Liz Garnett articulates a problem I often have: what to say to singers who ask how the performance went. I never know what to say, and it’s not always because I don’t want to admit it was awful. Often I just don’t know. Liz explains why: It’s not surprising, then, that directors find it hard […]
Word cloud
Just a toy, really, but here’s a word cloud of recent forum posts on ChoralNet: Larger words are used more often. By comparison, here’s the cloud for ChoralBlog: These images were created by Wordle.
Can music teachers ever touch students?
In England, the Education Secretary has pushed back against a training video created by the musicians’ union which advises music teachers never to physically touch students, even to reposition their fingers on their instruments: “It plays to a culture of fear among both adults and children, reinforcing the message that any adult who touches a […]
Why do we like music?
NEW YORK (AP) — Whether it’s the Beatles or Beethoven, people like music for the same reason they like eating or having sex: It makes the brain release a chemical that gives pleasure, a new study says. The brain substance is involved both in anticipating a particularly thrilling musical moment and in feeling the rush […]
Children’s formant
University researchers, always mindful of the next tenure review, are studying children’s voices: Choir boys, and more recently choir girls, have been enchanting congregations for centuries with their distinctive voices. Professor David Howard, from the University of York, thinks there is more to the choristers’ sound than meets the ear. Working with music trainer Jenevora […]
Straight No Chaser 12-day mash-up
Fans of the Straight No Chaser version of The Twelve Days of Christmas record their own versions, cleverly edited into a single video.