Group Focus and Direction

Life under a global pandemic has given many folk time to reflect on their music making, their collaborations and where their musical journey is taking them. Let’s strip things back in this unit and look at the fundamentals; why does your musical ensemble or band exist and where it is heading?

Perhaps the instrumentation of the group determines the potential direction you have taken. For some groups, like string quartets, this might be obvious – it’s a historical instrumentation that has an incredible repertoire. On the other hand, you may be a new music group that has to create its own repertoire. If you are part of a band (and all the varied stylistic options that covers) the line up may have been chosen with a collective sound in mind, or it may have been led by particular personalities rather than instruments?

When Andy Scott started the Apollo Saxophone Quartet (ASQ) in 1985 there was standard repertoire (mostly French & Belgian) but not a great deal. They quickly realised that they needed to commission works. Over the years the ASQ became known as a group that had created its own repertoire, repertoire that (once out of exclusivity) was and is to this day programmed by saxophone quartets worldwide.

In 1994 Ian Croal, Artistic Director at Band on the Wall (BOTW) in Manchester, approached Andy about a project. He asked whether he would start a large saxophone group with a rhythm section, write music for it, and record a CD over two nights performing live at BOTW? Easy answer! Everything progressed, they had a CD, had performed as a new group, so what next? That was the time for Andy to take stock. Did he wish to continue the group? If yes then how? He decided that he would be in charge, as opposed to the Apollo Sax Quartet which has always operated as a cooperative. He also looked at the practicalities of running a 13-piece group and thought that gigging every now and then in small blocks of work would be effective (as opposed to random one-off gigs). He also knew that there would be more chance of him securing the musicians that he wanted to play with in this way.

Although this all took place in ‘normal’ times, it is an example of a time of reflection for a band leader. Important choices were made that have influenced the way that this band has worked since.

It’s really important to discuss the role that everyone plays in your band/group/ensemble, and now is the time to do it!

If your group is a cooperative then each person may take on a specific role; if you don’t have an agent/manager then is one person better than the others at speaking with promoters/venues for gigs? Likewise, allocating responsibilities for promotion, marketing, research, recording, contracts are all important tasks that need covering. There’s a lot to discuss but planning this carefully really helps longer term. None of us want resentment building up, we need to be open and respectful with each other. Phew, all this before the music!

Most importantly we need to make sure that we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet musically. How many times do you hear the phrase ‘so and so has left the group through artistic differences’? Maybe some of these instances could have been avoided with discussion much earlier in the life of the group, or maybe this did happen and people develop different musical tastes and approaches. Keeping a group together long-term is tough. But let’s not worry about that here. Initially, we’re looking short to medium term.

Chatting through musical aims and objectives is invaluable. Are you creating your own music? If yes, then who is or are the songwriters/composers in the group? Do you experiment with the writing process with the band, i.e. do you bring sketches and ideas to rehearsals that are then played around with and developed, or do you bring completed pieces to rehearsals? This probably depends on the nature and style of each group but it is worth exploring both approaches.

Finally, this is a great opportunity for discussions and collaboration online. Not everything has to be agreed in a first online meeting. Maybe send some notes of the meeting to each other, bullet points that act as reminders, and keep the discussion moving forwards. It’s great to bounce ideas around. Remember, everyone has something to offer.

Remember, Interface:Response has a team of mentors available to help you with all aspects of your work in this and related areas. Mentoring support is available free of charge within the UK.