Somewhere in the B section you feel your back stiffen as the key slides down to the key of G-‘not-quite-flat-but-it-sure-ain’t-G-anymore.’ Then comes the modulation to the dominant, which is supposed to be D. But because the choir is well below G and still headed south like a migrating goose, the pivot chord sounds like a car crash and the resulting modulation resembles nothing even remotely in any recognizable key.
Julie Ford has been there. In her article, “Using Tuning Forks to Empower your Church Choir – Excellence at the Basics,” (California Cantate, Spring 2011), she shares the following.
“I ask all singers to carry their tuning forks with them every day, day in purses, backpacks, or briefcases and steal moments to practice on their own. The first year I introduced these exercises, I tackled only a small part of the chromatic scale. As singers tune each interval, they are tuning linearly, as part of a melody, and vertically, as part of a two-note chord. They are building a strong understanding of how to listen and then adjust blend and balance to improve ensemble tuning. Four years into this process, our choir is quicker and more accurate with these exercises which we use routinely at every rehearsal.”
Whew! So, there IS light at the end of the tuning tunnel.
(To access the full article, simply click the highlighted title. For additional articles on a dazzling array of choral topics, visit ChorTeach.)
Karen Schuessler says
ann reid says
I love to do classroom general music with a tuning fork. I
have always believed that we as vocal specialists underestimate the
dependence children develop on keybaord accompaniment. When they
learn from early childhood to manipulate pitch using only ears,
brains, and voices, they develop autonomy and independence as
singers. I had entire classrooms of children from second grade up
who could recall and sing A440 with no auditory prompt from week to
week. The satisfaction and sense of mastery gained by this simple
exercise was pure joy to behold. Unfortunately I never had the
chance to follow them into HS, so I never found out how much they
were able to do as more mature singers. Still, I would postulate
that they would have had more pleasure from any ensuing listening
experiences as they continued in school, thanks to the humble
tuning fork.