PROJECT SUMMARY Instrumental chamber music ensembles (trios, quintets, etc) have weekly coachings with the instructor, where various topics and concepts are explored (rehearsal techniques, non-verbal communication, comprehension & communication of musical form/structure, tuning of chords, etc), but it is unclear how students actually implement/incorporate and build upon these ideas in rehearsals. For my project, I will have students videotape their rehearsals and after each rehearsal they will also write a very short reflection on what was accomplished in the rehearsal. I hope to learn about student perceptions of their rehearsals and have a better understanding of how students are implementing the concepts explored in coachings into their own rehearsals. Goals of the project: For students to foster more effective rehearsals that implement concepts explored in coachings. For me to better understand how to students work through assignments in rehearsals.

THE PROBLEM Instrumental music students take chamber music courses as part of their required curriculum. For these courses, students are matched into either trios, quartets, or quintets. The students rehearse for at least 2 hours outside of class time (not including individual practice time) and the "class" consists of a weekly, individual coaching of the group with the instructor. In these coachings, I listen to individual student and group progress of the repertoire assigned and often give feedback that pertains directly to the music. But more importantly, I also explore broader topics that are necessary for students to understand how to rehearse and think like professional musicians. These topics include rehearsal techniques, non-verbal communication, comprehension & communication of musical form/structure, tuning of chords, etc. Students are given exercises to work with these various topics in rehearsals and to implement these ideas into the repertoire they are studying. It is unclear exactly how students use their time in rehearsals to work on the exercises that explore course topics. While students generally report back having worked on the topics explored in coachings, I believe the student drive to "perfect" their repertoire takes precedence. Because of this, students usually revert to "running" the pieces, only stopping if things fall apart and just doing their best to stay together and reach the end at the same time. This is unfortunate, as the broader topics explored in coachings build upon the process and skills that the groups need to develop truly polished performances.

Evidence of Student Learning & Methods of Analysis In Spring 2009 I began a trial run of my project. Four, one-hour rehearsals of one wind quintet group were videotaped over the course of 3 weeks to observe how students process and implement the ideas and assignments generated in coachings. I also asked the students to answer a few brief journal questions before the rehearsal that summarizes the main concepts they expect to encounter in the rehearsal. Immediately following a rehearsal the students were asked to answer several questions that helped them to reflect on what happened during their rehearsal. The video recordings were watched and the journal entries were analyzed in conjuction with my own notes from coachings with the ensemble to compare/contrast what we worked on in coachings, what the students reported to have accomplished in thier own rehearsals, and what was actually observed on video. The journal questions are below:

SAMPLE STUDENT JOURNAL Chamber Music Rehearsal 5-minute Journal Entries Date: Before rehearsal: 1. What are your goals for this rehearsal? 2. What pieces do you intend to rehearse? 3. Are there any sections/ideas/concepts that you encountered in coachings that you will be focusing on in your rehearsal? 4. Approximately how much time do you intend to spend on each of these concepts? _________________________________________________ Immediately After rehearsal: 1. Overall, do you achieve your goals for the rehearsal? How? 2. Did you rehearse all of the material you intended? 3. Did you feel that the rehearsal addressed all of the sections/ideas/concepts adequately to be prepared for your next coaching? 4. If not, how could your rehearsal time have been used differently to achieve your goals? 5. How did you rehearse difficult sections or work with specific ideas and concepts? 6. Approximately how much time was spent honing these sections/ideas/concepts?

Preliminary Results, Findings, Conclusions, & Implications This project has been a unique way to examine the learning that is usually "unseen" by professors. Although the project is still ongoing, I've had several interesting findings. First, while this was somewhat expected, the students being videotaped have all noted that the presence of the video camera changed their rehearsals . The camera acts as "big brother," which is not accurately representing what their rehearsals are like when the camera is not present, but the camera itself impels students to use their rehearsal time more effectively. Second, the reflective questions that the students are asked before and after rehearsals have greatly helped the quintet focus their time in rehearsal, giving them a unified "plan of attack" that provides explicit goals and an approximate timeline to follow. A follow-up project might be one that videotapes a group for several rehearsals first without the reflective journaling, then add the journal questions to the rehearsal process and videotape the same groups to look for changes in rehearsal effectiveness.

Career Relevance & Impact The WTF program has been a helpful way to re-think the way I teach and to continually find ways to improve teaching and student learning. It seems that one SOTL project usally leads to more questions, and thus more potential SOTL projects!

Annotated List of Helpful Resources & References There are exceptionally few articles written about chamber music at the college level. Many of these artlices are from the perspective of the high school teacher, but there are interesting insights that have ties to the pedagogy of chamber music at the postsecondary level. Casey, Patrick F. "A Fresh Look at Chamber Music." The Instrumentalist 62:2 (January 2008): 24-26, 28, 30. Cummiskey, Cynthia. "Creating Chamber Music Enthusiasts in High School." Teaching Music.6:4 (February 1999): 44-45, 64. Emmons, Charles. "Chamber Strings." The Instrumentalist 62:2 (September 2007): 48-50. Latten, James E. "Chamber Music for Every Instrumentalist." Music Educators Journal. 87:5 (March 2001): 45-53. Loft, Abram. 1992. Ensemble! A Rehearsal Guide to Thirty Great Works of Chamber Music. Portland: Amadeus Press. Loft, Abram. 2003. How to Succeed in an Ensemble. Portland: Amadeus Press. Rudaitis, Cheryl."Try Chamber Music—Here’s How." Teaching Music. 3:2 (October 1995): 32-33, 46. Rutkowski, Joseph. "Starting a High School Chamber Music Group." Music Educators Journal. 86:8 (May 2000): 23-27. Villarubia, Charles. "Chamber Music." Teaching Music. 7:6 (June 2000): 38-42. Villarubia, Charles."Tips for Small Ensembles." The Instrumentalist 53:11 (June 1999): 52, 54, 56. White, Joanna. "Woodwind Quintet Literature." The Instrumentalist 57:6 (January 2003): 56, 58, 60. Zorn, Jay D. "Effectiveness of Chamber Music Ensemble Experience." Journal of Research in Music Education. 21:1 (Spring 1973): 40-47. Ongoing.