When you think about it, it’s perfectly logical. Though it will never appear on anyone’s vita, we all had the same first job title . . . “Kid.” In computer-ese, it’s our core programming, our default setting.
So, why should our thinking about rehearsal be any different? I’m not suggesting boom-whackers in a collegiate choral rehearsal, but certainly what speaks to our inner kid can be an effective teaching tool.
That said, I dare ya – I double-dog dare ya! – to read Karen Sims’ article “Dynamic (and Effective) Teaching with Junior High/Middle School Singers.” I’m willing to bet that those suggestions (modified, of course, to the demands of the literature) will be valuable and productive in ANY choral rehearsal environment – whether that be a school choral classroom, a church choir, the top choir at Ginormous State University, the stuffiest symphonic chorus, or Chanticleer.
Now, I’m gonna go put on my Converse All-Stars and chew some bubble gum . . .
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Chris Rowbury says