Introduction
Cognitive aspects of learning are associated directly with the acquisition of knowledge and the development of the ability to reason, interpret and communicate ideas. Cognitive learning is underpinned by the formation of dispositions or habits of learning that rely on questioning, critical reflection and experimentation, enabling the extrapolation new ideas from what has been learned. Cognitive aspects are perhaps the most apparent characteristics of the learning process.
An orientation towards a spirit of enquiry is key to this aspect of thinking and learning. Questioning why things happen in certain ways, and how things function, are key to both the identification of problems and the formulation of solutions (Jefferson & Anderson, 2021, p. 67). In order to solve problems, thinking needs to be analytical and critical, enquiring into the nature of the problem, suggesting logical solutions, and critically evaluating the success of those proposed solutions (Jefferson & Anderson, 2021, 87). Careful, critical reflection and reasoning underpin the process of independent and informed decision making. In the context of a musical ensemble, critical reflection and problem solving may often rest in the hands of the ensemble leader, who may be responsible for repertoire choice, explaining to musicians how a musical work has been constructed and provide logical reasoning for decisions about performance. A degree of responsibility and agency is naturally given to section leaders, but also to the individual performers as they analyse critically their own performance and identify their mistakes, for example, and arrive at a strategy of practice to avoid repeating those. These types of critical thinking and reasoning applied in music making develop skills to approach problem solving throughout life.
Ensemble leaders participating in this research project reflected on a wide range of situations where their own critical thinking and analytical understanding of problems were required, and the ways in which they could model and encourage these dispositions for questioning and critical reflection among players. These included analysing issues with player engagement and thinking about how to encourage the focus and confidence of players, including strategic peer support for less experienced players moving into higher level ensembles. Conductors and tutors fostered approaches to learning that foregrounded critical enquiry and reflection to notice more about the way the music works, and to improve technically problematic passages, providing players with a process for analysing why and what might be going wrong and how to address an issue. A process for effective, critical practice, such as was modelled in rehearsals, was transferrable to home practice at home, but also to any future challenges that required thoughtful refinement for improved outcomes.
What our participants said
“I'm very well aware that, okay, there's a number of students here, they have a, probably a lower engagement…they can be distracted easily. How can I engage them? So? I guess I'm always thinking about that engagement.” (Timothy, Conductor)
“So, my challenge was, okay, how can I share with them an effective system of practice ? I will need to choose good repertoire because if I don't choose significant repertoire, then there is no point learning the stuff. Besides, good repertoire choice inspires personal practice investment!” (Nicholas, Conductor)
“So, what I wanted to do was to help them with the challenge of fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection…So, that meant that every rehearsal had to be filled, first of all with encouragement, and secondly with engaging activities and thirdly, lots of playing opportunities. It's hard enough to play these instruments, let alone to have somebody who is demanding the unending demands.” (Nicholas, Conductor)
“What I found a useful technique...is to immediately identify from the score which parts are playing the same material together. And immediately after a playthrough to say, ‘Let’s look at this, these three parts which are playing together’...because people start to think, ‘Oh right, yes that’s right.’”
“What we ended up deciding on was putting them into the younger ensemble just for a few weeks to get their confidence going, and to do a concert and then move them up to the next ensemble following that, while making sure that they had a bit of support in that position by partnering them with someone … and also for the conductor to be aware of that player and just to check in with them to see how they're going and things like that. So that's that was an interesting situation.” (Ben, Conductor)
Exemplar
One of the ensemble leaders, Nicholas, talked specifically about modelling a process of analysis, critical reflection and strategic practice in rehearsals that would underpin a transferrable process for individual critical practising. The process he used was highly targeted, with clear intended outcomes that were easy to comprehend and measure. Efficiency was a prized attribute of the process, in both the expenditure of effort and time. Players could easily identify if the outcome of their efforts was successful, and the application of this process encouraged the development of skills in close critical reflection, thinking about what adjustments should be made and further reflection on the outcome. In his own words: “I wanted the students to receive a proforma of learning how to practice, for I believe that every rehearsal, every private lesson is actually a lesson in how to practice at home. I want to teach you how to do this, I want to teach you how to invest, we call that practice… What I was teaching them was comparative repetition. You can't escape the fact that it is time on task. But how can you do it well? Isolate the details, repeat, isolate the details repeat. We isolated the one bar, they didn't need to practice from the top to the bottom. That's, inefficient, dumb practice. Smart practice, is you lift out the offending bar or the offending rhythm, you apply a counting system to it, or you apply a slow process of fingering. Then, you've got it mastered. We did this in rehearsal several times…In five minutes, we had mastery. Would you want to do that at home? Yeah!...We need to teach ‘process’. And it's not process about music. Music is a great platform for teaching kids how to use process.” (Nicholas, conductor).
What does this mean for me?
- Encourage players to identify key moments in the music and analyse how the music is constructed and what is happening between the parts.
- Build in opportunities for players to practice cycles of critical reflection, adjustment, performance and reflection on performance.
- Identify small, constrained problems that players can think about critically and share their ideas of what is going on, and potential solutions.
- Show players how to find resources to help them answer their questions.
- Create opportunities for players to set goals and develop strategies to achieve them.
- Look out for players who appear bored, distracted or are not keeping up. Would another ensemble be a better fit?
- Use sectional or small group rehearsals to work on specific issues
- Vary repertoire and activities in rehearsals to keep interest.
- Use a ‘buddy’ system to support new or at-risk players.
- Try to speak with each individual if not each rehearsal, then every second rehearsal.
- Identify a small number of aims for each teaching session. Plan activities to achieve those aims.
- After each session reflect on the outcomes. Quickly note down three things that worked and three things that didn’t. Analyse what happened and reasons for these outcomes.
- Plan the aims of your next session and strategies to address those things that did not work so well. Reflect on the outcomes.
- Set longer term goals, with steps to achieve those goals.
- Identify potential implications of any changes to the rehearsal process or groups.