Latest Blog Posts
ChoralEd: The Boy’s Changing Voice, Part 2 – Determining Voice Parts
In Part 2 of our three-part series on the boy’s changing voice Dr. Terry J. Barham provides insight into the voice test process. When determining a boy’s voice part, Dr. Barham suggests the teacher establish a welcoming environment, completing the voice test individually (although group settings are also acceptable). To begin, identify the student’s spoken […]
A Skills-First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process
The February 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “A Skills-First Approach to the All-State Choir Selection Process” by Marshaun R. Hymon. Following is a portion from the article. _________________ Is music literacy the ability to read pitches and rhythms on five lines and four spaces? I think it’s much more broad than […]
Should We Stop Assessing Sight Reading at All State Choir? With Drs. Marshaun Hymon and Chantae Pittman
This podcast has become the place to go for Music Literacy pedagogical training tools for teachers over the last five years. As a result, I have never received as much correspondence about content NOT created by me, than Dr. Marshaun Hymon’s February 2024 Choral Journal Article called “A Skills First Approach to the All-State Choir […]
Choral Ethics: Gifted
“We are all gifted. That is our inheritance.” Ethel Waters A few years ago, I was talking to a father of a gifted child. I knew his child was gifted because he told me, over and over again, that she was gifted. I wasn’t exactly sure why she was gifted until toward the end of […]
A Summing Up: Choral Composition through Nine Decades with Kirke Mechem
The February 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “A Summing Up: Choral Composition through Nine Decades” by Kirke Mechem. Following is a portion from the article. _________________ After a lifetime of writing for chorus, how can I sum it up in a way that will interest conductors and composers of a later […]
Your 10 Question Choir Midterm Exam
How well are your students really doing at the midpoint of the school year? If you are curious, this blog post for you. I hope every high school and middle school choral director uses this exam as a way to benefit their singers and improve their choral program! Here is my blog post: Your 10 Question Choir Midterm […]
At a Crossroads in Higher Ed with Lynn Atkins
Are there core skills that MUST be acquired in order to teach music? Should there be? This week, I welcome Lynn Atkins to discuss the current challenges we face getting young teachers ready to teach music in an era when our current students and recent graduates had a pretty serious interruption in their education. In […]
Choral Ethics: Honor
“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.” Socrates I have known many honorable people in my life, both musicians and non-musicians. Some of these folks appeared to be honorable at first glance, but as I got to know them better, they were far from […]
The Conductor as Yogi: Thanks (in Advance)
The power of a genuine “Thank you” cannot be underestimated. Our busy lives don’t slow down for much, but when a gesture or word of thanks comes our way, we pause and take notice of where we are and who we are with. We smile, breathe more deeply and for a moment, think larger than […]
Choral Vibrato: The Hundred Years’ War
The February 2024 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Choral Vibrato: The Hundred Years’ War” by Andrew P. Schmidt. Following is a portion from the article. _________________ According to recent scholarship, singers may experience cardiac, respiratory, and even brain-rhythm synchronization while performing together. For the field of choral singing, synchronization sits at the […]