Music interpretation in ensemble performance such as the wind orchestra and the marching band is one of the most challenging process and indefinable aspects of music education (Whitwell. 1998). Interpretation is the process of analysing the elements of a musical composition in order to make appropriate judgement about how to perform them artistically in order to have it perform expressively which is the result of this analysis. I intend to do a research on band director teaching strategy toward organizing group interpretation. I hope to receive more information about building group interpretation and to share the findings with all who have similar interest in this area.
In this study, I attempt to clarify aspects of musical interpretation by observing one of the Malaysian successful band directors that will advocate guidelines in developing students' interpretative processes. To begin, I review basic issues concerning the nature of music and musical interpretation. I proceed to explain my research procedures, after which I detail my study on band director’s processes of developing musical interpretations of a specific work selected. My reason for doing so is to illustrate implications for the teaching and learning of musical interpretation.
To encompass good interpretation is to understand the requirements for an interpretation that is responsive to musical content; one must rely primarily upon what is in the music itself. These might be one of the reasons why most group fail to interpret the music expressively. Despite that, the process of enabling students to interpret the music is another challenging task. Being skillful and knowledgeable is not enough; one requires excessive practices in delivering and transforming the requirements for an interpretation that is approachable to the teaching process that includes tools and materials.
