By Elizabeth Alexander, guest blogger When I was growing up, my house was filled with sheet music, with everything from Mozart piano sonatas to Broadway songbooks. My family bought most of it from Childers Music Center, a small storefront run by Dan Childers, also known as “Dandy Dan the Music Man.” In addition to running […]
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CJ Replay: The Choral Educator’s Guide to Teaching Outside the “Comfort Zone”
The April 2014 issue of Choral Journal features an article titled “You Want Me to Teach What? The Choral Educator’s Guide to Teaching Outside the ‘Comfort Zone’” written by Kyle Zeuch. Following is a section from the article._______________________________________ Many choral educators find themselves teaching students with a wide variety of skills and even age ranges, often teaching […]
Kinesthetic Gestures to Aid Your Choir
by Jennifer Berroth, Contributing Author, DevelopingVoices.blog Movement is often used to engage a singer’s breath, energy, and musicianship. Young singers can benefit from using gestures throughout a rehearsal to help them understand musical concepts they are performing. Here are some kinesthetic gestures I use to help my own singers. Staccato gestures Staccato phrases can […]
Part 2 The human voice, an instrument in residence
Breathing allows you to take in the oxygen and expel carbon-dioxide waste. But when you exhale, you also breathe out a lot of water. Humans exhale up to 0.59 fluid ounces of water per hour and about four times that amount during exercise.
Your 10 Question Choir Midterm Exam
Do you have a Choir Midterm? If you don’t, there’s no need to worry! It’s not too late and we have you covered. This choir midterm will not take up any class time, won’t burden your students in any way, and it will be a clear assessment of how well they are performing in class. Here is: YOUR […]
Choral Potpourri/Choral Ethics: Director vs. Accompanist
“Being an accompanist is very selfless in many ways because you’re really just trying to elevate the singer and help them shine, ultimately.” Simon Helberg Last week, I shared stories from a few ChoralNetters about their holidays. This week, I have ChoralNetters chiming in about relationships between choral directors and their accompanists. If you noticed […]