Let’s Try It

Those are my favorite words in rehearsal.

When you make room for that, there are several great benefits.

1. You empower your ensemble members to have a creative voice.
2. You show that experimentation and discovery is at the core of artistry.
3. You get the chance to show that failure is on the road to success (when you try things that don’t work!)
4. You give students real-life chances to grow and develop.

I remember the first times I made creative contributions to the ensembles I was in as a student – often as simple as noticing a rhythm mistake as we were learning, or asking a leading question about cutoff. If I had been asked, “How do you think it should be?” followed by “Let’s try it,” I would have developed even more quickly as an interpreter and musician. I only hope to do the same for my own students.