Becoming Rock Stars

OK, not really. But you can find just as much life-altering intensity and excitement and joy in your rehearsals!

In my previous article, I revealed how recent research into the brain shows us the way to increasing the performance chemistry of any group. In this article, I’ll reveal how to use the experience of the Chiara Quartet and software developers to transform your rehearsal experience into gold.

If you only have 5 minutes, then you need to know the most important secret now: psychological safety is the single predictor of the success of any group. In other words, if every member feels equally safe expressing their ideas, the group will succeed. If not, the group will not succeed. In the Chiara Quartet, we have discovered that Scrum, a process for teamwork, has opened the door to psychological safety, and this article series shows how to implement Scrum for any chamber music group.

This article introduces the ideas, and the other 3 articles go into detail, organized by what level of commitment your group has together.

If you’re already sold, and want to go all in to implement Scrum for your serious chamber group, you can read my longer guide here.

How did we come to use Scrum?

In December of 2014, the Chiara Quartet was in trouble. Outwardly, things seemed great. We had just started recording the complete Bartok Quartets, all by heart, and had also performed the cycle. We were guests at the Library of Congress, performing on 4 of the greatest instruments ever made. The future looked bright.

But under the hood, rehearsals were hard. We often felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of things to do, and this led to physical and spiritual exhaustion. Rehearsals devolved to minor arguments regularly. The stress of trying to avoid argument caused many rehearsals to feel stuck, and we reached a breaking point on this trip and began to talk openly about the problems. After we returned home from Washington D.C., we all agreed that we needed to make some drastic changes. We would take our winter vacation, and meet in January to discuss what to do about things.

Over the holidays, I had the pleasure of a Christmas dinner at my uncle Jan’s house. Small talk turned to his work. Jan is a Certified Scrum Trainer. I had heard about Scrum through my hobby as a computer programmer, but knew nothing about it, so I asked him which book I should read. His response was “how about my book?” So, I took a copy home (you can find the newly revised second edition of his book here on Amazon) and began to read it. Jan has a PhD in history, and so the book begins with a description of the history of development processes and is a fascinating read of what could be a very dull subject. As I read, first I realized that Scrum had nothing specifically to do with programming (and that it isn’t an acronym), and then I realized that far from being a computer programming book, Jan was writing about teamwork. Jan was writing about the Chiara Quartet. Shortly into the book, he talks about the stages of group development which is cutely described as “Forming->Storming->Norming->Performing.” The Chiara Quartet was storming. We were getting less done, and having less fun doing it.

Over the next few hours, I devoured the entire book. Then with Jan’s input, I began to craft what became a 24-page google document that summarized what Scrum is, and how it could apply to our work as a string quartet.

I cautiously presented the idea when we met after the new year, and we decided to give it a go. Within a few months time, we had refined a process that allowed us to defuse potential confrontations well before they surfaced, and began to find that we were accomplishing much more in about 3/4 the rehearsal time. Business meetings, which used to feel like medieval dentistry, flowed naturally into rehearsal and became enjoyable for the first time in our career. For the first time, we regularly feel that we have accomplished all the things we set out to do, and appreciate the work we do together. The music school myth that “you are never done with music” was causing us so much unhappiness, it’s liberating to realize that yes, in fact, you are done, and it is defined as the moment you finish performing! The next concert is a different project.

In short, Scrum saved the Chiara Quartet. We have had 3 very happy years since then, and our career has taken a giant leap forward as a direct result. We learned a lot from this, and have also helped some younger groups achieve greater rehearsal chemistry using customized Scrum for them.

Read on to find out how your group can benefit from what we have learned!

What makes a great group dynamic?

The sole determining factor of a great group dynamic is psychological safety.

Over the years, I have played in many groups, and taught many groups. I have seen the Chiara Quartet’s dynamic transform instantly when we work with collaborators, and read quite a few articles and books about the question. But the best descriptor of what makes a group dynamic work is exemplified by this simple statement:

The sole determining factor of a great group dynamic is psychological safety.

Psychological safety is the feeling that each individual member of a group has about interacting with the group. It is the sense that any idea is equally respected, and will be received without fear, ridicule, or anger. That each idea will be received with excitement or at least support. When psychological safety is present, it can be measured quite easily by the number of minutes that each member contributes to discussion. If everyone speaks or contributes equally, the group has psychological safety.

For a decent 45 minute read on a comprehensive set of studies on the question conducted by Google internally, read this article.

Nothing else really matters. The personality types, organizational structure, even whether one uses Scrum or not. What made Scrum work for the Chiara Quartet is how we used it, not the fact that we were using it. Your mileage may vary!

So, with this knowledge, how can we implement psychological safety if it doesn’t exist naturally?

The first thing to understand is an unintuitive truth of psychology: your personality is not just based on you. Everyone’s personality is defined by the situation we find ourselves in as much as our intrinsic self. The branch of psychology that explores this truth is called Situational Psychology and must be used to understand how a group dynamic forms.

Under the right situation, any individual can function productively in a group setting.

Enhancing a group rehearsal dynamic and psychological safety

There are a few key elements that must be present to have a great group dynamic:

Clear, honest commitment spelled out for each member (even if the level of commitment is different for different members) Shared understanding of large-scale goals Shared understanding of how much work every goal might take Shared understanding of when rehearsals will happen, and how long they will last Shared understanding of what the purpose of every moment in rehearsal is about (are we doing intonation work? running the movement? musical work? etc.)

With these 5 elements squared away, even groups with what seem like dramatic personality conflicts can have functional and enjoyable rehearsals. Groups that thrive also naturally have fun together.

Because every chamber music group is different, this guide is divided up into articles based on the total commitment of the group. Each article builds on the previous, so it is my advice to read them sequentially, even if your group is professional.

For any group, before you begin, get a contract!

For most chamber music groups, there are varying levels of commitment to the group. The biggest danger to any group is trying to rehearse without understanding these differences.

I have coached groups where one member had a huge difference in commitment, and would suddenly leave in the middle of a scheduled rehearsal because of a prior commitment that he had not mentioned to the group. I have been in a student group where one member showed up 40 minutes late to every scheduled rehearsal until the group imploded. These are recipes for rancor!

Before you begin working, unless your group’s goals are completely clear (i.e. a festival group rehearsing 3 days before the concert) have each member describe their personal goals for the time period that the group will exist, and how chamber music fits into them. Write them down so everyone can see and remember them for a brief discussion of how they overlap: that will find your ideal group goals. Then, estimate how much rehearsal time per week you would like in order to accomplish these goals.

Only after doing this does it make sense to compare schedules. Find time, changing your individual schedule if necessary, to accommodate the group goals. If you can’t find enough time, revisit the goals and scale them back to something realistic. You don’t want to discover mid-work that you’ve over-committed!

Once you have decided how things will work, get a simple contract on paper with all the expectations and assumptions spelled out. This contract should also state explicitly how long the group commitment will last. It should be no longer than 1 year. For a new group, no longer than 1 semester (if in school). Everyone should sign it, and share a copy with each member and the coach (if in school). This will go a long ways towards heading off any serious conflicts. You can also decide not to sign it and disband a group that has disaster written all over it before it becomes reality.

When the contract expires, if the group decides that it was a good experience and worth continuing, you can then meet again and discuss if any commitments have changed and renegotiate a new contract.

Semi-serious “one-off” groups

If your group is a festival-style one-week group, or a student group that rarely rehearses, then you won’t benefit from full scrum, which requires a significant time investment. However, you can achieve the 5 points required for great rehearsal simply through a 15-minute meeting at the start of a rehearsal day.

Read more

Groups with some long-term life

If your group has a commitment that extends beyond the normal amount, for example a student group that is rehearsing 3 times per week or more, or plans to continue in future semesters, or is preparing more than 1 piece at the same time, then you can benefit from some of the planning of Scrum. You will need to directly address the danger of unshared assumptions.

Read more

Pre-professional or professional groups

For chamber music groups hoping to make a career, or any group considering the possibility and ramping up for competitions or other high-stakes events like a self-organized tour, then you will benefit from fully implementing Scrum as we have in the Chiara Quartet.

Read more

Wrapping Up

As it turns out, rehearsing is absolutely as creative and artistic as performing. Every group finds different solutions to rehearsing, but great rehearsal dynamics translate directly into great performing, just as crappy rehearsal dynamics tend to kill off great performing.

If you or your group have specific questions or challenges, please leave a comment, or contact me directly, I am greg.beaver.cello@gmail.com.

For further reading, you should check out the extensive how-to I wrote about rehearsing and Scrum here.

This article series has been a labor of love. I have written probably 20 drafts over the past 2 years. If you find this helpful, please let me know by applauding for it (click the clapping button) and by leaving me a comment below!

Thanks for reading!