Roger Maxwell's "14 Weeks to a Better Band"


RESULTS OF RESEARCH STUDY USING
"FOURTEEN WEEKS TO A BETTER BAND"
1973 - 2003

Twenty Seven (27) Iowa high school bands participated in a major study which began in 1973 and concluded in 2003. The (27) high school bands represented a cross section of large, middle, and rural sized communities in the state of Iowa. The eighteen bands who participated in the pilot study used a prepublication edition of "Fourteen Weeks to a Better Band." These bands were able to reduce their reading errors by 74% after seven weeks.

THE  BANDS CONCENTRATED THEIR REHEARSALS TO ONE SPECIFIC RHYTHMIC FIGURE PER WEEK DURING THE STUDY. (Example:  Week One , Eighth notes; Week Two, Dotted Eighth followed by a Sixteenth; Week Three, four Sixteenth notes.)  A follow-up study was conducted in 2003 by a control group of nine (9) bands who  had never used either Book I or Book II of "Fourteen Weeks to a Better Band". These bands reduced their reading errors by only 21% in a seven week period. In addition, the nine bands averaged almost twice as many reading errors (104) see Chart B as did eighteen bands who averaged (58) see Chart A.

All bands in reading Alfred Reed's "A Jubilant Overture" recorded the work on three separate occasions. They did not rehearse the work prior to sight-reading and tape recording. The tapes were submitted to me for analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to try to determine the levels of students' comprehension and retention of rhythmic figures (Example: two eighth notes, four sixteenth notes.) The study wanted to determine 1) whether this comprehension could be translated into playing music more accurately, and 2) if so, how and to what degree could it be measured.

The 18 bands who participated in the band development research pilot study concentrated their rehearsals to one specific rhythmic figure per week during the study. The study supports the theory that bands who followed this format were able to reduce their reading errors by a significant margin over the 9 bands who did not follow a similar format. 

Results: We conclude from both studies that 89% of bands rhythmic problems occur within areas of no change in key, time or tempo. Rhythmic or reading errors at time signature changes account for 8% of the errors while errors found at tempo changes account for 3% of the total errors.

General Comments: This study confirms that students are not confident in their understanding of knowing how to interpret and play rhythmic figures (Example: a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note). Until students are given the opportunity to concentrate their learning to one specific figure at a time, bands will continue to show little improvement in their overall reading ability.

This band development research information is applicable to the reading of music in string and choral disciplines.

"Fourteen Weeks to a Better Band" Books I and II and "Twelve Weeks to a Better Jazz Ensemble" are published by the C.L. Barnhouse Music Publishers in Oskaloosa, IA 52577.

Roger Maxwell's email address is: info@14weekstoabetterband.com

CHART A

Profile of Counting/Rhythmic Errors made by the 18 Bands using "Fourteen Weeks to a Better Band."
Number Percentage
I The number of times stops occurred:
A) within areas of no change in key, time or tempo 22 2.1
B) at key signature changes 0 0
C) at time signature changes 7 0.6
D) at tempo changes 0 0
II The number of times entrances were missed:
A) within areas of no change in key, time or tempo 927 88.6
B) at key signature changes 0 0
C) at time signature changes 66 6.3
D) at tempo changes 24 2.2
TOTAL:   1,046 99.8
The 1,046 total errors divided by 18 bands equals an average of 58 rhythmic errors per band during the pilot study.


CHART B

Profile of Counting/Rhythmic Errors made by the 9 Bands who did not use "Fourteen Weeks to a Better Band."
Number Percentage
I The number of times stops occurred:
A) within areas of no change in key, time or tempo 74 8.0
B) at key signature changes 0 0
C) at time signature changes 16 1.7
D) at tempo changes 1 .1
II The number of times entrances were missed:
A) within areas of no change in key, time or tempo 748 79.7
B) at key signature changes 0 0
C) at time signature changes 70 7.5
D) at tempo changes 29 3.0
TOTAL:   938 100
The 938 total errors divided by 9 bands equals an average of 104 rhythmic errors per band during the Follow-up Band Development Research Study.


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