Carlsbad, CA
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Music Education

More to Start, Fewer to Quit-January's Tips to Help Grow Your Music Program

In This Article:

Image of high school students practicing cello in school

This month's More to Start, Fewer to Quit (MSFQ) tips come from Angela Ammerman, adjunct professor of music education, at George Mason University. 

RECRUITMENT and RETENTION TIPS

Building your program is one of the best things you can do for your own job stability, for assessment preparation, program longevity, and even to keep burnout at bay! 

But recruitment just wasn’t something we signed up for and it somehow was completely missing from most of our undergrad music ed programs. We need realistic approaches to recruitment and retention that we can use TOMORROW. 

See the recruitment strategies below that are taking social media by storm:

  1. Feature a feeder teacher at your next concert! It doesn’t have to be a music teacher either! Give them a woodblock and a mallet and let them go wild! Because along with the feeder teacher, will come their students. And along with the students… come the parents!
  2. Try a teacher swap day where you switch places with a feeder teacher for a day so you can recruit and so the older kids can see their former teacher!!!
  3. Find the favorite teachers in the school and ask them to pose with an instrument in the yearbook!!!
  4. Your best recruiters are not you and your colleagues. Your best recruiters are YOUR STUDENTS! Incentivize program building with them through reward systems and by empowering them to do more reaching out and advertising!
  5. Recruitment and Retention is not just YOUR responsibility. Make a list of your biggest supporters and reach out to thank them for helping to build your program, plus one simple request! Maybe you are requesting that they speak at a concert, help with your budget, or lead a fundraising event!
  6. Recruitment and Retention shouldn’t cost you ANYTHING… Think creatively about marketing and start handing out those old band t-shirts to the favorite teachers and staff members at your school. Ask them to wear them one day a month and to encourage kids to join and stay in your program!

    BONUS if you can get them to pose with an instrument for yearbook pictures!
     
  7. Send older kids to the concerts of the younger kids with silly supportive signs. Have them cheer like crazy in the audience and make sure they give the kids a standing ovation at the end!

SUCCESS TIPS

Did you know that one of the biggest indicators of whether or not a student continues in a musical ensemble is whether or not they feel like they belong to something special and successful? I have been thinking more and more about this very thing and about how string quartets especially do an incredible job of this very thing. 
 
I have been observing more and more small ensembles to learn about how to encourage that tight sound that these groups always seem to have in abundance. Here are a few strategies that have been game-changers for any size ensemble!

  1. Practice BREATHING together before entrances. It can’t just be a silent breath. We want audible and even visual breaths! 
  2. You, an all-powerful conductor, must leave the podium. Let them experience the give and take without you… (I do save this one for the last few rehearsals before the concert when they really know their parts!) 
  3. Try this surround sound activity! Have one section stand up and face the ensemble. Have everyone play but encourage them to listen across the ensemble even more.

    *BONUS if you can encourage them to pick one musician from across the room to watch and listen for!
     
  4. MY MOST VIRAL TIP: With MILLIONS of views, music educators everywhere have been trying this one simple thing. This tip is simply to stop telling our students every little thing we want them to improve, and instead to try to just give them one more chance to improve on their own. I always recommend trying to share your feedback 50% of the time (preferably by modeling instead of speaking), and simply have them do it again the other 50% to see if they can improve without our feedback. Once you begin to notice what works best for your students, you can then adjust this balance. 
     

Regardless of what you end up doing, I know you will have a wonderful rest of this school year! Thanks for reading to the end and Happy Teaching!

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

Thanks, and Happy New Year! 
Angela Ammerman, PhD

https://www.instagram.com/musicteachersguide/
Author, The Music Teacher’s Guide to Recruitment and Retention
Past-President, The Virginia String Teachers Association
Adjunct Professor of Music Education, George Mason University
 

Age Group: 
Adults