Teachers are at special risk for developing hoarseness simply be cause the job requires heavy voice use five plus days a week, with little time in between to allow the voice to recover. Here are trusted tips to help!
Developing Voices
Take Singing to the English Class
Why do we limit singing to just our choir room? Why put restrictions on it? Why not get creative and share what we know to be true with others? We have read the research that shows the tremendous benefits that learning to read music has on our brains and how it impacts our academic studies and test scores. We also know the benefits singing has on our well-being regarding our mental and physical health. But, did you know that singing helps most anyone that struggles with the ability to read? Singing can help with retention, speed and ability to digest content.
Showing Students How Classical Music is Relevant to Their Lives ~
When our students hear the words MUSIC APPRECIATION they most likely think “what a snore”. They most often will think this means listening to a lot of lectures and a lot of music they have never heard or will hear again. After all, who wants to sit and listen to someone talk about music of dead composers? Of course, as teachers we believe that just as current events are relevant to us so is the past as it has been part of the evolution that has made us who we are.
The “Secret” Your Weakest Sight-Singers May Be Hiding
Your weakest sight-singers may be keeping a “secret” from you. Once we become detectives and uncover their “secret”, they will have the ability to become great sight-singers. Find out: The “Secret” Your Weakest Sight-Singers May Be Hiding
Conducting A More Effective Audition
Choosing the best personnel for the ensemble is, indeed, the “coin of the realm.” No matter the level of talent and training that has been achieved on the part of the candidate, and no matter the experience and due diligence of the panel conducting the audition, a choral audition is an intimidating and messy business. Here are suggestions offered to assist those of us who hear auditions as we prioritize our goals and design a structure that well serves those goals.
The Voice of the Very Young Child: Birth to 5 Years Part 2: The Physical Ability to Sing
What are the basic requirements needed for children to learn to sing? The physical ability to sing depends on the degree of normal and healthy development of the vocal mechanism (larynx, vocal folds, breathing apparatus), and on one’s neuro-biological ability to process music pitch.
Anyone who has heard a child improvise melodies from the crib knows it is a precious sound. Little ones can babble repetitive songs with pitch accuracy as early as the age of ten months. It’s likely these children have been sung to and/or have heard singing frequently during the pre-birth and early infant years.