Recently, our district asked each content area to meet, discuss, and submit a plan for teaching our students how to study and prepare for local and state exams. My initial reaction was to roll my eyes and view this request as just another example of something that applies to other subjects and not to music […]
Curriculum and Instruction
Leading Voices: Promoting a Sense of Agency within the Ensemble
While I was out sick recently for a week with COVID, one of my lesson plans for the Select Choir consisted of having the students break into their Sectional Sprint Groups and check and memorize their music for their upcoming Pops Concert the following week. At the end of each student-run Sectional Sprint rehearsal, I […]
Leading Voices: A Gift for the New Year
For this month’s blog, I would like to offer you a gift for the New Year. It is the gift of observation, with a twist of non-judgment. Obtaining the ability to observe selected interactions without judgment will transform your teaching and your relationship with yourself and others. It can bring new insights and revitalize your […]
Leading Voices: Developing Audiation in the Choral Classroom
I almost stopped conducting. It was the first song for our first concert of the 2021 school year. My 9-12 Select Choir was singing Set Me As a Seal by René Clausen, and they struggled to lock in D major for the first few measures – it was a bit wonky. By the second phrase, the choir […]
Leading Voices: Re-envisioning and Rediscovering Singing
Suddenly, the bass section broke out in full, boisterous song. After they finished, I said, “That was great! what were you singing?” They all heartily replied, “The Wellerman,” with a few Arrr’s thrown in for effect. It was the beginning of the school year, and each section of the choir was working on their […]
Leading Voices: The Many Voices of the Polyphonic Classroom
Do not accept the concept of failure. You are Antifragile. The idea of antifragile is one of the concepts that I am asking my students to experience this year as they learn to sing, work, and learn together during rehearsals. I am asking them to trust me and take a vacation from some of their […]