challenges to incorporating chamber ensembles into repertoire. It seemed as though teachers who have experience incorporating chamber groups didn’t see money as a big problem. Rather, time and space seemed to be the biggest challenges. Some directors do not think they have the time to incorporate more ensembles to their already-busy schedules. Others simply do not have the rooms to allow multiple chamber groups to rehearse at the same time, should chamber ensembles take place during an ensemble period.
Incorporating Chamber Ensembles
The chat participants then began talking about different ways to start incorporating small ensembles into their curriculum. A popular opinion was to use one rehearsal a week from the larger ensemble to rehearse chamber ensembles. Many of the educators on the chat also discussed possible performance opportunities for small ensembles. In addition to performing in the community, some had a chamber ensembles concert, highlighting the benefits of this type of program. Others had their chamber ensembles play at larger ensembles’ concerts during the changing of groups on stage. @thomasjwest suggested having a Friday night Cafe. Not only would this show off the chamber groups, but could double as a fundraiser for the program.
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