Thoughts On Competition in Music

In 2001, I was interviewed by Teaching Music magazine for an article on competition in school music programs. I was provided some written questions in advance, and the following excerpts include my written replies.

Do you believe that students should participate in competition/festivals with ratings as part of the music program at your school? Please explain their value (or lack of value).

For the most part, we limit the head-to-head competition to one area of our music program – the show choirs. In some years past, however, the middle school band has competed at a college event. Both activities created excitement and interest in the music program.

Our choirs and bands attend the state music organization contests for ratings. I don't view those as competitions, per se. They are not judging us against another school. They are judging us against criteria that define what a great music group should look and sound like. There is value in outside experts -- judges -- telling you whether your group has met that criteria, and, if not, why they haven't.

State music contests have become the de facto accountability method for school performing groups in our nation. When their groups are successful, directors have tangible evidence – no matter its validity or reliability – of their group's performance quality. Favorable contest ratings make program advocacy easier.

How can teachers help students maximize the value of the competition before and after the event?

After every competition, I listen to all of the judges' taped comments and write them down. I write a summary and send it via e-mail as the "Manteno Magic E-Mail Newsletter." In parenthesis, I offer my own comments and discuss what the judges have said. Over 160 students, parents, and fans subscribe to the newsletter. It has become a tradition

We avoid creating rivalries between the schools we compete against. We will talk about the things that we liked or disliked about someone's show, but I don't discuss "beating" someone else. What good does that do? Another school's competitive success doesn't make us weaker. We are working to raise OUR scores at each competition by refining, polishing, changing, and editing OUR show.

To what extent should the ratings from these events contribute to students' grades, especially at a time when there is emphasis on accountability and assessment?

Not much. The judging standards at music contests are too inconsistent. Despite all the research on performance test reliability, we don't train our judges very well, if at all.

A recent show choir competition had a three-point spread among the 5th, 6th, and 7th place groups after the preliminary round. There were twelve-hundred points possible! One point between 6th and 7th place meant that one school danced in finals, and the other school did not. Were the judging criteria reliable enough to discriminate between those three performances? Probably not.

Some marching band and color guard organizations may be an exception. They have developed very specific ratings sheets with graphical scales and detailed criteria. They also train their judges how to interpret them. A group could probably travel from weekend to weekend and have consistent judging standards. If you are improving your show, you should see a linear increase in contest scores.

Is the extra time that teachers have to invest to enable their students to participate in these events a contributing factor to teacher burn-out? If so, what do you think state and local organizations could do to minimize this problem?

Yes, competition music is a factor leading to burn-out.

My superintendent keeps telling me that I'm in a "young man's game." My colleague razzes me about the amount of extra time I spend for the music program. He says, "It is the job of the Manteno school district to make sure Conrad doesn't have a life!"

One of my teaching mentors is an outstanding high school drama teacher. Early in his career, he entered students in group drama competitions. He quit going when schools started showing-up with semi-trailers of properties, hydraulic stages, and pyrotechnics. The contests were more focused on glitz and funding, and lost emphasis on the fundamentals of good acting. Today, his theater program flourishes without contests.

Fifteen years ago, the marching band organizations could have put a stop to the money. When marching bands started changing costumes and brought out backdrops for the field, that would have been the limit for me. I don't find band teachers saying, "Gee whiz, I can't wait to start a new competition marching band!" I'm sure those people are out there, but I don't know them.

Many schools are converting to voluntary marching bands. Directors cite the high student burn-out, high student attrition from the concert band program, and the competition for students' time between tougher academic standards, the proliferation of high school athletics, and an economy that requires cheap youth labor to staff the retail and service industries. If students are burning-out in a four-year program, what about the teachers who are supposed to last 38 years?

Lots of vocal teachers appreciate show choir. They realize, however, that the stakes are higher for groups that compete. They are just as happy taking their groups to the Rotary luncheons, the women's clubs, and the spring concert. If a music teacher isn't willing to sacrifice their families or personal lives for competition music groups, I don't blame them.

The boosters must practice their role of supporting the program, not driving it. We constantly struggle to define and keep our boundaries, knowing what areas the parents have a role in, and which areas are teacher responsibilities.