Repertoire Post #8

L'ultimo di di maggio, Ottorino Respighi, arr. Robert Sieving - SATB HS Madrigal

•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 -  I really like that this is an arrangement of a madrigal because I think this is a valuable style that all high school ensembles should sing at least once. The parts are also very independent so all the singers need to be solid on their parts and work on fitting everything together. Also, the piece is in Italian, which I think all HS choirs should sing at least once as well.

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - Given the part complexity, this is definitely for a HS group. There are also large ranges for all the parts, which makes this a solid HS piece as middle-schoolers would not have the range or technical skill to sing this work.

 

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

- Soprano: low D - high A, the piece concentrates in the higher part of the range, which gets the voice up and light.

- Alto: low A - high D, the alto part does stay lower than the soprano part, but it stays in the middle of the range. The alto part also has divisi, which I like because it creates more independence in the parts as well as harmonic contrast.

- Tenor: low E - F#, I believe this is a comfortable range for tenors post voice change.

- Bass: low E - high D, the bass part is melodic, which I like, instead of just outlining harmonic progression.

•What musical ideas can be taught:

-blend, unifying vowel shape, phrasing, independence of part/line, madrigal singing style, articulating multiple notes in slurs, rhythmic and harmonic complexity, Italian text

 

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- This arrangement combines the text of an anonymous sixteenth-century poem with music from Respighi's Ancient Aires and Dances for Lute, Suite 1: Balletto. Not only is the style valuable, but the text and musical ideas are incredibly valuable as well because it introduces this style to the choir.

 

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

- The divisi alto part may not be feasible with a smaller choir because of number constraints, however, I feel like the ranges are all fine given the targeted age group for the arrangement.

Repertoire Post #7

Awake, My Soul, and Sing!, Victor C. Johnson - SSA MS Choir

•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 -  I like that this is a newer piece (2014) that was commissioned specifically for a Children's Choir with young voices in mind. I also like that this piece has the option to feature a small group or solo as the piece progresses.

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - This would be a middle school SSA piece. The parts move in parallel motion and is mostly in 2-part with some 3-part, however, it would be good for a beginning choir that is just starting to move into singing harmony.

 

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

-Soprano 1: low D - F (descant to high Ab), I like that there is a descant part for girls who have this range. This would be a way to celebrate all the voices in the ensemble instead of limiting voices to specific parts all the time.

- Soprano 2: low D - Db, I would like the part a little higher, but it does go to the higher part of the range instead of staying low.

- Alto: low Bb - high Db, I like that the alto part goes up to the same range as the soprano 2 part. It also doesn't stay around the low Bb very much, so it gets any alto singers into their higher range as well.

•What musical ideas can be taught:

-blend, unifying vowel shape, phrasing, sustained breath/spinning air

 

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- The text is very upbeat and the piano part drives the piece forward. I think this might be a good opening song on a concert given the uplifting text.

 

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

- I like the flexibility of having a soloist or a small group. I also like the optional descant if there are singers who can do this. Some of these parts may not be used for every choir, but I like that I have the option to tailor the piece to the group in front of me.

Repertoire Post #6

Alleluia! Sing for Joy!, Jean Baptiste Lully, arr. by Patrick Liebergen - Unison or 2-Part for MS

•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 -  I like that this piece could be either unison or 2-part depending on the choir and what they need. I also like that this is an arrangement of a Baroque piece, so that it is exposing the students to some traditional music. This piece also has shorter phrases with lots of places for the choir to breathe and regroup if anyone gets off.

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - I think this would be great for a beginning middle school choir. This piece could be done in unison for a first semester choir or in two-part for a second semester or second year choir. The parts move in contrary motion, which I like, however, the second part does go pretty low in places so I would either stick with the unison line or re-write the second part so that it is higher.

 

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

- Part 1: low E - Eb, this part allows singers to explore the whole range of their voice, which I like

- Opt. Part 2: low Ab - Bb, this part is very low, but if there are voices that have already changed it may work for them.

•What musical ideas can be taught:

-blend, unifying vowel shape, phrasing, contrast between phrases

 

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- The text in this piece is pretty standard. It's not great, but other songs are much worse and don't have the musical value that this song does given the Baroque era compositional value.

 

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

- I would probably use this song as a unison piece, but if I ever did want to use the second part, I would most likely need to re-write most of it since it is very low right now.

 

 

Repertoire Post #5

My Heart's in the Highlands, Sherri Porterfield, TTB/TBB MS Choir

•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 -  I like that this piece is just for guys and geared towards middle school. It gives them a chance to explore their voices and their sound and learn how to blend together. I also like that the piece includes a key change as well as opportunities for solos if there are some boys that would like that opportunity.

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - I think this would be for a middle school boys choir. There isn't much independence of line and often the lines are singing the same notes or similar notes. The tenor 1 and tenor 2 lines are often moving in contrary motion to the bass line, which will make it easier to keep their parts separate as they sing.

 

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

- Tenor 1: low D - F (one note), I like that there is over an octave range, but the upper part of the range may be problematic for some changing voices.

- Tenor 2: low D - E, I like that the tenor lines are similar in range so that all the singers learn how to access their full voice.

- Bass: C - high A, some of this may be a little high, but there are alternate notes written in and notes can be dropped down if needed.

•What musical ideas can be taught:

- dynamics, blend, spinning air, phrases, sustained breath/longer phrases, key changes

 

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- I really like the text. I think it has more depth than a lot of the traditional middle school repertoire, especially for boys.

 

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

- As I mentioned earlier, some of the bass notes may be a little too high and may need to be taken down. Also, depending on voice change, some of the tenor lines may go too high and have to be adjusted as well.

Repertoire Post #4

The Silence and the Song, Mark Patterson - SATB 9th Grade Choir

•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 -  I really love how musical this piece is in terms of phrasing and color. I love the melody and the words and it sounds really beautiful when sung, as we saw in class when I used this for my final teach. The piece is also in 4-part, which is great for an intermediate choir that is still exploring blend and independence of line.

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - I think this would be a really good piece for either an advanced middle school choir or a 9th grade high school choir. The musical aspects are relatively simple, but there is the potential for a lot of musical things to be worked on, like phrasing.

 

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

- Soprano: C - E, this gets the sopranos into the higher part of their range.

- Alto: B - E, I really like this because the alto range is very similar to the soprano - more like part 1 and part 2 as opposed to soprano and alto.

- Tenor: G - E, this may be tricky with changing voices.

- Bass: B - B, some of this may be a little low, but for the boys that can do it, I like that they have the opportunity to.

•What musical ideas can be taught:

-blend, phrasing, dynamics, spinning air/sustaining breath

 

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- As with many Mark Patterson songs, this piece has some really nice text. It is easy to relate to and really beautiful - definitely not fluff text.

 

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

- Some of the lower bass notes may need to be taken up depending on the guys. Also, some of the tenor parts may need to be re-written if the boys singing it are still going through voice change.

 

 

Repertoire Post #3

Sisi Ni Afrika (We Are Africa), Christian "Ceej" Oliver - TTB High School Choir

 
•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 -  I really like that this piece is written in Swahili and Amharic instead of English because it exposes the choir to world music and different languages. I also love the optional percussion element because I could bring in band students and involve more students in the concert. It also gives this piece a unique sound that I think students would like and get into, especially when the ensemble begins clapping and adding body percussion.

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - I think this would be for a high school ensemble. The parts are in 3rds and have a lot of parallel motion, which would make it harder for a beginning choir in middle school. There is also some independence in the parts in between the chorus, so I think this would be good for an intermediate male ensemble.

 

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

- Tenor: low E - F, some of the lower notes may be too low, but there are alternate notes written above them for singers who can't sing that low.
- Baritone: E to D, this range is problematic for changing voices, so this should be sing with voices that have already changed.
- Bass: low C to B, again, this is a larger ranges (over an octave) so it might be better for a HS choir.

•What musical ideas can be taught:

- accents, solo/independent parts, body percussion, syncopated rhythms

 

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- The text translates to "No matter where we are from, we can all celebrate who we are."I think this is a great message, especially for a school with a diverse student body.

 

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

-  Some of the lower notes for the tenors may need to be taken up. Also, some of the solo lines may need to have additional singers added to it depending on balance issues.

Repertoire Post #2

Hope Is the Thing with Feathers, Kenny Potter (SATB) - MS mixed choir

•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 -  I like that the piece is in 7/8 and 8/8, which gives rhythmic variety in a compound meter as opposed to the same old duple. Also, it's an SATB piece for middle school, so it should definitely be looked at!

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - This would be best for an intermediate to advanced middle school mixed choir. There is a lot of parallel motion and some independence between the lines, so I would not give this to a beginning choir.

 

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

- Soprano: low D - E, this gets the female voices into all parts of their developing ranges

- Alto: low C - B, the part stays around D and E, so it doesn't go super low, but I wish it went a little higher

- Tenor: G - F#, the part is mostly around B and only goes up to the C or higher by step, so it should be manageable

- Bass: low C - C, the part hovers around the G, so it stays out of the range where holes may be for changing voices

•What musical ideas can be taught:

-compound meter, phrases, interacting parts across the choir, sustained breath/notes

 

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- The text is by Emily Dickinson so it is "real" text instead of middle school fluff text.

 

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

-  The basses need to sustain a high C, which may need to be re-written depending on the voices in the choir.

Repertoire Post #1

Bright Morning Stars (SSAA), Jay Althouse - HS Women's Choir

•Why this piece is worthy of consideration:

 - This piece is really great for working on blend and open vowels. Also, it has 4-part, which I really like for developing a more advanced female choir. Bright Morning Stars is also a folk song, so it has some really nice text and is also preserving US folk songs/history, which I like.

•The ensemble for which the piece will be appropriate:

 - This would be best for an advanced high school choir. The piece requires a lot of technique to keep the vowels open even in high registers. It also requires good breath control because of the longer phrases.

•Discuss range/tessitura and how the piece works for singers:

-  Soprano 1: G - E, vowels need to be open and clear, singers need to sing without tension

- Soprano 2: E - E, open vowels so that the singer can move throughout the octave comfortably

- Alto 1: low C - C, singers need to keep the voice light as it goes lower

- Alto 2: low G - G, this is low for some altos so part assignment is critical

•What musical ideas can be taught:

- Phrasing, blend across the choir, open vowels, dynamics/musicality

•What about the text is worthy of singing:

- The text reminds of a spiritual, and the whole song has that feel so it is really powerful.

•What, if any, material should be adapted/re-written:

-  Depending on the choir, the low G in the second alto part may need to be re-written

Haslett HS Select Women's Choir - Observation #8/Teaching #3

This past Tuesday was my last observation at Haslett. Ms. Valla is prepping the choir for State S+E and District Choral performances, so it was a very tight rehearsal, but she had me lead a sightreading exercise today in preparation.

I was leading the exercise for State S+E, which means that the group could sing individually if they wanted, but nothing as a group. Instead, everything has to be talked about, but specific intervals from the excerpt could not be sung.

I started with the unison line and I pointed out a couple of interval things, such as a minor triad in the second measure. I also asked the group to tell me what the key signature (6/8) and time signature (b-flat Major) meant and where Do was on the staff. Ms. Valla told me not to have the group sing through it individually because she wanted to see how they did without that step of preparation.

I brought in the group (or tried to) by showing the second macro beat of 6/8 before they came in, but it was not very clear as the group took a different tempo. When this happened, I started snapping micro beats, because I remembered that Ms. Valla has done this previously. I forgot that this was allowed in sight reading. The group did the unison line very well, so we went to two-part. The added line was very straight forward, mostly stepwise motion. I asked if anyone saw anything that they had questions about and nobody did, so I cued them to start the two-part lines. Again, I tried to show the second macro beat, but the group carried over the previous tempo from the unison line.

After two-part, we looked at the 3-part line. There were a couple instances of So-Do jumps, which I pointed out by asking students to tell me what the last note of a measure was to the first note of the next measure (where the jump was). The group identified the jump relatively easily. The other thing I pointed out was that there was a lot of dialogue back and forth between the 3 lines, which I asked the group to bring out. I also asked them to pay attention to the marked dynamics and bring those out. The reading went really well and all of the musicality things were brought out, which was really cool.

Ms. Valla said overall thing went really well and she liked my process. She suggested either conducting a whole measure to bring the group in or snapping a full measure to bring the full group in to make the first notes clearer. However, she said that was the only thing she would change. She thought my talk through was really clear and touched on all the things she would point out as well, which I thought was really cool.

I've really enjoyed having an opportunity to watch this group for the past couple of months and I feel like I learned a lot watching Ms. Valla teach. This experience also gave me confidence in front of a choir, which I didn't really have since I see myself as an instrumentalist not a vocalist. I'm really glad I got to work with this group!

Haslett HS Select Women's Choir - Observation #7

Today was a normal observation as Ms. Valla did not have any opportunity for me to lead a sectional or warm up. The group is competing in state Solo and Ensemble next week Friday as well as District Choral Festival on Thursday, so Ms. Valla is really pushing for performance readiness right now. Also, Tuesday was a short rehearsal because parent/teacher conferences started at 3pm.

Because of the shortened rehearsal, work consisted of run throughs of both pieces ("Dance on my Heart" and "Bright Morning Stars") with targeted work as it came up. The group began with "Dance" and I noticed a big improvement on facial expressions and movement from last week. Also, the group was a lot more musical and had much greater dynamic contrast than before. Ms. Valla must have really targeted these things on the Thursday rehearsal because they sounded great and everyone was very engaged in the performance.

After "Dance", the group switched to "Bright Morning Stars". The focus on this piece is maintaining an open sound, even when the notes go higher. This allows for the piece to float and not be strained at all in the voice. It also allows for the sections to blend easier, as this piece has a few staggered entrances that are supposed to sound seamless - you are not supposed to know when a new soloist or section enters. Just like last week, the three soloists at the beginning are wavering on pitch and end up going flat as new soloists enter (or the first soloist began very sharp - it's hard to tell which because the piece is a cappella). However, when the whole choir entered and the pitch settled, the blend and the tone quality was absolutely beautiful. Vowels were very tall and, again, there was a large dynamic contrast throughout the work. I got goosebumps listening to them.

Unlike "Dance", the girls were not moving very much at all on "Bright", which Ms. Valla pointed out. She said that while the piece is technically correct, there is not a lot of emotional connection yet because the singers are not as engaged facially or with their body like they are on "Dance". She also said that there is no connection with their breathe because of the lack of movement, which helps with the emotional connection. This is going to be their main focus next week on their final rehearsals.

Because this group is so close to two rated performances, Ms. Valla is not comfortable allowing me to lead part of the rehearsal. She said she is very possessive of this particular group because of how little she sees them and won't allow her student teacher to lead the group either. However, she is going to let me lead a sight reading exercise next week in preparation for State S+E, which means nothing can be sung before the whole exercise is sung, except for a scale and tonal chord patterns (Do Mi So Mi Do, La Fa Re Ti Do). Instead, potential hard intervals can be discussed, but not sung.

I have really enjoyed watching and working with this group and I'm sad that next week is my last observation with them.

Sightreading Exercise

Haslett HS Select Women's Choir - Observation #6/Teaching #2

This past Tuesday, I was able to lead a few more warm ups with the choir. The rest of the rehearsal was spent preparing for District Choral Festival, which was rescheduled for next week after being cancelled due to weather.

Ms. Valla started the warm ups and then had me lead a couple at the end. Since the choir is used to singing with some kind of pitch underneath them, Ms. Valla had suggested that I either play simple chords on the piano while they were singing, or hold "do" while they sang the exercise. I opted for holding "do" had having the choir sing above that.

I started with the alphabet warm up by modeling it once. Then I sustained "do" while they sung the exercise. At the end of the first sequence, I sang "now here" with my pitch moved up a half step. This seemed to work, but when I did it the next time, the choir did not match my pitch and began on different notes. Ms. Valla stopped them and said that I was giving the starting pitch instead of a piano so they had to be listening to what I was singing. She said the pattern was probably a predictable one (like ascending half steps) but that they had to pay attention since this was different than how they normally warmed up. Once Ms. Valla said this, the girls were able to stay on pitch very well and the problems that happened the first time I lead warm ups (changing keys, not sure of entrances, etc.) did not happen this time.

After the alphabet warm up, I modeled Marcus' warm up of "Sing legato now sing staccato, I-- just want to sing." I sang this for the choir twice because Ms. Valla said they have a similar warm up in terms of notes, but use different words. I saw a couple of the students nod like they liked the warm up though, which was cool to see. This time, the choir stayed on pitch easily with me sustaining the starting pitch for them. As I moved them through the range, I started sustaining the pitch a little shorter time, and the group managed to stay in tune, which I liked.

I talked to Ms. Valla after rehearsal and she said that she thought my warm ups went really well and that the group followed me very well. She said that method of warming up is really good to train choirs with, especially for instances where you may not have a piano around for warm ups (like Festival sometimes in the warm up room). She said if the choir was trained to hear this, that often the director can just give the starting pitch and the choir can stay in tune without anything being sustained. Obviously, this particular choir is not trained for that, but I was glad that it went better than last time.

The rehearsal was fairly typical and similar to what I had seen previously, but Ms. Valla did do something very interesting to get sections to blend better. She called each section down individually and had them sing "La" on a descending C scale. She then positioned the girls from darkest to brightest voice so that when singers added in, they blended seamlessly with one another. Then, she broke the line in half and had the girls stand with the darker voices in the back and the brighter voices in the front row. This whole process was incredibly quick, but it made a huge difference in "Bright Morning Stars," since sections are entering one after another and trying to create seamless blends with each other.

One thing that was really interesting to me is that a couple of the girls were very self-conscious just singing a scale in front of the group by themselves to get blend. "Bright Morning Stars" also starts with 3 solos, and when Ms. Valla was asking for people to sing, the majority of the girls adamantly said no. It surprised me that in this advanced group so many people were afraid or reluctant to sing solos. I remember being in advanced or additional choirs when I was in school, and more often than not, there was a competition for limited solos, which is the opposite of what I saw here. I know everyone auditions to get into this group, which made the reluctance, especially in the blend activity, even more surprising to me. I wonder if this is a confidence thing with individual students or a classroom thing that has to do with how Ms. Valla runs her classes during the day. I haven't seen anything to suggest that a solo would be intimidating to do, but this is the first song with a solo I have observed and this was not the first day people had sung solos, so I don't know for sure how it was set up.

Hayes Middle School Observation - Grand Ledge

I really enjoyed observing Hayes MS this week. And getting all that information was so great! I'm looking forward to being able to thumb through it over break.

I loved watching how engaged Mr. Armstead was with his students. It was so clear that he had a completely safe space for them so that they didn't feel restricted or isolated - especially when he asked them to move. I also loved that he had movement incorporated in everything from warm ups to sight singing to repertoire. He didn't just ask them to move in one setting, but in all of them, which I'm sure makes it more natural to move during pieces since this becomes an integral part of choir as a whole.

I also really liked how there was almost no down time. Having the students repeat what he tells them worked really well to keep the class flowing and keep the class engaged at the same time. He can make sure that they are taking in the information he is giving them and it almost eliminates talking from the students because they are focused on what he is saying. Also, when he gave directions, I noticed that they were very short - usually one or two words - that he could say while the choir sang and get immediate responses with. This allowed him to have significantly more singing than talking in the rehearsal, which is a little different from my Haslett observation.

I found it interesting to watch his personality and what that elicited from the students. Samara in Haslett is always telling the girls in the choir to show the music on their faces more and to move, but her personality is a little more reserved. Mr. Armstead is always in motion it seems and his face is very active - although not mouthing words, which I like. Because of this, his choir moved to the music much easier than in Haslett and their facial expressions were much more engaged than at the High School, which I found very interesting.

In addition to the music stuff, which I loved, I also really liked how music was not the entire focus of the class. It was very clear from the posters around the room to the reading of the day (what a cool way to integrate the English requirement!) that Armstead is focused on developing good citizens, not just good musicians. His room was not just a safe space, but a respectful one where everyone could be vulnerable and grow strong together through shared experiences. To me, this is the real power of music and I loved seeing such a great atmosphere in his classroom. I am more than a music teacher to my students, at least I hope I am, and I want my class room or studio to reflect that just like his did.

MSU Children's Choir - Observation #2

After last week, I wanted to see how Kyle gets his choir to sound the way he wants - mainly, how does he make technique/intonation/musicality accessible to kids.

Kyle does a lot with solfege to help the kids internalize pitch and the distance between notes. Last week, Kyle had a warm-up where the kids sang every major interval up a scale (on E natural, they would sing Do - Re (F#), Major (E) Second (F#) and continue up the scale). In addition to singing the solfege and syllable, the children would do the hand signs as well, to reinforce what they were singing. This week, Kyle included minor intervals in the scale (Do - Ra, Minor Second), which I thought was really cool. Again, the children did hand signs while they sang.

When the children began rehearsing their pieces, I noticed that they all use the hand signs while they sang, just like they do in warm-up. Many of them sang very well in tune, even when they were sight reading new sections. I really like having the kids sign the solfege even when they sing because it has that physical movement associated with the notes, which probably helps to internalize the intervals.

When the kids got to new section of the piece, Kyle had them write in the solfege, but while he did this, he played music of a choir singing as a background. I really love this idea because it encourages the children to keep thinking in music even when they are writing in solfege. It also helps their ear because Kyle is playing examples that are good examples of tone, consonants, vowels, musicality, and blend.

Again, throughout the rehearsal, Kyle treated the children like adults and held them responsible for their parts and their singing, which I love. During one song, the group was sight reading a new section and Kyle told them to "give it one more shot without trying to fix anything because you are smart." Instead of correcting everything that was wrong after one time through, Kyle asked every to "personally try to be more accurate," which I really loved. The kids responded too because they second time was much more in tune and much more together without Kyle having to fix things. It just showed me what these kids are capable of and how little talking you really need to do if you train each student to be responsible for their singing and comfortable with their pitches and musicality.

Another technique that Kyle uses a lot to help is having sections circle up so they can all hear each other. Kyle utilizes this especially on songs where rhythms are hard to fit together as a whole group or where individual sections have melodic lines that are very dissonant with other sections. I really love this idea because it allows each section to sync with each other, making them more secure when they return to choir formation.

All in all, I was really impressed with the critical ear and musicality that these kids demonstrate during rehearsal. Kyle told me the group ranges from 5th grade to 9th grade, but they already have highly developed ears and can identify balance issues, intonation issues, vowel alignment, and a whole bunch of other characteristics without Kyle needing to say anything. I hope that I can give my ensembles, choral or otherwise, this level of musicianship. Kyle truly is teaching these children to be musicians on their own rather than spoon-feeding them music.

Haslett HS Select Women's Choir - Observation #5/Teaching #1

Today, I got to lead some warm-ups for the choir. I was pretty nervous to lead warm-ups because I have not had much experience working with choirs. I was also very nervous because Ms. Valla uses the piano a lot during warm-ups and I do not have the skills to do that.

I tried to come up with a range of warm-ups that could focus on different aspects of singing. I started with the physical warm-up that Stuart did in class on Monday (clapping/patting different parts of the body and having the choir follow his movements 4 beats behind). In addition to tapping different parts of the body, I also included some sirens in the exercise to begin to bridge speaking voice and singing voice. This particular warm-up went pretty well, although, I need to get some more variety into it. I want to add in some lip trills next time and more difficult rhythms or tapping patterns. Despite this, I heard one of the altos say "That was cool!" when I finished the exercise, which was really cool to hear.

After the physical warm-up, I did "Mah Meh Me Moh Moo" (descending down a 5th and ascending by half step). I chose this exercise because consistent vowel shape is one of the things that Ms. Valla keeps bringing up with the choir, and I thought this warm-up would provide an opportunity to work on dropping the jaw and getting consistent vowels across the ensemble. I didn't go too high on this one since it was the first warm-up. Instead of playing the warm-up, I opted to sing each starting pitch and stay away from the piano. The choir seemed a little unsure about this given that their warm-ups are normally done with a piano. I need to find a better way to bring the choir in after giving the pitch - my cues were not very clear because the initial entrances for the exercise were very hesitant.

After the vowel warm-up, I did "The Lips, The Teeth, The Tip of the Tongue" (Descending down a 5th and descending by half step). Just like in class, I asked the students to try to spit on the person in front of them after the first warm-up didn't have enough "t" for my ear. Again, I stayed away from the piano. The students were much more unsure with the descending exercise and at one point, the exercise switched from major into minor. This made me wonder if the choir may be a little too dependent on the piano because they could not keep the same intervals on the new pitch. I think it might be really good for me to do warm-ups without the piano because this will challenge the choir to maintain intervals internally rather than mimicking the piano's pitches.

My last warm-up was "Zi (steps up a fifth) Zoh (steps up a fifth) Zah (up and down a scale)." I started this in F and worked on phrasing (crescendoing up the scale and decresecendoing back down). I had the choir sing it a couple times in unison in order to get the phrasing I wanted, then I divided the choir into two parts and had them perform the warm-up in a round. After that, I split them into three parts for a round. I had planned to have the choir sing the warm-up twice when I split into the 3-part round, but I forgot and only had them do it once, so one group finished right when the last group started. If I do this again, I will be sure to have the choir sing the warm-up twice for the 3-part round.

In addition to warm-ups, I also got to lead a sectional. The choir started a new piece, "Bright Morning Stars" by Jay Althouse, and Ms. Valla had me work with the first sopranos for about 10 minutes (she worked with first altos, Jeremiah worked with second altos, and the pianist worked with second sopranos). We were working on a small section of the piece per Ms. Valla's instructions. I started by having the girls sing on text while I played the part on piano with them. The first soprano part had some high es, so I worked with the girls to float those notes (I had them bend their knees on the high e to keep the note light and not strained). One girl said her private teacher had her do that all the time and completely understood what I was asking. The others were less committed to following through with the motion, but did it a little anyway. I also had them work on keeping all of the notes, especially the lower ones (a and g) light in order to match the quality of the high e. After playing the part for them a couple of times, I stopped playing and sang with them instead. The first time was shaky - I think because the group does most of their work with the piano - but they did much better when i had them do it again without the piano. Overall, I think it went really well and they sang all the correct pitches in rehearsal when the group rejoined, which was great!

One thing that was really cool was that one of the first sopranos told me before we started working that she and one of the other girls loved my voice (I had modeled my warm-ups before asking them to sing). Hearing this made me feel like I could potentially work with choirs since I haven't had voice lessons since high school and I haven't been in a choir since 2007. It also really made me want to sing again since I was able to impress these advanced singers! I feel much more relaxed about teaching this group after today and I'm looking forward to doing more next week!

MSU Children's Choir: Observation #1

I observed Kyle with the MSU Children's Choir on Tuesday night. My initial observation is that Kyle is GREAT with these kids! He is completely calm and approachable, but always using jokes and humor to connect with the students. It is obvious that he knows them well and he uses their names when he speaks to them individually. It is also clear that these kids are very talented and clearly want to be there and participate.

What I really loved about Kyle's teaching is that he treated the children like adults - he expected musicality in everything and wouldn't let the students get away without it. This was clear even in his warmups, which I especially appreciated. He had the kids sing "Me, Meh, Mah, Moh, Moo." After the first key, he told the kids to "make a musical choice with this" and to make the exercise "go somewhere." I am a huge fan of using warmups (whether instrumental or choral) to practice musical aspects that can be applied in repertoire. I am constantly telling my solo students to add dynamics to their etudes, to practice phrasing, vibrato, shifting, and anything else that they are using in their pieces in the etudes themselves. I challenge my students to make their etudes sound like mini-pieces so that they get more comfortable executing musical choices on their instruments, making it easier to apply in their solo repertoire. It was very clear that Kyle follows this as well with his students, even at a young age.

Another thing I really liked is that Kyle has the choir sing the scale of whatever piece they are about to sing right before they work on a new piece. He also has all the children use the hand gestures when they sing scales and their pieces, giving them a physical connection to pitch throughout warmups and repertoire work. Because of this, the choir is able to sightread incredibly well. Their first piece, "Hands Across The Universe," was first handed out that evening, but the group was able to sightread the work from m. 83 to the end and hit most of the notes in tune. They also started working on phrasing and dynamics right away, even when learning notes, which I really liked. Rather than focusing on notes alone, Kyle is focusing on making music, which in turn will reinforce note learning. At one point during the reading, when they went back to try to catch more things, Kyle told the group, "Each time (we sing) you should be getting more musical, more notes, better vowels."

It was very clear that Kyle respected the kid's musicality and the students respected him as well. When Kyle was working with other parts, the children not singing were very quiet and stayed still in their seats. I was amazed at the level of control Kyle had without ever needing to address behavior or procedure for when some parts were singing and some were not. They started getting a little louder towards the end of the two hour rehearsal, but never overly disruptive. Kyle never needed to shush them. At one point, he asked for people not singing to be a little quieter, but this happened once and in the last 10-15 minutes of a 2 hour rehearsal.

I loved watching this rehearsal and I found myself wishing I had been a part of a group like this when I was younger. It looks like a great community and everyone, including Kyle, seem to be having a great time.

Haslett HS Select Women's Choir - Observation #4

This being my fourth observation, I wanted to especially look at how Ms. Valla identifies and responds to problems in the choir's singing. I've noticed while observing that my ear can identify some issues with choir sound, such as intonation, balance, color, and blend, but not others. For example, it is very hard for me to identify issues with vowels. I know this is because my ears are geared towards instrumental, but it makes me nervous that I cannot identify these aspects of choral sound right now - especially given that I need to teach starting next week.

Since the choir is preparing for festival and performing on Thursday, most of the basic issues of the pieces have been worked through already. Today was a run-through with some final touch ups and observations to consider before festival. For the first piece (Duo), some of the parts were not quite balanced. Ms. Valla wants more sound from the soprano I section, which she has said on a few occasions. I wonder if this section contains more of the new freshmen that Ms. Valla admitted into Select this year to fill gaps as they appear younger than some of the other girls. She also wants more contrast in phrases and with main dynamics.

One thing I noticed is that the higher notes, the Es and F#s were going out of tune. This increased when Ms. Valla asked for more volume from the choir. Ms. Valla said the singers were losing the core of their sound and asked for more focused sound. I believe this has to do with breath and getting more air initially in order to better sustain on pitch.

In the second piece, Dance, Ms. Valla is trying to inspire more movement in the choir and more animation in their faces. Apparently, this is something that Select has been marked down on at festival in the past. Some of the girls are not acting while they are singing and their faces are flat. Others are acting a lot and are focal points in the group, which only makes the girls who are not doing it stick out more. Ms. Valla is trying to inspire movement in the girls by moving more herself when she conducts, but in the end, it falls on the girls to move themselves and respond.

A couple other things that were said this rehearsal was that the "oo" vowel was not matching across the voices, especially when parts when high. Ms. Valla said this is because the girls going higher are spreading the vowel a little too much so that it no longer matches the girls on lower parts. She asked that everyone be more conscious of their corners, especially when going into higher section, in order to maintain consistent vowel production. She also asked for more responsiveness in general to her conducting gestures, especially when she shows dynamics or asks for them to take in more breath.

I am nervous to lead warmups next week as this is an advanced group and my piano skills are not where I want them to be. Ms. Valla plays piano a lot during warmups, and that is something I can't do, so I hope it will go okay. I am also a little nervous to lead sectionals given that I can't hear the text inconsistencies well. I feel confident with blend, phrasing, and intonation issues, but I am nervous about modeling when I have not had formal training on my own voice in over 5 years.

Haslett HS Select Women's Choir - Observation #3

This has been a very hectic week for Ms. Valla. She has her pre-festival choral festival concert tonight and it is also hell week for the middle school musical, which she is responsible for running. Festival is next week on Thursday and Friday, the same week the musical opens. The middle school preview day, where the middle schoolers visit the high school ensembles, is also next week on Wednesday. Needless to say, she is quite short on time at the moment!

I met with Ms. Valla before choir to discuss her grading and practice requirements. Most of her grading comes from class and concert participation. She assigns participation points in class by week. Failure to bring materials (music, pencil, etc.), a lack of participation in warm-ups or rehearsal, or disruptive behavior results in a loss of points. She also assigns participation points for concerts. Occasionally, she assigns theory worksheets or questions on recording listening in class, which also have point values.

In terms of practice requirements, she has none for her choirs. Ms. Valla told me that over 3/4ths of her students do not take voice lessons outside of school, nor do they have access to resources that they would need to practice outside of class, like a piano. In addition, most of her students have only participated in school choirs and have no additional experience or ways to get it. Therefore, she feels it is unfair to assign outside practicing as a requirement, since most students do not have the experience or knowledge to be able to do that on their own. The most she will ask students to do outside of class is memorize words. Other than that, she prefers to work in class to ensure that things are learned correctly. This is different from what I have observed in Okemos, which does use practice logs for the strings program, but I feel like Ms. Valla's approach is probably more common across area schools. Okemos is in many ways an exception as the music program is incredibly strong and the community it very invested in continuing that tradition - especially in strings.

As far as evaluating students goes, she does this constantly in every rehearsal. Ms. Valla told me that every student in every grade level auditions for their spot in choir every year. This applies to choirs that meet during the day and after school as well. This way, she hears every student from 7th - 12th grade once a year. Sight reading is a part of this audition in addition to solo singing. She also works on sight reading throughout the year (especially when it gets closer to festival!) and has evaluations on this as well. In addition, she implements the new state requirements for pre and post evaluation to show student growth. Sight reading is a component of this, as is music history and theory. She has also included some pedagogy things, whatever the department chooses to focus on and highlight in their teaching. This is still a relatively new thing and the pre/post assessment, which includes a written component, is changing still as the department figures out what they want to do.

The rehearsal itself was more singing intensive than past rehearsals I have seen. Ms. Valla was focusing on tone and sound quality on the two pieces in preparation for their concert, so she was running sections and pieces and listening for blend and vowel shape. The girls are also continuing to work on feeling confident on memory, so sections were being run multiple times to help solidify text and entrances without music in hand. One thing was clear though - when this choir listens and blends and focuses, they sound amazingly good!