Silent rehearsals may be one of the most remarkably effective rehearsal tools I know. Nothing I know works better to focus an ensemble than posting the order of what will be played on the board, then having the conductor begin without so much as a word. Rehearsing with a conductor who is silent sets the tone and expectation of intense concentration, and creates an atmosphere of deafening quiet that students are unlikely to breach as they concentrate on every facet of the communication we give from our face and hands.
Peter Loel Boonshaft, Director of Education
KHS America
About the Author
Dr. Boonshaft is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. Dr. Boonshaft is currently on the faculty of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, where he is Professor of Music and Director of Bands. He has also been named Director of Education for KHS America. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.”
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