Advice from Yamaha Master Educator Richard Floyd
It’s All About the Music
I will never forget, as a young director, walking into an all-state band rehearsal.
My intent was to pick up a few rehearsal pointers. To my surprise, what I observed transcended all that I thought rehearsals were about.
Simply correcting notes, rhythms, balance, tuning and so on were not the priority. Certainly the conductor was addressing those elements of craft as necessary but always in the context of serving and enriching the music.
In simplest terms the rehearsal was about the art of making music as opposed to the craft of perfecting the “notes on the page.”
That experience totally recalibrated my vision for what my role must be as an educator and conductor. It was a life lesson I have never forgotten and, to this day, is core to what I hope to achieve each time I step on the podium.
This article originally appeared in the 2017 V2 issue of Yamaha SupportED. To see more back issues, find out about Yamaha resources for music educators, or sign up to be notified when the next issue is available, click here.