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For Singers: The Concert is WHEN?

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“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” – Robert H. Schuller

There are two answers to the question, “What’s happening tomorrow?” if it’s posed to a member of a chorus the night before a concert:

  1. “We have a concert tomorrow night, I can’t wait.”
  2. “We have a concert tomorrow night…what do I do? AUGH!!!”

There are some simple answers to that second one; let’s explore a bit.

The night before the concert

It’s just another evening, you know. Tomorrow things are going to get a little bit nuts, but not tonight. Make an effort to keep it that way, especially if this is your first big performance. Some things that will help smooth the bumps:

– Have a good, healthy evening meal. There are those who would say “pound those carbs” and there’s nothing wrong with that. They create a little energy reserve you can use later…but I find I end up feeling a little sluggish if I have a big bowl of pasta. Regardless of the main course, make a point of eating fresh fruit and veggies. A little extra fiber is a good thing for that soon-to-be-a-little-fluttery tummy. Don’t go for crazy spicy…it can remind you of itself tomorrow.

– Prep your clothes for the concert. I always iron my shirt and pants the night before and hang them to wait for me. It’s one less thing to have to mess with the next day. Have your music folder and whatever else you need all set up and ready to go so there’s nothing to stress about.

– Don’t have that second glass of wine (even though it really sounds delightful). Have some extra water instead, you’re going to want to be nice and hydrated tomorrow and an early start on that is a good strategy. Even though alcohol helps you to doze off quickly it actually has a negative effect on the overall quality of the rest you get (I could rattle on about REM sleep and all that stuff, but just take my word for it). I’m also a big fan of decaffeinated mint tea.

– Speaking of rest, get a good dose of it. Tomorrow’s concert is after a full day of whatever it is you normally do and will get started at just about the time you normally put your feet up and watch a little TV or some other not-so-strenuous activity. If you can, go to bed a little early. A sneaky little trick I’ve learned over the years (because I’m one of those guys who can easily end up staring at the ceiling thinking about the show the next day): take a nice hot bath or shower a little while before you go to bed. Works like a charm. Zzzzzz.

The night of the concert

– Don’t skip dinner! Don’t eat an entire side of beef, but feed the machine. The only thing worse than butterflies is butterflies on an empty stomach. Stomach acid is no fun when you’re trying to sing. Been there, urped that.

– Keep the water flowing; you need to be hydrated more than you normally would be. All of the evil things that leech water out of you are coming to visit: adrenaline, extra exertion at a normally restful time of day, sweating for a good long time – you get the picture. Water is your very best friend.

– Don’t be late. Have all your stuff ready, but also think your way through the timing of things to make sure you have all the minutes necessary. Being on time is not only respectful to the rest of the group, it also avoids the first little nibble of anxiety that can creep in because you’re rushing.

“Some people are making such thorough preparation for rainy days that they aren’t enjoying today’s sunshine.” – William Feather

– Have fun! You’re surrounded by people who have become your friends in a special and unique way. You make magic together and call it music. You’ve been working to get to this evening for a long time and you’ve earned your place and deserve to be here (even if you don’t really believe it). Everybody else is amped up too; have some laughs.

Most importantly, at least in your Blogmeister’s humble opinion, take a moment to stop. Find a quiet spot and just stop. Not for long, just long enough to gather yourself into yourself and think about the journey that brought you to concert night. Hard work, a little frustration, lots of laughter, moments of emotion, singing “Happy Birthday”, the conductor’s unique style, the accompanist being grumpy. Enjoy that little smile it’s sure to bring and, just before you dive back into the craziness, remind yourself that what you’re doing is important. The arts matter and you are part of why.

You’re ready. Go and sing. It’ll be awesome.

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.” – Plato

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Briggs Christie is a member and blogger for the Windward Choral Society in Kailua, O’ahu, HI. You can find the original post or more writings by Briggs here.

Andrea Ramsey on Her Newly Commissioned Work, “But a Flint Holds Fire” in Support of the Flint Water Crisis

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flint-rising

I was recently introduced to an article on the Michigan ACDA website (editor, Jed Scott). It was an interview with composer Andrea Ramsey about her recently commissioned work, “But a Flint Holds Fire.” The piece was composed for a Chorus America consortium project and is part of an effort to raise awareness and monetary support for the Flint Water Crisis.

Ramsey states that she lived in Michigan for three years while working on her PhD at Michigan State and that “[t]he Flint Water Crisis has weighed on my heart since it began. I remain stunned that over 100,000 people have been living since April 2014 without usable running water and that the government has yet to replace a single pipe for the mess they created.”

Through Internet research, she discovered a poem written by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894). Ramsey says, “I was slack-jawed when I read the poem. It is a beautiful poem from the 1800s with wildly haunting relevance to Flint being overlooked and underestimated, yet powerful. As beautiful as the poem is, it is a picture of brevity. I knew it was too short, and that is when I brainstormed an idea to elongate the work by reaching out to Flint residents and gathering their words to include in the piece.”

When asked if she has any specific hopes for how this piece might affect the listener, she replies: “I hope listeners respond with action. My greatest hope is that people will listen, be moved, and act. My greatest fear is that people will listen, be moved, and do nothing.”

Twenty-one choirs across the United States and Canada will be performing “But a Flint Holds Fire,” and there are also opportunities to hear it in Michigan in January 2017 at the Michigan Music Conference and on October 28, 2016, at the ACDA Michigan Fall Conference.

For those interested in learning more about the Flint Water Crisis and how you can help, go here.

To read the full interview article, go here.

Breaking into the professional choral scene, with James Bass

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James Bass of UCLA and Seraphic Fire joins Ryan today to speak about balancing out your education and conducting career with opportunities as a seasonal professional choral singer. We will dive into schedule, pay, sight-reading requirements, and so much more.

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September Choral Journal Preview

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sept cover

The latest issue of Choral Journal is available online! ACDA members can log in with their username and password to view and download the newest edition. You can also read our electronic version. Below is a preview of the articles you will find in this issue. If you are not already a member of ACDA, join today to start receiving your monthly Choral Journal!

Silvey Article

Coordinating Vocal Colors in Women’s Choruses by Philip Silvey

“When singers in women’s choruses combine their individual vocal colors, they create vibrant sonorities. As members of an equal voice ensemble, they must learn to coordinate these distinct colors to form an integrated whole, one that captures the expressive intent of a range of musical compositions… This article is intended primarily for the ensemble needs of high school and collegiate women’s choruses, with potential application to adult women’s choruses.”

Menhart Article

Literacy in the Choral Classroom: A Pedagogical Analysis Celebrating Contemporary Choral Compositions by Donna Menhart

“This pedagogical analysis of three choral works composed from 2013 to 2015 presents folk songs and musicianship solf-fa exercises using moveable-do major and la-based minor as the stepping stones to create connections between students’ past musical experiences, their present musical understanding, and their confident musical futures.”

A Guide to Improving Student-Led Section Rehearsals by Felicia Mulé, James Robison, and Ryan Kelly

“Many high school and college choirs hold section rehearsals that are directed by student leaders… Student leaders can employ a number of strategies to help them lead better and understand the needs of their sections. Likewise, teachers can take steps to guide their leaders with greater direction and oversight. This article’s goal is to offer both students and teachers strategies for improving their choirs’ sectionals so that they are more productive, musical, and unifying experiences for singers.”

Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing Part 3

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Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing? Part 3

to do's and not to do's ss

This is the third post in a five-part series from “In the Middle With Mr D” called “Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing?”

Link to Reason #1 of “Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing?”

Here is Reason #3

We don’t publicly celebrate and recognize the positive things our students are doing.

All it takes is a couple of seconds to acknowledge our singers.  They just want to be noticed, and when you do notice them, all of the children around them work harder so they, too, might be recognized.

1)   “I love your posture Charley.  Everyone turn to page 3, measure 24.”

2)  “Sara!  Your mouth position on that ‘ah’ vowel is nice and tall!  Everyone, pull out the next song on the repertoire list for today.”

3)  “Row three sopranos, you are creating overtones back there!  It’s stunning!  Everyone go back to measure 12 and sing it staccato to correct the rhythm.”

It’s not about playing favorites.  It’s about quick, positive acknowledgement that lets the kids know that you notice how hard they are working.

The minute I make comments like these to my students, the children I acknowledge feel great, and they kids around them start working on the item I’ve just acknowledged in their peer.

It must be quick and clear.  We must make sure every student hears it.  We must keep the lesson moving.

Fewer words = More effective results.

That rule applies whether we are praising or correcting our middle school students.  Nothing sucks the life force out of a middle school classroom and makes our students want to sing LESS than a long “lecture” and/or negative feedback on what the children should be doing.

“2nd period was able to master this content in 10 minutes.  Why is it taking you 20 minutes?”

The students don’t care that it’s taking them longer than the previous class.   If it’s taking longer, it’s our fault.  It could mean that we haven’t realized how to reach this specific group of children as well.   It is also highly possible that one particular group isn’t as capable as the other.   That’s ok too.    Whatever the reason is that these children are learning at a slower pace, it doesn’t make a middle school beginner want to sing if we are comparing them negatively to another group or criticizing them in some other way.

It’s our job to take each group of our singers as far as they can go, and to keep the journey as positive as we can.

When we praise what our choir students are doing well, the energy snowballs.

Singing comes from deep inside the souls.  We’ve got to do everything we can to keep our little middle school beginner’s spirits filled with light.

Click here to see a fun video called “To Do’s and NOT to Do’s of Chorus”.

All of the philosophies that have worked for me are reflected in the program I created called S-Cubed: Successful Sight Singing for Middle School Teachers and Their Students.

Click here to see what teachers are saying about S-Cubed.

Click here to see a video description of S-Cubed!

Next Saturday, I’ll post Reason #4 right here!

Why Won’t My Middle School Choir Sing? Part 2

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This is a five-part series designed to help other middle school choir teachers determine why their middle school beginning singers are unmotivated to sing in their classrooms. Click here to go to blog post #1 in which I state the first reason I believe causes students not to sing in our classrooms.

Reason #2:

They don’t like the music you’ve chosen.

With middle school children, we cannot be musical snobs.

Wow.  That is a bit harsh…

Hope you didn’t spit your coffee out!  🙂

However, based on all of my years of experience teaching this age group in the inner city public school setting, this has been my experience.

“This song is boring.”

“I don’t like this song.”

“Why do we have to sing this stuff?”

So, what can we do to improve our music choices for our middle school beginners while still helping them to learn something new?

We have to vary our music styles.

One of the first questions that teachers ask when I share my thoughts on varying our repertoire choices is, “Does this mean I have to teach Pop music?!”

The answer is unequivocally no…unless teaching that style of music really cranks your tractor!  🙂

Middle school students respond to our passion.  So, if we are passionate about teaching pop music, then that should be some part of what we teach in our classrooms during the school year.

Just recently, I interviewed an incredible middle school educator for my blog because I saw a video of her work with middle school children, and I was truly blown away by it.  The children were so engaged and uninhibited.  It was fantastic to see.  Andrea Squires, the teacher from Arizona who leads the students in the video, happened to be doing a pop song, but in my interview, I learned that only represents a tiny fraction of what she does with the children during the school year.  …But it works for her, and it works for the students.  Even in this blurry picture below, you can see it in their eyes and in the positions of their bodies!  These children are loving what they are doing!

Screen Shot 2016-06-24 at 10.17.18 AM

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I don’t enjoy teaching most pop music.  Instead, one of my passions is teaching Broadway songs to the students.  They sense my passion.  The Broadway revues that we do at the end of the year are a huge highlight of our time together, and those events are the engine that runs my choral program even though we only work on it during 4th nine weeks.   I really believe they respond so well to it because they sense my passion about it.

Teaching rap music probably wouldn’t work so well for me, but it may work really well for someone else!

I believe that we must “throw our students a bone” during every term and sing at least one song that truly excites them.  It certainly should be something you enjoy teaching as well.

Most of us are classically trained, and when I speak to teachers who are struggling as they try to motivate this age group, I notice that some of my peers have a sort of “high brow” approach to teaching music.  “That’s hokey” they say when we mention a song that uses flashlight choreography or a fog machine or some other gimmick that the middle school singers, in my experience, truly enjoy.   One of the most successful songs I perform with students is one that I introduce very early in the school year as part of my “hook” to help get them invested in the program at my school.  It’s a Halloween song written by Teresa Jennings of Music K-8 magazine .  I share with my students that it will be sung in the dark and that we will use fog machines and strobe lights.  As they listen to the piece, they get so excited!  The energy in the room is palpable.

With this age group, we’ve got to re-think some of the hard-core classical approaches to which we get so married during our university training.  Should we ever teach madrigals to middle school beginners?  Absolutely…but, once again, it shouldn’t be all we teach.

As we often tell our students when we introduce a foreign language piece, you must remain open!  We must practice what we preach!  …Especially if we want to attract a variety of students into our programs.

I’ve spent my 24-year career in public schools in three states.   I have learned so much from all of the students who came from a variety of ethnic, economic and cultural backgrounds about what they want in their choral experience.  They will sing just about anything you want them to sing if you have the correct balance in your repertoire of “fun” music and more serious music.  The balance is crucial to the success of building a choral program at the middle school level.

When I choose music, I keep three things in mind to help keep the proper balance of motivating my students while I teach the all-important components of good choral singing.

1)  Choose one “fun” novelty piece per term.

2)  I want to teach at least one lyrical piece and at least one upbeat, rhythmic piece.

3)  You…the teacher…must absolutely love every song you are teaching.  If you don’t love it, they will sense it.

Sometimes, I swear they are psychic!  If you choose songs you don’t like or songs you think you must choose for some reason outside of yourself, you will be miserable, and so will they!

If you stick to these three principles, not only will they sing for you in class daily, but your program will begin to grow in ways you may not have imagined.

Next Saturday, I’ll be posting Reason #3 right here on ChoralNet!

Dale Duncan

Creator of the S-Cubed Middle School Sight Singing Program for Beginners

Reviews from S-Cubed teachers!

About Mr D

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