Introduction:

Meet Amanda. She is an extremely self-motivated, 5 th grade, beginning clarinet player. Each week, she would come to her lesson with a “need help” list. As she explained what she is having difficulty with, I tried to figure out the problem and solve it. The first thing I did was watch her play. One week she had difficulty playing an ‘A.’ I asked her to play it for me. I watched as she became frustrated. I asked her to stop and turned the body of the clarinet around so I could finger the note while she blew into the instrument. She still was not able to play the note. I then took the clarinet and played the note myself to check the instrument. I asked Amanda to play it again. This time, I watched her mouth more closely. Was there enough of the mouthpiece in her mouth? Was there too much/not enough bottom lip on the reed? Watching closely, I noticed her top teeth were not on the mouthpiece. This was making it difficult to play the instrument. Problem solved. Each week, Amanda came with similar problems. Some were more difficult to assess than others. Most were fixable.

It was obvious Amanda practiced often and enjoyed playing the clarinet. She was dedicated to her instrument and to learning. One week, her lips were swollen from all the practicing she had been doing. She still struggled. It became apparent that although she worked very hard, music would never be “easy” for Amanda. I could see the frustration build as she tried to achieve success, but success always seemed to be just beyond her grasp. Each time we found the answer to a problem, Amanda lit up with a big smile that told me she was once again motivated to continue.

Although Amanda was very motivated, her self-motivation could easily dwindle if she continues to be frustrated. Because a music program is based on a child’s motivation and interest, it is important to keep these dedicated students involved in the program. It is equally important to keep those students who are excelling motivated.

Now, meet Leslie. She is a 6 th grade, second-year clarinet player. Leslie, too, was dedicated to the clarinet. Unlike Amanda, her dedication was slowly dwindling. She struggled with hand, eye, and ear coordination and slowly lost interest. She had quit practicing and was often late to her lesson. Knowing that she was once a dedicated player, I worked with her to improve her self-esteem. Working with Leslie, I discovered she was having difficulty with rhythm. I asked her to count, in rhythm, the song she was playing. Her problem quickly became evident; she did not know how to count in rhythm. For weeks, we worked on counting and fingering in rhythm. By the end of my time with her, she had improved.

As a beginning band student, I struggled to learn to play the French horn.  As much as I wanted my directors to tell me I was doing well, they never did. It was due to their lack of motivation that I am wondering how, as band directors, can we help motivate beginning band students improve and boost their musical self-esteem before they get to the point of total frustration and want to give up? To gain a better understanding of motivation with struggling beginning band students, I looked at several journal articles.

Literature Review:

During my research I found several articles discussing motivational techniques for recruitment for more advanced band students and for upper level band classes. Although the research doesn't discuss my question concerning struggling beginning band students, there are some good strategies I might find useful when working with beginning students who are struggling.

Recruiting students for a beginning band program can be a difficult task. In their research project concerning 5 th and 6 th graders, Fischer and Hamburg (2001) discuss the issues that make this task so difficult and give suggestions for making it a little easier. Some of the reasons they found for the lack of interest in band come from the lack of communication between the teacher and the parents. The parents are often worried about the financial needs for their children to participate in the program. They also worry about the time commitment. Fischer and Hamburg suggest sending out letters to the parents addressing these concerns. Although this is only a small part of what they found, much of their study addresses issues with recruitment.

Enticing the students to be a part of the beginning band program is very important. The strategies Fischer and Hamburg discuss are great for encouraging students to become part of the program are great, however these strategies don’t necessarily work once the students are in the program.

Motivational praise has many specific purposes.  In his article “Effective Strategies for Praising Students,” Bartholomew (1993) states that positive feedback is an essential form of motivation.  He also provides several ideas for effective praise as well as points out ineffective forms of praise.  For example, "Well done" is an overused form of motivational praise.  Bartholomew believes that when we recognize our students having done something well, we need to make sure we recognize something unique about what they have done.  By saying, “well done” or "good job," it is not clear who we are talking to or what we are complimenting.  Rather than those open-ended praises, he suggests that teachers give a sense of direction along with our encouragement.  "Lucy!  You got every note correct.  This time let's add the crescendo."  By doing this, we have spoken to a particular student and told her exactly what we are happy about and we have also given her a new directional goal. 

Bartholomew admits that although verbal recognition is important, eye contact and a simple smile can also achieve the same result.  Some students would find being singled out very embarrassing and nonverbal recognition would be better suited to this type of student.  A simple nod in their direction or a smile would be all the recognition this student would need.  Therefore, knowing each individual student’s needs plays an important part in motivational praise. 

Bartholomew suggests that whenever we encourage our students, we need to remember that it needs to reach them on a personal level.  Encouragement means to “take heart and have courage.”  Therefore, our encouragement should help to boost the student's musical self-esteem.  "Johnny, you are so close.  I know you can do it!"  Although we’ve told Johnny he’s doing well, we’ve also encouraged him to keep trying.   This gives him hope and some of the necessary motivation needed to continue with the current task at hand.  

Shirey (1986) states in her article, “Becoming Actively Involved,” that praise can also take the form of simply stating the potential the ensemble has for the future by pointing out the ensemble’s improvements over the past year.  This helps the students see where the specific improvements have been in relation to the goals set by the director at the beginning of the year.

Both Shirey and Bartholomew have great ideas, but neither mention what level of students they are working with or give suggestions for working one-on-one with the struggling student. However, I believe that most of the praise techniques detailed in Bartholomew’s article would work with beginners.

As the student progresses in his learning, motivation may change to a more intrinsic nature.  However, a beginning student is looking for a more extrinsic motivator, such as rewards.  According to Fant in “Motivational Ideas in for the Musical Ensemble,” rewards are different for each type of student.  We should always keep in mind that what motivates one person, may not necessarily motivate another.  Fant believes that one of the best rewards for beginners is a “merit chart.”  This chart would track a student’s progress through the year.  It is a visual reminder to the student to continue to work hard on their lessons.  At the end of the year, rewards are given to the students who achieved the most success.

For the more advanced student, Fant recommends developing musicianship awards. These awards would set standards that must be achieved in order to move to the next level.  At each level the student would receive a certificate or some other type of reward acknowledging their accomplishment.  These awards would encourage the students to continue working hard and thereby improving not only their own abilities, but the overall tenor of the group.

Fant has some wonderful ideas for helping to motivate his students throughout the year. Some of his ideas address how to motivate the beginning band students, but still does not address the specific types of motivation to help struggling students. His suggestions for the more advanced student are very good as well. When the awards are handed out, an award to the most improved student could be given to the student or students who have put forth extra effort to achieve success.

For group rewards, Shirey suggests bringing in a local high school or college group to the school to perform or to plan a field trip to hear one in concert.  This type of reward would be set for the ensemble as a whole, if they achieved a certain level of success.  This is an interesting idea that I had not considered until reading this study.

Finally, enjoyment in the program can be a great motivator.  As a director, showing the students the fun side of music can be very important.  If we show the student we enjoy music and music can be fun, the student will enjoy music as well.  Shirey states that we should, “make it apparent that you enjoy your work and professional relationship with your students.”

Enjoyment can come in many forms.  Cannava (1986), in his article, “Encouraging Participation,” encourages band programs to stay active.  He believes taking the band to festivals and trips helps to keep the band active and enjoying their accomplishments.  Cannava says, “I set high goals for the band, and this tends to promote pride and a desire to belong year after year. When the band does well one year, this encourages the student to achieve even higher goals the next year.” (27)

Shirey suggests that being flexible in selecting music is also important.  Being flexible enough to select music the director knows the band will enjoy keeps the students excited about the music.  Therefore, the group will perform to a high standard.

Practice time can be another important factor in how well a student does in band. In Byo’s article, “Teaching Problem Solving in Practice” (2004), he addresses ways to help a student make more effective use of their practice time. Byo believes that “students need not feel inadequate when they attempt to problem solve in practice” (36). He suggests simple techniques for the students to use in their own practice to diagnose their own problem spots and how they can fix those problems. All these techniques are great ways to work with upper level, intrinsically motivated band students. While I probably would describe these techniques to my upper level students, I don’t know that I would use them for struggling beginning students. Fifth and sixth grade students who are struggling probably wouldn’t have the motivation and dedication necessary to use these techniques. Byo does not give any suggestions for working with beginning students or for working with those beginning struggling students.

Although all these articles give good techniques for recruitment and general motivation, none of the articles address how to work with the struggling student at any grade level. My question of how to motivate the struggling beginning band student still remains unanswered. However, I think the strategies Bartholomew mentions in the article could be used with beginning students.

Research Findings:

Before I begin discussing what I found during my student teaching experience, I should first explain why this topic is important to me. As a beginning band student, I struggled to learn the French horn. Out of the nine of us that were learning this instrument, I felt like I was the only one that was not grasping the techniques. I noticed that several of my peers were quickly passing me in their workbooks. After a few weeks of struggling, my band director decided to give me a few words of “encouragement.” “ Savannah, I don’t think band is for you. You are welcome to keep trying, but I don’t see you ever accomplishing anything in music.” Needless to say, that wasn’t exactly the kind of encouragement I was looking for, or the kind of encouragement I believe anyone would look for. For me, giving up was not an option and I was determined to prove her wrong, but at every level I met resistance. There were several times that I wanted to give up, but I was determined to prove all my directors wrong.

I had an internal need to do well, even when I was struggling to learn to play the French horn, however, not every 5 th/6 th grader has this intrinsic motivation. Since I believe that every student deserves a chance to do well in music, I feel that as a director, I need to be willing to work with struggling students to help them succeed, rather than encourage them to give up. During my student teaching experience, I had the opportunity to work with a few students who, like me, struggled to grasp some of the techniques. Although I do believe that not every student that walks into my classroom will stick with music, my goal was to encourage them while they struggled.

Austin is an only child to a young, single mother. Knowing that he was on free/reduced lunch, when Austin came for his try-out, Peter (my elementary school cooperating teacher) and I planned on offering him a school-owned instrument to play. Austin came to his try-out and said that he wanted to play flute. We asked him if he was interested in trying out any other instrument, but he declined. He was very excited about playing flute. Luckily, we had a school‑owned flute and we offered it to him. When he left the band room, he had a smile on his face.

From day one, Austin had difficulty making a sound on the flute. I offered to let him try a different instrument, but he wanted to keep trying to play flute. About a month went by and Austin was finally ready to try a different instrument. We had a school trombone for him. When he heard himself play a note he was instantly hooked, at least for a few more weeks. Soon he began to struggle on the trombone and did not practice or bring his instrument to lessons. I tried several pep talk type encouragement strategies. On the days he had his instrument, I made sure to constantly tell him what he was doing well. I made sure that I joked around with him and made him smile. If he became frustrated with what he was doing, I would tell him that everyone struggles and make sure the he knew how to improve. Most days he would leave with a smile, but for the most part he still was not bringing his instrument or progressing. When winter break came Austin was still playing trombone but by February, he was playing saxophone. Today, I don’t know what instrument, if any, he is playing.

I tried several techniques to keep Austin interested in band. Each time he would become frustrated, I offered words of encouragement and ideas for how to improve. He was offered the opportunity to change instruments twice. Although Peter and I constantly offered words of encouragement, praise, and ideas to help him improve, Austin stopped trying.

Tim has a behavior disorder. As a 5 th grader, he tried learning the trumpet, but did not keep up with it. In 6 th grade he wanted to try saxophone, thinking he would like it better than the trumpet. According to Peter, Tim wasn’t very focused in 5 th grade. Unfortunately, as a 6 th grader, nothing had changed as Tim did not want to practice on his own and he had a lot of trouble paying attention during his lesson. Wanting to help Tim learn and enjoy the saxophone, I decided to ask his teacher, James, what techniques I could use to help keep him focused. He suggested I play when Tim would go off topic. Occasionally, he would come back to the task at hand.

After weeks went by and the technique of “just playing” was no longer working, James sat in on the lesson to offer other suggestions such as keeping conversation to a minimum. He also suggested that whenever Tim would venture off topic, to remind him how important it was that he focus on the lesson. I needed to constantly remind him that the only way for him to get better was to practice and stay focused during his lessons. I also needed to be more clear about what Tim could do the following weeks if he came ready for his lesson. Because James sat in on this lesson, it was one of the most productive lessons I had with him. I was able to observe the strategies James used and mentioned to me. James’ tone of voice was much more stern than mine.

For a few weeks, Tim was making it through about half a page during his lessons. He would walk into my room a little less talkative and a little more ready to play. Each week during our lesson I was able to entice him to keep practicing by showing him what song he could play if we got through the day’s lesson. After about three weeks he was no longer focused and the techniques James suggested no longer seemed to work.

One week when James dropped him off, he talked to Tim and me about the points system in their classroom. Tim and I were told that I had the ability to take away points if he went off topic during our lesson. That helped for that day. For the most part, however, every day was still a struggle for Tim and me. He began to get frustrated with saxophone and mentioned that he wanted to switch again. This time he wanted to switch to percussion. Unfortunately, because of Tim’s inability to focus on playing an instrument, I do not believe an instrument switch would help him. Although I would hope that Tim would find something about playing saxophone exciting, I think he needs something that gives him a quicker result than learning to play an instrument. However, I do believe there may be a director with a strategy for reaching students like Tim, who need more attention and quicker results.

For both Austin and Tim some techniques seemed to work for a little while, but no strategy that I tried seemed to keep their interest for very long. There is no “one size fits all” strategy to keep students interested. Some of the techniques that worked for Austin, did not work for Tim and some of the techniques that worked for Tim did not work for Austin. Each time I worked with a student I tried to learn something about them so that I could help make music mean something to them and constantly encouraging them to do better. Hopefully by doing this, I would be able to keep them interested in their instrument.

Implications for Future Practice:

As directors, each time we step onto the podium we should become cheerleaders. If we know what makes the students laugh and smile, then our job as a cheerleader will become easier. Each time we make them laugh and smile and feel good about themselves, we encourage them to do better. What if, at the beginning of each day, we take the time to learn a little bit about each of our students? What if we were to laugh with them each morning and find out about their likes, dislikes, and hobbies? If we take time each day to learn something about our students, then we will be able to work with them on a more personal level. Once we have achieved this, we can better motivate the students based on these particular interests. There is no one technique that will reach every student, but the idea of learning something about each student is a technique that will never fail. If we do this, will we discover strategies to motivate our struggling students through those tough times before they decide to give up?

As much as I would like to believe that it isn’t true, there will always be some students that will not remain in the program, but what percentage should I expect to lose in the first year? Maybe a study could be done to observe different strategies used by different directors to keep their students motivated and then retention rates compared as well. Observe how they work with different types of students. What do they do differently for the students with learning disabilities or behavior disorders? What about those who are gifted, both musically and academically? How do they help motivate students through tough spots? After a few years of observation, applying the techniques that seemed to retain the most students should be tried on our own programs.

After reviewing the literature and my research findings, I do believe that my question was, at least in part, answered. Several of Bartholomew’s suggestions for praise would probably work well when dealing with beginners. However, I believe that if we listen to our students teach us more about how to motivate them than we can read in any book. If we just listen to our students and take the time to understand them, then we will better be able to reach them and motivate them.

References

Bartholomew, D. (1993). Effective strategies for praising students. Music Educators Journal, 80(3), 40-43.

Byo, J. L. (2004). Teaching problem solving in practice. Music Educators Journal, 91(2), 35-39.

Cannava, E., Shirey, K. F., & Stupak, R. T. (1986). Idea bank: Keeping students in your program. Music Educators Journal, 73(1), 27&49.

Fischer, R., Hamburg, D. (2001). Improving student participation in beginning band programs through the use of effective recruiting techniques. 1-37.

Fant, G. (1995). Motivational ideas for the musical ensemble. Music Educators Journal, 81(5), 17-20.