Hey :]

If bms can recall our discussion before the start of the year (sorry to those who couldn't make it), I think the most important thing for all of us to realise is being a good direct goes beyond the tutoring of technics and playing. We should work on sowing seeds of passion for band in the directs' hearts, and that may be the most vital but often neglected part of being a good direct. I do not mean that teaching technical fingerings, etc. are less important - they are just as important, but sometimes we have to remember that those things are not the only things that matter.

A band is a group of people that keep together to make music together. If this group of people do not share the same level of passion for what they're doing, the music produced will definitely be of a lower quality than when they are equally passionate; even if techniques of band mates were the same. We can somewhat keep a distance from our directs as we need to maintain a disciplinary role, but that doesn't mean we need to be forbiding and scary to make sure they practice. Be stern when necessary, but be kind and firm for most of your time together. Don't make her become fearful of you, that may just smother that little spark of passion she's starting to feel for band.

We agreed that our ultimate goal is to have the directs respect us and thus listen to us. They shouldn't be listening to us because we have the authority, or because they fear us. There's leadership involved here too; being a good leader means having people respect you and thus listen to you, and not listen to you because you have the leadership role.

I suppose finding the right measure to take is difficult. Looking to a good teacher as guiding mark may make things easier. Personally I look to my theory teacher; bms can always find your own someone (a good teacher, etc.) to look to :] Asking our seniors for advice when teaching gets tough helps too, given their experience.

I found a book on educating yound teens another day, and find certain things very relevant. I shouldn't go on about the book here but if you face any problems in future, maybe you can come to me and I can give some advice on what to do :]

Thank you to Yi Xian, Ying Qin and Celine for bringing up the more technical side of direct-taking. What you pointed out helped a lot in setting realistic expectations for our directs :]

Enjoy your OBS!

L, keiko
p.s. I decided to post it here at batch blog because this is something important for us to take note yea :]