Have you ever had one of those yucky, sucky days when all you wanted to do was bury your head under the covers and make the world go away? One of those I-can't-believe- I-spent-that-much-on-my-Visa-bill-If-I-have-to-deal-with-one-more-parent-call-Why-on- earth-did-I-decide-to-play-that-piece-for-contest-and-where-did- those-extra-10-pounds- come-from? kind of days?

The tension resulting from cramming 40 hours of job demands into a 24-hour day can be overwhelming, and we band directors tend to shoulder the weight of the world on a daily basis.

Compounding this ubiquitous state of band director stress-a-thon is the almost universal pandemic of spending waaaaaay too much time worrying about what others might think of a performance. We become the Martha Stewarts of cleanliness, sweeping away faulty intonation, polishing tone qualities, and scrubbing technique until it sparkles. All this is done in the hope that on the day of performance, a panel of three judges wont find enough wrong to merit awarding anything but a first division rating...or first place, or whatever.

The blame lies not with well- intentioned adjudicators. Contest is a good thing when used correctly, but ultimately it should be about the students and the music. If these are your priorities, then, gentle reader, I submit that the opinion of judges really shouldn't matter.

When we focus solely upon making the music come to life; when we seek to unlock the secrets of the composer, and allow our students to enter that rare expressive realm that goes far beyond the notes; only then is it possible to transcend angst- ridden thoughts of whether or not someone else will approve. Once we inspire our students to play with a true musical understanding of phrase shape, nuance and what must occur between the notes, these insights will bring the piece to life, making it alive with the possibility of being beautiful, exciting, passionate, angry, forceful, eloquent, uplifting, thought-provoking ad infinitum .but above all, the music will become unalterably memorable. If this is the case, how could a judge NOT like it?

If you and your students perform to the best of your abilities, with true musical commitment, that is all that really matters. If someone doesn't like what you do, then its time to call to mind that old Texas saying about the horse that one rode in on!

How do we go beyond the notes to that higher level of expressive music-making? Please find below a few thoughts that will be presented in my clinic at the TBA Convention/Clinic called To Heck With the Judges...Lets Talk About the MUSIC.

Major Premise: All music (with the possible exception of the John Cage 433 of silence) is either moving towards a moment of greater intensity, or away from that moment. Therefore, I have the following few suggestions:

• Form a clear idea of phrase direction in every measure of every piece. Locate moments of tension/ release.
• Mark your score and have students mark parts to outline phrase shape.
• Teach your band to have a vocabulary of dynamics that will allow for shaping of phrases from the intense whisper of a pianissimo to the commanding energy of a fortissimo.
• Construct a dynamic intensity scale so that you may better plan the pacing of the piece.
• Tempo is everything....choose the correct tempos, and realize that tempo must sometimes be elastic in order for the piece to come to life.
• Teach students to listen so that they may intelligently blend and balance their parts to the musical whole.
• Practice conducting so that you may convey the music through expressive gesture. Sensitize your ensemble to respond to those gestures.
• Have an opinion about the interpretation of a piece before you ever step on the podium to read it with your students.
• Allow for and encourage student expressiveness.
• Play your band as expressively as you would your own instrument.

There will always be more than one right answer as to how music may be interpreted. Listen to five great conductors in performance of any major orchestral literature, and you will hear five differing interpretations. Some differences are quite subtle while others are remarkably contrasting. The practice of studying great performances will provide a tremendously inspiring education.

Bottom Line: Take a chance, be expressive, give the music personality, energy, life...forget the judges....its the music that matters. Its why we came to this crazy profession in the first place, isn't it?

If you and your students perform to the best of your abilities, with true musical commitment, that is all that really matters.

The Clinic: To Heck With the Judges...Let's Talk About the MUSIC
presented by Paula Crider - Sun, July 22 at 2:30 PM -- in Convention Center Room 217.