2013 National In-Service Conference: Kids, Choir and Drums · How Choral Music Loses Boys in the "Middle" Patrick K. Freer Embedding Assessment in Choral Teaching Kathleen Keenan‐Tagaki

Kids, Choir and Drums

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2013 National In-Service Conference:

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2006 92: 50Music Educators JournalRobert Barefield

Self-Analysis Skills for the Developing Singer

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Self-Analysis Skills for the

Developing Singer By R o b e r t B a r e f i e ld

lSe.-analysis is a basic component of artistic development. The painter analyzes brushstrokes and ceB" c!E:Oces to express a unique style. The dancer works for hours in front of the mirror to proper-

| lya-_ig a ie body and develop graceful movements. For the singer, self-analysis is equally important, but the''seps for improvement may be less visible. As Richard Alderson has noted, a singer "hears his

:oice fi t the inside through the bony structure of the head rather than outside through the eardrum. We as singers are doomed to a life of hearing only a muffled distortion of our voices as we sing."' In addition, singers do not have direct control over certain aspects of the phonation process. For exam-

ple, despite the oft-repeated advice to "sing from the diaphragm," a singer cannot actually feel or con- sciously manipulate the actions of this important muscle. Singers can, however, control their breath

by practicing techniques that focus on posture and the muscle groups associated with the workings of the diaphragm. Just like a painter uses self-analysis to manipulate the brushstrokes that define the

larger canvas, the developing singer learns to make subtle physical adjustments that significantly affect the quality of the voice.

Teachers who work with singers, whether one-on-one or in group settings such as voice class or chorus, must provide

advice that will help students achieve the desired results. But all voices are different, and standardized instruction, in which similar advice is given to multiple singers, often

on-on situo c "results in less-than-optimal vocal production. Directives

Ithese tecniqs sesuch as "brighten the vowel" or "bring more depth into the tone" may have an initial positive impact on vocal sound. However, these statements are subjective and thus limited because singers perceive their own voices in

ways that may not be an accurate representation of how they actually sound. For example, when singing an "ah"

vowel one student may experience a sensation of roundness in the throat, while another may be more aware of a buzzing sensa-

tion in the front of the face. A student's success is determined, at least in part, by the teacher's ability to bridge the gap between perception and reality. For those who work with groups, it may be challenging to avoid standardized instruction because there are fewer opportunities for individualized attention. Nevertheless, many of the techniques that a teacher uses to foster self-awareness in a one- on-one situation can be adapted to a group setting. (For more information on these techniques, see the items listed in the Suggested Reading sidebar.)

If a teacher can guide students to a more complete awareness of the unique characteristics of their singing, the result will be greater independence and the ability to use practice time more effectively. Studio or choral-group teachers can enhance students' self-awareness by helping them improve their critical ears and by encouraging them to recognize visual and tactile cues as benchmarks of consistent vocal production. Students will grow as performers and artists when they become more conscious of how they manage their voices.

Listening: The Key to a Healthy Tonal Image Learning to sing can be a mysterious and frustrating experience. When

developing singers rely on instinct, they may make choices that impede rather than enhance the singing process. Aural models can help students learn to evaluate their own singing. By carefully listening to the singing of others, whether live or on recordings, students can become more aware of the great variety of color and timbre char-

MUSIC ED )UCATORS JOURNAL JANUARY 2006



acteristics associated with different voices as well as the range of technical skills that define good singing. Thought-provoking questions such as, What do you hear that you particularly like? can lead students to more focused listening. Directing attention to specific techniques, such as how

legato is used or the clarity of vowel sounds, will help students listen more critically and identify components of good singing. If students feel comfortable asking questions, they will often provide the cues a teacher needs to offer effective feedback.

A teacher's willingness to share personal experiences and

perceptions can also enhance learning. For example, spending time with students listening to and analyzing the recordings of a favorite singer will often result in a

degree of shared passion for the singer's art. Listening to recordings as a class and analyzing the singing of others in the class or chorus can help students

beginning to identify healthy singing characteristics, such as focused tone quality versus that which is breathy or unsteady. By comparing a specific vowel sound produced by different -singers, students begin to identify the characteristics of a well- defined tone and to describe what they hear. Discussion about the particular technical strengths and appealing characteristics of an individual voice or group of voices will enhance the critical-listening abilities of everyone involved.

By developing critical-listening skills, singers are

laying the foundation for a more balanced awareness of their singing. For example, when students can recognize a vibrant and energized tone quality in another voice, they are establishing a benchmark tonal characteristic to strive for in their own

singing. While it is true that singers cannot hear

A mirror can help singers recognize how their physical actions affect their sound.

WWW. MEN C.O RG



* Alderson, Richard. Complete Handbook of Voice Training. West Nyack, NY: Parker Publishing Company, 1979.

* Brown, Oren. Discover Your Voice: How to Develop Healthy Voice Habits. San Diego: Singular Publishing Group, 1996.

* Brown, W. E. Vocal Wisdom: Maxims of Giovanni Battista Lamperti. Boston: Crescendo Press, 1931.

* Emmons, Shirley, and Alma Thomas. Power Performance for Singers. NewYork: Oxford University Press, 1998.

* Gelb, Michael. Body Learning: An Introduction to Alexander Technique. New York: Owl Books, 1996.

* Hemsley, Thomas. Singing and Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

* Miller, Richard. On the Art of Singing. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

themselves as others do, they can, with practice, begin to discern the sounds and sensations associated with efficient vocalism. In Singing and Imagination, Thomas Hemsley describes this paradox:

One of the difficult things for any singer to learn, and one of the most important, is to be able to mentally hear the tones that they wish to sing before they are released into actual sound. Their ears must be acutely tuned to their singing; they must learn to be able to hear, but not to listen to their own voice ... As Lamperti said: "Mentally anticipating internal sensations of word, tone, and timbre, as well as interior activities that produce them, leads to the control of the voice."2

Beginning singers sometimes develop an affinity for a sound that, while impressive inside their own heads, is in reality clumsy and harsh. In describing their perceptions of their own singing, students may provide clues to the source of negative tonal imagery. This may lead to a technical breakthrough. For example, a student might sing a high note

52

with a degree of freedom and resonance that is new and exciting but, when asked how it feels, he or she may complain that the new sound is unsatisfying, perhaps "too lightweight" or "not exciting enough." At these points, students often need to be reminded that to be successful, they must be willing to release certain preconceptions of the way their voice should sound. If relationships between the teacher and students are grounded in mutual respect and

trust, developing singers will come to rely on the expertise of the teacher and learn to correct habits and instincts that interfere with effective singing.

Repetition and Experimentation

Learning to sing inevitably involves repetition. Just as an athlete practices physical movements over

and over to improve performance, so must a singer repeat and analyze individual sounds and phrases. In Power Performancefor Singers, Shirlee Emmons and Alma Thomas discuss repetition and how it can positively affect the learning process:

When you practice your vocal skills, you are training more than your muscles. The repetition of your vocal skills sends a constant stream of signals via the nervous system to your brain ... All your training and repetition allows you to "parcel" the information appropriately so that the nervous system and body can take over.3

For repetition to be effective, it must be linked to a healthy curiosity and a willingness to experiment. Not

every attempt to sing a phrase will be successful, but the opportunity for

learning exists even when a sound is not particularly beautiful. By identifying the differences between a well-

sung phrase and one that is less than perfect in terms of both physical response and sensation, teacher and students gain an appreciation of the

way the voice works. In a group, repetition can be particularly effective if students who are not singing are

encouraged to listen for improve- ments among those who are. For

example, if members of the tenor section are asked to comment on what

changes during successive renditions of a given passage by the soprano section, the singers become more aware and involved in the work of their col-

leagues. This type of group work can lead to a more unified sound as well as a deeper appreciation of the work of others.

The use of repetition as a teaching tool can be frustrating if time is not taken to adequately articulate the

MUSIC EDUCATORS JOURNAL

,Learning to sing inevitably involves repetition.

JANUARY 2006

rr



reasons for repeating an individual note or phrase. For example, a tight "ee" vowel may result, in part, from a retracted position of the tongue. Encouraging students to repeat the sung vowel with attention to the relationship between tongue position and vowel sound (perhaps aided by the use of a mirror) will lead to a greater awareness of the links between the body and the sung tone. Through directed repetition, whether in individual lessons or group settings, students learn to identify the sources of vocal problems and make appropriate adjustments.

Experimentation that is not clearly focused can lead to confusion and vocal fatigue. Teachers should establish the parameters within which a student may successfully experiment by discussing issues such as the appropriate amount of practice time and symptoms of poor vocal health (such as hoarseness). Lesson or rehearsal time can be effectively spent identifying sections that need work and showing students how to incorporate self-analysis when they practice on their own. In addition, if students are actively involved in establishing goals and diagnosing problems, they will take greater ownership of the learning process and begin to appreciate and even enjoy the process of healthy repetition.

Visual Cues and Using a Mirror

A mirror can serve as a powerful tool in support of vocal health and development. The work of Frederick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955), founder of the Alexander Technique, exemplifies the importance of the mirror as a component of the learning process for anyone who seeks to train the voice, whether in speech or song.4 Alexander used the mirror to develop his theories of systematic body awareness. In an effort to relieve chronic voice problems, the Australian actor carefully observed his movements in front of a mirror as he recited dramatic passages. He noticed unconscious habitual physical movements that occurred when he spoke, and he determined that such tension-based behavior imped- ed the efficiency of his vocal produc-

tion. Alexander's work serves as an important example for singers who may develop similar habits.

Using the mirror effectively requires considerable practice. Students will need to recognize physical responses and behaviors that have a negative impact on their singing. The teacher must be patient in teaching students to use the mirror productively. Some students may recoil from the sugges-

tion that they study themselves in the mirror while singing. Other students find it difficult to focus on their reflection without being distracted by issues of personal appearance. Such reluctance may be related to self- esteem issues, and teachers must be cautious while continuing to encourage students to "make friends" with the mirror.

Most students require coaching to achieve the level of concentration that will allow them to use the mirror effectively. Singers must learn what to look for and how to interpret what they see. Through guided repetition, the teacher should encourage students to focus on the specific areas of the body that affect singing. Even minor tensions in the knees, shoulders, chest, neck, or jaw can translate into inefficient singing. For example, a student might develop the habit of unconsciously jerking the head when singing high notes. When confronted with this issue, the singer may be

completely unaware of the problem and even deny its existence. By using a mirror, the singer can first acknowledge and then remedy problems related to physical tensions that inhibit good singing.

Awareness of visual cues can be fostered in a group setting just as in the studio. If large mirrors are available in a classroom or rehearsal space, singers will benefit significantly from observing posture and use of the articulators (lips, teeth, tongue,

and jaw). Students can also observe their fellow singers, paying close attention to the shape of the articulators associated with particular vowels and pitches. In addition to developing visual self-awareness skills, students can learn to use their sense of touch. An activity such as massaging the jaw hinge (just in front of the ears) can help students release tension and become aware of how the

jaw is prone to tightness that inter- feres with good singing. Students might also be instructed to place their hands on their lower ribs to

encourage the comfortable extension

through this part of the body that enhances breath management and enables buoyant, flowing singing. By linking both visual and tactile cues while practicing, students discover the connections between physical response and efficient vocalism.

Self-Analysis and Expression Efforts to encourage self-analysis

in a developing singer may extend

beyond technique to encompass musical expression. Again, open discussion between teacher and students is a powerful tool in establish-

ing mutual goals. Sharing emotional and psychological responses to music engenders a degree of trust that can serve as a basic component of a successful studio or classroom

relationship. Meaningful artistic communication in performance may require a singer to be emotionally vulnerable. Some students may not be at ease talking about thoughts and

feelings that the music inspires. Teachers should encourage this type of exploration by sharing their own emotional connections to music and describing techniques they use to

convey their inner feelings as they sing.

An activity as simple as speaking the lyrics of a song aloud can lead stu-

WWW. MEN C. ORG

OpTen discussion between teacher and students is a powerful tooltin

establishing mutual goals s..

53



dents to deeper expression and self- awareness. Students and teacher may participate in this process together and consider how changing inflections affects expressive intensity as well as subtle nuances of meaning and intent. As with other aspects of the learning process, teachers can offer much through example as students observe them as performers and com- mentators on the art of singing. In a

group, students may react to both the teacher's perspective and those of fellow singers.

While it may initially be difficult for students to overcome their inhibi- tions in seeking a wider range of

expressive skills, such reluctance can be overcome with thoughtful and

patient guidance by the teacher. As students analyze and gain insight into their unique responses to the music

being studied, they will often achieve a more sophisticated and effective ability to communicate expressively.

Toward Greater Self- Awareness

Just as the art of living involves searching for a deeper knowledge of oneself, so does the process of learning to sing. The more intimately connected singers become to their

unique responses, both physical and emotional, the more consistent and reliable they will be as performers. Developing effective self-analysis skills requires patience on the part of both teacher and student, but the rewards are many and long lasting. By fostering self-awareness among students, teachers help them establish independence and reliability and guide them along the road that will eventually lead them to finding their own unique voices.

Notes 1. Richard Alderson, Complete

Handbook of Voice Training (West Nyack, NY: Parker Publishing, 1979), 16.

2. Thomas Hemsley, Singing and

Imagination (New York: Oxford

University Press, 1998), 92. 3. Shirlee Emmons and Alma Thomas,

Power Performancefor Singers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 67.

4. Michael Gelb, Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique (New York: Owl Books, 1996), 11. N

o rn z z

3W o MENC Resources 2ON3W

The following books and articles from MENC offer more information on

helping choir students improve their singing skills. To order books or back issues of MENC journals, call 800-828-0229. Articles from past journals are also available in periodical databases at many libraries.

* Broomhead, Paul. "Shaping Expressive Performance: A Problem-Solving Approach." Music Educators Journal 91, no. 5 (2005): 63-67.

* Lamb, Christina. "Ten Steps to a More Productive Choral Rehearsal."

Teaching Music 12, no. 5 (2005): 46-49.

* Skoog, William. "Use of Image and Metaphor in Developing Vocal

Technique in Choirs." Music Educators Journal 90, no. 5 (2004): 43-48.

* Spotlight on Teaching Chorus. A collection of articles from MENC state

journals. Reston,VA: MENC, 2003. Item #1694 ($18.00, MENC mem-

bers; $24.00, nonmembers).

* Zielinski, Richard. "The Performance Pyramid: Building Blocks for a Successful Choral Performance." Music Educators Journal 92, no. I

(2005): 44-49.

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DOI: 10.1177/0027432108330209

2009 95: 57Music Educators JournalPatirck K. Freer

Choral Warm-Ups for Changing Adolescent Voices

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Using research-supported techniques for warming up adolescent choral groups can enhance students’ vocal skills, their musicality, and their confidence.

Copyright © 2009 MENC: The National Association for Music Education DOI: 10.1177/0027432108330209http://mej.sagepub.com

Choral Warm-Ups for Changing Adolescent Voices

by Patrick K. Freer

Patrick K. Freer is an assistant professor of music education at Georgia State University, Atlanta. He can be contacted at [email protected].

ow did you start your last choral rehearsal? Did you begin with the same warm-up procedures you used the day before (and the day before

that)? Did you carefully choose the pitches of the vocalises so that each student could be suc-cessful, regardless of his or her current stage of vocal development? Did you design vocalises that addressed specific vocal issues found in the repertoire to be rehearsed that day?

During two decades of observing and lead-ing middle school choral rehearsals, I’ve dis-covered that teachers frequently repeat exactly the warm-ups they present to their young ado-lescent choirs at every rehearsal. If we know one thing about middle school students, we know that they are constantly changing—phys-ically, intellectually, and emotionally. Why is it that our warm-ups usually don’t reflect these changes?

Think about this: if we start our warm-ups with a unison, descending, five-note, stepwise vocalise (sol, fa, mi, re, do) and then ascend sequentially by half steps for multiple repeti-tions, whom have we left out? Everyone who can’t sing that pattern on those specific notes. We might say, “Well, that kid can’t match pitch, or he or she can’t do X, Y, or Z.” What if we were wrong? What if we simply hadn’t selected an instructional task that was achiev-able by everyone in the ensemble? Over time, the effects on the musical self-confidence of those “marginalized singers” would be devas-tating, and there would be deleterious effects

on the ensemble’s performance. We would have failed to take advantage of what these young singers could do, instead focusing on what they physically couldn’t do.

Consider how young children learn to speak: they begin by babbling combinations of vowels and consonants and gradually refine and combine them to form words. We encour-age young children to experiment with vocal sounds on the path toward speech, and we need to similarly encourage young adolescents to explore their new vocal capabilities made possible by the maturation process.

The vocal warm-up processes used in choirs with changing adolescent voices must, in some ways, be different from the warm-up processes used in choirs of either early ele-mentary children or older high school students. This article is an exploration of principles that need to underlie the development of warm-ups that meet the needs of changing voices, encourage even the most reluctant singer, and build toward ever-greater levels of choral suc-cess. In a Music Supervisors’ Journal article printed more than 80 years ago, well-regarded pedagogue Charles Farnsworth wrote about the development of vocal technique:

The question is not whether we shall do or not such technical things, but whether if in doing them we constantly keep in mind the ultimate purposes they are to serve, and not let them become ends in themselves; not just breathing exercises to see how long we

H



Music Educators Journal March 200958

can keep our lungs filled, and how long it takes to empty them; not dull vocal exercises, harping on the vowel “oo,” and hoping that by some hokus-pokus [sic] its intractable vowel sisters will be rightly produced; not exercises that often induce the very thing we don’t want. . . . If my experience is right, where we fail most is not in that we seek to give separate technical drills, but in that we do not unite the drills with their purpose—beautiful expression. We give the pupils the technical drill, but leave the most difficult part of the problem—its practical application—almost unpracticed.1

If we want our students to sing with efficiency and ease, we must teach them how to achieve those results. Young ado-lescents come to our classrooms with a variety of vocal habits, some that are help-ful and some that are less so. Still others enter our rehearsals lacking the confidence to sing or believing that they cannot sing at all. The choral warm-up process is one of the greatest tools that teachers can pos-sess for leading young adolescents toward singing that is healthful, age appropriate, and musically satisfying.

Adolescent Changing Voices

Choral teachers in middle schools are champions of the “music for every child and every child for music” mantra that has guided music education for the past century. Middle school teachers find their choral classes filled with students who represent various stages of vocal change, are experiencing rapid physical and cognitive changes, and, to be honest, are sometimes enrolled in choral classes to fulfill an academic requirement rather than by choice. Still, our goal is to accom-modate all of their voices within the cho-ral experience so that each student can participate, learn, and experience musical growth. During the middle school years, both boys and girls will experience a gradual process of voice change, with the male pitch range getting lower and the female vocal timbre becoming fuller and richer. Along the way, boys may experi-

ence sudden transitions between stages of vocal development, while girls may find their voices breathy from time to time. Those who teach young adolescent singers need to be familiar with research-based resources about the adolescent voice so that they can incorporate this information in their instruction.2

One of the most important pedagogi-cal implications for teachers of middle school choirs concerns the composite unison range of a choir—the pitches that all singers can sing in unison (as opposed to the unique range of each individual singer). The composite unison range of an adolescent vocal ensemble will be about a sixth, roughly from a G up to an E, with students singing in different octaves as appropriate. So, the extended vocalises we learned in college won’t work for these ensembles, especially with multiple repetitions each a half step higher than the one before. Three potential solutions to this dilemma are presented in this article:

• Develop vocalises that are not pitch specific,

• Derive vocalise material directly from the repertoire being prepared, and

• Construct improvisatory activities that teach vocal skills yet leave pitch choice to the students.

Our knowledge of how adolescents learn provides a foundation for the plan-ning of warm-ups for middle schoolers. For instance, we need to invite students to sing rather than demand that they sing. Vocalises need to be pitched so that they can be sung by students. In some cases, for students who are inexperienced sing-ers or who are having difficulty with pho-nation, vocalizes that lead toward pitch matching, rather than those beginning on predetermined pitches, will be needed. In all of these, students need to have some autonomy over the learning process; to have opportunities to process informa-tion through brief, purposeful conversa-tion with their friends; and to feel that their contributions are the focus of the warm-up process rather than just “going through the motions.”3

Successful choral warm-up sessions for young adolescents have several key

Jazz Circles

Introduce the activity by singing a melodic ostinato pattern within the G to E range. Ask students to suggest variations that they could perform; perhaps assist them by pro-viding specific scat syllables or rhythm patterns. Ask for and then practice several more variations. Choose a small group of students to maintain the ostinato pattern while others experiment with variations. Have students determine how to begin and end the “piece.”

Next, divide the class into several groups that will work together in different locations around the room for approximately five minutes. Each group will have the tasks of

• creating a vocal improvisation over the specified ostinato;• maintaining the ostinato part with at least one group member;• involving all group members in a vocal, improvised performance; and• planning and performing a beginning and an ending.

Have the groups perform for each other and follow with focused questions, such as the following:

• Which group changed the key?• Which groups had a coda?• Which group used ABA form?

Depending on your instructions to the students, this activity can be either simple or complex. I’ve had success using 12-bar blues form, but the range of the ostinato (the tradi-tional bass line) is often not possible for young adolescents. In that case, I’ve often played the 12-bar blues chords (key of B-flat) on the piano, while students improvised around my accompaniment. I’ve even used this as a piece on a concert program. I explain the process to the audience, they watch the students perform the improvisation, and then, I ask the audience to join in!



www.menc.org 59

components that reflect these founda-tions. The first component is a logical sequence that remains constant from day to day. Adolescents need to know that their teachers have structured their learn-ing experiences, but the students also want to have some freedom within that structure. The second component, there-fore, is the allowance for some student choice and experimentation with the tasks of the warm-up session. For exam-ple, students might begin on the pitch of their choice, be invited to choose vowel and consonant combinations, or be asked to contribute a sports-related or current-events-related image that will be incorpo-rated into the session.

The third key component of a suc-cessful warm-up session is the pedagogi-cal relationship between the session and the repertoire to be rehearsed that day. Whenever possible, the warm-up session should be designed to address musical issues that will arise later in the rehearsal, including specific melodic intervals and vowel–consonant combinations found in the repertoire. Students can be asked to identify those items within the rehearsal, which emphasizes that everyone can learn the skills and knowledge required for choral singing.

Finally, choral warm-up sessions for young adolescents should involve a variety of activities and groupings within the class-room space. One strategy might be to have “warm-up stations” to which students are assigned. These could be spaced through-out the room with a set of instructions at each station describing what the opening activity might be. For example, the open-ing activity might be “Jazz Circles” (see sidebar). As students enter the classroom, they proceed directly to their stations and begin the designated warm-up activity. This allows the teacher to discreetly take attendance, provides a gentle transition from the busy hallway to the rehearsal setting, and gives students the chance to interact in a learning-focused activity.

Optimal Warm-Up Sessions

Choral teachers can think of the opening moments of rehearsals as opportunities for group voice building. Group voice build-ing, also called group vocal technique, was strongly advocated by the late Frauke Haasemann, a contralto and voice teacher who developed hundreds of strategies for enhancing the choral skills of amateur singers within large ensembles.4 Many

of the ideas in this article are consistent with her work. Group voice building is a philosophical approach that guides the enhancement of choristers’ vocal skills in an ensemble setting; it provides a ratio-nale for the pedagogical sequence of the specific warm-up. The development of vocal skills is a long-term process encom-passing many warm-up sessions, with each session containing multiple activities and vocalises.

A warm-up is a sequence of activities focused on the coordination of vocal skills in preparation for the requirements of a specific rehearsal. Large-ensemble warm-ups can present a challenge for teachers because any given group of young ado-lescents will contain multiple vocal ranges and tessituras corresponding to different stages of vocal development. The compos-ite unison range of the choir (roughly G to E in octaves) represents only those pitches every student will be able to sing, but very few students will be adequately warmed up if the session is confined to these few pitches. Conversely, forcing all students to sing in unison beyond this limited range will cause discomfort and frustration in some, if not all, of the students.

For these reasons, I advocate the development of nonpitched or non-pitch-specific vocalization exercises. Several examples are described below, but it’s best when the exercises are drawn from the daily experiences of the choir, cou-pled with your own creativity. You will want to monitor the contributions of your students to these exercises, adjusting the suggested pitch level and vowel–conso-nant combinations to most accurately meet the students’ needs. You might, for instance, provide instruction about how to sing high pitches but not specify the exact pitches to be sung in the exercises. Instead, ask students to sing “any high, comfortable pitch of your choosing using the techniques we’ve just learned.” I know of many teachers who model activi-ties such as these at the beginning of the year and then gradually allow students to “compose” their own versions. The main goal of this approach is to draw the students into the choral experience by helping them achieve success from the very first moments of the rehearsal.

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There are five stages of a sequential warm-up session; these are as follows:

1. Relaxation: Students need to be welcomed into the choral rehearsal and begin the process of focusing their bodies and minds on the tasks of the rehearsal. To build a sense of shared purpose while incorporating young adolescents’ need for physi-cal activity, teachers can lead students through series of physical motions as suggested by current events, sports activities (tossing a football, ice skat-ing, weight lifting), or the weather (shoveling snow, raking leaves, walk-ing to school in the rain). Carefully plan the relaxation activities so that they progress from boisterous to calm and from using large movements to using small movements that lead stu-dents directly into a healthful physical alignment for singing.

2. Alignment: Although many choral teachers refer to physical alignment as simply “posture,” it is important to realize that individual students vary in the postures that are optimal for singing. Teachers should focus on the most favorable alignment of the skeletal structure for singing rather than rely on a list of rules and restric-tions about how to sit or stand for rehearsal.5

3. Breathing: It is especially important for young adolescents to be aware that exhalation precedes inhalation. Draw-ing attention to inhalation without first allowing for exhalation results in a buildup of residual air in the lungs, which often invites an unwanted ele-vation of the chest. Intentional exha-lation before inhalation also relieves unnecessary air pressure on the under-side of the vocal folds.

4. Phonation: Exercises need to begin as non-pitch-specific (such as the impro-visatory exercises described below) and move toward exercises that are pitch specific, perhaps excerpted from the repertoire. Have students think the pitch as they inhale and then allow the sound to “melt” into the breath stream during exhalation. One technique that

works well for this is to hum and chew at the same time while sliding from high to low in pitch. When transition-ing to vowel sounds, students should first descend on “ooh” from high to low. This idea should also guide the first sung exercises—they should start at a comfortable middle pitch and then descend with each repetition. Using descending repetitions is contrary to traditional practice, but remember that this is part of a multistep process that should gradually warm up the vocal mechanism. The goal of the phonation stage is to enable an efficient coordi-nation of the vocal musculature so that students can sing healthfully through the vocalises and repertoire to follow.

5. Vocalization and Sung Exercises: A vocalise is a complete, miniature musical composition with an implied V–I cadence. The singing of vocalises should gradually involve higher and higher pitches, should lead to louder and louder volumes, should incorpo-rate faster and faster laryngeal move-ments (faster changes of pitches and wider intervals), and should conclude with the singing of the lowest four or five producible pitches.6 Given the limited unison range of most middle school choirs, choral teachers may need to incorporate a greater num-ber of improvisational vocal activities where the pitches are not predeter-mined but where the teacher’s choice of instructions and pedagogical sequence still results in a full warm-up before repertoire is rehearsed.

Middle school choral teachers should consider the warm-up sequence as one of their greatest teaching opportunities. If the warm-up sequence is carefully con-structed with the goals of the rehearsal in mind, teachers and students will be able to refer back to the warm-ups for remind-ers about how to negotiate a difficult vocal passage or sing a melodically challenging phrase. Choral teachers can also place vocalises and physical warm-up activities throughout the rehearsal when they’ll be most effective at preparing for a particular challenge rather than doing them only at the very beginning of the rehearsal.7

Improvisation as Vocalization

When a typical middle schooler is asked to define improvisation, he or she will probably respond with something like, “to make music up as you go.” But that’s only partially true. Improvisation occurs within a context—a harmonic context that also has some kind of organizational element, often duration. One way to cre-ate non-pitch-specific vocal activities is to consider the element of improvisation. Why? For the simple reason that students are highly unlikely to vocally improvise on pitches they cannot sing. Our job as choral teachers, then, is to provide the harmonic and durational context wherein students can feel comfortable improvis-ing on pitches that are easily accessible to them.

For non-pitch-specific warm-up exer-cises, it is simplest to begin with activi-ties similar to those used when very young children are “finding” their sing-ing voice. These might initially take the form of speech, by experimenting with the elongation of vowels and improvis-ing with different pitches for individual syllables of words. A straightforward way to begin the process of vocal exploration is to ask students to choose their favorite food, sports team, or color. Then, while gently tossing a beach ball to different students, have students speak their words as the ball comes to them. Gradual modi-fication of the instructions could lead stu-dents to elongate the vowels; to use high, medium, or low pitches; or to explore dif-ferent dynamics. It will help if students identify the words they will use before the activity begins so that they don’t “freeze” when their turn comes. Students can also note the word’s vowels and consonants ahead of time so they can plan what vow-els will be sustained during their sung improvisation. A variation is to sing the pitches G–B–D (do, mi, sol) in octaves as necessary, with different beach balls signifying the different pitches. Students sing the corresponding pitch when they are passed the appropriate ball and sus-tain that pitch until a new ball comes their way. Variations are virtually limitless, and they should be guided by your assess-ment of what students need to experience



www.menc.org 61

vocally during the warm-up activity (see Introductory Vocal Improvisation Exer-cises for Changing Voices sidebar).

Students often need reminders or jump starts about what kinds of choices they can make when improvising. It is much more inviting for students to hear “sing any combination of do, mi, and sol” than “sing whatever pitches you want.” When expanding musical options for students, teachers might consider mak-ing posters for their classroom walls with reminders such as “rhythm, conso-nants, vowels, high/low, and long/short.” I also use graphic notation to help stu-dents decide what they can do, an idea triggered by reading Michael Colgrass’s MEJ article about how he uses graphics

when working with middle school band students.8 I post four or five graphics on the wall, discuss them with students, vocally model a corresponding response, and then let students improvise using the graphics as guides.

The harmonic and durational con-text of improvisation needs to be shared with students so that they know what choices they can make during their vocal explorations. I have found that it helps to introduce the concept of improvisa-tional structure with a demonstration of how individual parts need to interact. I begin by having a group of four or five students create a “silent sculpture” with their bodies, with no pieces of the sculp-ture connecting (students may not touch

one another). Then, from that silent sculpture, they create a “silent machine” by adding some repetitive motion. A “sound machine” results when students add a vocalization of their own choosing. The teacher can finally provide an osti-nato over which students can improvise brief musical phrases to create a “music machine.” After several experiences with this process, students will be ready to create Jazz Circles (see sidebar) where individually improvised phrases interact within a specific harmonic and durational context.

Since vocal improvisation is most clearly identified with jazz, encouraging student vocal exploration can involve instruction in scat singing. Students need structured

Introductory Vocal Improvisation Exercises for Changing Voices

Echo Chains: Singing within a Harmonic and Durational Context

Begin by positioning the class into at least four rows and then sing a one-measure unit of solfège to the first row (G to E range—the com-posite unison range of middle school choirs). The first row turns and sings it to the next row and immediately turns back for a new, overlapping measure of solfège. To end, simply stop supplying new melodies, and the echo will eventually end with the back row. For a variation, incorporate both repetition (literal echo) and variation (improvised response). (This is a variation of an activity developed by Kristen Hansen of Columbus State University, Columbus, Georgia.)

Modal Mania: Exploring Harmonic Complexity within a Durational Context

Begin by choosing a key. The major scale (starting on do) of that key is the Ionian mode, and the minor scale (starting on la) of that key is the Aeolian mode, and so on. Divide the class into groups and have each group sing a modal “scale” (up then down, or vice versa) so that pairs or trios of modes sound simultaneously. Two of the modes that work well to begin are Phrygian and Ionian, and then, Mixolydian can be added as a third mode. Take care when choosing modes for each group so that students are able to sing the mode that is selected for them. If, in your choir, you have singers who cannot sing an octave beginning on any pitch, then limit the scale to the range of a fifth. As a reminder, these are the typical Western modes in the key of C:

B–B LocrianA–A AeolianG–G MixolydianF–F LydianE–E PhrygianD–D DorianC–C Ionian

Aleatoric Amalgamation: Vocal Independence within Unfamiliar Contexts

Begin by teaching all students a familiar song with a range no more than a sixth (such as “Friendship Song,” Boosey & Hawkes, OCT6616; changing the key to fit the needs of the changing voices). Then number students from 1 to 5 (or more if desired), where students sing the melody, but instead of the printed rhythm, they sing each pitch for the number of beats corresponding to their assigned number. Sing through twice on words or syllables and conclude by sustaining a hummed do. The overlapping pitches and unexpected harmonies make this a favorite with both students and, when performed during a concert, with audiences. (This is a variation of an activity developed by David Price of the Music Futures Project based in Great Britain.)




vocal exploration to begin exploring scat syllables. Teachers can begin by giving stu-dents a line of text, perhaps from a poem, a newspaper article, or from the choral repertoire. Have students read aloud the voiced consonants, vowels, or fricatives, for example, and experiment with elonga-tion of sounds, dynamics, tempi, and so forth. Recording the class examples and then playing them back for comment and analysis can start discussions about how vowels and consonants work together dur-ing vocal improvisation. The number of resources for teaching scat singing is rap-idly expanding, and middle school choral teachers should consider using methods that employ high-quality recordings with fine vocal models that are pitched appro-priately for changing adolescent voices. Many improvisational resources for band students include echo-singing recordings that are excellent for this purpose.

A Choral Future

The vocal improvisation ideas presented in this article are examples of teaching activities that grew from understand-ing how middle school students learn, understanding what they need during the voice-changing process, and correlat-ing that information with foundations of vocal pedagogy. To effectively work with young adolescents and their changing voices, we need to consider the ABCs of developing optimal rehearsal experiences: Adapt to their changing needs, Build on what they know and toward what they need to know, and Challenge them in ways that match their skill levels.9 Mid-dle school choral teachers can meet the vocal and developmental needs of young adolescents by adapting traditional choral warm-up techniques to build on student strengths in ways that are challenging and musically satisfying for all involved.

In closing, let’s return to Charles Farn-sworth’s 1924 article in which he inquired about the relationship between technical skill and musical satisfaction:

Is it, may I ask, the business of the music teacher to merely act as a starter at the

race; to blow his pitch pipe, and let the students go in a contest to see who can get through the tune and sing all the time and pitch intervals correctly? On the contrary, does not the most musical part of the teacher’s work commence after a song can be perfectly sung so far as these mechanical elements go? It is then that training in beautiful expression commences.10

The sound of a choir filled with ado-lescent changing voices is thrilling to hear because it is the sound of limitless musi-cal and artistic potential. When carefully planned to meet the needs of adolescent singers, the choral warm-up process pres-ents unique opportunities to extend this potential toward a lifetime of choral sing-ing for each young person.

NOTES

1. Charles H. Farnsworth, “A Golden Mean in School Music Education,” Music Supervisors’ Journal 10, no. 3 (1924): 59–60.

2. Patrick K. Freer, Success for Adolescent Singers: Unlocking the Potential in Middle School Choirs (DVD series;

Waitsfi eld, VT: Choral Excellence, 2005); John Cooksey, Working with Adolescent Voices (St. Louis, MO: Concordia, 1999); and Leon Thurman and Graham Welch, eds., Bodymind & Voice: Foundations of Voice Education (Collegeville, MN: The VoiceCare Network, National Center for Voice & Speech, Fairview Voice Center, and Centre for Advanced Studies in Music Education, 2000).

3. Patrick K. Freer, “Adapt, Build & Challenge: Three Keys to Effective Choral Rehearsals for Young Adolescents,” Choral Journal 47, no. 5 (2006): 48–55.

4. Frauke Haasemann and James M. Jordan, Group Vocal Technique (Chapel Hill, NC: Hinshaw Music, 1991).

5. James M. Jordan, Evoking Sound: The Choral Warm-Up (Chicago: GIA Publications, 2005).

6. Thurman and Welch, Bodymind & Voice, 501–2.

7. Brenda Smith and Robert Thayer Sataloff, Choral Pedagogy, 2nd ed. (San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing, 2006).

8. Michael Colgrass, “Composers and Children: A Future Creative Force?” Music Educators Journal 91, no. 1 (2004): 19–23.

9. Freer, “Adapt, Build & Challenge.”

10. Farnsworth, “Golden Mean,” 60.

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DOI: 10.2307/3399601

2000 86: 23Music Educators JournalAnthony L. Barresichoral teacher

and personal qualities all seem to play a role in the development of the successful middle school The Successful Middle School Choral Teacher : Technical competence, professional understandings,

Published by:


On behalf of:







What is This?














Anthony L. Barresi is professor of music and education and associate director of the School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

ne day last year, a student from my methods class appeared at my office door looking rather confused and more than a little upset. Pat

had just returned from a practicum session at one of our local middle schools. In fact, that day she had taught her first lesson to a fifty-voice eighth-grade chorus of boys and girls in various stages of physical and vocal development. Despite the fact that we had discussed what she might encounter, the actual experience, while "interesting" and even "exciting," to use her terms, was very unnerving. She asked me, "How will I ever become good at this when there is so much that I have to know and be able to do?" Of course, I offered the usual words of comfort and encouragement, advising her to take one step at a time and reassuring her that experience would answer many of her questions. But Pat had posed the eternal question asked by aspiring middle school teachers: "What are the attributes, both

2

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Besides being a fine musician and vocal model, the middle school choral teacher must motivate students and help them realize that chorus is a valued activity.

personal and professional, of successful middle school teachers, and how do I acquire them?"

For many years, I have been convinced that the most important deter- minant in the success of a middle school choral program is the teacher. In fact, I have traveled around the country leading workshops and clinics

in which I constantly enumerate the personal and professional qualities necessary for success in this area. I have amassed my information on these

qualities from personal research in adolescent voice development, personal experiences as a teacher of voice and supervisor of middle school choral

programs, and professional interaction

JANUARY 2000 23

C paaid/ MUSIC AND M I D D LE SCHOOL CH 0 R US

THE SUCCESSFUL MIDDLE SCHOOL CHORAL TEACHER

Technical competence, professional understandings, andpersonal qualities all seem to

play a role in the development of the successful middle school choral teacher.



with many middle school choral directors of varying abilities and experiences. Yet Pat's question still gave me pause.

I was rethinking my response to the question when my phone rang and Steven Demorest of the University of Washington asked me to consider con- tributing an article to this series on middle school choral programs. It became clear that this was an opportunity to focus my thinking on the question of teacher attributes that are most critical to middle school choral success. For this purpose, Steve and I identified and contacted eleven successful middle school choral teachers, five from the state of Washington and six from Wisconsin. These teachers, who were from urban and rural settings, were deemed successful because of their reputations for musical and expressive excellence in choral performance and the large numbers of students involved in their choral programs relative to the size of their schools.1

In my questionnaire, I asked the teachers to list five personal or professional attributes they considered to be most important to professional success as a middle school choral director. More specifically, I asked them to think of attributes along the lines of personal qualities, professional training, and technical skills. While this collection of data was by no means a controlled research endeavor, I trust the responses because they are representative of varied socioeconomic school settings, teaching experiences ranging from three to twenty years, and various teacher preparation programs. Additionally, the music performance background of the respondents varied widely, distributed across various instruments, piano, and voice.

I anticipated that the three major areas of personal, professional, and technical attributes would be noted as highly influential in the potential for teacher success in middle school choral programs, and indeed, this was the case. Under the classification of personal qualities, interaction skills were identified as a necessary element of effective student-teacher relations in the learning environment. Responses concerning professional training

included knowledge relating to teaching approaches; general information about school and program administration, school policy, and classroom management; background experiences related to program development and implementation; and vocal and musical training necessary for middle school program success. Technical skills identified in the responses included abilities to effectively imple- ment professional training, to choose and use repertoire appropriate for young singers, and to interest and motivate students.

The middle school choral director must be

self motivated, energetic, and willing to accept day-to-day changes.

While the responses received were, for the most part, anticipated, I was enlightened and sometimes moved by explanations in support of them. Throughout the remainder of this article, I will refer to these responses by highlighting teacher comments and sometimes augmenting them with observations and conclusions drawn from my own research and teaching experiences. The surveyed teachers have agreed to my listing their responses and giving their names, in parentheses after a quote. The teachers' full names and school affiliations are listed in note 1 at the end of this article.

Personal Qualities As I read through the teachers'

responses, I was struck by the similari-

ties among the personal qualities listed as elements necessary for success. One teacher characterized middle school students as "ever changing, developing, and challenging" (Albert). This means the teacher must have a strong, decisive personality and be able to set boundaries for behavior and goals for learning. In addition, these students, though they may sometimes complain, appreciate and even seek teachers who are tenacious but patient and who maintain high musical and behavioral standards (Albert, Schmidt, and Krunnfusz). A "passion for what you are teaching" and a full commitment of oneself to the program and the students were also noted as essential; the teacher must model the kind of commitment and dedication that is needed from young singers (Clements and Patterson). One teacher observed, "Too many middle school teachers sell their students short on both counts. The students will go in the direction of your standards. If you have the knowledge to lead them, they will rise. If you let them, they will decline" (Krunnfusz). Another teacher said:

Having a well-managed classroom allows learning to take place. The kids ... like a teacher who can balance being not too strict and not too lenient. They like clear expectations and consistency from the teacher. They need boundaries and clear expectations of their work, behavior, and the basis for their grade. (Fulmer)

The middle school choral director must be self-motivated and energetic and needs to "be motivated to wel- come day-to-day changes" (Morris- sey). There was a general consensus on the need to be caring and understanding of the special psychological, physical, social, and musical needs of the middle school age-group. Love and devotion to children were highlighted by one teacher, who contended that the effective teacher must focus his or her "energies on the children" (Lar- son). Another teacher stated, "If the teacher is fair and friendly to each learner, respect follows. Students can sense warmth and caring in a teacher and will respond wholeheartedly if

MUSIC EDUCATORS JOURNAL 24



they feel that their teacher really cares about them and wants to know what makes them tick" (Albert). To this statement was added the caveat, echoed by other participants in the survey, that friendship exhibited should be that of an adult to a student. These young singers really do not want an adult who tries to act like one of them. Instead, young teenagers seek to interact with a teacher who uses a friendly manner to guide and direct them in musical and social situations.

Throughout the responses was a theme of respect for the students as essential for gaining their cooperation and interest. The teacher must have "little tolerance for bad behavior and must think that middle schoolers are interesting and entertaining" (Schmidt). Further, to be effective with this age level, a teacher needs a sense of humor. Potentially explosive emotional situations, often encoun- tered when working with early teenagers, may dissipate if the teacher is able to show a sense of humor. At times, the ability to laugh at oneself, as modeled by the teacher, allows an early teenager to view herself or him- self in a less serious way and encour- ages more joy in the act of music making.

A number of the teachers were strongly convinced that enthusiasm and the ability to motivate students were of utmost importance (Brown, Albert, and Schmidt). Furthermore, "Students at this age need to know that you care and are willing to challenge them to become the best that they can be. They need opportunities to grow musically. Believe me, they will take great pride in their accomplishments when they have worked hard to achieve them" (Fulmer). Another teacher concluded:

My ability to remain patient and in good humor while my students struggle from plateau to plateau has been one of the keys to their trust and respect. Signif- icant learning is about challenge: the tougher the challenge, the more successful you feel about

meeting it. Middle school kids love a challenge but must be able to trust that the adult guiding

them respects their efforts and never loses faith in what they will eventually attain. (Banton)

Young teenagers seek to interact with a teacher

who uses a friendly manner to guide and

direct them in musical and social situations.

My experiences over the years lead me to agree fully with the comments of these teachers. Middle school-aged students seek strong leadership as a rudder to guide them through the sometimes emotionally and socially stormy seas of early adolescence. They are attracted to teachers whom they perceive as emotionally stable, humanely directive, personally sensitive to the needs and interests of others, and highly knowledgeable about what they teach. These students want to be part of something that they perceive to be successful and unique, and they will expend great energy to achieve such goals.

But they also need an adult leader who is caring and respectful of them as individuals, who demands high behavioral and musical standards, and who has a sense of humor that can defuse emotionally tense situations, should they arise. In short, they want leadership that is steady, consistent, motivat- ing, and "understanding of what students are going through in their early teen years"(Fulmer). Positive change is effected by a teacher with "a high level of confidence, charisma, and good verbal and nonverbal communication skills." (Patterson)

Professional Understandings All of the teacher respondents rec-

ognized the necessity for understandings that are directly related to the development and operation of a successful choral program-specifically, understandings about vocal techniques appropriate for young singers and repertoire appropriate to the physical and vocal development of early adolescence. While I was already personally convinced that such knowledge is essential to program success, my con- victions were reinforced by the teachers' responses.

That young singers go through some difficult physical and emotional times during early adolescence was noted often. Understanding that psychological and physical development are related closely to the accompany- ing voice changes is critical. Awareness of such psychological factors as self- esteem, interpersonal relationships, and peer relationships is essential before one can begin to teach singing to these young people. This awareness helps the teacher develop effective teaching and classroom management strategies.

Knowledge of physical development helps the teacher to be aware of the physical characteristics of the early adolescent voice change for both males and females. As one teacher stated, "A knowledge and comprehension of the changing voice and how to deal with the changes that occur with this age group are essential" (Brown). This teacher also felt that each singer must be educated about the changes hap- pening in his or her voice and reas- sured that these changes are normal. Another teacher reinforced this idea and added that "a good knowledge of vocal change that occurs in this age span ... is very important for keeping males enrolled in the program" (Clements). In summary,

The middle school choral director needs to have a thor- ough understanding of the different stages and ranges of a boy's changing voice, as well as a girl's. That understanding should also include the ability to teach the basics of great singing-pure vowels, diaphrag-

JANUARY 2000 25



matic breathing, posture, phrasing, and vocal expressiveness. (Albert)

The above comment was representative of the views of a number of other respondents, who thought that a

working knowledge of adolescent voice change was essential. This discussion was taken one step further by a respondent who observed, "By demystifying the voice for teenagers, we can contribute to greater self-confidence" (Banton). Another respondent asserted that the teacher must be a

good vocal model who can demonstrate appropriate singing techniques, as well as good vocal health (Morris- sey).

Teaching considerations, growing from an understanding of the adolescent voice, were not limited to factors of singing for most of the respondents. A number of them cited the selection of appropriate repertoire as essential to

program success. An understanding of the adolescent physical and psychological development, as well as the voice maturation process, allows the teacher to select pieces that are appropriate in vocal range, text, and technical diffi-

culty (Morrissey). An understanding of how to arrange and rearrange music for these voices can be a critical element in program success (Krunnfusz, Brown, and Albert). One teacher was most emphatic on this point:

The successful junior high choral teacher must be willing to

put extra hours into choosing quality literature and matching it to the ensemble. Never stop looking for the perfect piece! This means hours and hours of

going through your files, other teachers' files, and other schools' files; searching J. W. Pepper's Internet database for ideas (they have lists of many states'

required contest and festival

repertoire, among other things); reading professional magazines, saving lists of recommended literature, and then actually going to a music publisher and rum-

maging through their files; [and]

going to concerts and conventions to hear what other similar groups are doing. (Patterson)

I was surprised that the teachers only tangentially addressed factors of school policy-specifically administration, curriculum, scheduling, or community influence-as important to program success. Certainly they were aware of how these factors could inhibit or promote program growth and development. As I pondered this seeming omission, I realized that these teachers were very proactive within their schools. They were highly cog- nizant of the necessity for performance and parental awareness of the program's goals and accomplishments.

The students want to be part of something that

they perceive to be successful and unique.

Further, these teachers actively par- ticipated in the culture of their schools, serving in a number of instructional and advisory capacities. In fact, a number of them had been coaches for athletic activities, advisers to various clubs, and chaperones for various school activities. Each of them was aware of his or her place in the total school curriculum and sought opportunities to influence administra- tive and curricular decisions by serving on various committees composed of administrators, parents, and faculty members. These teachers understood that in order to affect school policy, one has to be in a position to affect decision making.

Technical Competence When reading the responses of the

teachers in this category of attributes,

I was struck again by their similarities. Time and again, the same skills were identified and even the same words were used. In addition, many technical skills that were identified also related to professional understandings about vocal development, music performance, and classroom management.

Most of the teachers' responses implied that knowledge of early adolescent vocal development was essential to conveying effective singing techniques and assigning appropriate vocal parts. One must know the stages of vocal change and the characteristic vocal qualities of each stage, the average and tessitura ranges for each stage, and the characteristic vocal problems often experienced during each stage. Indeed, a number of researchers have dedicated a great deal of time and effort to the examination of these phe- nomena and have published their findings extensively.2

Knowledge of the early adolescent voice can also assist teachers in the arrangement or rearrangement of pieces for their ensembles. One teacher observed: "There is still way too much music that doesn't fit the voices, especially male parts. The ability to [write] and rewrite parts [so that they] still sound musical lets all of the students have a legitimate shot at being successful" (Krunnfusz).

I recently conducted a weeklong course on adolescent voice development at Shenandoah University in Virginia. Most of the participants were teachers who had taught for several years and were attending the class because they had a number of questions. While these teachers were aware of vocal changes, they were unsure about how to classify singers according to change stages and about how to assign singers, especially boys, to choral parts that fit their particular stage of change. But perhaps their most urgent questions related to the selection of repertoire. Their efforts had convinced many of them that the ranges required by pieces advertised as middle school repertoire were often inappropriate for their singers. Parts were often too high or too low, or the vocal requirements were too difficult for young singers.




As we studied the stages of change, the reasons why these pieces were often inappropriate became evident. At the conclusion of the course, we arranged pieces according to what we had discovered and then had middle school singers perform them. While we were all aware that this procedure was very time consuming, we were convinced that the educational and musical results were worth the effort. Further, our discussions revealed that each person felt much better prepared to select music that would meet his or her ensemble's vocal, musical, and educational demands.

In addition to effective vocal modeling, the

teacher must be a fine musician, possessing a discriminating ear for vocal tone andpitch

accuracy.

The modeling and teaching techniques that are appropriate for singers experiencing vocal change were central to many of the responses in the technical skills category. Concerning modeling, one teacher concluded:

It is so important to promote and model good vocal health and good technique. The students must be given the tools to develop their instruments in the healthiest way possible. By modeling good vocal technique, students see that it is of #1 importance. With the knowledge of voice building, strengthening exercises, as well as ear training exercises help students take care of their voices when on their own. (Morrissey)

According to teachers' responses, techniques for the development of pitch accuracy, tonal development, and adequate working ranges within each stage were of utmost importance for the director to be effective and successful. One teacher summarized these thoughts succinctly: "Especially at the middle school level, the director is primarily a voice teacher and must know the instrument" (Krunnfusz).

In addition to effective vocal modeling, the teacher must be a fine musician, possessing a discriminating ear for vocal tone and pitch accuracy. As one teacher put it, "A good ear is a must" (Brown). In addition to having a good ear, a teacher must also be a "first-rate musician" (Schmidt). All of the responses in one way or another touched upon musical skills that might come under the heading of good conducting skills, both gestural and musical.

One additional skill that was evident in the majority of responses was piano skills. Stressing the ability to use the piano effectively, these teachers asserted that the keyboard assisted insecure singers with note learning and pitch accuracy. While I generally support this concept, I feel that young singers can become too dependent upon the piano for pitch support. The effective teacher must also know when to encourage a cappella singing as a means of strengthening student vocal tone, musicality, and independence. One respondent did point out that a teacher's keen ear and knowledge of the score frees him or her from the keyboard and helps in the identification of rehearsal inaccuracies and musical interpretation. In addition, "students can successfully rehearse anything a cappella if the teacher knows the score well and has a good ear" (Patterson). Not only will the students benefit from the teacher's ability to detect error, but their musical independence will encourage opportunities to perform without the crutch of keyboard doubling of choral parts.

The last area of major focus by respondents was rehearsal management. "Lessons must be interesting and have a good pace" (Larson). "Each rehearsal must be carefully planned to keep the student on task for the entire

class period but still be flexible enough to change as needed" (Brown). A well- planned lesson results from knowing the choral score well:

Before I can ask the questions and design the lessons that guide any choral student to understand the music they are singing, I have to have done my own homework. What are the rhythmic and melodic patterns? What is the relationship between the

parts? How does the harmonic structure fit with the text? What are the meanings of the words and how does the musical structure reinforce their content and emotion? What is the cultural or historical context of the piece? Once I know these things, I can

design opportunities for students to discover them as well. (Pan- ton)

The effective teacher must also know when to

encourage a cappella singing as a means of strengthening student vocal tone, musicality,

and independence.

Another teacher agreed with the above statement, but used a different rationale for her comments on careful planning:

A teacher ... needs organization in rehearsal. A well-planned rehearsal should include warm-

ups for technique; goals for each section of music to be explored; different, creative ways to achieve those goals; timing; and flexibility, if needed. Daily,

JANUARY 2000 27



weekly, and monthly goals need to be set. Communication with

parents and administration needs to be ongoing. (Albert)

Goal setting was very important to one teacher, who noted that the teacher "needs to adjust the expectations upward as goals are met, so the ability to know what the next step is and how to get there are crucial" (Pat- terson). Certainly, this last comment gets at the very essence of how careful preparation for and implementation of creative and interesting musical experiences can contribute so significantly to the success of the middle school choral program.

Finally, a number of the teachers maintained that teaching appropriate rehearsal and concert behavior is essential to the success of the program. It instills pride in and respect for what one is doing. Moreover, the teacher is the model for this behavior. In summary,

Always expect professional attitudes and behaviors in rehearsals, in the audience, and on the stage. It is important that the teacher model professional- ism. Consider how you dress, what posture you model...your singing voice, and what physical things you do to produce sound. Is it what you want from your singers? (Patterson)

Formulating the Answer I now felt better able to answer

Pat's question about the teacher attributes necessary for success as a middle school choral director. And yet, while I could point out the personal qualities, professional training, and technical skills that contribute to success, I felt that something still seemed to be missing. That something became apparent to me as I reviewed the responses from teachers. Each of them had acquired insights as a result of personal and professional growth and experience.

From the recesses of my memory, I recalled what may have been a folk saying that my father often used when speaking of learning and growth: "When you are green, you grow, and when you are ripe, you rot." My

reflections upon the teacher responses not only brought back this saying but also heightened my understanding of its deeper meaning. While one is learning and open to new ideas and experiences, one can and will grow profes- sionally. However, if one believes that he or she has all of the answers and no longer seeks new understandings and experiences, a process of professional

Teaching appropriate rehearsal and concert behavior is essential to

the success of the program.

degeneration sets in. The success of all of these teachers

is based upon their continual personal and professional growth. They are seeking to understand and perfect their ability to interact effectively on a personal level with their students. They are constantly striving to add to their professional training so that their perceptions about teaching and their potential to teach creatively will be heightened. They seek out opportunities to further develop and add to their technical skills as musicians and teachers through interaction with other teachers, attendance at professional conferences, and continued formal education. As one teacher put it, professional attributes are developed, maintained, and extended if the teacher does such things as "take lessons, go to concerts, sing in a community or church choir, attend professional conventions, observe other teachers and [borrow] their best ideas,

read professional journals, and attend sharing sessions with other choral teachers" (Patterson).

Pat had embarked upon the first stage of her journey toward success when she asked her perceptive question. I think she sensed that acquiring the attributes of a successful middle school choral teacher was in fact as much a matter of time and living as it was a matter of acquiring and assimi- lating personal qualities, professional training, and technical skills. As my father would have said, "She is green, and she will grow."

Notes 1. The teachers who responded to my

questionnaire have given me permission to print their names and their comments: Ann Albert of Kromery Middle School, Middle- ton, Wisconsin; Leanne Banton of Kellogg Middle School, Shoreline, Washington; Kathy Brown of Gillette Middle School, Gillette, Wisconsin; Ann Clements of Totem Junior High School, Kent, Washington; Sheri Erickson of Leota Junior High School, Woodinville, Washington; Karen Fulmer of Sumner Junior High School, Sumner, Wash- ington; Daniel Krunnfusz of Hamilton Mid- dle School, Madison, Wisconsin; James Lar- son of West High School, Madison, Wiscon- sin; Mary Lynn Morrissey of Central Middle School, Waukesha, Wisconsin; Leora Patter- son of Cedar Heights Junior High School, Kent, Washington; and Mary Schmidt of Sun Prairie Secondary Schools, Sun Prairie, Wis- consin.

2. See John M. Cooksey, "The Develop- ment of an Eclectic Theory for the Training and Cultivation of the Junior High School Male Changing Voice" (four-part article), Choral Journal 18 (October 1977):5-14; (November 1977): 5-17; (December 1977): 5-15; (January 1978): 5-17; John M. Cook- sey, "The Male Adolescent Changing Voice: Some New Perspectives," in Maria Runfola (ed.) Proceedings: Research Symposium on the Male Adolescent Voice (Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo, 1984).

Also see Kenneth Phillips, Teaching Kids to Sing (New York: G. Schirmer, 1998); Anthony L. Barresi, Barresi on the Adolescent Voice, videotape (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Exten- sion Arts, 1986); Anthony L. Barresi and Diane Bless, "The Relation of Selected Vari- ables to the Perception of Tessitura Pitches in the Adolescent Changing Voice," in Maria Runfola (ed.), Proceedings: Research Sympo- sium on the Male Adolescent Voice (Buffalo, NY: State University of New York at Buffalo, 1984). U





http://mej.sagepub.com/content/94/2/28The online version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/002743210709400207

2007 94: 28Music Educators JournalPatrick K. Freer

Between Research and Practice: How Choral Music Loses Boys in the "Middle"

Published by:


On behalf of:







http://mej.sagepub.com/content/94/2/28.refs.htmlCitations:

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- Nov 1, 2007Version of Record >>



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28

Between Research andPractice: How ChoralMusic Loses Boysin the "Middle"By Patrick K. Freer

Patrick K. Freer is head of the music education division at Georgia State University in Atlanta.He can be reached at [email protected].

lmost every secondary choral

~~~~ teacher asks at one time or

~~_~~ another, &dquo;How do I get boysto join or stay in my choral

~~ groups?&dquo; Just as I was

embarking on my teaching career, the ChoralJournal published a series of articles in whichLeonard Van Camp explored issues facingchoral music education in the United States,including a list of reasons for the continueddecline in the number of boys who elected tosing in high school choral ensembles. Hecommented, &dquo;I am convinced that we are, in

fact, in the middle of a serious crisis.&dquo;2 Beforereading these articles, I had assumed that thereason boys didn’t sing in choirs was becauseof issues surrounding the voice-changeprocess. Indeed, that was my personal expe-rience-I stopped singing at the onset of

puberty when my music teacher told me tomouth the words.

Van Camp earnestly offered a number offamiliar recommendations and remedies,such as having separate choirs for boys andgirls, encouraging more males to becomemusic teachers, enlisting the support of adultmale singers in the community, and provid-ing teachers with information about the

changing adolescent voice. Similar recom-mendations in our professional journals haveaddressed choral music’s &dquo;missing males&dquo;

problem for at least eighty years withoutmuch success.3

This is, of course, a generalization, andthere are middle school choral programs thatattract and retain equal numbers of boys andgirls, but girls still vastly outnumber boys ina great majority of our middle school choralprograms. This is perhaps most evident dur-ing contest season, when adjudicators are

handed notes indicating &dquo;the guys&dquo; will singthe soprano line down an octave becausethere are too few to sustain their own voice

part.

Meeting the Needs of Middle SchoolBoys?

As a profession, we have a problembecause we’re collectively not meeting theneeds of male adolescent singers. At leastpart of the difficulty lies in the very nature ofthe conversations we have about this prob-lem. We have conversations about variousissues we suppose to be the causes. Theseinclude boys who don’t like to sing, competi-tion with the allure of sports programs, block

scheduling, the scheduling of after-schoolrehearsals, budget cuts, the influence of pop-ular culture, and so forth.We rarely, if ever, consider the possibility

that changes need to take place within ourclassrooms, within our instruction, and with-

We can use

research-based

knowledge andinstruction to

attract and keepboys in middleschool choir.



29

in choral repertoire itself. Something is

wrong. The children’s choir movement in theUnited States has been producing remarkablechoirs for a quarter century. Choirs of ele-

mentary-age children regularly demonstratehigh levels of musicianship and artistry, andthey attract huge numbers of children. Whathappens to all those singers when theybecome middle schoolers? What happens toall those boys who used to be choral musi-cians ?

Conversations about Boys’ LearningWe need to begin having the conversa-

tions that others are having about boys andboys’ learning. These conversations havetaken place since at least 1695, when JohnLocke wrote about the failure of boys to con-centrate on their Latin studies.4 But the cur-rent dialogue about adolescent boys and theirschool experiences seems to be at a fever

pitch. Newspapers and magazine headlinesgrab our attention: &dquo;Where Have All the

Guys Gone? Different Learning Styles MeanYoung Men Are Being Left Behind in the

Classroom,&dquo; &dquo;Boy Trouble,&dquo; &dquo;The Troublewith Boys,&dquo; &dquo;The Myth About Boys,&dquo; &dquo;TheGender Gap at School,&dquo; and &dquo;The Problemwith Boys.&dquo;5

Other forms of media trumpet these con-cerns through broadcasts like &dquo;What It Takesto Be a Man&dquo; and documentaries such as

Raising Cain, which is based on a best-sellingbook.6 For about ten years, book authorsfrom many backgrounds have dominatedpublic discussion, including psychologists,religious leaders, pediatricians, scientists,philosophers, parents, and teachers.

People are talking about the ways boyslearn differently from girls. While there is agreat deal of disagreement, at least the issuesare being discussed. Unfortunately, we arenot having these discussions within the

choral music community. If the situation is

going to change, middle school choral teach-ers need to become involved at all levels of

the conversation and take action.

From Research to PracticePhilosophy, theory, and research all con-

tribute to our understanding of effective ped-agogical practice. This is clearly evident inthe current national conversation about boysand boys’ learning. Two distinct groups haveembodied the broad discussion: those who

Middle school choral teachers should select repertoire that adolescentsfind relevant, challenging, and satisfying.

are concerned with the etiology and sociolo-gy of masculinity, and those who are con-cerned with how schools can best prepareboys for the society they will inherit.7 Late inthe twentieth century, the education profes-sion recognized basic inequalities and injus-tices in the ways girls were educated, leadingto research and policy decisions that positive-ly affected the schooling experiences of girls.At the same time, concerns were raised aboutthe learning of boys, though there are noindications that boys were negatively affectedby the changes addressing girls’ needs.8

Recent scientific research has fueled this

discussion, yielding interesting informationthat could influence how middle school

music educators address the problems of

boys and choral music. For instance, weknow that the brain is organized into differ-ent structural regions that undergo changeduring adolescence. Recent research concern-ing adolescent brain development investigatesthese changes and their influence on brainfunction, adolescent behavior, and differencesin how boys and girls learn.9 A sampling ofcurrent research findings can be found in thesidebar, &dquo;Recent Research on Adolescent BrainDevelopment,&dquo; and suggested readings on thistopic are given in the sidebar, &dquo;SuggestedReadings on Adolescent Brain Development.&dquo;



30

Implications for PracticeOn the basis of this scientific

research, some influential advocates

for boys and boys’ learning contendthat a gender-neutral view of educa-tion is not in the best interests of

either boys or girls. While research israrely conclusive, it may help us

improve how we teach young adoles-cents. When traditions don’t seem tobe particularly effective, research cansuggest actions we can take instead.

Physician Leonard Sax highlightsthe superior auditory capabilities ofgirls compared to boys and the widen-ing of this difference during the

teenage years.10 This, Sax believes,explains why adolescent girls fre-

quently feel their teachers are yellingat them while boys sit nonchalantly inthe back of the room as if nothing ishappening. Sitting in the back of theroom, coupled with relatively poorhearing capabilities, may encourageboys’ seeming indifference. In effec-

tive classrooms, boys who are engagedare nearly always sitting close to theteacher.

Research also suggests that stress

promotes learning in males, whereas itinhibits learning in females. Thus,competition and timed classroomactivities might be more successfulwith adolescent boys than with ado-lescent girls, contradicting the con-

ventional idea that all middle school-ers find competition to be an ineffec-tive motivator. 11 l

Many prominent authors who

write about boys’ learning recommendembracing the high activity level ofboys and incorporating physicalmovement within lessons,12 rangingfrom sixty-second stretch breaks to

providing small objects boys can playwith without distracting others. I havefound that young adolescents need a

change of activity, focus, or location inthe room about every twelve or thir-teen minutes.13 In general, adolescentboys need a great deal of physicalactivity and movement while learning;teachers need to channel this propen-sity into productive learning experi-ences rather than see it as a behavior

problem.Some research supports the idea

that the characteristic differences inthe learning styles of girls and boysmay be universal. A meta-analysis of

educational research concerning ado-lescent learners in five countries

found males to be more kinesthetical-

ly and peer oriented than their femalecounterparts.l4 Boys required moreteacher intervention and support atthe same time that they escheweddirect instruction techniques. Adoles-cent girls showed greater auditoryability than did adolescent boys.

Overall, the study indicated that vari-ation among individuals was of far

greater importance than variations

between sexes. So, there might not yetbe enough evidence to support thedivision of boys and girls into separateschools, classrooms, or musicalensembles.

Still, many choral music educatorsagree that middle schoolers are best



31

served by at least some separation,with the ideal being distinct choirs ofboys and girls, Such arrangementsmight facilitate implementation of

specific teaching strategies to addressthe unique needs of boys and girls.When separate ensembles or

rehearsals are not possible, teachers

might simply move their boys to oneside of the risers rather than place

them in the middle of the ensemble.Teachers report a decrease in behavior

problems when adolescent boys andgirls are physically separated.

Accommodating BoysAll boys should become knowl-

edgeable about and comfortable withtheir changing voices, wherever theyare on the continuum of change.

Additional concerns would need to be

addressed in choirs that use onlyrigidly voiced literature (SAB, three-part mixed voices) rather than flexible

voicings for multiple combinations ofvoices. In all cases, adolescent boysconfront the challenge of their chang-ing voices simultaneously with the

presentation of choral music notatedin the bass clef. Without advance

preparation, a young adolescent boymay assume that all pitches notated atthe top of the staff are at the upperreaches of his vocal range, which isnot true for bass clef. We need to

proactively include bass clef instruc-tion during the upper elementaryyears.

Choral music teachers may assumethat adolescent boys don’t like choralmusic. The truth is that adolescent

boys do sing-just not always in

school choral music settings. Much ofthis music making occurs outside ofschool, often in a haphazard, ineffi-

cient, and vocally unhealthy manner.These experiences are powerfullymotivating, but they are not &dquo;music

education,&dquo; except in an extremelylimited sense. We should engage these

youngsters in school-based music

education activities with teachers whoare sensitive to the needs of develop-ing adolescents.

Learning music with friends whoshare a focus on specific goals drivesadolescent boys to be successful in

music beyond school. This type ofinformal music learning is excitingand rewarding. Research indicatesthat developing adolescent brains aregenerally &dquo;wired&dquo; to seek intensity,arousal, excitement, and the rush ofpositive feelings that accompaniessuccess. 16

Adolescents also seek these quali-ties in their musical experiences.Middle school choral teachers can usethis to great advantage by selectingrepertoire that adolescents find rele-vant, challenging, and satisfying. Thisdoes not necessarily mean that weshould use only popular music, butneither should we rule it out. Rather,choral teachers should teach musicalskills through repertoire that has com-positional integrity, vocal lines that arecarefully crafted to match the texts

they serve, and texts that speak to

real-world issues adolescents find



32

intriguing. See the sidebar on flexiblevoicing for suggestions concerningrepertoire. We should invite our stu-dents to discuss how their developingmusical skills are influencing theirmusical lives outside school. And we

should be equally eager to hear whatmusical skills they would yet like tolearn ... and then use that informationto help guide future instructionaldecisions.When rehearsing mixed ensembles,

addressing the learning needs of boyscan be facilitated through teachingstrategies that benefit all students,including opportunities for groupwork, interactions with peers, and

personal support from the teacher.

Adolescents need to experienceautonomy, to develop independentmusical skills, and to receive specificfeedback about their progress. Theyalso value knowledge about their

changing bodies and their changingvocal physiology 17 Sharing theanatomical intricacies of the changingmale voice-physiology and all-canfascinate boys while providing valu-able information about their voicesand what they will become.

Between Research andPractice: Philosophy

Few choral music teachers have

considered the most efficient ways to

provide research-based instruction foradolescent boys. Before teachers canapply research to practice, they firstneed to be grounded in a philosophi-cal framework that guides their deci-sions about pedagogical and artistic

choices. With the daily responsibili-ties of teaching, compounded bymandatory participation in contests

and festivals, there is little time to

consider the developmental needs of

their students. Caring for boys whoseem to dislike choral music becomesa distant goal. The focus shifts fromeffectiveness to efficiency, and the stu-dents who suffer most are boys.

Some teachers lose their philosoph-ical orientation and emulate the prac-tices of admired choral conductors,replicating the musical product of per-formance rather than the musical

process of rehearsals. Middle schoolchoral rehearsals can then become

exactly what young adolescents don’tneed: undifferentiated, large-groupinstruction where everyone is

arranged in rows and where conform-ity is highly valued. A boy faced withchoral repertoire he doesn’t like, a

changing voice he doesn’t understand,and instruction he finds boring willbecome a boy who proclaims he hatesschool music and disengages fromchoral music. Forever.

Forcing adolescent boys to con-

form to traditional methods of choralinstruction is inconsistent with cur-rent knowledge about the neurobiolo-gy of adolescence. Some boys will

respond to traditional approaches, butmost will not. We need to align ourmethods with our beliefs about whatchoral music education is, who it is

for, why it is essential, what it shouldencompass, and how it should be

practiced in our classrooms. We can-not afford to reinforce the status quoin middle school choral instruction ifwe hope to meet both the needs ofadolescent boys and our own philo-sophical goals.

If we are to change the decades-old&dquo;missing males&dquo; problem in choral

music, we must focus on three issues:

retaining the boys who experiencesuccess as elementary choristers,attracting new boys, and maintainingenthusiasm through the middle

school years. To do this, middleschool choral instruction must, at

times, look very different from choralinstruction appropriate for singers ofother ages. See the sidebar, &dquo;A Few

Suggestions for Working with Ad-olescent Boys,&dquo; for an overview of

techniques to help win boys back tochoral music.

Moving ForwardAs advocates for adolescent choral

singing, we need to seek research-



33

based teaching practices that will pos-itively affect the experience of all ourstudents, especially our boys. We needto ask adolescent boys what they doand don’t like about choral music. Intheir responses, we may hear some

things that cause us to reexamine

what we do, how we do it, and whyThe current unfocused dialogue

about choral music instruction at themiddle level needs to be supplantedwith a conversation that has a dualfocus on research-based instruction

and the achievement of high artisticstandards. Middle school choralteachers can be the change agents whomost positively influence the future ofchoral singing in America through therecruitment and retention of males inchoral music. In working with stu-dents to explore research-based meth-ods of instruction that meet the needsof both adolescent girls and boys, wecan minimize the barriers that keepboys from experiencing success in

choral music and build them up to bemusicians who can enjoy full partici-pation in the choral art whenever andwherever they choose.

Notes1. Leonard Van Camp, "The Choral

Crisis and a Plan for Action (An OpenLetter to My Colleagues)," Choral Journal28, no. 5 (1987): 15-20; Leonard Van

Camp, "Current Status of U.S. Secondaryand College/University Groups and MaleParticipation: Part I, The Survey," ChoralJournal 29, no. 4 (1988): 5-10; LeonardVan Camp, "Current Status of U.S.

Secondary and College/University Groupsand Male Participation: Part II, Analysisand Suggestions," Choral Journal 29, no. 5(1988): 5-13.

2. Van Camp, "Choral Crisis," 15.3. Julia Koza, "The ’Missing Males’ and

Other Gender-Related Issues in Music

Education: Evidence from the Music

Supervisors Journal (1912-1924)," Journalof Research in Music Education 41, no. 3(1993): 212-32.

4. John Locke, Some Thoughts Concern-ing Education, ed. John W Yolton and JeanS. Yolton (New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 2000). Originally published in

1695.

5. Michael Gurian, "Where Have Allthe Guys Gone? Different Learning StylesMean Young Men Are Being Left Behind inthe Classroom," Buffalo News (Buffalo,

NY), December 25, 2005; Richard

Whitmire, "Boy Trouble," The New

Republic, January 23, 2006, 15-18; PegTyre, "The Trouble with Boys," Newsweek,January 30, 2006, 44-54; David Von

Drehle, "The Myth About Boys," Time,

August 6, 2007, 38; David Brooks, "TheGender Gap at School," New York Times,June 11, 2006; Tom Chiarella, "The

Problem with Boys," Esquire, July 2006,96-138.

6. Lichtenstein Creative Media, "WhatIt Takes to Be a Man," The Infinite Mind,radio broadcast on station WABE in

Atlanta (June 10, 2006), available onlineat wwwlcmedia.com/mind430.htm; RaisingCain: Exploring the Inner Lives of America’sBoys, DVD, hosted by Michael Thompson(PBS Home Video, 2005).

7. Marcus Weaver-Hightower, "Cross-ing the Divide: Bridging the DisjuncturesBetween Theoretically Oriented and

Practice-Oriented Literature about

Masculinity and Boys at School," Genderand Education 15, no. 4 (2003): 407-23.

8. Marcus Weaver-Hightower, "Dare

the School Build a New Education for

Boys?" Teachers College Record, publishedFebruary 14, 2005, www.tcrecord.org, ID11743.

9. Laurence Steinberg, "Cognitive andAffective Development in Adolescence,"Trends in Cognitive Sciences 9, no. 2

(2005): 70.10. Leonard B. Sax, Why Gender

Matters (New York: Doubleday, 2005).11. Rick A. Stamer, "Motivation in the

Choral Rehearsal," Music Educators

Journal 85, no. 5 (1999): 26-29.12. Michael Gurian, Boys and Girls

Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers andParents (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001);Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson,Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional life



34

of Boys (New York: Ballentine Books,1999).

13. Patrick Kenneth Freer, "Rehearsal

Discourse of Choral Conductors: Meetingthe Needs of Young Adolescents" (EdDdiss., Teachers College-Columbia Univer-sity, New York, 2003), 164.

14. Andrea Honigsfeld and Rita Dunn,"High School Male and Female Learning-Style Similarities and Differences in

Diverse Nations," Journal of EducationalResearch 96, no. 4 (2003): 195-206.

15. Scott D. Harrison, "Engaging Boys:Overcoming Stereotypes—Another Lookat the Missing Males in Vocal Programs,"Choral Journal 45, no. 2 (2004): 24-29.

16. Ronald E. Dahl, "Adolescent Brain

Development: A Period of Vulnerabilitiesand Opportunities," Annals of the NewYork Academy of Sciences 1021 (2004): 9.

17. Patrick K. Freer, Success for AdolescentSingers: Unlocking the Potential in Middle

School Choirs, DVD series (Waitsfield, VT:Choral Excellence, 2005). &squf;



michellem

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michellem

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DOI: 10.2307/3399605

2000 86: 42Music Educators JournalKathleen Keenan-Takagi

instructional timechoral ensemble can give students valuable information about their progress without sacrificing

Embedding Assessment in Choral Teaching : Embedding assessment in the regular activities of a

Published by:


On behalf of:







What is This?














MUSIC AND MIDDLE SCHOOL CHORUS

EMBEDDING ASSESSMENT

IN CHORAL TEACHING Embedding assessment in the regular activities of a choral ensemble can give students

valuable information about their progress without sacrificing instructional time.

B A A A A

E arly in my career, a parent complained about a student's grade. My principal told me that I should have five grades per marking period. I

recalled that principal years later when I was teaching in a middle school. Each quarter, I had 240 choral students and 100 general music students to grade. I didn't want to stop the music in order to arrive at a grade. How was I to grade my heterogeneous group of students on skills, concepts, and repertoire within my time limitations? Yet, assessment can increase the musical value of a rehearsal. It can have a wonderful effect on the morale of an ensemble. Students feel pride in their achievements and accept individual responsibility for learning.

The answer was to embed assessment in the rehearsal. Embedding assessment means locating it within the regular practices of instruction, not outside them. I accepted the challenge

Kathleen Keenan-Takagi is associate professor of music at Illinois State University in Normal. Pre- viously, she taught chorus and general music in public schools in the state of New York for thirty years.

and determined that I would find five ways to assess the curriculum I taught so that I could write down five grades each quarter for each choral student.

Assessment can have a wonderful effect on the morale of an ensemble.

I created a bank of assessment tools that I could apply to measure student learning. I started with one assessment idea. I began at the beginning, with posture.

Visual Evidence Since good posture is fundamental

to good singing, I needed a way to assess students' achievement of expert

singing posture. I taught posture by means of a ten-point checklist, starting with the toes and moving to the head: "toes pointed forward," "feet flat on the floor," "knees slightly bent," etc. The instructional process that I used to teach good posture included three steps: I demonstrated it, called on students to model it, and then had students monitor their classmates' efforts. When I was sure that every student could produce correct posture, I had my students grade one another on the ten- point scale. Once all of the them had achieved the correct posture, I took pictures as evidence. The pictures went up on the wall before the fall open house, showing that each student had earned a 10 in posture. One result of this activity was that the students could discuss their success with their parents. The technique of using photographs as evidence of an external, visible skill went into my assessment bank. I now had a tool to document behavior that could be caught on film. (See the Assessing Singing Posture sidebar.)

Performance Samples The energy and excitability of mid-

dle school choral rehearsals present unique challenges in crowd control. Students expect to participate and be involved. The activity level makes it




m_u Assessing Singing Posture

Tool: Photographs

Activity: Students learn proper position of the toes, feet, knees, hips, waist, spine, rib cage, shoulders, neck, and head. They earn one point for each correct placement for singing.

Procedure: The teacher enumerates and demonstrates each posture placement, chooses a student as an exemplar, and provides practice in several songs and activities. The students learn by imitating the teacher and the student model. The students then monitor one another. Students at the ends of each row check all the students in the row. After sufficient practice, the students test their mastery. Feedback is available from the teacher, peers, and photographs.

Assessment technique: Students grade each other in pairs; the teacher mon- itors their proficiency. Each student must obtain a score of ten, because posture is crucial to the development of the singing voice and the ensemble.

Assessing Performance

Tools: Seating chart; soft ball

Activity: Students sing a major scale with good posture, breath support, and tone.

Procedure: The students sing lines of "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music. The teacher throws a soft ball to the student who is to sing alone. He or she sings a solo on a single line and tosses the ball back. As a group, the class sings the next line. The teacher tosses the ball to a different student, who sings the following line, and so on. The song does not stop. Each student gets a chance to sing alone. Volunteers sing first to minimize other students' nervousness.

Assessment technique: Using a seating chart, the teacher gives a plus to each successful student.

difficult for teachers to test singers individually. For in-class performance exams, I took a fragment from a warm- up that my students had learned thoroughly.

First, I worked with all my choral students on "Jubilate Deo" (Praetorius),

which we were using as a warm-up. It included the assessment fragment-the four notes of the ostinato. When everyone had mastered the ostinato, I called on volunteers to sing it by themselves. After they had sung, it was easy to go down the rows and have the other stu-

dents sing one after another. Two factors contributed to the students' acceptance of the process: the task was short, and the students had an opportunity to master it before they were assessed.

Calling on students by tossing a ball to them proved to be another way of creating an opportunity to sample performance. As a class, my students had learned tonic sol-fa patterns for major I, IV, and V chords and scale passages. I called on students who volunteered to sing alone by tossing them the ball. The student who caught it sang the selected pattern and tossed the ball back. By "sampling" the students' performance rather than asking them to sing extensively, I was able to evaluate twenty students in five minutes. I kept a seating chart on the piano and used it to record a plus or minus for each student. Such results are easy to record, share with students, and transfer to a grade book. Thus, another technique-sampling well-learned and thoroughly practiced material-went into the bank. (See the Assessing Per- formance sidebar.)

Some students were reluctant to sing alone. Letting these students sing with the support of a buddy or after school alleviated anxiety.

Keeping Track of Content Like every other choral director, I

was amazed that I could teach the dynamics of a phrase day after day and still need to re-teach them in the following weeks. A colleague devised an instant quiz. At the end of each rehearsal, she had her students jot down five musical "events" from it. She found that her students took the rehearsal process much more seriously as a result and that they remembered more from one rehearsal to the next.

This led to my development of a sheet called "What I Learned" for students to use to jot down the day's musical progress. The sheet served as a mini- journal of our class progress. It became a permanent fixture in the choral folder that each student used in class. Vocabu- lary, concepts, and diction presentations were recorded on the sheet. The activity allowed students to take some time in class to think about new material that was being presented. The sheet also had special benefits for visual learners.

JANUARY 2000 43



I continued my colleague's practice of using the sheet as an instant quiz. "Hand in your 'What I Learned' sheet today as you leave," I instructed my students from time to time. Then, on the day when I presented the Latin vowels, for example, I awarded one point for each one recorded on the sheet. (See the Assessing Understanding of Music Vocabulary and Concepts sidebar.)

Working from the Repertoire Learning to navigate notation is an

important task. Students should be able to transfer vocabulary and concepts that they have learned from one song to new pieces. One of my colleagues makes a chart of the first page of a piece of music that her chorus is learning. She explains each part of the notation-the staves, the clefs, and so on. (A clear example of this practice can be found in We Will Sing by Doreen Rao.)

To assess whether each student has mastered the notation maze, I took a selection that the students had sung and rehearsed and asked them to name each circled notation sign. Using this type of teacher-made test is standard instructional practice. The tests are easy to grade. Students have the necessary background for success, and my students could also prepare by reviewing their "What I Learned" study sheets. (See the Assessing Ability to Identify Notation sidebar.)

Reflective Writing Nothing interests middle school stu-

dents more than themselves. Teachers can harness this interest and use it to everyone's advantage by having students reflect on themselves and their work in writing.

Whenever possible, during the rehearsal period following a concert, we viewed a videotape of our performance. I asked my students to evaluate their concert using a form I adapted.1 My form gave students an opportunity to write an essay about the performance. Taking my cue from the language arts teachers, I required my students to make at least five accurate statements about five musical "events" (e.g., dynamics, phrasing, diction, rhythm, and pitch). I gave one point for each valid comment.

_- Assessing Understanding of Music - Vocabulary and Concepts

Tool: "What I Learned" sheet

Activity: At the end of each class or rehearsal, students reinforce their learning of the vocabulary and concepts of music performance by enter- ing new terms for notation, phrasing, etc., on sheets that provide them with personal records of their learning.

Procedure: The teacher distributes "What I Learned" sheets and asks students to write down the essential content of the days rehearsal. Students record the material presented in rehearsal, including musical terminology, important facts about the music that is being learned, and information presented in the lesson. For example, students might write that "dim." is short for "diminuendo" and means "gradually get softer."

Assessment technique: The teacher collects the sheets at the end of class to determine if the students have accurately recorded the material. One point is given for each valid item, up to five points total. Material on the sheets can become the content for teacher-made tests on vocabulary and concepts from the repertoire. When studying for such tests, students have a record of the vocabulary.

- Assessing Ability to Identify Notation -

Tool: Teacher-made test

Activity: Students learn the terms and meanings of the notation in the repertoire being prepared for performance.

Procedure: The teacher selects one page from the music being studied and uses an opaque projector to display an image of it for all students to see. The teacher then explains each element of the score-e.g., staff, clef, and key signature. The students mark each element on a study sheet. The teacher makes a test that calls on students to identify each element using the correct terms.

Assessment technique: By taking a teacher-made test that can be scored quickly and objectively, students demonstrate their understanding and recall of notational terms that the teacher has explained in the music they are studying.

Reflective writing, even with young choristers, develops critical and musical thinking. It reveals the complex thoughts of each student. Some of my students' essays made wonderful read-

ing, and the personalities of the students shone through. What was just as remarkable from a practical point of view was that the grading was quick and easy-both to do and to explain to




Assessing Reflective WritinEg

Tool: "Concert Reflection" form

Activity: Students write about a recent performance by their ensemble, developing their ability to critique music performance while using a music vocabulary.

Procedure: The teacher arranges to have a concert by the students videotaped. The students watch the tape. Using the "Concert Reflection" checklist (shown below), they listen to, describe, and evaluate their performance. This form gives each student an opportunity to express his or her feelings about the concert.

Assessment technique: Students receive one point for each accurate reference to a musical "event" (like a crescendo) that is expressed in appropriate music vocabulary. Up to 5 points.

CONCERT REFLECTION

Name

Listen, and mark the boxes next to the statements that you think are true of the performance.

Tone Quality

O The tone quality is good at all times.

O Every note has enough breath for its length. O The performance sounds good.

Rhythm

J The chorus begins and ends each line and phrase together. O The rhythms are clear and together. O Tempo changes are secure.

Diction

O The words are easy to understand.

O The chorus projects vowels and consonants clearly.

Expression

O The dynamics help express the meaning of the piece. 1 The mood of the piece is clear and projected effectively. O Members of the chorus use facial expressions to help project the meaning of the piece.

Using the vocabulary that you have learned in music class (for example, "crescendo," "accent," "expression"), discuss the performance. You will be given one point for each statement that refers to a music "event" with appropriate vocab-

ulary (up to 5 points in all).

JANUARY 2000 45



students. Because the grading was simple and fair, reflective writing went into the bank. (See the Assessing Reflective Writing sidebar.)

Thus, without taking time from music making, I had five separate and complementary assessment tools for obtaining five measures of each of my choral students. My success motivated me to extend each technique into the second quarter. Photographs documented evidence of Curwen hand sign fluency in the next marking period. By the fourth quarter, photo essays on conducting patterns had earned a place on the bulletin boards.

Benefits of Embedded Assessient The greatest benefit of embedded

assessment is to the student. Your students will progress steadily and surely when you make your expectations clear to them. When your assessments indicate that students are not mastering the material, you will have the information that you need to change and adapt. By valuing individual success, you will be making a strong commitment to each student.

Assessment builds credibility for your program with students, parents, colleagues, and administrators. You would be surprised at how many math teachers are unaware that music education has content standards. When you assess your students' learning in ways that are meaningful musically, you are taking advantage of the rewarding nature of music.

Because most music teachers have hundreds of students to instruct, assessment must be efficient. Embedded assessment uses techniques that derive from typical rehearsal activities.

Tactics for Success The following tips may help you

embed assessment successfully in the regular activities of your choral ensemble:

* Start with a lesson that you teach well. Define success and develop a point system that is very clear to the student. Refine and redefine the process to make it smooth and maxi- mize success.

* Make the standard objective. If every student would assign the same grade that you would, the goal and the

Resources

Chiodo, E A. "Assessing the Cast of Thousands." (Paper presented at the conference of the Illinois Music Educators Association, Peoria, IL, Janu- ary 1999). Available from author: [email protected].

Gates, J. Terry. EmbeddedAssessment: A New York State Approach. 1995.

Kagan, Spencer. Cooperative Learning Structures Binder. San Clemente, CA: Resources for Teachers, 1991.

Larkin, Michael H. "The Construction and Validation of Ratring Scales for the Objective Measurement of Five Dimensions of Achievement in Choral Music." Ph.D. diss. Temple University, 1985.

MENC. Teaching Choral Music. A Course of Study. Reston, VA: MENC, 1991.

New York State Classroom Music Committee. Assessment in the Elemen-

tary Music Classroom. Albany: New York: New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), 1997.

Rao, Doreen. We Will Sing. Boosey and Hawkes: New York, 1995.

standard are clear. Picture the student explaining the grade to a skeptical older sibling.

* Use the simplest system you can. Sometimes a mere yes" or no" is the quickest and most sensible measure. Can the student sing all the syllables in the scale on pitch? You do not want to spend any time explaining the grade. Complexities in student profiles will emerge from the multiple measures. Make each component clear and simple.

* Make the assessment as short as possible. Each student can be graded quickly and fairly. This is the real world-strive for one minute or less per student. For example, the descending scale at the end of "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music makes a great eight-note fragment for use in assessment. Remember that you are sampling learned and mastered skills. You're just taking a snapshot. With 240 students, even one minute per student amounts to four hours of class time.

* Allow plenty of practice before you test. Eighty percent of the class should score 80 percent or higher. If not, the skill has not been learned. Don't test

until you are confident that the majority of your students have achieved mastery. Skill development requires practice. Group your students in teams for practice, and then have them evaluate each other. Use every opportunity for cooperative pairings.

* Do not reinvent the wheel. Take advantage of the expertise of those around you. If you want to evaluate student writing, ask the language arts teachers for techniques. Promote the strengths of your colleagues. If a colleague is a specialist in portfolios, ask him or her how to use them for assessment. An added benefit of discussing assessment with colleagues is that your fellow teachers will understand your program better.

* Share your ideas with others. Music is a shared endeavor-so is teaching. If you have an assessment idea that is working well with your students, share it. If your attempts need fine-tuning, consult with a colleague. (See the Resources sidebar for additional help.)

* Record your students' results. You aren't performing assessment until you

continued on page 63




Embedding Assessment in Choral Teaching

continuedfrom page 46

document individual students' results and share them with the students.

* Collect the best work of your students. This tactic motivates students to excel. Students are justifiably proud when teachers select their work as exemplars. This practice makes learning cooperative, not competitive. Gift- ed students are not held down but can soar.

* Use cooperative learning strategies. These techniques can make all the difference. For example, pairing students in the practice stage and having students practice aloud simultaneously can be vehicles that provide students with ample opportunities for practice and mastery. When students actively help each other master the material, each student enjoys the joint success.

Put It in the Bank When you have developed your first

embedded assessment measure, put it in your own assessment bank. Use your commitment to your students to find creative and engaging activities that will lead to mastery of important skills, concepts, and repertoire. You will unlock your instructional potential and the musical potential of your students. Of course, there will be setbacks, but even failures offer chances for improvement. Clear analysis of a setback can lead you to a new technique, sequence of instruction, or assessment measure. Put each success in the bank. Watch your investments grow as you respond to new situations, music, and students. The challenge of fitting assessment to the needs of the students and the goals of the program is truly a continuing adventure.

Note 1. My form was adapted from Michael

Larkin, "The Construction and Validation of

Rating Scales for the Objective Measurement

of Five Dimensions of Achievement in

Choral Music" (Ph.D. diss., Temple Univer-

sity, 1985). -

JANUARY 2000 63

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DOI: 10.1177/0027432112443561

2012 98: 75Music Educators JournalJulia Shaw

The Skin that We Sing : Culturally Responsive Choral Music Education

Published by:


On behalf of:







What is This?

- Jun 19, 2012Version of Record >>













Copyright © 2012 National Association for Music Education DOI: 10.1177/0027432112443561 http://mej.sagepub.com

www.nafme.org 75

Julia Shaw is a doctoral fellow in music education at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. In her former role as Neighborhood and In-School Conductor for the Chicago Children’s Choir, she taught in diverse public school settings throughout Chicago. She can be contacted at [email protected].

“Since language is one of the most inti-mate expressions of identity, indeed, ‘the skin that we speak,’ then to reject

a person’s language can only feel as though we are rejecting him.”1 Replacing only a few words in author and educator Lisa Delpit’s statement produces a thought-provoking per-spective for music teachers to contemplate: since music is one of the most intimate expres-sions of identity, indeed, “the skin that we sing,” then to reject a person’s music can only feel as though we are rejecting him. American music education has historically been based on Eurocentric frameworks, the relevance and efficacy of which have been questioned as society has become increasingly diverse. Are the truths and methods music educators have

long held dear causing some students to feel as though their music, and therefore their very being, is rejected in our classrooms?

This question reflects larger concerns surrounding how to respond to culture in the music classroom. Culture, a difficult con-cept to define, refers to “a dynamic system of social values, cognitive codes, behavioral standards, worldviews, and beliefs used to give order and meaning to our own lives as well as the lives of others.”2 The conception of culture used here assumes that in addition to being shaped by culture, individuals can serve as agents for shaping culture.3 The idea that people can influence culture is essential to the belief that teachers and students can effect social change.

The Skin that We Sing Culturally Responsive Choral Music EducationAbstract: This article describes ways that music education can be made more culturally responsive, or congruent with the orientations of culturally diverse students. Music education in the United States has historically been based on Eurocentric frameworks that may no longer be applicable in an increasingly multicultural society. For the many teachers charged with the responsibility of teaching students from backgrounds other than their own, there is a demon-strated need to develop pedagogical practices that respond to cultural diversity. In response to this need, this article builds on an abundance of literature addressing culturally responsive pedagogy in general education to apply the principles specifically to choral music education. In addition to describing culturally responsive approaches to repertoire selection, rehearsal technique, and curriculum design, the article discusses how choral music education can go beyond a surface treatment of diverse repertoire to one that develops students’ sociopolitical competence and empowers them toward social action.

Keywords: culturally responsive pedagogy, curriculum, multicultural music, rehearsal, repertoire How do our music curricula embrace or exclude our students? What can we as teachers do to widen the circle?

by Julia Shaw



Music Educators Journal June 201276

Cultural concerns have become increasingly important to the many teachers charged with the responsibil-ity of teaching students from cultural backgrounds different from their own. The National Center for Education Sta-tistics reported that from 2000–2001 to 2007–2008, the proportion of public school enrollment composed of white students decreased from 61 to 56 per-cent.4 However, in 2008, the majority of public school teachers—about 83 per-cent—were white.5 These statistics sug-gest that the diversity represented by public school students is not reflected in the population of teachers, indicating a need to develop pedagogical practices that meet the needs of students from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. Frederick Erickson’s observation that everyone is cultural and multicultural suggests that all teachers, not only those who perceive their classrooms to be particularly diverse, have a responsibil-ity to attend to the culturally influenced strengths and needs of the individuals in their classrooms.6

Many terms have been used to refer to ways of making classroom instruction more congruent with the cultural orien-tations of ethnically diverse students, including culturally relevant, sensitive, centered, congruent, reflective, medi-ated, synchronized, and responsive.7 I will use culturally responsive pedagogy to refer to these ideas, which award-winning author Geneva Gay defined as “using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them.”8 I have selected culturally responsive ped-agogy as my term of choice because the inclusion of the word responsive refers to the teacher’s response to children’s cultural backgrounds and resulting strengths and needs, implying a child-centered approach.

Choral music education in particular, with its strong foundation in the Western classical tradition, is often approached from a Eurocentric perspective. While upholding a rich Western classical tra-dition is an achievement that should be

celebrated and continued, educators should also be aware of ways in which choral music education can be prone to ethnocentricism in its practice. Because singing provides an accessible avenue for both validating students’ own cul-tural backgrounds and teaching about diverse cultures, choral music education has the potential to be at the forefront of making music education as a whole more culturally responsive. This article builds on an abundance of literature addressing culturally responsive peda-gogy in general education to apply the principles to choral music education.9 In addition to describing culturally respon-sive approaches to repertoire selection, rehearsal technique, and curriculum design, I will discuss how choral educa-tors can go beyond a surface treatment of diverse repertoire to one that develops students’ sociopolitical competence and empowers them toward social action.

Selecting Repertoire from a Culturally Responsive PerspectiveMany choral teachers approach curricu-lum and instruction from a “repertoire-at-the-center” perspective, making repertoire selection a logical point of departure for infusing choral music education with culturally responsive practices. It is con-tradictory to tout music’s power as uni-versal but then rely heavily or solely on Western classical music in our teaching of the subject. While many educators acknowledge a need to diversify the cur-riculum by including repertoire repre-sentative of many cultures, identifying where to begin can be overwhelming. Culturally responsive teaching, with its student-centered focus, suggests that we begin the repertoire selection process by considering our students rather than by perusing a publisher’s catalogue or read-ing through a stack of octavos. To guide this process, components of Gay’s defi-nition of culturally responsive teaching might be transformed into questions that inform repertoire choices: What music would build upon my students’ prior experiences? What pieces would capital-

ize on their cultural knowledge? What selections could my students experience through their preferred learning styles? Which would showcase their culturally informed performance styles? Instead of thinking of culture as something dis-tant and removed, one way that cultur-ally responsive teachers can attend to the culture present in their own classrooms is by including repertoire that honors their own students’ cultural heritage.

Teaching from repertoire that vali-dates students’ cultural backgrounds develops students’ cultural competence, which “refers to the ability of students to grow in understanding and respect for their culture of origin.”10 Developing cultural competence through music pro-vides students who perceive a discon-nect between home and school cultures ways to navigate between those cultures, to be bicultural, and to be bimusical. For example, some African American students equate academic achievement with a loss of their African American identity, viewing doing well in school as “acting White.”11 Gloria Ladson-Bill-ings indicated that culturally responsive teaching “develops a relevant black per-sonality that allows African American students to choose academic excellence yet still identify with African American culture.”12 Music teachers can capitalize upon music’s role in conceptualizing and projecting one’s identity to help all stu-dents develop a “relevant personality.”

Several factors complicate the pro-cess of determining what music repre-sents students’ cultural heritage. Each individual belongs to multiple social groups defined by variables—such as class, race, ethnicity, gender, national-ity, and religion—that interact in com-plex ways to make one’s cultural identity highly individualized and personal.13 Ladson-Billings coined the useful term “culture of reference” to refer to the cul-tural group (including ethnic and racial characteristics) with which one most identifies.14 Teachers must consider that students’ cultures of reference may be different from their cultures of origin and that they may identify with multiple cultures. They must also avoid essential-izing culture by assuming that all people



www.nafme.org 77

belonging to a social category are cultur-ally similar.15

For example, a music teacher attem-pting to respond to the needs of his or her Hispanic students might essentialize culture by programming an arrangement of a Mexican folk song, assuming that all Hispanic students identify with Mexi-can culture.16 Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Cuban students, for instance, might respond differently to various musical traditions, as might individuals within each of these groups. Similarly, a teacher might assume that all Hispanic students will automatically relate to pieces sung in Spanish, failing to recognize that not all Hispanic students speak Spanish. Selecting quality arrangements or per-forming in a variety of languages might be important first steps, but can fall short of cultural responsiveness when accom-panied by assumptions that any single musical tradition is representative of or relevant to all people of a given cultural background.

Given these complexities, how can music teachers select repertoire that represents students’ cultures of refer-ence? One seemingly obvious answer is to respectfully ask students and par-ents about their musical backgrounds. Many teachers have students complete questionnaires at the beginning of the school year in order to get acquainted, and including questions about students’ musical experiences outside of school can be informative. When teachers seek parent involvement through booster organizations, back-to-school nights, or volunteer sign-ups, they might inquire about languages in which parents are fluent and areas of expertise they might be willing to share. Autobiographical assignments can offer further insight into what music the students find culturally relevant. Students could be asked to col-lect a song from a family member, bring a recording of music they enjoy at home, develop a timeline of their musical lives, or create a podcast featuring music that represents their cultural background. Teachers could model autobiographical work by constructing a lesson around music from their own cultural back-ground, and then ask students to discuss

or bring in music that serves similar pur-poses in their lives.

Culturally responsive teachers do not limit themselves to addressing only the cultures of those present in the classroom, but address cultural diversity from multiple perspectives. They seek to deepen students’ understanding of, appreciation for, and value of cultures other than their own. In an ethnically and racially mixed classroom, each musi-cal experience might simultaneously validate some students’ cultures while broadening others’ cultural horizons. Therefore, teachers must consider how repertoire functions along two dimen-sions: its cultural responsiveness and its cultural validity.

The term authenticity has proved problematic due to its multiplicity of def-initions, and scholars have questioned whether authenticity can exist when music is re-created in school settings outside of its culture of origin. Respond-ing to this conundrum, professor and scholar Carlos Abril suggested that edu-cators should strive to create “culturally valid” musical experiences, which he defined as being typical and character-istic of the represented culture.17 Several authors have provided insights into how culturally valid repertoire can responsi-bly be selected and performed.18 While I will not duplicate their efforts, a few ideas follow. Many published “multi-cultural” choral octavos can be charac-terized as “arrangements based upon international material,” often created by someone from outside of the culture of origin.19 Teachers should be aware that publication does not guarantee cul-tural validity or quality. Choral directors should carefully evaluate all published materials and would be well advised to seek out unpublished material from pri-mary sources.

The single most important way of ensuring the cultural validity of reper-toire, as well as the manner in which it is taught, programmed, and performed, is to consult directly with representa-tives of each culture. If at all possible, choirs should have an opportunity to work with musicians native to each cul-ture studied. Teachers can draw upon

resources present in the community to learn music directly from parents, stu-dents, and colleagues. While the best means of consulting is undoubtedly live and in person, technological advances open possibilities for collaboration that might not otherwise be possible. With their permission, a videoconferencing session with an expert can be recorded and shared with multiple classes. Over some years, an impressive collection of resources could be acquired.

Among the most important experts with whom teachers can consult are their own students. Delpit observed that “The teacher cannot be the only expert in the classroom. To deny students their own expert knowledge is to disem-power them.”20 Including music from stu-dents’ cultures of reference is one way to empower students by allowing them to serve as experts. Teachers could respect and channel students’ expert knowledge by asking them to coach pronunciation of languages in which they are fluent, assist the class by providing information about the music’s cultural context, or take a lead-ership role in evaluating the cultural valid-ity of the choir’s performances. Allowing students to share the role of expert does not mean that teachers relinquish control of their classrooms, but that they model a receptive attitude and lifelong learning by occasionally learning from and alongside students.

Rehearsals that Respond to CultureThe cultural responsiveness of even the most responsible repertoire choices can be undermined by rehearsal practices that are not congruent with the orienta-tions of ethnically diverse students. Gay noted that “These discontinuities can interfere with students’ academic achieve-ment, in part because how students are accustomed to engaging in intellectual processing, self presentation, and task per-formance is different from the processes used in school.”21 While it is beyond the scope of this article to describe the mul-titude of strategies teachers might use to accommodate diverse students’ learning




styles in rehearsal settings, some ways of attending to cultural incompatibilities common in choral music education are discussed.

Consider a teacher who selects a gos-pel piece in response to African Ameri-can students who have grown up singing gospel at their church, where music is learned aurally. The teacher introduces the piece by handing out scores and asking the choir to sight-read from nota-tion. While the repertoire choice may be responsive, the learning and perfor-mance styles emphasized in the rehearsal may not be synchronous with those emphasized in these particular students’ culture of reference. For students who have not previously experienced gos-pel music, teaching from a score might reduce the cultural validity of the experi-ence. This is not to suggest that students should not learn to read notation, but that repertoire from notated traditions would better serve that purpose. (This hypothetical situation is provided only as an example. Certainly, there are gos-pel musicians who work with notation.)

The choice of whether to teach music orally or from notation should be determined by two factors: the learning styles of the individuals being taught and the manner in which the music would be taught and learned in its culture of origin. Culturally responsive teach-ers recognize aural learning as a valid learning style and teach music orally when appropriate, considering the cul-tural responsiveness and validity of doing so. Teaching orally can provide opportunities for some students to use their preferred learning modality while strengthening the overall musicianship of all singers.

On the other hand, music teachers may be tempted to deemphasize musi-cal notation if it is not particularly val-ued by students’ cultures of reference. Delpit’s analysis of skills-based versus process-based approaches to language arts instruction offers several interest-ing parallels to children’s development of fluency with musical notation. Del-pit emphasized that the formal conven-tions of Standard English writing and speaking represent a cultural code that

students must learn to succeed in main-stream society.22 Fluency with musical notation similarly represents a cultural code that could control students’ access to opportunities, positioning teachers as gatekeepers. In denying students access to this code, teachers could prevent students’ entrance into college music programs or limit their participation in certain ensembles. Therefore, teachers should adopt a balanced approach to teaching notation.

Choral music education as com-monly practiced in the United States has also emphasized a Western classi-cal style of vocal technique. The success with which students have been taught this tradition is an achievement of which our profession is justifiably proud. How-ever, culturally valid performances of diverse music sometimes require the use of equally diverse vocal timbres (e.g., the extensive use of chest voice featured in some African and African American styles).23 To perform these styles using traditional Western classical vocal timbre might compromise the cultural valid-ity of the performances and thwart the ideals of culturally responsive teaching by denying some students opportunities to demonstrate their culturally informed performance styles. Delpit argued that “All people have the right to their own language. We cannot constantly correct children and expect them to continue to want to talk like us.”24 Teachers need to consider whether students will continue to want to “sing like us” if we insist that there is only one valid way to sing.

Some choral educators have expres-sed concern that singing in styles other than the Western classical tradition will result in vocal damage. Teachers obvi-ously have a responsibility to attend to students’ vocal health regardless of the style or cultural origin of the music being sung. Students can be taught to approach a variety of vocal timbres healthily with attention to matters such as posture, breath support, and appropriate vocal range, and by guarding against physical tension and overuse.

Studies suggest that given opportu-nities to demonstrate culturally preferred performance styles, students may be

more receptive of other styles, includ-ing but not limited to traditional Western classical vocal timbre. African American students’ speech style has been shown to diverge more from Standard English in classrooms where their vernacular speech was constantly corrected.25 A sim-ilar relationship has been found between vocal style and cultural mistrust. In Chinn’s (1997) study, African American participants who scored higher on a cul-tural mistrust survey demonstrated more characteristics of African American sing-ing when asked to sing “America” in the key and style of their choice.26 Instruc-tion can support mastery of multiple vocal styles, timbres, and techniques without denigrating the performance styles emphasized in students’ cultures of reference. Rather than rejecting these styles outright, making students feel that “the skin they sing” is entirely invalid, teachers can guide students to discover for which musical contexts different vocal styles are appropriate.

Beyond the Repertoire: Developing Sociopolitical CompetenceMusic teachers cannot be content to focus solely on musical content and avoid potentially controversial issues related to race, ethnicity, and culture, but must be prepared to handle uncom-fortable conversations that may arise as long-held beliefs of students are chal-lenged, assumptions are questioned, and stereotypes are confronted. Students should be guided to recognize and chal-lenge systems of oppression, inequality, and social injustice, a process Ladson-Billings called “promoting students’ sociopolitical competence.”27 For music teachers, this translates into a need to go beyond simple exposure to diverse music and to guide students to dis-cuss, interrogate, and delve deeply into related sociopolitical issues. Approaches to music education that reduce music to its constituent parts allow for the avoid-ance of social implications and issues.28 One could teach the South African song “Shosholoza” with attention to its



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melodic, rhythmic, harmonic, and formal characteristics, but complete avoidance of the song’s connection to apartheid. This would result in an incomplete understanding of the song and a mis-guided attempt at culturally respon-sive teaching. It is not being suggested that music teachers should transform into social studies teachers, abandoning musical content and concerns. Rather, teachers can attend to students’ musical and sociopolitical development as mutu-ally reinforcing ends.

One way that choral teachers can promote students’ sociopolitical com-petence is by selecting repertoire and materials that open dialogue. For exam-ple, the song “We Shall Overcome” logically leads to discussion of the civil rights movement, which could lead into discussion of present-day human rights issues. Students can also analyze how social groups are represented (or not represented) in classroom materials or other media. A teacher’s first instinct might be to eliminate culturally insensi-tive materials, but instead, such materi-als might be brought into the classroom for analysis provided they are carefully selected and developmentally appro-priate. Students could analyze stereo-types conveyed through song lyrics or musical clichés, such as a “cha-cha- cha” concluding a piece. By exercising these analytical skills, students can pro-gress toward developing the sociopo-litical competence required to recognize and challenge stereotypes, racism, and oppression.

Teachers can also go beyond discus-sion and analysis of sociopolitical matters by empowering students toward social action. Abril profiled a teacher who did just this when students questioned her decision to program “La Raspa” for an upcoming concert, arguing that the piece portrayed Mexicans stereotypically.29 When students voiced their concerns, the teacher assigned students the responsibil-ity of deciding whether to perform the piece. To inform their decision, students conducted a poll of parents, friends, and community members. This example mod-els several characteristics of teachers who develop students’ sociopolitical compe-

tence: they avoid positioning themselves as the only expert, encourage students to take responsibility for deciding appropri-ate action, and open dialogue that may even extend beyond their own class-rooms. Teachers can further empower students by engaging them in the role of social critic through music composition or by having students write program notes, opinion pieces, or blogs from a critical stance.

Building a Curriculum of Culturally Responsive Musical ExperiencesMusic teachers might consider two complementary aims of culturally responsive music education to be vali-dating students’ cultures of reference and broadening their cultural horizons. With practical limitations on instruc-tional time, designing curriculum that responds to culture without compro-mising other aims of musical instruction might be a daunting prospect. Teachers might feel overwhelmed by the seem-ingly infinite number of cultures they could experience with students and dis-couraged by the impossibility of being personally expert in all of these forms of musical expression. It might be help-ful to approach curriculum design, with repertoire at its core, by envisioning a continuum from familiar to unfamiliar, which world music expert Huib Schip-pers called the “unfamiliarity index.”30

Repertoire drawn from students’ cultural backgrounds serves as an appro-priate starting point for musical instruc-tion, giving students something familiar, relevant, and accessible with which to engage and build confidence. When students perceive the teacher as an “out-sider” or “other,” beginning with music from the students’ cultural backgrounds can reduce resistance and build rapport and credibility, paving the way to subse-quent learning. The unfamiliarity index is highly individualized, and, as previ-ously noted, knowing what music should be considered “very familiar” for partic-ular learners requires sensitivity on the part of the teacher.

Educators should not be satisfied with mere familiarity with previously unfamiliar music as an end result of culturally responsive teaching. There-fore, I propose a continuum model for culturally responsive curriculum design in which teachers plan experiences that provide students with cultural valida-tion, then help students progress toward thoughtfully valuing music that has previously been beyond the realm of their personal experiences (see Figure 1). “Thoughtful valuation,” a term bor-rowed from John Dewey that refers to mediation and criticism of experience, reflects an ultimate aim of culturally responsive teaching.31 As Paul Woodford aptly described, criticism in this context does not imply negativism but, rather, refers to “breadth and depth of experi-ence coupled with a commitment to careful research, analysis, and judgment about things that matter.”32 By position-ing “thoughtful valuation” as the con-tinuum’s endpoint, I mean that students should go beyond mere exposure to, familiarity with, or passive acceptance of music representative of diverse cul-tures, learning to value it with a sense of social responsibility. Music teachers who desire to help students effect social change should consider John Dewey’s notion that thoughtful valuation, rather than art itself, is the true agent of societal transformation.33

Musical experiences generate the momentum to move students along the continuum. My emphasis of the word experiences suggests that culturally responsive teaching refers to repertoire, methods, or knowledge not in isolation but, rather, in synergy with one another, resulting in musical experiences that are more relevant to and effective for culturally diverse students. In a racially and ethnically mixed classroom, stu-dents will approach each musical experi-ence from many different positions along the continuum. Fortunately, the academic year affords many opportunities (e.g., multiple musical experiences within a lesson, several pieces performed in each concert, etc.) to connect with individuals at various points between cultural vali-dation and thoughtful valuation.




How can educators select midpoint experiences that move students toward thoughtful valuation of music from diverse cultures? Student interest might drive the decision-making process, or other aims and goals of instruction might make the choice of one experience more logical than another. Decisions might

be guided by practical reasons, such as a schoolwide initiative to learn about a specific culture or an opportunity to collaborate with another teacher or department. Serendipitous events (e.g., a doctoral student from Zimbabwe hap-pens to be attending a nearby university, a parent plays erhu, etc.) might provide

the impetus for designing an experience. Providing role models from students’ cul-tures of origin performing in other tradi-tions (such as Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel, or William Grant Still) might be a possible intermediate step to help students progress from cul-turally familiar music toward thoughtful valuation of previously unfamiliar music.

Teachers need not feel pressured to “cover” every conceivable culture, an approach that would undoubtedly result only in superficial encounters with the music given limitations on time for instruction and teacher prepa-ration. Instead, teachers could thought-fully select one or two cultures to study in depth each year. Students could then experience several works from one cul-ture rather than one piece from each of several cultures, resulting in deep, meaningful experiences. Because cho-ral teachers are often privileged to work with students for more than one year, the continuum model could be envi-sioned as a spiral in which students repeatedly progress from experiences that validate their own cultures toward thoughtfully valuing the music of diverse cultures though a multiyear process (see Figure 2). Teachers can focus their efforts each year and develop a rotation of cultures about which they feel suf-ficiently knowledgeable and comfort-able to teach. Students would amass an impressive repertoire and might come to thoughtfully value the music of sev-eral previously unfamiliar cultures upon graduation from a program approached in this manner.

Gay emphasized that culturally responsive pedagogy teaches to and through the strengths of culturally diverse students.34 Choral music edu-cators can teach to and through these strengths by selecting culturally valid repertoire that responds to students’ needs, adopting a balanced approach to teaching notation, promoting sing-ing with a variety of vocal timbres and techniques, developing students’ socio-political competence, and designing curriculum around musical experiences that lead students to thoughtfully value music representative of diverse cultures.

FIGURE 1Culturally Responsive Curriculum Continuum

FIGURE 2Multiyear Culturally Responsive Spiral Curriculum



www.nafme.org 81

Because of music’s power as a cultural referent, music teachers are uniquely positioned to improve the quality of stu-dents’ educational experiences through culturally responsive practice.

Notes

1. Lisa D. Delpit, “No Kinda Sense,” in The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom, ed. Lisa D. Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy (New York: New Press, 2002), 47.

2. Geneva Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice (New York: Teachers College Press, 2000), 8. In this passage, Gay is paraphrasing Concha Delgado-Gaitan and Enrique T. Trueba, Crossing Cultural Borders: Education for Immigrant Families in America (New York: Falmer Press, 1991).

3. For a discussion of agency, see Frederick Erickson, “Culture in Society and in Educational Practices,” in Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives, ed. James A. Banks and Cherry A. McGee Banks (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2005), 37–38.

4. Susan Aud, Mary Ann Fox, and Angelina KewalRamani, “Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups” (NCES 2010-15, US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, Washington, DC, 2010).

5. Jared Coopersmith and Kerry Gruber, “Characteristics of Public, Private, and Bureau of Indian Education Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States: Results from the 2007–08 Schools and Staffing Survey” (NCES 2009-321, US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, Washington, DC, 2009).

6. Erickson, “Culture in Society.”

7. Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching.

8. Ibid., 29.

9. Lisa D. Delpit, Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom (New York: Norton, 1995); Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching; Lisa D. Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, The Skin That We Speak:

Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom (New York: New Press, 2002); Gloria Ladson-Billings, The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children, 2nd ed. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994); and Gloria Ladson-Billings, Crossing Over to Canaan: The Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001).

10. Gloria Ladson-Billings, “I Ain’t Writin’ Nuttin’: Permissions to Fail and Demands to Succeed in Urban Classrooms,” in Delpit and Dowdy, The Skin That We Speak, 111.

11. Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu, “Black Students’ School Success: Coping with the Burden of ‘Acting White,’” Urban Review 18, no. 3 (1986): 176–206.

12. Ladson-Billings, The Dreamkeepers, 17.

13. James A. Banks, “Multicultural Education: Characteristics and Goals,” in Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives, ed. James A. Banks and Cherry A. McGee Banks (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2005), 3–32.

14. Ladson-Billings, The Dreamkeepers, 28.

15. Erickson, “Culture in Society.”

16. The U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the term Hispanic can be used interchangeably with the term Latino and can be used to refer to people of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. See Karen R. Humes, Nicholas A. Jones, and Roberto R. Ramirez, “Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010” (Washington, DC: US Census Bureau, 2011), http://www .census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf (accessed September 9, 2011).

17. Carlos R. Abril, “Music That Represents Culture: Selecting Music with Integrity,” Music Educators Journal 93, no. 1 (2006): 38–45.

18. Ibid.; Mary Goetze, “The Challenges of Performing Choral Music of the World,” in Performing with Understanding: The Challenge of the National Standards for Music Education, ed. B. F. Reimer (Reston, VA: MENC, 2000); Mary Goetze, “Challenges of Performing Diverse Cultural Music,” Music Educators

Journal 87, no. 1 (2000): 23–48; and Clayton Parr, “Eight Simple Rules for Singing Multicultural Music,” Music Educators Journal 93, no. 1 (2006): 34–37.

19. Goetze, “The Challenges of Performing,” 156.

20. Delpit, Other People’s Children, 32–33.

21. Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching, 12.

22. Delpit, Other People’s Children.

23. Goetze, “The Challenges of Performing,” 160.

24. Delpit, “No Kinda Sense,” 33.

25. Ann McCormick Piestrup, Black Dialect Interferences and Accommodations of Reading Instruction in First Grade (Washington, DC: National Institute of Mental Health, 1973).

26. Beverly Johnson Chinn, “Vocal Self-Identification, Singing Style, and Singing Range in Relationship to a Measure of Cultural Mistrust in African-American Adolescent Females,” Journal of Research in Music Education 45, no. 4 (1997): 636–49.

27. Ladson-Billings, “I Ain’t Writin’ Nuttin,’” 111.

28. Paul Woodford, Democracy and Music Education: Liberalism, Ethics, and the Politics of Practice (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005).

29. Carlos R. Abril, “Responding to Culture in the Instrumental Music Programme: A Teacher’s Journey,” Music Education Research 11, no. 1 (2009): 77–91.

30. Huib Schippers, Facing the Music: Shaping Music Education from a Global Perspective (New York: Oxford, 2010), 29.

31. John Dewey, Experience and Nature (Chicago: Open Court Publishing Company, 1925), 437.

32. Woodford, Democracy and Music Education, 18.

33. Michael Eldridge, Transforming Experience: John Dewey’s Cultural Instrumentalism (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 1998).

34. Gay, Culturally Responsive Teaching, 29.





DOI: 10.2307/3399740

2001 88: 34Music Educators JournalLynn A. Corbinsing better

comparisonlcontrast discussions and completion of worksheets can help students understand more and Enhancing Learning in the Choral Rehearsal : During the choral rehearsal, activities such as

Published by:


On behalf of:







What is This?

- Sep 1, 2001Version of Record >>













ENHANCING LEARNING IN

THE CHORAL REHEARSAL During the choral rehearsal, activities such as comparison/contrast discussions and

completion of worksheets can help students understand more and sing better.

~A ~great variety of systems are available for intro-

ducing music to singers, and these systems are effective in different

ways. Warm-ups, sight-reading, music

history, music theory, and stylistic elements can be integrated efficiently into an intermediate or high-school choral rehearsal, bringing meaning and purpose to what may appear to be unconnected activities. This article is intended to encourage choral directors to do a bit more rehearsal planning and to consider the broader and deeper purposes of students' experiences in music. Like anything else, once one gets the hang of it, the time needed for

planning decreases. The typical vocal warm-up may

consist of some variation of a five-tone scale or a broken triad/arpeggio, long tones, tongue twisters, and tuning. Why are these particular activities usually selected? Do they relate to the music of the day's rehearsal? General vocal development and pitch control are certainly valid objectives, but

warm-up exercises can accomplish more than one purpose.

Lynn A. Corbin is professor of music at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia.

Students can give outstanding performances when they are confident as musicians.

A useful question for teachers is, "Am I teaching songs, or am I teach-

ing music?" If we consider the implementation of most state curricula and the National Standards for Music Education, too often we don't get past "Sing alone and with others a varied

repertoire of music." The pressures of concerts, festivals, and competitions notwithstanding, we can do more. It takes somewhat more time, consider-

ably more thought, and probably more marketing, because the students

may initially resist. But if they can see the relevance of the task and become

proficient in a variety of musical skills, less time will be spent in pounding out notes and re-pounding out notes, and more music learning will occur on all fronts. And what else are we teach-

ing in music class? Self-confidence, teamwork, music appreciation, and

performance skills should be by-prod- ucts of any ensemble experience. The self-confidence that students have when they feel independent as musicians is well worth the effort.

A surprisingly large number of

music-learning activities can be inte-

grated into one rehearsal. What fol-




lows is a lesson plan accompanied by sample worksheets and a commentary on these additional activities. They do not take an excessive amount of time

away from actual singing, and they provide the students with opportunities to "dig in" and understand more about what they are doing.

The Rehearsal Any known work can serve to

begin the rehearsal with the students

singing rather than the teacher talk-

ing. The assumption here is that the students have already studied Mozart's "Ave Verum." It happens to be generally in the same form as two new pieces, Palestrina's "Sicut Cervus" and Morley's "April Is in My Mistress' Face," and it will be revisit- ed following the reading of the new

pieces. As part of singing and review-

ing, the singers will be asked to iden-

tify legato articulation and long arched phrases. Because the Mozart

piece is in Latin, the same diction rules can be reinforced and applied in the Palestrina piece.

The basic model for the rehearsal is

given in the Sample Lesson Plan for a Concert Choir sidebar. In this model, the students become responsible for

discovering musical information and

applying the information in context.

Warm-Ups. These can be any actions that establish deep breathing, good posture, relaxation of the vocal mechanism, and expansion of the range. They could include stretching, deep breath-

ing, a sustained hissing exercise, yawn- ing, sighing, or whooping. A handout

containing vocal exercises that are cus- tomized to the pieces being learned can be distributed (see figure 1, Vocal

warm-ups). Each exercise can be found in at least one of the three target pieces. Some match exactly in terms of intervals and/or rhythms, some match

except for the resolution, and one exercise uses only the text from one of the

pieces. Encourage students to look for the patterns in all of the voice parts, not just their own, and to look for

rhythms as well as interval relation-

ships. In addition to the vocal warm-

ups, each student should have in hand the three pieces that the choir is learn-

ing and three composer worksheets (see figure 2, Composer worksheet).

Figure 1. Vocal warm-ups

Exercise

Exercise

Exercise

IIj j IJ j J J - 11

mi mi mi re do fa fa fa sol mi

O I I II

do do re do A

3 q) ( II J I - I

do fa do sol do

,x4rr n^ -J in II

Exercise

Exercise

Exercise

rum cor- pus- san- gi ve_ rum- cor- pus- san- gui- ne-

5 i^-. IJJ - I - II

may mee mah moh moo

i , _ IJJ - I - II sol fa mi fa sol mi

do do do mido do do may do do do mi do do do may

Comments on the Lesson. The keyboard should be used to reinforce, not to lead (eventually, in music such as this, students should not need the keyboard). If we are honest with our- selves, we admit that we can hear the choir better when the piano is not

playing. The neutral syllable "loh" reinforces the legato style, and the vowel is effective in developing a reso- nant tone.

If the director provides contrasting descriptions on the worksheets and

during the discussion, the students can

begin making the distinctions necessary to become knowledgeable about music. The definitions and descriptions can be

arbitrary to suit particular purposes (as long as they are not incorrect), and

they will likely need to be fairly sim-

plistic in the beginning. Understanding the concept or term is more important than recitation of elegant definitions.

If the purpose is for everyone to learn this information, then allowing adjustments on the worksheets reinforces correct responses and avoids feel-

ings of failure. If the worksheets are

serving as assessment tools, then the

adjustments might be better made after the sheets are returned to the students.

"Sicut Cervus. "A typical scenario

might be to start the choir singing after announcing the new piece, "Sicut

Cervus," and presenting the starting pitches. Maybe the director would

present some background information about Palestrina (found in notes from the score or some other source).

If measures 1-23 of "Sicut Cervus" do not fall apart and time is available, go ahead into the next section. This is a judgment call, but singing the first half again should allow for better

accuracy and retention the next time.

Singing the entire piece would be

highly desirable, but it might be more

important to move on to the second

piece. If the students can sing the Palestrina piece with minimum diffi- culties, then it will not frustrate them to sing it again. On the other hand, if

they are struggling, leave the piece and move on. Build success into your rehearsals so students feel good about what they are accomplishing. Hollow

praise does not work, but a sense of

mastering the material is an intrinsic reward that will only strengthen your singers' attitudes and reinforce their

learning. Some additional questions on

"Sicut Cervus" might be the following: * Which part should be the loud-

est? Why? (All should be equal with new entrances emphasized and primary motives brought out by each part as

they occur.)

SEPTEMBER 2001 35



(b. d.)

19th century/Romantic? 18th century/Classical? 17th century/Baroque? 16th century/Renaissance?

2. How did you know when it was written? (information on handout, information in score, familiar with the composer, noticed the "echo" style and imitation)

3. Which vocal part has the melody most of the time?

soprano alto tenor bass

4. What helped you decide?

5. What is the form of the piece? Verse/refrain AB (verses with a repeated "chorus")

Strophic A (verses all using the same melody, like a hymn) Motet A (several phrases, sometimes all different, sometimes using the same texts and melodies many times)

Rounded binary (song form: idea, new idea, repeat first idea)

Madrigal A (several phrases, sometimes all different, sometimes using the same texts and melodies many times)


7. What is the texture of the piece?

Polyphonic: one or more independent melodies intertwined, often employing imitation (like a round or canon)

Monophonic: one melody performed without accompaniment (like a solo voice all alone)

Homophonic: one main theme/melody with harmonic accompaniment in some

places (like a country song)


* How can we make the audience hear the important statements of the

major melodic motives? (These statements should be stronger/louder than the other parts as they occur.)

* Why aren't there any tempo or

expression markings? (Composers in this time didn't use them. The performance rules were understood by the performers. A future topic could inves-

tigate whether the "rules" are effective, and what effects alternative dynamics or tempi have on the piece.)

* How fast should this piece go? Why do you think so? (Relatively slow-

ly-about 60mm. It would be too busy at a fast tempo, and the parts would become distorted.)

* Look at the first entrances. Who enters on do? Who enters on sol? (do: tenors/sopranos; sol: altos/basses)

* Is the piece accompanied? (This is

probably a throwaway question, but some students may not be able to figure this out, and it would allow another avenue for learning to read a score.)

How long has this taken? If we allow two minutes to look at the score, two minutes to answer the written questions, and two minutes to do the rest, that equals six. And what has been

accomplished? The students have a sense of the style of the piece, and they know several of the melodic patterns, the entrances that need to be brought out, and the piece's approximate tempo.

'April Is in My Mistress' Face. "With the introduction of the Morley piece, we get to the heart of the lesson: the

comparison of the pieces. While a visual analysis should elicit answers such as imitation, polyphony/ homophony, repetition (Morley to Palestrina), the

big difference to notice will probably be the language: English. The use of the neutral syllable "pah" is intended to reinforce the nonlegato articulation needed for singing Morley's "April Is in

My Mistress' Face" successfully. The faster tempo and more active part writ-

ing require cleaner articulation that the

plosive consonant will generate. On the Composer Worksheet (fig-

ure 2), the questions are virtually the same for each piece. This establishes a

pattern of analysis that can be used

many times and, eventually, the students may not need the assistance of a worksheet. Notice that the texture definitions recur, but in different order. Notice, too, that the definition for

"madrigal" is roughly the same as that of "motet." While not 100 percent accurate, this definition is not incorrect, and it allows students to compare the two songs easily. Adding the rest of the information about sacred and secular uses and text sources then becomes an enhancement rather than a source of confusion.

Here are some additional questions for "April Is in My Mistress' Face":

* Which vocal part has the main

melody most of the time? What helped you decide? (Sopranos tend to have it more frequently. But all parts have primary melodic content at various

points.) * Is this piece similar to or different

from Mozart and Palestrina? What

particular characteristics are most obvious? (Like the Mozart, it is homophonic in some places; and like the Palestri- na, it is polyphonic and imitative in


Figure 2. Composer worksheet

Title: Composer 1. Is this piece

20th century/Contemporary?

36



Sample Lesson Plan for a Concert Choir

Objectives 1. Meet National Standards

Standard 1: Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music Standard 5: Reading and notating music Standard 6: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music Standard 9: Understanding music in relation to history and culture

2. Support selected objectives of your state music education curriculum for choral music 9-12, e.g., critical analysis and aesthetic

understanding, by recognizing the relationship of text to musical elements in the repertoire, such as rhythm, melody, harmony, form, tempo, dynamics, phrase, and tonality. (Look at your state's objectives to determine what is appropriate for your situation.)

Other selected state objectives may include:

o Historical and cultural context: Demonstrates knowledge of composers of selected class repertoire and the historical/cultural context of works being performed. * Artistic skills and knowledge: creating, performing, producing: sings with clear vowel sounds, proper diction, and appropriate tone quality; demonstrates proficiency in sight-reading at the expected competency level, knowledge of form in repertoire, and

knowledge of music vocabulary necessary for study, rehearsal, and performance of music; and identifies the characteristics of performance styles of music being rehearsed and performed.

3. Students will:

* correctly match the warm-up exercises to the appropriate piece. * identify two of the pieces as "motets." * compare legato and nonlegato styles and perform each style as appropriate for each piece. * determine effective dynamics and tempi for each piece based on discussion and analysis. ? compare and contrast essential musical qualities of each piece to determine similarities of style and form.

? describe and compare the relationship(s) of the accompaniment(s) to the melody and text.

Prior Knowledge and Experience

The students have already studied Mozart's "Ave Verum."

Materials

1. Repertoire "Sicut Cervus" by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina "April Is in My Mistress' Face" by Thomas Morley "Ave Verum" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Note: Many commercial music publishers have produced annotated and edited versions of these pieces. They are also available as public domain music at http://freemusicnow.com/choral_sidebar.htm and http://cpdl.snaptel.com.

2. Vocal exercise warm-ups sheet for each singer (figure 1)

3. Composer worksheets-one worksheet per composer for each singer (figure 2)

Procedure

1. Distribute the warm-up exercises and the worksheets for each composer. 2. Do a run-through of"Ave Verum."

3. "Sicut Cervus" by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

a. Direct students to the Palestrina piece. Have them match the warm-up exercises with patterns found in all of the voice parts in the score and circle them. (Note: For exercises 2 and 5, all parts have the patterns.)

b. Ask the students to answer questions 1-4 on the composer worksheet, identify which vocal part has the melody most of the time, and state what helped them to decide. (Explain that no single part has the melody continuously and that every voice sings it sometimes.) Have them identify staggered entrances that look the same, repeated text, and intertwined parts.

c. Sing the piece with or without keyboard doubling to measure 23, using "loh."

continued on nextpage

37 SEPTEMBER 2001



continuedfrom page 37

d. Direct the students to questions 5-9 on the composer worksheet. Discuss their answers. e. Sing the piece again to measure 23. If there is enough time, sing the entire piece.

4. "April Is in My Mistress' Face" by Thomas Morley

a. Direct students to the Morley piece. Have them match the warm-up exercises with patterns found in all of the voice parts in the score and circle them. (Note: The patterns in exercises 1, 3, 6, and 7 are not in every part.)

b. Ask the students to answer questions 1-4 on the composer worksheet, identify which vocal part has the melody most of the time, and state what helped them to decide. (Explain that no single part has the melody continuously and that every voice sings it sometimes.) Have them identify staggered entrances that look the same, repeated text, and intertwined parts.

c. Sing the piece with or without keyboard doubling using "pah." d. Direct the students to questions 5-9 on the composer worksheet. Discuss their answers. e. Sing the piece again. If there is enough time, sing it a third time.

5. "Ave Verum" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart a. Direct students to the Mozart piece. Have them match the warm-up exercises with patterns found in all of the voice parts in the

score and circle them. Discuss the piece's style, expression, and articulation. Reinforce diction. b. Ask the students to answer questions 1-4 on the composer worksheet, identify which vocal part has the melody most of the

time, and state what helped them to decide. (Explain that no single part has the melody continuously and that every voice sings it sometimes.) Have them identify staggered entrances that look the same, repeated text, and intertwined parts.

c. Sing the piece with or without keyboard doubling using "pah." d. Direct the students to questions 5-9 on the composer worksheet. Discuss their answers. (Note: The question about accompani-

ment will have more meaning now, as this is cearly an accompanied homophonic motet.) e. Sing the piece again.

other places. There are imitative/restat- ed texts and melodies in Palestrina and chordal passages in Mozart.)

Understanding the concept or term is more

important than recitation ofelegant

definitions.

'Ave Verum." Because the Mozart piece was previously studied in the term and the students are presumably somewhat familiar with it, it should be possible to move through the

Mozart worksheet fairly quickly. Fur- thermore, singing it can probably be

repeated fewer times during this lesson than is necessary for the Palestri- na and Morley pieces.

Here are some additional questions for "Ave Verum":

* Which part should predomi- nate/be the loudest? (Sopranos, most of the time.)

* When should a different part take over? (Measures 30-37, "esto nobis." The male and female parts echo the two short passages. To allow the text to dominate, the female part should decrescendo at the long note while the men crescendo and vice versa. Otherwise, the soprano part should dominate in the rest of the

piece.) * How close is the accompaniment

to the vocal parts? (The accompaniment doubles all parts, but also con- tains additional pitches to fill in the harmony and give a fuller sound.)

Expansion Activities Students can be asked to provide a

more detailed comparison/contrast of all three composers. The comparisons and descriptions that result from this

exercise can provide the opportunity to pull everything together.

Ask the class which pieces were

composed at approximately the same time. Have them tell you what similarities and differences they may have noticed. These could include imitation, syncopation, simple rhythms, motet/madrigal form, shortness or

length, repeated or through-composed lyrics, phrases of different

lengths, the use of Latin or English, tempos, styles, and sacred or secular moods. If you wanted to do a formal assessment of the students' learning, you could make a three-column chart with the name of each composer at the top.

The following activities allow students to apply their learning in additional ways and to manipulate the tools of music to make decisions about effective presentation:

* After students have sung the

pieces at least two times, have them

compose a warm-up that addresses

something they are having trouble with.





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Choral Rehearsal

continued fom page 38

* Have students combine two or more of the warm-ups into a 2-4

part polyphonic exercise. Allow them to adjust for rhythmic discrepancies.

* Allow students to experiment with stylistic aspects by making decisions about tempi, articulation, expression, dynamics, and so forth. Discuss the results in terms of their effectiveness and appropriateness.

5 Optimizing the Lesson-Plan 0 Pattern

Once the pattern is established (as shown in the Sample Lesson Plan for Concert Choir sidebar), incorporating additional concepts using this format should be easy. As the objectives for the year are developed, liter-

-- _ ature can be selected that addresses 5them in different ways. Finding addi-

o tional ways to analyze the same

pieces prevents the staleness of fre-

quent repetition and may encourage deeper interest by the students.

It is extremely important to balance the amount of thinking and

analyzing that occurs in a choral classroom with the amount of

I singing. These questions and activities are designed to take minimal

5 time away from singing while help-

o ing students learn more about what

they are doing. We all hear about choirs that cannot read music. We all know that there is no magic pill to give the singers that will turn them into fantastic sight-readers. The activities described in this article allow students to take more responsibility for their own musicianship. Recognizing musical patterns is the foundation of good sight singing. Comparing and describ-

ing certain aspects of music is part of

being a musician. The nonsinging activities should not in any way be seen as irrelevant to making music. The music is the ultimate product, but performing it with understanding is the ultimate goal. U


7

1- - 4.?

phone toll-'free fax e-nmail internet

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60



michellem

Rectangle



DOI: 10.2307/3399917

2003 89: 32Music Educators JournalShirley W. Wilson

The Young Elementary School Chorus: An Introduction to Choral Singing

Published by:


On behalf of:







What is This?

- May 1, 2003Version of Record >>













The Young Elementary School Chorus:

An Introduction to Choral Singng By Shirley W.W i 1 s o n

Organizing a

third- and

fourth-grade chorus

can be a rewarding and successful

experience that

teaches a

variety of musical

and social skills.

Shirley W Wilson taught vocal music at J. P Vincent Elemen-

tary School in Bloomfield, Connecticut She now lives in Erie, Pennsylvania.

rade configuration and grade divisions often dictate the structure of school performing groups. Tradition- ally, elementary schools have served kindergarten through sixth grade, and students in grades five and six have had the opportunity to join the chorus.

Sometimes younger children performed with their classes or grade levels in special school programs, but they rarely belonged to an organized chorus.

Today, space and other needs imnpose changes in the upper elementary grades that can radically split elementary choruses. School systems may place sixth graders in middle schools, either alone or with seventh and eight graders. In this configuration, elementary chorus membership usually includes fourth and fifth graders. Although this produces some necessary alterations in the chorus curriculum, these changes are not catastrophic.

But what about when schools move fifth graders across town, away from grades K-4? Can the elementary chorus survive in this situation? Can third and fourth graders learn to produce musical sounds that are worth the teacher's effort to organize a chorus? After twenty-four years with third and fourth graders, I have come to believe that this age group can do amazing things in a chorus experience.




Organizing the Chorus Third and fourth graders, while

they are very compatible, are at different skill levels. Some schools, for various reasons, will find it necessary to split these grades into separate choral groups. Certainly fourth graders can develop part skills more quickly than third graders, while third graders seem to be less self-conscious and more eager to experiment with new skills. The two grade levels work well together for these reasons. While third graders bring eagerness and enthusiasm to the beginning chorus, fourth graders, especially those in their second year of chorus, have solid singing skills and the ability to hold a harmony part. The combination of these elements brings about a wonderful learning environment for these children, probably better than if the chorus were divided by grade.

Faced with taking on this kind of chorus, teachers need to recognize the decisions that surround having a chorus of any age group. The selection of music, the choral techniques that are used, the impact of social elements, and the performance itself all require conscious, thoughtful planning. With a well-thought-out philosophical base and careful, sequential calculation, the third- and fourth-grade chorus can provide students with an important musical learning opportunity.

Although teachers often stress good singing in music class, the classroom experience alone does not provide the emphasis needed to ensure the total development of accurate, expressive singers. Group singing, in a controlled and directed environment, on the other hand, affords students the opportunity to use their voices in ways that will provide maximum vocal development. A teacher who is serious about incorporating the National Standards for Music Educ- ation will know the benefits of chorus for a child this age. See the Beginning Chorus and the National Standards sidebar for information on how choir relates to the Standards.

It is not necessary to exclude those students who still struggle with pitch matching. However, only those students who want to belong to an elementary chorus should be included. Massing all of the third and fourth

Beginning Chorus and the National Standards for Music Education

For students to gain a comprehensive musical education in the elementary school, as defined by the National Standards for Music Education, teachers need to analyze the chorus experience with the Standards in mind.

Content Standard I -Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. All of the achievement standards in this content area can be taught effectively through chorus.Although teachers may teach to this standard in all classroom music, there is no place like chorus to specifically target all aspects of singing.

Content Standard 2-Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. While not as thoroughly addressed in chorus as in music classes, the use of instruments as accompaniments to choral pieces gives children the opportunity to develop independence, blend and match sounds with the singers, and respond to the cues of the conductor.

Content Standard 3-Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments. Improvising rhythms at the beginning of chorus rehearsals helps children focus and concentrate. Sometimes these rhythms can be developed as part of a song that the chorus is learning. Introductions, interludes, and endings improvised by students in performance add excitement to a piece, provided that students have had plenty of experience doing this during rehearsal times.

Content Standard 4-Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. Students enjoy composing melodies to poetry they have written, which can be performed by the school chorus. Children also benefit from the opportunity to compose instrumental accompaniments to choral songs.

Content Standard 5-Reading and notating music-and Content Standard 6- Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. While students may not write musical notation in chorus, they certainly have many opportunities to read music. These standards are addressed every time that children in chorus are asked to read, discuss, explain, or answer questions about traditional notation.

Content Standard 7-Evaluating music and music performances. Self-assessments can be developed by teachers as an evaluation tool for their beginning choristers. Children can listen to tapes of their own rehearsals and performances, as well as recordings of other choruses, and then record their assessments.They can even help the teacher develop criteria for questionnaires that judge musical performance. Likewise, students can explain their personal preferences for specific music either verbally or in writing.

Content Standard 8-Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. Children can readily see the relationship between poetry and texts of songs.This enables them to connect what they are learning in language arts and music.They also can be taught to see connections with visual art and dance, particularly when such art forms are combined with chorus material in performance.

Content Standard 9-Understanding music in relation to history and culture. Teachers who use a wide variety of song material from various periods of history and various cultures expose their chorus students to diverse styles and genres beyond those studied in the general music classroom. Performance of such varied material is a solid way to help children value and appreciate song material that is new to them.

MAY 2003 33



graders, including those who would rather not be there, into a singing group will defeat the purposes of giving students a positive first-time chorus experience. Selection of students depends on many factors; space, scheduling, and size and manageabili- ty of the group are among the most important. Decisions made here will dictate whether the chorus will be split along grade lines or combined into one group. These decisions must be made on a school-by-school basis, with the music teacher having the strongest influence on the final decision.

Selecting Appropriate Music Considerations in the selection of

music set the stage for year-long planning for the specific needs of the young chorus. Although teachers choose music with performance in mind, this is not the only considera- tion. Wise music selection affords children a broad appreciation of many types of songs. Over a year's time, a varied repertoire includes at least one song from several categories.

Largely, teachers should draw from general American folk songs for third and fourth graders. This body of songs is our students' musical "mother tongue," as Kodaly would say. This music from oral tradition provides a wealth of material for teaching about the history of our country and the day-to-day lives of our ancestors. Not only do folk songs teach valuable lessons about our culture, they are easy to sing because of their limited range. Children can be especially successful at singing pentatonic folk songs accurately and in tune.

For the same reasons that we value general American folk songs, we choose spirituals from the African- American tradition for teaching children. In addition to being another type of folk song, these songs provide opportunities for solo singing, call- and-response experiences, and part- nering. The religious heritage of these forebears played an important role in history, and this music should be part of any balanced chorus curriculum.'

While songs from various cultures within the U.S. give us a wealth of literature for use with children's choruses, songs from other countries also

provide benefits. These songs broaden the musical and multiethnic education of our children. Often, we can see the similarities between people from other places and people of our own culture. Holiday music from other countries exposes children to others' songs and celebrations. Children also gain an understanding of musical tonalities and rhythms that may be different from those of Western music. Introduction of world instruments to accompany these songs enhances their performance.

Wise music selection

affords children a broad

appreciation of many types of songs.

Young children enjoy songs in foreign languages and learn them with surprising ease. Songs often sound best in their original language. Child- ren gain an appreciation of other cultures through this exposure. They feel a special sense of accomplishment when they have mastered a song in another tongue. To provide a complete learning experience, teachers should spend time explaining the meaning of the text and, if appropriate, teaching an English translation of the song.

Chorus is a good place to acquaint children with art songs for the first time. Many great composers wrote pieces that young children can learn. Students benefit from the study of these great texts and melodies. Songs from the Renaissance through contemporary periods greatly enhance the repertoire of the chorus. Elementary classroom teachers often expose their students to poetry and provide opportunities for the students themselves to compose poems. Converting children's poetry to songs for the chorus to perform extends classroom learning

and affords students another creative and musically enriching experience.

Experienced elementary music teachers know the benefits of teaching patriotic songs to their choruses. As we have observed during times of national crisis, nothing brings the country together like patriotic singing. Children often know only parts of commonly sung patriotic songs or have learned them with inaccurate pitch and rhythm, as well as with con- voluted pronunciations. Perfecting patriotic songs for a choral performance gives students a natural opportunity to learn these songs well. It is important to note, however, that in order for the children to correctly execute some of these melodies, the teacher must find the most suitable musical keys for them.

Popular songs for elementary chorus must be carefully chosen to reflect high quality Not all of these songs are musically worth learning. Occasional popular songs, especially those that have endured over time, offer accept- able learning experiences for children. Broadway and movie themes often are good examples of well-written material that is appropriate for children, provided that they are not too difficult to sing well. Teachers, when presenting popular songs, which are usually fun to sing, need to carefully teach this music, as they do all other music for chorus.

When considering the choice of literature, chorus teachers need to select age-appropriate music for their groups. Generally, composers and arrangers of children's choral music gear their work toward fifth and sixth graders. This makes many selections too difficult for third and fourth graders. However, it is worthwhile for the director of younger choirs to search for printed music that these children can master. There are some very appropriate pieces available. Listed in the Suggested Repertoire sidebar are recommended printed songs that are appropriate for beginning chorus. In addition, classroom music series texts offer a wealth of useful material. Besides these, however, teachers must collect songs for third and fourth graders from a variety of sources and adapt them for chorus use.




Suggested Repertoire Folk Songs Cock-a-Doodle-Doo I Had a Little Nut Tree Music Alone Shall Live Piglets' Christmas Still, Still, Still Who Killed Cock Robin? Yonder Come Day *

Songs from Other Cultures

Birch Tree (Russian) Dormi, Dormi (Italian) Kookaburra (Australia) La Paloma Se Fue (Puerto Rico) Three Dominican Folksongs

arr. B. Bertaux arr. B. Bertaux arr. D.Wagner arr. M. Goetze arr. P. L. Harris arr. B. Bertaux J. C.Tucker

arr. M. Goetze arr. M. Goetze arr. C. Curtright A. Jimenez arr. Nufiez

two parts two parts two parts unison unison three parts three parts

unison unison three parts two parts unison

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes Heritage Music Boosey & Hawkes Heritage Music Boosey & Hawkes World Music Press

Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes Boosey & Hawkes World Music Press Boosey & Hawkes

Spirituals

My Lord,What a Morning Oh, Freedom Plenty Good Room

arr. S. E. Page arr. J. Best J. Horman

three parts two parts three parts

Hinshaw Music Shawnee Press Somerset Press

Art Music

Bandicoot Blue Song How Beautiful Is the Rain Mailied-ll Marienwurmchen Wind on the Hill

Pop/Contemporary Inch Worm Kids Are Music Play for Me a Simple Melody Side by Side

Hoberman/C. Jennings Hugh & Elizabeth Aitken Longfellow/M. L. Lightfoot Schubert Brahms Milne/Ebel-Sabo

Loesser/MacHuff R. Artman arr. K. Shaw Woods/Artman

unison two parts two parts two parts unison unison

two parts unison two parts two parts

G. Schirmer Julliard Repertoire Heritage Music Julliard Repertoire Julliard Repertoire Boosey & Hawkes

Hal Leonard Jenson Pub. Hal Leonard Kendor Music

*The key of this song may have to be adapted for young children.

Age Level and Ability In general, eight- and nine-year-old

children have a comfortable singing range, from A below middle C to D or E above third-space C. Teachers find that angular and chromatic melodies are usually too difficult for children to

sing with tonal accuracy Children of this age need texts that are easy to understand and short enough to memorize effectively Obvious love songs are neither interesting nor appropriate for children. When choosing music, teachers need to remember that chil-

dren of this age deserve to learn legitimate literature, carefully chosen for its textual and musical content, not merely for its entertainment value.

Besides considering the age level of the children in elementary chorus, the music teacher needs to carefully consider the children's ability level and

prior musical experiences. Children's voices develop at different rates. Some match pitches well, and others struggle to find their singing voices. Some schools offer general music classes once a week, while others schedule

music classes twice or three times a week. Some teachers follow a strictly vocal curriculum, while others teach primarily through the use of instruments or listening activities. These factors greatly influence the vocal

ability of children. If separate grade choruses are

planned, the uniqueness of each grade level should be considered. While third

graders sing comfortably in unison, they also can handle simple rounds, descants, and countermelodies. If the chorus consists only of fourth graders,

MAY 2003 35



it will be possible to more easily present part-songs of various kinds. Because fourth graders can sing more easily in parts, however, does not mean that unison songs should be eliminated. Children of this age can concentrate better on other musical elements when they sing well-selected unison songs. Good teachers empha- size beautiful, in-tune singing, whether the song is in unison or parts. At both ages, children who sing confi- dently and accurately can be assigned special parts or solos. Teachers should select at least some music to provide these opportunities.

Young children enjoy songs in foreign languages

and learn them with

surprising ease.

Songs with interesting instrumental accompaniment add variety of tone color to chorus material. Children with instrumental abilities enjoy the challenge of playing with the chorus. The use of ethnic instruments with songs from other cultures gives children as authentic a performance experience as possible. Visiting instrumentalists help expose children to a level of performance they have not yet achieved, but that they nevertheless appreciate.

A Balanced Curriculum Beyond planning how to teach

melodies and rhythms correctly, teachers of any age group should develop a chorus curriculum that includes music reading and vocal skills. Whether the children in the elementary chorus have learned to read music in general music class or not, some amount of chorus rehearsal time

necessarily offers children practice in reading the whole or parts of songs. Often a teacher can choose a section of the rhythm or melody and isolate it for reading purposes. Reading in chorus gives legitimacy to what children have learned in music class, as well as a sense of musical ownership.

Time restraints often prohibit pro- longed sight-reading of literature that the chorus is studying. Usually, elementary choruses meet once a week and perform two or three times a year. Therefore, rote learning becomes the norm for most song learning. This is not necessarily a negative factor in training young singers, however. Children learn much of vocal production, musicality, style, articulation, and diction by imitation. It behooves teachers, therefore, to demonstrate musical qualities they want their students to copy.

Chorus teachers of young children specifically teach correct posture, accurate intonation, proper breath support, enunciation of vowels, and articulation of consonants. Warm-ups focus on skills students will need to correctly execute the music they are learning. Warm-ups and song literature provide examples for the systematic study of pure singing vowels, diphthongs, and interval tuning. A caution here: learning these elements should be more fun than technical.

Successful chorus teachers introduce children in elementary chorus to all kinds of musical notation. They learn their pieces from full notation, not from words only! Printed music provides the opportunity for children to recognize and learn the uses of such things as crescendos, ritards, meter changes, first and second endings, repeat signs, and dynamic markings. These elements fall naturally into the chorus curriculum.

Children learn to follow a conductor in chorus. They can learn to begin and end phrases together, to put ending consonants on together, and to cut off together. They also are able to learn to follow gestures for changes in dynamics and expression.

Chorus affords children the opportunity to develop social responsibility. They learn dedication to a group, school pride, stage manners, and self- discipline in chorus, along with the

necessity of good attendance, good behavior, and memorization of music, often memorizing twenty to twenty- five pieces of music a year. At the third- and fourth-grade level, chorus may be the first and only school group in which children develop self-respect and responsibility They learn that with the privilege of chorus membership comes corresponding responsibility Children enjoy reflecting on their own development in the chorus. See figure 1 for a tool chorus members may use to assess themselves.

Performance Music is a performing art. Children

need to learn that the nature of music demands that it be shared. An audience adds a new element to the experience of presenting music. There is a "give and take" process between the performer and the audience that greatly excites children and adds to the enjoyment of the music.

Children need to learn that the nature of music

demands that it be shared.

This element-excitement-needs to be used to full advantage to have a successful performance. For example, music teachers can capitalize on this excitement if students perform at the peak of their energy and concentration. Good timing will provide the best possible climate for the performance. The excitement of performing tires children early on a performance day, and if it is allowed to tire them before they get a chance to sing, they will do a mediocre job.




Figure l. A Self-Assessment for Beginning Chorus Level I

(If I answer "yes" to most of these, I am a responsible chorus member and a joy for my teacher.)

I. I am in chorus because I like singing and want to learn as much as I can about it.

2.1 am willing to learn music I may not like at first because I believe the teacher knows what is best for my overall learning.

3. 1 accept whatever part I am assigned and try to enjoy it, because I know that the more parts we sing, the more interesting the music is.

4.1 work at singing notes that are high and low because I want to develop my voice to its fullest potential.

5.1 am trying to make a habit of good posture. 6.1 take all my music home and spend time memorizing and practicing. I know

words that other students miss.

7. 1 always take chorus notices home on the day that I get them, and I bring them back signed right away.

8. 1 do my best to always be at chorus rehearsals and concerts on time.

Level II

(Too many of these show that I am average or below average in my commitment.)

I.I am in chorus because it is fun.

2.1 go along with singing all the songs but not always with my best effort.

3.1 sing whatever part I am assigned, but sometimes I don't try very hard if I don't like it.

4. If I think a note is too high or too low, I try it, but I don't work too hard to make it sound good.

5.1 try to sit up when the teacher is watching. 6.1 try to learn the music, but sometimes I wait until the last minute.

7.1 sometimes lose notices, but I eventually get another one and bring it in.

8.1 try to be at rehearsals and concerts on time, but I don't always make it.

Level III

(Too many of these and I am likely to be asked to leave chorus.)

I.I am in chorus only because my friends are or because my parents want me to be.

2.1 complain about songs I don't like and only half-heartedly participate the way that I should.

3. I complain if I don't like the part I'm given, and sometimes I don't even sing it.

4. If I think notes are too high to too low, I refuse to sing them.

5.1 sit the way that feels comfortable to me.

6.1 don't always spend time at home on my music. Most of the pieces I learn in chorus.

7. 1 always seem to lose notices, and sometimes I have forgotten to tell my parents about a concert.

8. miss rehearsals sometimes, and if I forget to remind my parents, I don't even make it to concerts.

Note. Some of the ideas for this self-assessment were inspired by Kathy Anderson,

"Design a Rubric forYour Choirs" The Choral ournal 36, no. 4 (November 1995): 42-43.

To achieve the maximum benefit from performing, music teachers need to consider the fragile nature of the children's singing voices. The upper register of the voice, where the singing voice lies, tires first. Therefore, voices are strongest early in the day.

Because children are greatly concerned with the success of a performance, especially when they perform in front of peers, schools should careful-

ly plan and be willing to make sacri- fices when scheduling the in-school chorus program. Although classroom teachers find that morning is the

prime learning time in the classroom, and therefore difficult to give up, it is often the best time for performance as well. When the chorus performs only two or three times a year, it is not unfair to ask that these programs have priority. On the days of evening performances, adults need to remind children to conserve their voices. Schools should be careful not to schedule overly stressful activities, such as field trips, on those days.

Conclusion If music teachers are serious about

developing well-respected vocal programs and skillful singer-musicians, they must understand what elements are necessary to do so. The teacher must not only carefully and thoughtfully prepare for each rehearsal, but also articulate his or her musical

goals, performance expectations, and educational rationales that will help the school staff and the community better understand the music program. All involved need to know that their cooperation is essential to the learning process and performance success of the school chorus. Nothing fosters school pride like an entire school population feeling involved in its musical

performing groups. The beginning chorus experience provides children with an exciting introduction to musical performance like nothing else can.

Note 1. For a discussion of religious music

in public schools, see MENC, Music with a Sacred Text (Reston, VA: MENC, 1996). This brochure, originally titled Religious Music in the Schools, is available online at

www.menc.org/publication/books/relig0. html. -

MAY 2003 37





DOI: 10.2307/3399856

2003 89: 37Music Educators JournalSandra Frey Stegman

Choral Warm-ups: Preparation to Sing, Listen, and Learn

Published by:


On behalf of:







What is This?














Choral Warm-ups: Preparation to Sing, Listen, and Learn By S a n d r a F r e y S t e g m a n

A thoughtfully

planned warm-up M in eindless repetition or intentional preparation-the

warm-up period can serve either purpose. Unfortunately, choral teachers frequently find themselves too busy to plan adequately for a focused, productive warm-up period that prepares the way

for music making and music learning. The purpose of this article is to provide a structure for designing meaningful warm-up activities, present examples of effective warm-up exercises, and offer methods and resources for future use.

Structuring the Warm-up Period A brief ten-minute warm-up period that is focused on prepar-

ing chorus members to sing, listen, and learn establishes the direction of the rehearsal and furthers ongoing vocal and musical development. A beginning repertoire of warm-up exercises addressing these areas is helpful in minimizing planning time. Once students learn these beginning exercises, they can be used as models for ongoing development of new ideas and warm-ups.

Writing each exercise on an index card makes for easy structuring of the warm-up period. The index cards allow for flexibility and freshness because the order of the exercises can be changed and new exercise cards can be added. Each exercise card should

period can help

singers enhance

their singing,

listening, and

learning skills.

Sandra Frey Stegman is visiting associate professor of music education in the College of Music at Bowling Green State

University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

JANUARY 2003 37



Figure I. Breath management

Laughing is con - ta-geous and is ad - van - ta-geous ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Increase by one measure with each key change

Alternate Ending

96#"tr j-z^r o- n I; J j II C r j i Brr

Figure 2.Vocal production

Relaxation D--i~ J- I F l r Brush checks with thumb in an

Ia t^ "~~ J J,g J,_ h I I upward motion. Bounce hands at Nit)~ ya.f~ a

* * .hip level in high register Ni ya a - a - a

Energize Tone

ftj"0 , J rf IJ J Ij 11

Brrr - ah

Resonance Alternate Endings r-

ZiJJJJg a mamJZJ IJmama Zinga m j a m g Z igi Z Zing a mamaZing a mama Zinga mama Zinga ma ma Zing Zing Zing

t "J. Zing zoo 1 Zing zoo i

Alternate Endings

I -II @" So _ _ I r. I J. 1. I Vi-a vi-a vi-a vi-a vi-a vi-a vi-a vi-a Ving

Extension A I _ _

Ving - ni ne_

Ving - ah

na no noo

Source: Exercise "a" is reprinted, by permission of the publisher, from Charlotte Adams, Daily Workout for a Beautiful Voice, video with booklet (Santa Barbara, CA: Santa Barbara Music Publishing, 1992). Exercise "c" is reprinted, by permission of the publisher, from Barbara Brinson, Choral Methods and Materials: Developing Successful Choral Programs (New York: Schirmer Books, 1996), 185.

contain the exercise notated in an

appropriate beginning key, the corre-

sponding syllables or text, the purpose of the exercise, any related kines- thetic activity, and, when known, the source of the exercise. The exercises

provided in this article, all of which are presented as they might appear on index cards, are useful for preparing chorus members for singing, music

making, and learning.

Preparation to Sing Preparing choir members for

healthy singing and developing vocal

technique takes thought and planning. Four subcategories are typically addressed: (1) posture and breath, (2) vocal production, (3) vowel formation, and (4) vocal development.

Images are useful for addressing issues of posture. Pretending to be a

puppet with various strings attached

can be illuminating, especially for

younger children. Students can

imagine that the strings are attached at such points as the sternum, the back of the crown, and the upper forehead. The strings can be adjusted to create various physical alignments that either support or hinder healthy singing. Other useful directions include "Stand as tall as you would like others to perceive you" and, after specific description and expla- nation, "Assume your best singer's posture."

A single exercise can be used to address multiple vocal and musical considerations. The exercises provided address matters of breath (figure 1), vocal production (figure 2), vowel formation (figure 3), and vocal development (figures 4 and 5). Each exercise is labeled with its fundamental purpose, although many function in several

capacities. This is the case for all exercises presented throughout the article.(Unless otherwise indicated, exercises were created by the author or are commonly used by choral directors.)

Preparation to Listen It is frequently taken for granted

that chorus members know how to listen and what to listen for. Establishing and refining external and internal hearing takes time and practice. Intentional inclusion of listening exercises and activities is essential to promoting ongoing development of aural awareness and discrimination.

The most helpful approaches encourage listening internally, as well as listening within and across sections. One activity to promote internal

hearing begins with the teacher conducting at midtorso level while the

singers are singing aloud. When the teacher stops conducting and holds a hand overhead as a signal, the singers stop singing aloud but continue singing internally. When the teacher resumes the conducting pattern, the

singers sing aloud at the appropriate musical point, generally two to four measures after the point where they stopped. This activity can be used with familiar unison melodies, solfege patterns, or current repertoire selections.

External listening can be encour-

aged in many ways. Statements pro-


1~4 F 7 I. \i _ n7~n Ilj - I1

38



moting focused listening include "Hear the singer to your left" (your right, behind you and left, etc.); "Rotate your 'antennae' around the chorus as you sing, directing your attention to previously unnoticed voices or passages"; and "Listen louder than you sing." In addition, singers can cup a hand in front of their ear (palm towards ear) to create a "satel- lite dish" and intentionally include other voices in their aural arena.

Several of the exercises provided work equally well for focusing on listening or musical learning (figure 6 and figure 8, exercises c and d). These exercises, in addition to passages from choral music, can be performed by the full chorus or smaller groups. Changing the chorus formation alters singers' hearing parameters and challenges chorus members to adjust their listening and increase their independence. Possible formations include mixed arrangements, sectional circles, and one big circle. Assigned numbers also work well to create quick and varied ensemble combinations that challenge listening skills.' A number is assigned to each chorus member, with the highest number corresponding to the number of members in the smallest section. For example, if the tenor section is the smallest and consists of eight members, the members of all sections would be assigned a number from one to eight. The counting begins in the tenor section. When eight singers have been counted, numbering resumes at one and continues until all members of every section are assigned a number. Spontaneous and unpredictable combinations of singers occur as students with various numbers are called upon to sing.

Preparation to Learn Warm-up exercises and activities

are also useful for introducing and furthering music reading, conceptual learning, and musical expression. Exercises such as those in figure 7 introduce sight-reading vocabulary and establish intervallic and rhythmic relationships. Music-reading skills can be connected with choral literature by having students sing hand-signed or notated passages drawn from current literature and then locating them in the music.

Figure 3. Vowel formation

A

Moo mo Cirvic lips oith I'ull imaginary index linger Ihrcad away

trim liIrchcad

Zing - i zing - e Imaginary string is pulled from mouth

Alteriatc l ldinig

Co. " k L.- j me Moo mo ra I ightly touch concrs ol

lips g'ith ilidex lilgcrs to

keep cgently orirward

zing - ah Vertical open palm descended from forehead to sternum

Figure 4. Vocal development, tone

Ah

H-ee- ha ha hee- ha ha hee- ha ha hee - ha Hee- ha ha hee- ha ha hee- ha ha hee- ha At eye level, tilt hand with Reverse legato and staccato wrist raised and palm down

r-ljL A^ Q N I ?* N ^ N 1 ^T I" ~1 11 Energize from lower abdominal region. W I R tr 1 r-~ mJ I J 1. X

Stroke downward from cheekbone through jaw

Ti - e T i - a - o - o - o

Source: Exercise "a" is reprinted, by permission of the publisher, from Henry Leck, Vocal

Techniques for Young Singers, video with booklet (Fort Lauderdale, FL: Plymouth Music

Publishing, 1995).

Figure 5. Vocal development, range

D es d by halflsteps. w* t T iiy J t_ ?--, J t t . f 11 Change vowel as helpful.

Mi

Doo-bi Doo-bi Doo - bi Doo-bi Doo-bi Doo

Range/Flexibility/Accuracy

Li le la-a-a-a - a-a-a- - a a a

Source: Exercise "a" is reprinted by permission of the publisher, from Wilhelm Ehmann and Frauke Haasemann, Voice Building for Choirs (Chapel Hill, NC: Hinshaw Music, 1982). ? 1981

by Barenreter-Verlag, Kassel; used with permission. Exercise "b" is reprinted by permission of the publisher, from Barbara Brinson, Choral Methods and Materials: Developing Successful Choral Programs (New York: Schirmer Books, 1996), 188.

JANUARY 2003

o n rn I J. -

77 J- --tS I 11

,$ n J J J J J I 11

I

39



Figure 6. Listening

Vowel/Enunciation

(^!? J j^_ i J "l t - 0 Light Divine the world re - joi - ces

(Tuning

_( t " ^C d b d b d Od y

0[- / moo mo L - -

May use IPA or phonetic spelling

Continue sequence through ma "me" and "mi"

Figure 7. Intervallic and rhythmic relationships

?Ijaa l 11 J I J J r f r i J r 1 Solfege, scale numbers, or letter names Descending intervals

from top ofscale

160it J- $ I n i--S - 11--- $ --- Solfege, scale numbers, or letter names Desending intervals

from top of scale

ji~~ _r 4 r^^J *|| :11On ea.ch repeat, replace last eighth note with an eighth rest. May also be used as a four part canon on the quarter note.

Du - plet tri puh - let Du - plet tri - puh - let (sim.) - 3-- - 1 3 3 --1 --- 3-1

Reverse pattern of duplet and triplet

Additional Resources for Warm-Ups Haasemann, Frauke, and James Jordan. Group Vocal Techniques. Book,Video,

and Vocalise Cards. Chapel Hill, NC: Hinshaw Music, 1989.

Neisheim, Paul, with Weston Noble. Building Beautiful Voices. Singer's and Director's Editions. Dayton, OH: Roger Dean Publishing Company, 1995.

Phillips, Kenneth P. Teaching Kids to Sing. Book and Video Series. New York: Schirmer Books, 1992.

Telfer, Nancy. Successful Warmups. Books I and 2; Singer's and Teacher's Editions. San Diego, CA: Neil A. Kjos Music Company, 1995.

Continued on page 58

Festival 500 Sharing the Voices

JUNE 29 - JULY 6, 2003

Voices from around the world celebrate

the joy of song!

St. John's Newfoundland, Canada

Enjoy this international choral festival in the beautiful setting of

North America's oldest city.

Come Solo... attend concerts, workshops and perform with

the massed choir!

or attend the workshop... So You Always Wanted to Sing

FESTIVAL 500 and Memorial University of Newfoundland offer:

The Phenomenon ofSinging

Symposium IV CALL FOR PAPERS -

Deadline October 15, 2002 Indulge your musical spirit and present or be a delegate

at this international academic forum June 26 - 29,2003

For information, contact: Office: 709 738-6013 Fax: 709 738-6014

Email: information.festival500.com Web: www.festival500.com 7 Plank Road

St. John's, NF Canada AIE 1H3


(9: t F pIr p r q~ F lF F I I I I I I

40



michellem

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Choral Warmups

Continued from page 40

' '

RING EERSIN

I Music -2ND EDITION

hii updated and expanded itin of MENC's 1990 publi- i includes dozens of new

d evyed entries that reflect

e latstdchanges in music

rer opportunities and

irid sills and training. e uie features a new sec-

n ntecbnolgy, an updat-

directory of helpful

e urces, and informative

o tributons from current

r fesionals in the music

ic lvaluable resource for t

?alhefs and their students,

liq

hd

Pi p

be placement offices, and

ol libraries, and an indis-

nssble guide for those

to embark on a reward-

n4 career path. 2000. 148

g s. SBN 1-56545-133-3.

o i .111.e 13.50 MENC

Tor, &se the MENC Resources order fonn on page 72.

II

Figure 8. Enunciation

I1. I 12. i . I I ..I I . ,.

I 1:A round theteeth :of thetongue tipof JhetonJ . t e A p o A-roundtheteeththetipofthetongue tipofthetongue tipofthetongue A - tip ofthetip of thetongue

A pro - per cup of cof- fee in a cop -per cof- fee cup

Cadential Structure

oee scae ubes lette 11o

PC Solfege, scale numbers, letters, or vowels

%i^ O r; r C 1`r r r "r 11

Alter in various ways: mi me ma mo moo 1. Cres and decres or

L Al-le-lu-i-a paint/conduct shape

9: ': 9 L

Various musical concepts can be

highlighted for careful attention by means of warm-up exercises. For

example, enunciation or cadential structure might be the focus of one

segment of the warm-up period (figure 8). Other exercises for learning musical concepts, such as rhythmic patterns, metrical considerations, and vowel formation relative to actual text, could be drawn directly from the music being studied. Expression can also be addressed in the warm-up period. Various expressive elements such as articulation, style, and

dynamics can be presented within the context of passages selected from the music. Another means of exploring expression is by altering one or more of these elements while singing repeatedly through canons. Warm-up exercises such as exercise d in figure 8 can be devised to explore and enhance expressive elements such as

phrasing, tonal production, and vocal color.

2. Listen for another section or individual singer

3. Use vocal qualities as appropriate to different styles or musical settings such as Wagner opera, English cathedral, Bach cantata, etc.

Conclusion A warm-up period structured to

prepare chorus members to sing, listen, and learn is time well spent. The outcomes relative to vocal and musical development are well worth the

necessary time and planning. My hope is that this article provides music teachers with some initial ideas for establishing a well-planned and effective warm-up period. Additional resources are provided in the sidebar on page 40. Once the structure and

processes are established, the possibilities for furthering musical learning and growth within the warm-up period are endless. The warm-up period becomes more meaningful and creative when musical development and

learning are the focal points.

Note 1. Sandra Frey Stegman, "Making

Music Meaningful in the Choral Classroom," Choral Journal 40, no. 9

(April 2000), 17-21. ?

MU S IC EDUCATORS O U RNA

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DOI: 10.2307/3399755

2001 88: 28Music Educators JournalBrian Gorelick

Planning the Perfect Choral Rehearsal

Published by:


On behalf of:







What is This?

- Nov 1, 2001Version of Record >>













PLANNING THE PERFECT

CHORAL REHEARSAL Detailed, advance planning of rehearsal schedules is a key element

in creating and maintaining a successful choir program.

horal-conducting textbooks

generally offer conductors the same basic advice for

organizing a rehearsal: begin with a selection that the

choir knows well, continue with work on a challenging piece or section of a

piece, and end on a positive note with a composition that can be sung suc-

cessfully. This strategy is a proven, effective teaching method, correctly based on the synthesis-analysis-synthesis cycle well-known to music educators.1 However, it is only a general framework for planning a choral practice session. To achieve artistic results and develop the singers' musicality, a

sophisticated conductor needs more

planning guidelines than just this

three-step cycle. The key to success is

determining, ahead of time, a schedule for rehearsing all the music needed to be mastered during the concert preparation period and then selecting for each rehearsal the order of events that has the best chance of leading to the efficient learning of the compositions and musical concepts scheduled for that day. The end result will be a well-

prepared choir presenting a program of expressive, artistic choral music.

Brian Gorelick is associate professor of music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The choral conductor can lead singers through five stages when teaching a piece: "begin," "continue," "finish-and-review," "details," and "details-with-special-needs."

Planning the Rehearsal Schedule

Just as a virtuoso pianist plans practice time carefully to memorize a con- certo by a specific concert date, an effective choral conductor plans a schedule that enables singers to master all the music needed for an upcoming performance. To do this, the conductor needs to have a complete picture of how all the music selected for the program will be learned by the choir. It is

essential for every conductor to plan, on paper, which pieces should be rehearsed at each of the choir's regularly scheduled rehearsals and dress rehearsals. One good approach to

accomplishing this goal is Donald Neuen's minutes per piece per rehearsal method.2 The conductor calculates the total number of minutes available for rehearsing the music over the entire time span, divides by the number of pieces needed to be prepared,




and assigns minutes per piece based on the level of difficulty. Time for vocalises and announcements is subtracted from the total number of minutes before dividing by the number of pieces so that the final calculations reflect only the time available to the conductor for music learning. Finally, the specific rehearsal schedule is planned by determining in how many rehearsals and for how long at every rehearsal each piece needs to be worked on.

With the rehearsal schedule finished, the conductor now has a

complete picture of how the choir will master the music in six weeks or its first concertprogram of

the year.

I have been successful in using a

system that specifies the stage to which a piece of music has progressed by a specific rehearsal date, with the amount of time to spend in rehearsal

implied by the stage itself. This

approach is not as time-specific as the

minutes-per-piece-per-rehearsal method, but it still allows me to create an efficient plan for mastering a concert program. I believe that all compositions go through five stages in order to be learned musically and artistically. All pieces "begin" with a first-rehearsal time allotment, primarily devoted to

sight-reading. Most works require ten to twenty minutes, with more difficult or stylistically unfamiliar selections often given an entire rehearsal on their first day. The choir and conductor

then "continue" working on each piece in segments of ten to twenty-five minutes over many rehearsals, finish-

ing the sight-reading and learning the mechanics-the notes, rhythms, diction, dynamics, breaths, articulations, and tempi in every measure. When the music can be sung from cover to cover, with errors occurring only in the most difficult passages, the work is at the "finish-and-review" stage-usually one additional ten- to twenty-five- minute rehearsal unit.

Many conductors, after reaching this "finish-and-review" stage, lead their choirs in making exciting, expressive music in rehearsal periods that focus on the "details" of interpretation. Persistent errors are isolated and corrected and all of the mechanical elements of the music are mastered in these rehearsals. Intonation, phrasing, tone quality, rhythmic precision, balance, and the text-music relation-

ship are focused on and perfected for

performance. "Details" units tend to last as long as thirty minutes for com-

plex pieces and as little as five minutes for lighter works or pieces that are

stylistically familiar. Conductors who

prefer to build in interpretative elements during earlier stages can extend the time allotments for "continue" and "finish-and-review" rehearsals as needed. The "details" stage would then become the fine-tuning work carried out during a run-through or dress rehearsal. At the very end of the rehearsal process, the conductor invites any additional musical forces to

join the choir, such as soloists, keyboard players, and instrumentalists, according to the demands of the score. These final "details-with-special- needs" rehearsal units are short if the soloists are from the choir or the

accompanist has been present at every rehearsal, but lengthy if a major work

requires coordination with professional soloists and an orchestra.

Figure 1 presents a complete rehearsal schedule using both the min-

utes-per-piece-per-rehearsal method and the "rehearsal-stages" method. The choir's task is to prepare six selections, beginning on the first day of the fall term, for a performance six weeks later, a typical schedule for a select college- level ensemble. Given three holidays

and fifty minutes per rehearsal, the amount of time available for preparing music is 1,026 minutes. Each of the six

pieces can be practiced for 171 minutes. Because easy compositions need less time, and difficult ones more, the conductor can decide to use 114 minutes per piece for two works at the easy level, 171 minutes per piece for two medium-level compositions, and 228 minutes per piece for two demanding works. Figure 1 assigns the six compositions to specific rehearsal dates, indicates the stage the music should have

progressed to at each rehearsal, and

gives the number of minutes to spend working on each piece at the practice session in parentheses.3

At times, a conductor decides to concentrate on one compositionfor an

entire rehearsal.

The rehearsal-schedule example incorporates both the mathematics of the minutes method and the stages method's requirement that each piece progress through all five levels of

preparation. This combination of

approaches is for comparative purposes only. The stages system does not

require a specific minutes-per-piece assignment, although both could be used simultaneously. It is this flexibili-

ty that gives the stages method value as an organizational tool, for it allows the conductor to add or subtract time from working on a specific piece dur-

ing the rehearsal itself, provided that the stages chosen for each practice session are achieved.

NOVEMBER 2001 29



Figure 1. Rehearsal schedule for the first concert

Time frame: Five rehearsals per week and three holidays Goal: Six pieces Three levels of difficulty: A/B, Easy; C/D, Medium; E/F, Difficult

Week Rehearsal Rehearsal Contents

1 1 A: Begin (20 min.); E: Begin (18 min.) 2 A: Continue (20 min.); E: Continue (18 min.) 3 A: Continue (20 min.); E: Continue (18 min.) 4 C: Begin (12 min.); E: Continue (26 min.) 5 C: Continue (24 min.); E: Continue (14 min.)

2 6 A: Continue (8 min.); C: Continue (17 min.); E: Continue (13 min.) 7 A: Finish and Review (10 min.); C: Continue (18 min.); E: Continue (10 min.) 8 A: Details (10 min.); C: Continue (16 min.); E: Finish and Review (12 min.) 9 B: Begin (38 min.)

10 A: Details (8 min.); C: Finish and Review (12 min.); E: Details (18 min.)

3 11 B: Continue (21 min.); C: Details (7 min.); E: Details (10 min.) 12 B: Continue (8 min.); F: Begin (30 min.) 13 B: Continue (8 min.); F: Continue (30 min.) 14 A: Details (4 min.); C: Details (6 min.); E: Details (8 min.); F: Continue (20 min.)

4 15 D: Begin (38 min.) 16 E: Details (10 min.); F: Continue (28 min.) 17 B: Finish and Review (8 min.); C: Details (13 min.); F: Continue (17 min.) 18 D: Continue (25 min.); F: Continue (13 min.) 19 D: Continue (21 min.); F: Finish and Review (17 min.)

5 20 C: Details, with solo and piano (13 min.); D: Continue (12 min.); E: Details (13 min.) 21 A: Details (5 min.); B: Details (8 min.); D: Continue (11 min.); F: Details (14 min.) 22 B: Details (4 min.); C: Details, with solo and piano (5 min.); D: Finish and Review (14 min.); E:

Details (5 min.); F: Details, with piano (10 min.) 23 A: Details (3 min.); B: Details (4 min.); C: Details, with solo and piano (6 min.); D: Details (10

min.); E: Details (5 min.); F: Details, with piano (10 min.)

6 24 B: Details (3 min.); C: Details, with solo and piano (5 min.); D: Details (10 min.); E: Details (10 min.); F: Details, with piano (10 min.)

25 A: Details (3 min.); B: Details (4 min.); C: Details, with solo and piano (6 min.); D: Details (10 min.); E: Details (5 min.); F: Details, with piano (10 min.)

26 B: Details (4 min.); C: Details, with solo and piano (5 min.); D: Details (10 min.); E: Details (10 min.); F: Details, with piano (9 min.)

27 A: Details (3 min.); B: Details (4 min.); C: Details, with solo and piano (6 min.); D: Details (10 min.); E: Details (5 min.); F: Details, with piano (10 min.)

The ultimate value of both tion of an easier work in place of a dif- Rehearsal 15 or have not progressed to approaches is to clarify where the ficult one, can be made at the first the stages chosen for them, the con- music must be at any given time dur- sign that the overall plan cannot be ductor could substitute an easier sixth ing the six-week rehearsal period. Pro- maintained. For example, if the five piece at that rehearsal, and thereby gram changes, especially the elimina- works in progress are demanding more adapt the remaining twelve rehearsals. tion of a composition or the substitu- time than planned by the date of Without a plan, all six pieces approach




the concert in less than perfect condition without time to master all of them well or to change the musical selections for the concert.

The perfect choral rehearsal moves every composition to a more

artistic stage of preparation.

tional liturgical texts, as the music for the concert. I have listed these works in figure 2.

Rehearsals involving only two com-

positions. This type of rehearsal com-

prises ten of the twenty-seven practice sessions in the plan and is the most useful type of rehearsals for preparing music at the "begin" and "continue"

stages. The conductor has maximum

flexibility to spend time where it is

necessary; one piece could receive thir-

ty minutes of attention and still leave

eight minutes in the rehearsal to achieve results on a second work.

However, the ideal distribution of time is eighteen minutes on Piece 1 and twenty minutes on Piece 2.

Adapting the three-step cycle is the most obvious choice for Rehearsal 12, where Josquin des Pres's "Ave Maria" continues note-learning work and

Haydn's "Te Deum" is begun (see figure 3). Reviewing a segment of the second piece at the end of the assigned time period for that piece, which is also the end of the rehearsal itself, allows the choir to close the session with music it can sing well.

If the conductor is planning to work on a different passage of the

Haydn, namely the fugue in mm. 140 -193, the best rehearsal plan is the reverse order of pieces from the

sequence just presented. The "first

easy/second difficult" opening steps of

- - - Figure 2. Program of traditional liturgical text settings for first concert

Planning the Single Rehearsals With the rehearsal schedule fin-

ished, the conductor has a complete picture of how the choir will master the music in six weeks for its first concert program of the year. It is now time to focus on single rehearsals and select the best order of events for their contents. The three-step cycle certainly fits the bill for practice sessions where three compositions need work. But relying only on the traditional approach leaves conductors without a clear strategy when one, two, or four or more pieces must be

practiced. Such rehearsals comprise 74 percent of the total number of sessions in the rehearsal schedule exam-

ple in figure 1. To illustrate different ways of con-

structing sequences of events for single rehearsals, I will present two possible plans for each of two rehearsals taken from the schedule. The first plan will be organized by the three-step cycle to show how it can be used effectively in a variety of situations, with appropriate adaptations. The second plan will show an alternate strategy based on the musical demands of the pieces scheduled for practice. In order to make the single rehearsal plans come alive, I have chosen a set of six compositions, which are all settings of tradi-

I. Early Styles:

Title

"Ave Maria"

"Virga Jesse"

Composer

Josquin des Prez SATB a cappella (Theodore Presser: 352-00044)

Anton Bruckner SATB a cappella (Edition Peters: 6317)

" Te Deum for Empress Marie Therese"

Franz Joseph Haydn SATB and piano (Associated Music Publishers: A-488)

II. Twentieth-Century Settings:

Title

"Magnificat"

"Ave Maria"

Composer

Josquin des Prez SATB a cappella (Theodore Presser: 352-00044)

Javier Busto SATB a cappella (Walton Music Corp.: WGK-122)

"Festival Te Deum" Benjamin Britten SATB, S solo, and piano (Boosey & Hawkes: 15656)

NOVEMBER 2001

DiffOculty

B-Easy

E Difficult

F Difficult

Difficulty

B-Easy

E-Difficult

F-Difficult

31



Figure 3. Rehearsal 12, Plan 1

1. Vocalises; time allotment: 10 minutes.

2. Review mm. 78-110 of des Prez learned previously to test mastery of basic elements (notes, rhythms, text, and dynamics). Then begin mm. 1-54 of des Prez for sight- reading and learning of basic elements; time allotment: 8 minutes.

3. Begin mm. 1-38 of Haydn for sight-reading and learning of basic elements. Then, begin mm. 38-82 of Haydn for sight-reading and learning of basic elements. The second group of pages is the more difficult passage; time allotment: 22 minutes.

4. Ensemble announcements; time allotment: 2 minutes.

5. Review mm. 1-82 of Haydn covered today to test mastery of basic elements and add phrasing details; time allotment: 8 minutes.



2. Begin mm. 140-193 of Haydn for sight-reading and learning of basic elements. Begin with learning fugue themes gradually, all on each part on each theme for 10 minutes. Work on various combinations of parts in mm. 140-193 for 20 minutes. Test mastery of basic elements with a final review of mm. 140-193; time allotment: 30 minutes.


4. Review mm. 78-110 of des Prez learned previously to test mastery of basic elements. Then, begin mm. 1-54 of des Prez for sight-reading and learning of basic elements; time allotment: 8 minutes.

the three-step cycle are combined in the thirty minutes of work spent on Haydn's challenging counterpoint. This is done by learning the fugue themes in a gradual way before practicing the passage with all four voices together, which gives the singers additional time to work in an easy music- making manner before reaching the portion of the rehearsal where maximum skill is needed.

By using the alternate strategy, the most demanding work on the most demanding pages of the Haydn occurs at twenty minutes after the beginning of the rehearsal period, preceded by gradually more challenging music- making on the components of the passages themselves (see figure 4). Had

the first plan for Rehearsal 12 been used for working on the fugue, the most demanding work in the rehearsal would have occurred at twenty-eight minutes after the start, preceded by work on the des Prez and the gradual approach to learning the fugue. The alternate design gives the conductor eight more minutes of high-level concentration from the choir to apply to learning Haydn's complex counterpoint. After such a rehearsal, this segment of the composition will be ready for review in a future three-step cycle as the first or third piece, for one additional note-checking run-through.

Rehearsals involving three compositions. This type of rehearsal comprises seven of the twenty-seven practice ses-

sions in the plan and occurs most often in the middle preparation weeks when pieces reach the "finish-and- review" and "details" stages. Rehearsal 8 calls for practicing three works that are at three different stages of readi- ness. Whether to use the three-step cycle or an alternate strategy depends solely on which composition needs the most demanding musical concentration. At this date in the plan, it is more important to complete and review pieces than to add performance-level details. Continuing the note-learning process on lengthy or difficult pieces is also crucial. If the latter is the conductor's primary concern on the fast, middle section of Britten's "Festival Te Deum," then the best plan would follow the three-step cycle (see figure 5).

This strategy works best if the passage in the Bruckner needing work is short and has been rehearsed vigorous- ly in a previous session, needing only five to eight minutes of attention. The placement of the Britten in the second step ensures that a substantial amount of progress will be made on a large segment of the work, which will help the conductor take the piece to the "finish-and-review" stage in its next scheduled appearance.

However, if the passages to complete in the work at the "continue" stage are easy, and of short or medium length, and if the most difficult portion of the piece at the "finish-and- review" stage is not solid, then the alternate plan should be selected for Rehearsal 8 (see figure 6). This approach reverses the minutes per piece assigned to Pieces C and E in figure 1. Working on the Britten first is an easier music-learning task than working on the Bruckner's most challenging passage, which, if it is not solid, will definitely need sixteen minutes of focused attention. Thus, rehearsing Piece C functions as a bridge to rehearsing Piece E, allowing the singers to master a new passage before concentrating on the rehearsal's primary concern. Overall, the conductor leads the choir through a large two-step cycle that promotes continual progress toward musical expression. First, the singers learn new passages, beginning with the easier of the two




works not yet completed. Then, the ensemble reviews whole pieces, testing the basic elements in one work before

adding details of phrasing and inter-

pretation in a second composition. The use of the same piece for the end of note learning and the beginning of

reviewing unifies the plan in a satisfying way.

Rehearsals involvingfour or more works. Covering four or more works

during the same rehearsal can be

accomplished using many different sequences. These types of rehearsals occur just before a concert, and one of them is usually designated as the dress rehearsal, when every piece on the

program must be practiced for a very short period of time. Several important rules for rehearsing four or more works at once will help the conductor

accomplish real results instead of

meaningless cover-to-cover reviews of the musical selections. First, organize the compositions to be practiced from the most in need to the least in need, using the stages they have reached as the basis for determining when they are to be rehearsed. Second, involve the extra musicians in the early or late

portion of the rehearsal, so that the order of pieces moves from performance with the extras to a cappella or vice versa. Finally, if all of the selections on the agenda are at just about the same stage, arrange them so that the first composition is easy and the final piece is musically satisfying, thereby embodying the main principle of the three-step cycle.



2. Review all of Bruckner. Then finish practicing the segment most in need, most likely the difficult harmonic passage in mm. 35-63. Correct recurring errors and end with a review of the same passage; time allotment: 12 minutes.

3. Continue learning of basic elements in mm. 53-87 of Britten. Review all measures rehearsed or the last portion of these measures to close; time allotment: 16 minutes.


5. Review all of Busto. Then, add details of phrasing to any passages desired. End with a review of the last segment of the work that has been improved; time allotment: 10 minutes.



2. Continue learning of basic elements in mm. 103-128 of Britten. Review all measures rehearsed or the last portion of these measures to close; time allotment: 12 minutes.

3. Finish practicing the segment in Bruckner most in need, most likely the difficult harmonic passage in mm. 35-63. Correct recurring errors and take time to test mastery of basic elements for 10 minutes. Then review the entire piece and work on one weak

passage after the review for 6 minutes; time allotment: 16 minutes.


5. Review all of Busto. Then add details of phrasing to any passages desired. End with a review of the last segment of the work which has been improved; time allotment: 10 minutes.

Additional Guidelines At times, a conductor decides to

concentrate on one composition for an entire rehearsal. This occurs most often on a first rehearsal of a work that is unusually difficult or unfamiliar in

style. Most choirs unknowingly demand that their conductor sell these types of pieces to them in order to capture their best energy and apply it to learning the music. If the first rehearsal goes well, the remaining practice sessions on these types of

pieces are almost always successful.

Applying the three-step cycle to a rehearsal on a single piece can be done

by beginning with an easy passage in the first step for ten minutes, working

on the next passage in the score or a difficult passage in the second step for

twenty minutes, and reviewing either or both passages at the end of the rehearsal for eight minutes. The alternate strategy organizes the rehearsal

plan around the work's most memorable phrase. After vocalizing, the conductor rehearses the chosen passage for at least twelve minutes, until it can be sung with mastery of basic elements, essential phrasing, and appropriate tone quality. Following this, the choir turns its attention to passages that precede or follow the phrase already learned for twenty-two minutes, continuing to master the basics and add expressive details. The

rehearsal concludes with a review of as

many of the phrases practiced as possible, including the memorable passage, during the last four minutes.

Successfully mastering a piece's memorable phrase at the beginning of the learning process creates rehearsabili-

ty for stylistically challenging music. When the singers know how beautiful or dramatic a challenging work can be, they will persevere through the many demanding rehearsals needed to perform the entire score. Arvo Part's

"Magnificat" features powerful six-part


33 NOVEMBER 2001



that most other disciplines do not offer. Yet, because of the performance aspect, teachers of music ensembles often shy away from allowing main- streamed learners into their domain. This reluctance, however, is unnecessary. The strategies discussed within this article can give students with special needs successful experiences making music with their peers. All they need to succeed are the right tools.

Notes 1. James Frisque, Loretta Niebur, and Jere

T. Humphreys, "Music Mainstreaming: Prac-

tices in Arizona," Journal of Research in Music Education 42 (1994): 94-104; Kate Gfeller, Alice-Ann Darrow, and Steven K. Hedden, "Perceived Effectiveness of Mainstreaming in Iowa and Kansas Schools," Journal ofResearch in Music Education 38 (1990): 90-101; Janet P. Gilbert and Edward P. Asmus, Jr., "Main-

streaming: Music Educators' Participation and Professional Needs," Journal of Research in Music Education 29 (1981): 31-37.

2. MENC, Opportunity-to-Learn Stan- dards for Music Instruction: Grades PreK-12.

(Reston, VA: MENC, 1994). ?

that most other disciplines do not offer. Yet, because of the performance aspect, teachers of music ensembles often shy away from allowing main- streamed learners into their domain. This reluctance, however, is unnecessary. The strategies discussed within this article can give students with special needs successful experiences making music with their peers. All they need to succeed are the right tools.

Notes 1. James Frisque, Loretta Niebur, and Jere

T. Humphreys, "Music Mainstreaming: Prac-

tices in Arizona," Journal of Research in Music Education 42 (1994): 94-104; Kate Gfeller, Alice-Ann Darrow, and Steven K. Hedden, "Perceived Effectiveness of Mainstreaming in Iowa and Kansas Schools," Journal ofResearch in Music Education 38 (1990): 90-101; Janet P. Gilbert and Edward P. Asmus, Jr., "Main-

streaming: Music Educators' Participation and Professional Needs," Journal of Research in Music Education 29 (1981): 31-37.

2. MENC, Opportunity-to-Learn Stan- dards for Music Instruction: Grades PreK-12.

(Reston, VA: MENC, 1994). ?

Spotlight on Assessment in Music Education

Full of valuable tips and commentary that will help music teachers effectively assess the music skills of their students. Each book in MENC's new Spotlight series

focuses on a particular topic and comprises articles first published in the state MEA journals, which play a leadership role in applying

national initiatives at the state level. The series serves as a window to

the valuable work being done throughout the country. 2001.

104 pages. ISBN 1-56545-143-0.

#1693. $18.00/$14.40

MENC members

To order, use the MENC Resources order form on page 70.

Spotlight on Assessment in Music Education

Full of valuable tips and commentary that will help music teachers effectively assess the music skills of their students. Each book in MENC's new Spotlight series

focuses on a particular topic and comprises articles first published in the state MEA journals, which play a leadership role in applying

national initiatives at the state level. The series serves as a window to

the valuable work being done throughout the country. 2001.

104 pages. ISBN 1-56545-143-0.

#1693. $18.00/$14.40

MENC members

To order, use the MENC Resources order form on page 70.

Choral Rehearsal continued fom page 33

Choral Rehearsal continued fom page 33

chords in mm. 38-46, where all of the voices are written in the upper register and the composer asks for the text to be projected at fortissimo. This phrase is easy to learn and immediately satisfying to sing, making it a fine starting place for beginning the note-learning on the work in Rehearsal 15.

Improving the singers' vocal technique, developing better choral skills in the ensemble, and understanding compositional styles and text sources are also important goals to include in single rehearsal plans. Expanding the choral rehearsal into these and other valuable comprehensive learning experiences with and about music can be more successful through advanced planning, as well. Vocal and choral techniques can be taught during the ten minutes reserved for vocalises by replacing the last warm-up selections with longer presentations that introduce concepts and perfect skills. Whenever possible, the concepts being taught should be applicable to the first composition being practiced, to connect the opening two time segments of the rehearsal.

Stylistic and textual learning experiences can be done in many places in the rehearsal, depending on the avenue being employed. A piece can be introduced with a description of its style features and text sources, or through a performance by the conductor singing one line and playing the others on the piano, before sight-reading during the "begin" stage. Playing a recording to hear style features or a performance of a particular choir is best done during "finish-and-review" and "details" rehearsals, after the ensemble has learned the music well enough to successfully add the concepts heard to their rendition following the listening experience. Asking singers to listen and critique the choir during run-through rehearsals can be

chords in mm. 38-46, where all of the voices are written in the upper register and the composer asks for the text to be projected at fortissimo. This phrase is easy to learn and immediately satisfying to sing, making it a fine starting place for beginning the note-learning on the work in Rehearsal 15.

Improving the singers' vocal technique, developing better choral skills in the ensemble, and understanding compositional styles and text sources are also important goals to include in single rehearsal plans. Expanding the choral rehearsal into these and other valuable comprehensive learning experiences with and about music can be more successful through advanced planning, as well. Vocal and choral techniques can be taught during the ten minutes reserved for vocalises by replacing the last warm-up selections with longer presentations that introduce concepts and perfect skills. Whenever possible, the concepts being taught should be applicable to the first composition being practiced, to connect the opening two time segments of the rehearsal.

Stylistic and textual learning experiences can be done in many places in the rehearsal, depending on the avenue being employed. A piece can be introduced with a description of its style features and text sources, or through a performance by the conductor singing one line and playing the others on the piano, before sight-reading during the "begin" stage. Playing a recording to hear style features or a performance of a particular choir is best done during "finish-and-review" and "details" rehearsals, after the ensemble has learned the music well enough to successfully add the concepts heard to their rendition following the listening experience. Asking singers to listen and critique the choir during run-through rehearsals can be

an effective way to give individuals an important musical role in the final stages of concert preparation. All of these learning approaches are more effective when they occur as part of the work on the first or second pieces in the rehearsal sequence, when periods of listening or individualizing instruction can occur without loss of focus.

Conclusion When creatively adapted, the

three-step cycle is a fine rule to follow for planning single rehearsals. However, when the needs of the music call for something special, the conductor who can structure alternate strategies will be able to achieve success on the most challenging demands of the repertoire. Building a complete rehearsal schedule for every concert-preparation time period is the way to ensure that each rehearsal's objectives are clear so that an effective sequence of events can be chosen that will lead to mastering the musical demands scheduled for that day. The overall result will be a choir that is prepared to share expressive, musical works of art with its audiences. The perfect choral rehearsal moves every composition to a more artistic stage of preparation. Conductors who plan ahead, with an understanding of how to plan, can expect to have this ultimate music-making experience more often.

Notes 1. Charles Leonhard and Robert House,

Foundations and Principles ofMusic Education, 2nd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972), 287-88.

2. Donald Neuen, Choral Techniques and

Methods, Workbook for the University of California at Los Angeles Summer Choral

Workshop, July 1998, 71-72. 3. The basic design of the six-week

rehearsal schedule, the scheduling of pieces on

specific rehearsal dates, and the number of minutes to rehearse each piece are by Donald

Neuen, and are used by permission. The

stages designations, pieces chosen for exam-

ples, and extra musicians involved are by the author. The total number of minutes is the result of multiplying twenty-seven rehearsals

an effective way to give individuals an important musical role in the final stages of concert preparation. All of these learning approaches are more effective when they occur as part of the work on the first or second pieces in the rehearsal sequence, when periods of listening or individualizing instruction can occur without loss of focus.

Conclusion When creatively adapted, the

three-step cycle is a fine rule to follow for planning single rehearsals. However, when the needs of the music call for something special, the conductor who can structure alternate strategies will be able to achieve success on the most challenging demands of the repertoire. Building a complete rehearsal schedule for every concert-preparation time period is the way to ensure that each rehearsal's objectives are clear so that an effective sequence of events can be chosen that will lead to mastering the musical demands scheduled for that day. The overall result will be a choir that is prepared to share expressive, musical works of art with its audiences. The perfect choral rehearsal moves every composition to a more artistic stage of preparation. Conductors who plan ahead, with an understanding of how to plan, can expect to have this ultimate music-making experience more often.

Notes 1. Charles Leonhard and Robert House,

Foundations and Principles ofMusic Education, 2nd ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972), 287-88.

2. Donald Neuen, Choral Techniques and

Methods, Workbook for the University of California at Los Angeles Summer Choral

Workshop, July 1998, 71-72. 3. The basic design of the six-week

rehearsal schedule, the scheduling of pieces on

specific rehearsal dates, and the number of minutes to rehearse each piece are by Donald

Neuen, and are used by permission. The

stages designations, pieces chosen for exam-

ples, and extra musicians involved are by the author. The total number of minutes is the result of multiplying twenty-seven rehearsals by thirty-eight minutes per rehearsal (the amount remaining after time for vocalises and ensemble announcements is subtracted). ?

by thirty-eight minutes per rehearsal (the amount remaining after time for vocalises and ensemble announcements is subtracted). ?

MUSIC EDUCATORS JOURNAL MUSIC EDUCATORS JOURNAL 60 60



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DOI: 10.1177/0027432111405532

2011 97: 37Music Educators JournalChristin Reardon MacLellan

and What They Mean for YouUnderstanding Your Band, Orchestra, and Choir Students : Personality Similarities and Differences

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www.menc.org 37

by Christin Reardon MacLellan

Understanding Your Band, Orchestra, and

Choir Students Personality Similarities

and Differences and What They Mean for You

Abstract: Stereotypes about the personalities of musicians, which have evolved over time, seem to direct our perception of musical experiences that take place in different ensembles. This article presents the stereotypes often associated with musicians’ personalities and examines eight personality trends of high school band, orchestra, and choir students that can be identified in research. Personality similarities and differences among ensemble students are discussed. Teaching techniques and strategies that accommodate students’ personality types are suggested.

Keywords: band, chorus, learning styles, orchestra, personality type, senior high school

Understanding your students’ personalities can help make you a more effective music teacher.

Christin Reardon MacLellan is a doctoral student and associate instructor of music education at Indiana University, Bloomington. She can be contacted at [email protected]. See the April 2011 Journal of Research in Music Education for a more in-depth look at this topic by the author.

Have you ever witnessed an ensemble rehearsal outside your own field of expertise or comfort level and mar-

veled at just how different musicians can be? Band, orchestra, and choir directors, have you peeked in on your colleagues’ rehearsals and noticed that the students’ personalities, behavior, and nature seem so very different than your own students’? Take a moment to consider the following questions: Do high school band, orchestra, and choir students have different personalities? Are students who participate in music ensembles differ-ent in terms of personality from their peers who do not participate in music ensembles? Chances are, you answered yes to these ques-tions, and maybe contemplated what differ-ences might exist.

In his book Rare Birds of the Band Shell, Tim Lautzenheiser puts an entertaining spin on exposing the way we perceive players of certain instruments. He describes each instru-ment of the band as a species of bird. Flut-ists, or “Flutarium Perfectus,” are described as perfectionists in everything they do, always behaving well and striving for meticulous per-formance.1 Trumpet players, or “Hollywood Screamerium Grandeur,” are known to be leaders of the flock. Possessing a brash and forceful personality, trumpet players desire to be in the spotlight and strive to outdo one another.2 While we can appreciate these ste-reotypes as inside jokes among musicians, in every joke, there lies a tiny seed of truth.

A question of great interest is what causes us to attach predetermined identities




and personalities to players of different instruments and members of different music ensembles. A more important idea to consider is whether these perceived personality differences actually exist. It seems logical that students would be likely to join ensembles that provide musical and social experiences catering to their individual personalities. There-fore, certain types of students might choose one ensemble instead of another because of these factors.

An awareness of personality trends among ensemble musicians can aid in teacher effectiveness, student enjoyment, and ultimately, music learning. Under-standing student personality types can help teachers plan instruction and activi-ties that best suit the personality tenden-cies of their students. Personality types are related to patterns of thought and behavior, and they provide insight into how students form and maintain relation-ships with one another and with teach-ers. Therefore, personality research about music ensembles might also afford teach-ers some information about the social benefits and meanings that students derive from ensemble participation.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a well-known, standardized personality inventory. Based on Carl G. Jung’s theory of psychological types, the MBTI focuses on patterns of behavior and personality that individuals develop from inborn tendencies to use their minds in different ways.3 The MBTI measures per-sonality along four dichotomies on the subscales Extraversion-Introversion (E-I), Sensing-Intuition (S-N), Thinking-Feel-ing (T-F), and Judging-Perceiving (J-P). On the basis of the answers provided on the MBTI questionnaire, a person is categorized as one pole or the other on each dichotomy, resulting in classifica-tion as one of sixteen four-letter personal-ity types (e.g., ENFP, ISTJ, INTP). MBTI types are interesting, easily understood, and useful in everyday life. Once an individual’s personality type has been determined, there are many sources that can be referenced to learn what the type means and how an individual with a cer-tain personality type is likely to think, act,

and relate to others. The MBTI has been widely used in music education research and can be an excellent tool for ensemble directors in understanding our students.

Which of These Is Not Like the Other?Eight personality trends of high school band, orchestra, and choir students can be identified in research. These trends shed light on the stereotypes often asso-ciated with musicians, provide some answers about whether our suspicions hold true, and indicate ways that ensem-ble directors might cater to students of certain personality types.

1. Choir students are more likely to be Extraverted (E) than their peers. As one might suspect, researchers have found that choir students are outgo-ing, enjoy working in groups, and derive energy from reaching out to and inter-acting with others.4 In a recent study, 75 percent of choir students surveyed pre-ferred Extraversion, while only 25 percent preferred Introversion.5 Choir directors can foster the Extraverted tendencies of their students by allowing students to be actively involved in rehearsals and giving them the freedom to discuss concepts and techniques. Activities often undertaken by choir students, such as participating in musicals, show choir, and vocal jazz ensembles, are a great fit for Extraverted students. These activities allow students to interact with others and express them-selves while being “in the spotlight.”

2. Band and orchestra stu-dents are likely to be evenly divided between Extraversion and Introver-sion (I). In a sample of band students, Reardon found that 58 percent preferred Extraversion, while 42 percent preferred Introversion. In a sample of orchestra students, 51 percent preferred Extraver-sion, while 49 percent preferred Introver-sion.6 Therefore, it is important for band and orchestra directors to incorporate teaching strategies that accommodate both personality types. Unlike Extra-verts, Introverts are more focused on their inner world and often prefer doing things independently or in very small

groups. Introverts are reflective and pre-fer to have close relationships with a few people. Band and orchestra directors may benefit from making an extra effort to get to know their more Introverted students in a one-on-one atmosphere. Balancing large-ensemble time with opportunities for chamber music is another great way to meet the needs of both Introverts and eEtraverts. Differences between Extra-verts and Introverts might also play a role in assessment strategies. Testing in front of or along with peers, for example, may be difficult for Introverts, while Extraverts would not mind this as much.

3. Band, orchestra, and choir students are likely to be Intuitive (N). Music students seem to display personal-ity characteristics associated with Intui-tion.7 A preference for Intuition seems to be a unifying rather than distinguishing factor among students in band, orches-tra, and choir. Intuitive students think abstractly and metaphorically. They tend to be insightful, imaginative, and ver-bally creative. Ensemble directors could encourage the abstract thinking that comes naturally for Intuitive students by planning lessons and activities that allow students to be creative, imaginative, and unique. The arts, especially music, might serve as an outstanding medium to allow Intuitive students to express themselves and follow their natural tendencies.

4. Band, orchestra and choir students are likely to be Feeling (F). Musicians seem to display personality traits typical of Feeling.8 Feeling students value what is important to others and are warm, tactful, and caring in their rela-tionships. They tend to be empathetic and compassionate. Since a preference for Feeling exists among students in all three ensembles, traits associated with Feeling seem to be typical of musicians in general. To embrace students’ prefer-ence for Feeling, teachers should foster positive relationships between students as well as between students and teach-ers. Meaningful relationships developed as a result of ensemble participation are often a huge part of students’ lives. Perhaps the concern for others’ feel-ings apparent within these musicians is



www.menc.org 39

contradictory to the competitive nature of some ensembles. A preference for Feeling indicates that ensemble students might be more comfortable in nurturing learning environments.

5. Band, orchestra, and choir students are likely to be Perceiving (P). According to several researchers, musicians prefer Perceiving.9 In Rear-don’s study, band students (73 percent) especially preferred Perceiving, more so than orchestra (65 percent) or choir (65 percent) students.10 Preferring a more spontaneous way of life, Perceiving peo-ple appear loose and casual, and keep planning to a minimum. They work in bursts of energy and are open to new experiences. An inspirational teacher who is able to incorporate surprising, spur-of-the-moment ideas could be espe-cially successful with Perceiving students. Rehearsals can be structured so that

intensity varies throughout the rehearsal period. Blocks of high-energy time and low-energy time can alternate so that stu-dents maintain interest and direction. On the other hand, due to their spontaneous and flexible nature, Perceiving students might need additional reminders about deadlines and expectations. This extra guidance from the teacher might help students participate in an ensemble to the best of their ability. It has been docu-mented that males and females are likely to differ in some aspects of personality. Males are more likely to prefer Perceiv-ing than females.11 Therefore, the number of males and females in an ensemble can play a role in personality differences.

6. Music ensemble students are likely to differ in personality from their nonmusical peers. Accord-ing to high school norms for the MBTI, high school students prefer Extraversion

(57 percent) over Introversion (43 per-cent), Sensing (52 percent) over Intuition (48 percent), Feeling (59 percent) over Thinking (41 percent), and Perceiving (60 percent) over Judging (40 percent).12 Researchers have found that musicians’ personalities differ from those of the general population.13 While ensemble students seem to display similar char-acteristics to the general high school population on E-I, they exhibit more dras-tic preferences than the general popu-lation on the other three dichotomies. In Reardon’s study, the students in each ensemble demonstrated a stronger prefer-ence for Feeling over Thinking, with 70 percent of band students, 67 percent of orchestra students, and 83 percent of choir students preferring Feeling. The ensemble students demonstrated a much stronger preference for Intuition over Sensing, with 77 percent of band students, 68 percent

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with Intuition and Feeling.15 Intuition and Feeling are also prominent personality types for ensemble students. Teachers and students of similar personality types may interact effectively and naturally. By understanding their own personalities, teachers might have a better understand-ing of how students who have similar personalities will learn and contribute to an ensemble. Teachers can benefit from knowledge about their own personality types, and how these types interact with other types. If presented with an oppor-tunity to take the MBTI, you will likely find that this inventory is quite accurate in describing your personality. Interpre-tations and descriptions of your MBTI type provide an organized and interesting context in which to understand your own personality.

8. Students might be attracted to the social characteristics of dif-ferent music ensembles. Researchers have looked at the social meaning and motivation behind music ensemble par-ticipation.16 It is clear that participation in music plays a major role in identity development among students. A ques-tion for teachers to consider is what types of students are drawn to certain ensem-bles, or to music in general, and why? It is possible that the social climate of an ensemble attracts a specific type of student. For example, many band programs value activities such as marching band, trips, festivals, and social events, which allow students to interact with one another and build friendships through participation in music. These band activities take place in a different social setting than choir activi-ties, such as preparing musicals. An Intro-vert in the band could be comfortable participating in marching band, but might not be as comfortable performing a lead role in a musical. The different social char-acteristics and expectations associated with these activities likely attract different personality types. While maintaining a certain social climate within our ensemble can be a positive thing, we must be care-ful not to turn away potential ensemble members who might not fit the mold of a typical band, orchestra, or choir student.

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or orchestra students, and 74 percent of choir students preferring Intuition. On the J-P scale, the students displayed a stronger preference than the general population for Perceiving over Judging, with 73 percent of band students, 65 percent of orchestra students, and 65 percent of choir students preferring Perceiving.14 Therefore, music

students are a unique group, with person-ality characteristics that differ from those of the general high school population.

7. The personality characteris-tics of music students may be simi-lar to those of music teachers. Music educators can be described as possess-ing personality characteristics associated



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www.menc.org 41

Resources for Interpretation and Understanding of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

• Myers, Isabel B. Introduction to Type, 6th ed. (Mountain View, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1998).

• The Myers and Briggs Foundation: www.myersbriggs.org

• Lawrence, Gordon. People Types and Tiger Stripes (Gainesville, FL: Center for the Applica-tion of Psychological Type, 1993).

• The Center for the Application of Psychological Type: www.capt.org

The Truth of the MatterIt turns out that our ensemble students may not be as different as we may have suspected. While certain aspects of personality seem to be unique to one ensemble versus another (such as Extra-version in choir students), it appears that music students are more alike than they are different. Interestingly, they are also unique when compared to the general population of high school stu-dents. It may not be feasible to adminis-ter the MBTI to your ensemble students; however, a great deal of insight can be obtained with knowledge about what the research literature has documented on the personality of music ensemble students. Based on these research find-ings, an important question is raised: does participation in band, orchestra, and choir shape personality, especially in the early years? Another question to consider relates to the old cliché: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Do students join an ensemble on the basis of their personality, or do students’ person-alities tend to adapt to the dynamics and culture of the ensemble?

While knowledge about students’ personalities can be useful, personality type should not be used to recruit, select, or reject students, especially at a young age. In fact, the MBTI should not be used for students younger than high school age. The value of understanding Myers-Briggs personality types within music ensembles lies in planning, instruction, assessment, motivational techniques, and social characteristics. MBTI type can help teachers better understand the learning styles and behavior tendencies of their students.

Notes

1. Tim Lautzenheiser, Rare Birds of the Band Shell (Palatine, IL: Attitude Concepts for Today, 1983).

2. Ibid.

3. Isabel Briggs Myers et al., MBTI Manual (Mountain View, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1998), 6.

4. John B. Hylton, “Dimensionality in High School Student Participants’ Perspectives of the Meaning of Choral Singing Experience,” Journal of Research in Music Education 29 no. 4 (1981): 287–303; Mary A. Kennedy, “It’s Cool Because We Like to Sing: ‘Junior High School Boys’ Experience of Choral Music as an Elective,” Research Studies in Music Education 18 (2002): 26–37; Anthony E. Kemp, “Personality Differences between the Players of String, Woodwind, Brass and Keyboard Instruments, and Singers,” Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education 66/67 (Spring/Summer 1981): 33–38; Alice M. Lanning, “Personality Characteristics of Undergraduate Music Majors in Selected Oklahoma Universities: An Investigation of Relationships as Measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator” (PhD diss., University of Oklahoma, 1990); Christin M. Reardon, “Differences in Myers-Briggs Personality Types among High School Band, Orchestra, and Choir Members” (master’s thesis, Indiana University, 2009).

5. Reardon, “Differences,” 76.

6. Ibid.

7. Anthony E. Kemp, “The Personality Structure of the Musician: I. Identifying a Profile of Traits for the Performer,” Psychology of Music 9, no. 1 (1981): 3–14; and Reardon, “Differences.”

8. Louise M. Buttsworth and Glen A. Smith, “Personality of Australian Performing Musicians by Gender and by Instrument,” Personality and Individual Differences 18, no. 5 (1995): 595–603; Kemp, “The Personality Structure”; and Reardon, “Differences.”

9. D. Belnap, “A study of the Personality Types of Artistically Talented Students” (master’s thesis, Wake Forest University, 1973); Carolyn Gibbons, “The Personality of the

Performing Musician as Measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Reported Presence of Musical Performance Anxiety” (PhD diss., University of Arkansas, 1990); Lanning, “Personality Characteristics”; and Reardon, “Differences.”


11. Myers et al., MBTI Manual.

12. Center for the Application of Psychological Type, CAPT Data Bank: Atlas of Type Tables (Gainesville, FL: 1986), 57, 64.

13. Reardon, “Differences”; Lanning, “Personality Characteristics”; Thomas M. Wubbenhorst, “Music Educators’ Personality Types as Measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,” Contributions to Music Education 18 (1991): 7–19.


15. Anthony E. Kemp, “The Personality Structure of the Musician: IV. Incorporating Group Profiles into a Comprehensive Model,” Psychology of Music 10, no. 2 (1982): 3–6; Wubbenhorst, “Music Educators’”; Thomas M. Wubbenhorst, “Personality Characteristics of Music Educators and Performers,” Psychology of Music 22 (1994): 63–74.

16. Cecil Adderley, Mary Kennedy, and William Berz, “A Home Away from Home: The World of the High School Music Classroom,” Journal of Research in Music Education 51, no. 3 (2003): 190–205; Hylton, “Dimensionality”; and Kennedy, “It’s Cool”; Sylvester Young, “Nonmusic Majors Who Persist in Selected College Marching Bands: Demographic Characteristics, and Myers-Briggs Personality Types” (PhD diss., University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001).



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Journal of Music Teacher

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DOI: 10.1177/1057083711414428

2011 2012 22: 20 originally published online 15 JulyJournal of Music Teacher Education

Jeremy N. ManternachBody Movement

The Effect of Varied Conductor Preparatory Gestures on Singer Upper

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Journal of Music Teacher Education22(1) 20 –34

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JMT414428 JMT22110.1177/1057083711414428ManternachJournal of Music Teacher Education

1The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

Corresponding Author:Jeremy N. Manternach, Division of Music Education and Music Therapy, Murphy Hall 1530 Naismith Drive, Room 448, Lawrence, KS 66045-3103 Email: [email protected]

The Effect of Varied Conductor Preparatory Gestures on Singer Upper Body Movement

Jeremy N. Manternach1

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the effect of five conductor preparatory gestures on indirect measurements of individual singers’ (N = 60) head and shoulder movements at two junctures as they sang a familiar melody. To inform music teacher preparation, the preparatory gestures were chosen to test various recommendations made by choral conducting instructors. Among primary results: (a) participant head movement significantly increased when the conductor modeled upward head movement; (b) participant shoulder movement significantly increased when the conductor modeled upward shoulder movement; (c) participant shoulder movement increased during a downward moving gesture as compared to an upward moving gesture; and (d) participant head and shoulder measurements differed between the initial breath and the internal breath taken in the melody. These results were discussed in terms of choral conducting pedagogy and music teacher preparation.

Keywords

music teacher preparation, preservice teachers, choir, conducting gesture, singing pedagogy

When a conductor rehearses an ensemble, he or she typically employs both verbal and nonverbal modes of communication. During a musical performance, however, com-munication is largely nonverbal. Accordingly, conducting instructors and texts often



Manternach 21

promote an understanding of nonverbal communication for preservice conductors (Julian, 1989).

Many pedagogues posit that such nonverbal conducting gestures can influence sound production, blend, and beauty of tone (Jordan, 1996; Lyne, 1979). Rodney Eichenberger recommends nonverbal conducting gestures that may benefit choristers’ vocal technique and sound in his instructional video, What They See Is What You Get (Eichenberger & Dunn, 1994). There is, however, scant empirical research regarding the effect of conducting gesture on individual musicians’ playing or vocal production. As a result, choral conducting instructors have traditionally relied on personal experi-ence and expert testimony for their pedagogy.

Extant studies in conducting have produced seemingly mixed results. Skadsem (1997) found that verbal instructions elicited stronger dynamic changes than written markings or conductor gesture. Increased eye contact, however, increased responses to conducting gesture. Several researchers have found that expressive conducting (Gallops, 2005; Grechesky, 1985; House, 1998; Sidoti, 1990) and instruction of the meaning of expressive gestures (Cofer, 1998) have led to more expressive playing. However, other researchers (Price, 2006; Price & Chang, 2001, 2005) found that conductor expressivity had no correlation to ensemble expressivity or ratings in a state contest.

Researchers have also investigated choral conductors’ rehearsal behaviors. Yarbrough (1975) found that teacher rehearsal magnitude, which was evaluated through volume and modulation of voice, eye contact, closeness, gestures, facial expressions, and rehearsal pace, did not correspond to differences in musical perfor-mance. Yarbrough and Madsen (1998), on the other hand, found that ratings of teacher time use, enthusiasm, intensity, personality, and overall effectiveness correlated posi-tively to ratings of the ensemble’s performance quality.

Some researchers have tested specific conducting gestures. Fuelberth (2003a, 2004) found that singers identified certain left hand crescendo gestures as possi-bly causing (e.g., fisted and stabbing gestures) or ameliorating (e.g., sideways phrase-shaping gesture) inappropriate singer tension. In another study (Fuelberth, 2003b), judges perceived that singers evidenced the most vocal tension during the fisted and stabbing gestures. Conversely, listener participants in another study (Madsen, 1991) did not perceive differences in audio-taped performances of a choir that had been conducted with gestures intended to promote good or bad choral sound.

Because of inconsistent findings in these studies, it is difficult to establish whether particular gestures influence ensemble members. To inform conducting pedagogy, instructors and researchers can explore extant research in neuroscience and social science.

Fadiga, Fogassi, Pavesi, and Rizzolatti (1995) found evidence of “mirror neurons” in the human brain that activate both while performing and observing an activity. Neuroscientist Marco Iacoboni has speculated that mirror neurons “seem designed for involuntary imitation” (M. Iacoboni, personal e-mail, October 2, 2008). Some



22 Journal of Music Teacher Education 22(1)

conducting pedagogues (Garnett, 2009) have posited that these neurons may influence choristers’ responses to conducting gestures.

Other researchers suggest the presence of a “perception–behavior link,” in which “. . . perceiving observable aspects of others (their expressions, postures, behaviors) activates the associated representations in memory, which in turn makes us more likely to do the same” (Chartrand, Maddux, & Lakin, 2005, p. 334). Chartrand and Bargh (1999), for example, reported a three-phase investigation of a “chameleon effect” in which participants mimicked the behaviors of a confederate and reported smoother interactions when they were mimicked.

Some choral conducting pedagogues have posited that choristers mimic the posture of a conductor (Jordan, 1996). Studies have demonstrated the occurrence of this “pos-ture sharing” in therapy sessions (Charny, 1966) and in college classrooms (LaFrance, 1979; LaFrance & Broadbent, 1976), particularly in those that exhibit high rapport. Posture sharing also appears to increase simultaneously with an increased desire to affiliate (Lakin & Chartrand, 2003).

Imitation has also been investigated using electromyography. Participants have been shown to imitate emotional facial expressions (Dimberg, 1990) sometimes quickly (Dimberg & Thunberg, 1998) and without conscious awareness of the stimu-lus (Dimberg, Thunberg, & Elmehed, 2000). Participants have also displayed increased arm or lip activity when watching videos of an arm wrestling match or a person stut-tering (Berger & Hadley, 1975).

Daugherty and Brunkan (2011) examined mimicry in a choral setting while partici-pants viewed a videotaped conductor modeling (a) neutral facial affect (baseline) or (b) rounded lips (experimental) during two target /u/ vowels. An expert panel, grid overlay analysis, and acoustical formant frequency analysis determined that partici-pant lip rounding increased during the experimental condition for nearly all of the sung pairs. In addition, some participants (13.16%) did not report any differences in conductor mouth behaviors and others participants (14.91%) noted an incorrect differ-ence. Only 22.81% participants accurately and specifically noted conductor /u/ vowel rounding on the two experimental target vowels.

In two pilot studies, Manternach (2008) found that singer head movement did not vary with differences in conductor preparatory gesture direction or with upward or downward conductor head movements (Manternach, 2009) while sustaining a single note. The current investigation places the varied preparatory gestures into a more natu-ralistic environment, singing eight measures of a familiar melody, while measuring singer head and shoulder movement.

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effect of five conductor prepara-tory gestures on indirect measurements of individual singers’ (N = 60) head and shoul-der movements at two junctures as they sang a familiar melody. The following research question guided the study: To what extent, if any, do indirect measurements of singer head and shoulder movement vary according to first phrase breath versus internal phrase breath, direction of conductor gesture (up, down), conductor head movement (up, down), and conductor shoulder movement (up)?



Manternach 23

Method and ProceduresParticipants and Research RoomParticipants (N = 60) in this study constituted a convenience sample from the student body of a large Midwestern university. Singer choral experience was varied, with half (n = 30) reporting no choral experience from ninth grade to the present and half (n = 30) reporting at least 2 years of choral singing in the same time span. The sample was composed of 60% female (n = 36) and 40% male participants (n = 24). Most (n = 41, 68.3%) were 18 to 22 years old and most were undergraduate students (n = 45, 75%). Many participants had played in instrumental ensembles for 4 years or more (81.7%) and 21.7% (n = 13) reported at least 4 years of voice lessons. In all, 60% (n = 36) had never taken voice lessons. Most (61.7%, n = 37) identified themselves as primarily instrumentalists. Some identified themselves as vocalists (n = 14, 23.3%), both vocal-ists and instrumentalists (n = 8, 13.3%), or “neither” (n = 1, 1.7%).

Participants entered a multipurpose university classroom (21 ft 8 in. by 31 ft 10 in.) also used for choir rehearsals. Previous research (Daugherty & Latimer, 2006) has indicated potential contributions of a “choir culture,” communicated nonverbally by such accouterments as risers and choir robes, to choral, as opposed to solo singing, behaviors. Therefore, the environment of this investigation sought to suggest insofar as possible a naturalistic choral singing environment.

Two choral riser units (Wenger Corporation Tourmaster) stood in the room. Participants were fitted with a lightweight (1.38-1.75 lbs), polyester choir robe (Collegiate Cap and Gown, Herff Jones Inc.) that had a clip on the inside of the right shoulder seam with a sticker (0.75 in. diameter) that was marked with a vertical black line. A temporary (0.5 in.) mark was drawn on the right side of the greater alar carti-lage of participants’ noses with a black eye pencil (Ben Nye).

Participants stood on a pre-positioned strip of tape affixed to the floor 18 inches in front of the choral risers and 8 ft from a permanent video screen mounted on the wall. This position was the average distance conductors stood from the front row of singers during choral rehearsals in this room. A freestanding, adjustable height aluminum music stand with the stand desk (20 in. wide and 14.5 in. high) turned vertically stood 18 in. behind them. A microphone stand with a cardboard flat (11.5 in. wide and 9.75 in. high) fastened on the microphone clip stood 24 in. on the participant’s left side. The stand desk and cardboard flat each displayed a grid of 1-cm squares. The nose marking and shoulder sticker were clearly visible against the grids and would assist in post-study analysis of singer head and shoulder movement (Figure 1). These grid units, although potentially intrusive to a naturalistic environment, were necessary to conduct the mea-surements used in this investigation. Their positioning also conformed to parameters of chorister personal space preferences in previous research (Daugherty & Latimer, 2006).

Stimulus Conductor VideotapeTo control for potential confounding variables of differences in conductor behaviors across the trials, participants watched a videotaped conductor. In creating the stimulus




videotape, I used a metronome and stood on a conducting podium in front of the screen to ensure that I would appear “life-size.” A panel of experienced choral con-ductors (N = 3) rated the video for consistency in (a) hand position; (b) gesture size, clarity, and movement quality; (c) facial affect; (d) ancillary body movement; and (e) tempo across all trials. Results of that procedure yielded a reliability (agreements divided by agreements plus disagreements) of .93.

Video Recording EquipmentOne camera (Sony Handycam, Model DCR-DVD105), positioned 10 ft to the side of participants, focused on the right side of the participant’s head. A second camera (JVC Super VHS, Model GR-SXM250), positioned 7 ft 8 in. in front of participants and just beside the projection screen, focused on the participant’s shoulder. Camera height was adjusted to account for singer height, but the angle and zoom remained unchanged to maintain relative grid sizes.

Preparatory Gesture ConditionsA research assistant directed the participant, via prerecorded instructions, to listen for the starting pitch from a pitch pipe (E4, 330 Hz) and sing the first eight measures of “America” from memory while following the conductor on the screen. For all of the preparatory gesture conditions, the conductor modeled an open mouth breath while other facial activity remained calm. The five preparatory gestures used to cue the participants were (a) up, (b) uphead, (c) down, (d) downhead, and (e) shoulders (see Figure 2). For the up condition, the conductor began with his hand on the con-ducting plane. He then simultaneously breathed and raised his hand to mid-forehead level before dropping again to the conducting plane for the first beat. The uphead and shoulder conditions added a simultaneous upward head or shoulder movement, respectively. For the down condition, the conductor began with his hand on a prep plane (sternum height). He then breathed and lowered it to the conducting plane, rebounded to the prep plane, and returned to the conducting plane for the first beat. The downhead condition added a simultaneous downward head movement.

Figure 1. The two camera views with nose and shoulder markings visible against the grids



Manternach 25

These preparatory gestures cued the participant to enter on the first measure “America” (My country ‘tis of thee) after which the conductor displayed a traditional conducting pattern (3/4). For five of the trials, the conductor cued a breath by giving the same preparatory gesture in tempo after the first rest. For the two remaining trials, either the uphead or downhead condition was given first, followed by the other because they were the two most disparate conducting conditions. Ten varied permutations of the seven conducting conditions were constructed in which the conditions appeared in nearly all (47 of 49, 95.92%) possible ordered placements (first through seventh). Individuals were assigned, based on the day and time they selected to take part in the study, to view 1 of the 10 permutations (n = 6 participants each).

Preparatory Gesture JustificationI chose the five preparatory conducting gestures to test certain assertions made by choral conducting instructors. Some conducting texts (Garretson, 1998; Green, 1981) model a preparatory gesture that approximates the beat preceding the entrance, resulting in a primarily upward moving gesture. Busch’s (1984) description of a gesture that begins on the conducting plane and initially moves straight up informs the upward moving gestures used in this study. Axel Theimer (personal e-mail, November 4, 2008) suggests that a preparatory gesture that begins from a “prep plane” prior to dropping to the con-ducting plane may encourage a more “natural breath.” His recommendation informs the downward moving preparatory gestures used in this study. Additionally, choral conducting and methods texts typically discourage head tilt during singing and neck and shoulder

Figure 2. Greatest displacement for the five conducting conditions: #1 = up, #2 = uphead, #3 = down, #4 = downhead, and #5 = shoulder




tension during breathing (Garretson, 1998). For this study, conductor head and shoulder movements were added to examine possible mirror-like responses.

Measurement ProceduresFollowing data collection, I projected the videos onto a white board and developed a procedure to maintain consistency in measurements of singer head and shoulder movements between participants. For each participant breath, I isolated the moment immediately prior to inhalation and marked the white board using the projected participant’s nose or shoulder marking as a reference point. Next, I iso-lated and marked the moment of furthest displacement in the direction of the initial singer movement (up or down). I measured and recorded the resulting vertical distance in relative centimeter units (rcmu), with downward singer head or shoul-der movements recorded as negative numbers. Following these procedures, I mea-sured 40% of the trials a second time, which resulted in a reliability (agreements divided by agreements plus disagreements) of .93 and .92 for head and shoulder movements.1

ResultsReported results include various statistical measurements as well as comparisons of the contours of graphed means, as appropriate to the type of data obtained. Eight paired t tests with a predetermined familywise alpha level of .05 were conducted using a Bonferroni correction (α = .0063). Additionally, of the 1,680 measurements possi-ble, 36 (2.14%) were coded as missing for various reasons (e.g., forgot words, did not sing the full melody, movement out of camera view).

Overall DataTable 1 presents means and standard deviations of singer head and shoulder move-ments across all conditions. Visual inspection affords illustration of some variability between the conditions, with a range of 0.75 to 1.44 rcmu for head movement and 0.36 to 0.71 rcmu for shoulder movement. Significance or trends will be teased out by examining the variables seriatim.

First Phrase Breath Versus Internal Phrase BreathResults (see Table 2) indicated that singer head movement was greater on the second preparatory gesture during six of the seven conditions and five of the highest six means overall occurred during the conductor’s second preparatory gesture. Conversely, shoulder movement was greater during the first preparatory gesture in six of the seven conditions. Four of the top five overall means for shoulder movement also came on the first preparatory gesture.



Manternach 27

Table 2. Means (M) and Standard Deviations (SD) of Participant Head and Shoulder Movement During First and Second Breaths

First Breath Second Breath

Preparatory Gesture Condition M SD M SD

Head movement Up 0.85 0.79 1.17 1.03 Uphead 1.05 0.88 1.32 1.05 Shoulder 0.75 0.90 1.36 1.07 Down 1.25 1.34 1.22 1.05 Downhead 1.24 1.17 1.44 1.42 Uphead/downhead 1.07 0.81 1.39 1.09 Downhead/uphead 0.94 0.96 1.25 0.96Shoulder movement Up 0.50 0.33 0.36 0.31 Uphead 0.51 0.41 0.47 0.47 Shoulder 0.56 0.35 0.49 0.47 Down 0.68 0.57 0.51 0.47 Downhead 0.71 0.43 0.53 0.52 Uphead/downhead 0.50 0.32 0.58 0.49 Downhead/uphead 0.65 0.40 0.40 0.40

Table 1. Means (M) and Standard Deviations (SD) of Participant Head and Shoulder Movement for Each Preparatory Gesture Condition

Head Shoulder

Preparatory Gesture Condition M SD M SD

Up 1 0.85 0.79 0.50 0.33Up 2 1.17 1.03 0.36 0.31Down 1 1.25 1.34 0.68 0.57Down 2 1.22 1.05 0.51 0.47Uphead 1 1.05 0.88 0.51 0.41Uphead 2 1.32 1.05 0.47 0.47Downhead 1 1.24 1.17 0.71 0.43Downhead 2 1.44 1.42 0.53 0.52Shoulder 1 0.75 0.90 0.56 0.35Shoulder 2 1.36 1.07 0.49 0.47Uphead/downhead 1 (Uh) 1.07 0.81 0.50 0.32Uphead/downhead 2 (Dh) 1.39 1.09 0.58 0.49Downhead/uphead 1 (Dh) 0.94 0.96 0.65 0.40Downhead/uphead 2 (Uh) 1.25 0.96 0.40 0.40

Note: Abbreviations in parentheses indicate the gesture occurring during combination conditions.




Figure 3 arranges data of both breath conditions in order of first breath ascending means. Through visual inspection, one can see that overall results showed similar contours within in each of the two breath conditions. Although shoulder movement tended to be greater on the first breath, mean ranks within both breath conditions evidenced a similar ascending pattern. The combination conditions (uphead/downhead and downhead/uphead) broke somewhat from the contour of the rest of the graph. Head movement tended to be greater on the second prep, but line contours were otherwise quite consistent. The shoulder and down conditions were exceptions.

Gesture DirectionBecause participants appeared to react similarly to the preparatory conditions during both breaths, the means for the first and second preparatory gestures on each trial were averaged to acquire a condition mean. To examine the effect of gesture direction, the up and down conditions were compared through a paired samples t test. Results did not display significant differences for participant head movement, t(54) = 2.71, p = .009, but did indicate significantly more shoulder movement during the down gesture condition, t(55) = 3.56, p < .001.

Conductor Head or Shoulder MovementSeparate paired t test comparisons were made between conditions in which conductor head or shoulder movement was the only changing independent variable. They were (a) up versus all uphead occurrences (including combination conditions), (b) down versus all downhead occurrences (including combination conditions), and (c) up versus shoulder.

Results indicated significantly more upward head movement during the uphead condi-tion compared with the up condition, t(55) = 3.49, p = .001. The down versus downhead conditions, t(53) = 0.04, p = .97, and up versus shoulder conditions, t(58) = 0.87, p = .39, did not yield differences. Results did not yield differences in shoulder movement between the up and uphead, t(55) = 1.37, p = .18, or down and downhead conditions, t(50) = 0.87, p = .39. There was, however, significantly more upward shoulder movement during the shoulder condition as compared with the up condition, t(58) = 2.93, p = .005.

DiscussionResults of this investigation suggest that singer upper body movements may change with varied conductor preparatory gestures and upper body movements. The follow-ing discussion focuses on possible reasons for such differences and implications for conducting instructors.

First Breath Versus Internal Phrase BreathResults indicate a difference in participant head and shoulder movement between the first and second breaths under six of the seven conducted conditions. This difference



Manternach 29

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

S U Dh/Uh Uh Uh/Dh Dh D

Hea

d M

ovem

ent (

rcm

u)

Preparatory Gesture Condition

First Prep

Second Prep

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

Uh/Dh U Uh S Dh/Uh D Dh

Shou

lder

Mov

emen

t (rc

mu)

Preparatory Gesture Condition

First Prep

Second Prep

Figure 3. Comparison of head and shoulder movements in both breath conditions arranged by first breath ascending means




may have been literature driven. This study sought to create a naturalistic choral setting by using “America” (My country ‘tis of thee), a song whose familiarity also increased the participant pool. To limit participant time commitment, they sang only two sections of this melody, stopping after the phrase “Land where my father’s died.” In achieving this goal, however, the melody contained phrases of unequal lengths (11.02 and 4.82 seconds).

Shoulder. The recorded instructions directed participants to “try to take your first breath after the phrase ‘of thee I sing’ each time” in order to ensure a consistent data collection point. It also may have led some participants to attempt to “tank up” for the longer first phrase. Some singers’ attempts to prepare for a long phrase could contrib-ute to increased shoulder movement.

Head. One might expect that increased shoulder movement would result in increased head movement as well. Results, however, indicate that head movement was noticeably higher for the second prep breath than for the first. While “America” requires a relatively small vocal range (minor sixth), the second breath in the melody corresponds with a leap of a perfect fifth (E to B). This leap could cause some sing-ers, particularly insecure ones, to “reach” for the higher pitch with an upward chin tilt by engaging extrinsic laryngeal muscles. Future studies might use repertoire of equal phrase lengths and initial intervals in each phrase. By the same token, because much sung literature does not contain these parameters, data obtained here and in future research without such a control may be useful in identifying, as just dis-cussed, an array of conductor and singer behaviors that may be literature, rather than conductor or singer driven.

Gesture DirectionResults indicate that participants display more upward head movement during the down condition than during the up condition at both inhalation moments. Because of the nature of the up and down gestures employed in this study, the durations of the gestures were 0.63 and 0.95 seconds, respectively. This discrepancy in timing may have led to apparent differences in participant movement. If, for example, it is a singer’s habit to move head or shoulders slightly up during inhalation, the extended amount of breathing time may have simply given more time for movement to take place, potentially resulting in greater movement during the down gesture.

It is important to note, moreover, that such movement does not necessarily indicate inefficiency in breathing. As Cofer (1998) noted, familiarity with particular gestures may help performers to interpret them. Some participants may have been unfamiliar with the downward moving gesture, as indicated by several missing values in these conditions (n = 28, 78% of the missing values). Future research could consider whether knowledge of the forthcoming downward moving gesture may allow for more time and relaxation during inhalation.



Manternach 31

Conductor Head or Shoulder Movements

One fascinating result of this study is the possible mimicking behaviors evidenced by singer participants. When the conductor moved his head or shoulders during an up ges-ture, participants responded with corresponding head or shoulder movement. In addi-tion, behaviors in previous research seem to be related to rapport and affiliation. It would seem less likely that singers would affiliate with a prerecorded image on a projec-tion screen, potentially making these results even more interesting for future research.

Unlike Daugherty and Brunkan (2011), this study did not ask participants to report whether they noticed any differences in conductor behaviors. Future research could employ more rigorous debriefing to determine participant awareness of the gestural conditions, and randomly order the conditions to control for possible order or learning effects.

Implications for Music Educator PreparationIn some ways, this investigation raises more questions than it answers. In particular, some data from this study appear to suggest that some singers may mimic certain movements displayed by conductors. If such is the case, it could have very practical implications for the training of choral music educators. Choral conducting textbooks, for example, largely focus to date on the clarity and efficiency of gestural vocabulary in communicating musical intentions to a choir. Should future research, more rigor-ously pursued, confirm that singers physically mimic certain aspects of particular conductor gestures, then it may suggest that conductors who work with neurobio-logical instruments (i.e., human voices) also may need to address the vocal intentions communicated by some gestural vocabulary. Results of such research would be beneficial both to choral conductors and designers of choral conducting curricula in determining whether some aspects of traditional conductor gestural vocabulary may be modified to avoid movements that could potentially contribute to inefficiencies in singers’ vocal production.

Moreover, research suggests that mimicry of certain facial expressions (Dimberg, 1990; Dimberg & Thunberg, 1998; Dimberg, Thunberg, & Elmehed, 2000) also occurs in some singing contexts (Daugherty & Brunkan, 2011). One might speculate that some conductor facial gestures intended to convey musical expression might unintentionally impact singer vocal tension (e.g., furrowed brow) or vowel produc-tion (e.g., conductor smile). Imitation of muscular arm movements (Berger & Hadley, 1978) intended to convey dynamic contrasts might increase singer arm and shoulder tension. Imitation of conductor head or shoulder movement during breathing, as evi-denced in this study, may be detrimental to the breathing efficiency required for effective voicing. On the other hand, gestures that encourage freedom of vocal pro-duction (e.g., loose jaw) may also be imitated. These gestures might be adopted to promote vocal efficiency.




Preservice music teachers can be taught to evaluate these and other gestures through a lens of vocal efficiency. This perspective may encourage more exploration of the efficiency of their own conducting as students and throughout their careers.

Further research may use more direct and sophisticated means of measurement, perhaps using electromyography or motion capture, to test the findings of this study and to examine the degree it may matter in terms of efficiency of breath management and vocal production. It is hoped that the present study, by demonstrating one way to at least indirectly acquire empirical data on matters that heretofore have relied heavily on anecdotal evidence and the tradition of instrumental music conducting for its peda-gogy, will contribute to such exploration.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the research, author-ship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Note

1. The distance of each grid from the participant conformed to parameters of chorister per-sonal space preferences (Daugherty & Latimer, 2006). Relative measurements using these grids, therefore, can only be compared within head or shoulder movement.

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This will be a reprise—with different pieces—of the elementary choir resources columnfrom GMT winter 2005. I think it is impor-

tant to provide performance opportunities foryoung people, and elementary choir is one way toaccomplish this goal. Elliott (1995) writes

Children's choral singing links directly to real-worldpractices of amateur and professional choral singing ofmany kinds. In all these ways, classroom, school, andcommunity children's choirs provide natural musicalcontexts that enable children to achieve a certain kindof life in which self-growth, constructive knowledge,enjoyment, musical competency, and a continuousquest for musical excellence are the norm. (p. 181)

With this mandate in mind, the literature weselect for young choirs is important. We look forpieces that (a) complement our curricular goals, (b)are appropriate to the musical skills achieved by the

choristers, and (c) are accessible for performers andaudience. These considerations led me to the analy-sis format that follows, to better judge literature forchoirs. Of course, we need not over-compartmen-talize our literature—songs and musical contentfrom the basal series and classroom activities can beexcellent concert works and choral literature canprovide excellent content for classroom experi-ences. For this column, however, we will presentexamples drawn from choral literature.

Because my column two years ago was drawnfrom my personal favorites, I decided to enlist theaid of some educators whose work with choirs, andmusical taste, I admire. We hope you will find thesesuggestions useful and that you continue to providequality musical experiences for your singers.

ReferenceElliott, D. 1995. Music Matters. New York: Oxford.

GMT Winter 2007 34

Elementary Choir Resources

By Herbert D. Marshall

Herbert D. Marshall is an assistant professor of music education at the University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor. E-mail: [email protected].



GMT Winter 2007 35

Title, Author, Publisher Tonality &Meter

Voicing &Range*

Form and Style Teachables

“A Little Bird”CrescenzHinshaw

Harmonicminor

Triple

Unisond – d′

AABA • Phrasing• Rubato

“Harps and Wheels”arr. MartinShawnee

MajorDuple

2-partc – d′

Verse/RefrainSpiritualsPartner songsCanon

• African American spiritualsand culture

• Challenging divisions andelongations**

“Grandfather's Clock”HinnantHinshaw

MajorDuple

2-partc – e′

Verse/Refrain • Ostinati• Vocables• Onomatopoeia• Imitation• Good introduction to 2-

part singing• Example of contrasting

modes and meters

“Little Firefly”SchultzAlliance

MajorMultimeter(2, 3, 4, 5 & 6)

2-partc – e′

ABAA • Brief partner song with“Twinkle, Twinkle, LittleStar”

• Pulse remains constantwhile beat groupingschange

• Navigating the break• Separated vs. legato

“Hold Fast YourDreams”

BrunnerBoosey & Hawkes

MajorDuple

2-partc – g′

Through-composed

Contemporaryballad

• Staggered breathing• Extending range• Inspirational

Submitted by: Melisa [email protected] Arasi recently completed a PhD in music education from Georgia State Univerity. She is thechoral/classroom music coordinator for Cobb County (Georgia) Schools.



GMT Winter 2007 36

Submitted by: Lynnel [email protected]

Lynnel Jenkins is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting at theUniversity of Arizona, Tucson. Prior to her doctoral studies she served as assistant professor of music edu-cation at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and conductor of the Resident Training Choir atthe American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey.


VoicingRange*


“Ferry me Across theWater”

WilliamsBoosey & Hawkes

MajorUneven(2+2+3)

Unisond – d′

Verses • Setting a mood with windand water sounds

• Christina Rossetti text

“Manx Lullaby”arr. DolloffBoosey & Hawkes

MixolydianTriple

Unisond – d′

Gaelic lullaby • Instrumental obligato• Gaelic language and cul-

ture• Universality of lullabies

“La Paloma Se Fué”arr. JimenezWorld Music Press

MajorDuple

2-partb – c′

Puerto Ricanfolk song

AABB

• Spanish language• Puerto Rican culture• Singing in parallel thirds• May add Latin percussion

“Linden Lea”Vaughan WilliamsBoosey & Hawkes

MajorTriple

Unisond – e′

English (Dorset)Folk Song

Verses

• Separated vs. connectedstyle

• Rubato phrasing• Ralph Vaughan Williams

“New Year Carol”BrittenBoosey & Hawkes

MajorTriple

Unisone= – e=′

Verse/Refrain • Extending range• Decoding notation• Benjamin Britten

“Three DominicanFolksongs”

arr. NúñezBoosey & Hawkes

MajorDuple and

triple

Unisonand 2-partc – e′

Verse/RefrainFolk song and

lullaby

• Spanish language• Dominican culture• Contrasting styles and

moods

“Fairest Lady”PageBoosey & Hawkes

MajorDuple

2-partd – d′

Verse/Refrainwith descant

Lullaby

• Part independence• Melismatic singing• Balance with melody in

lower voice

“A Little Curl”PageBoosey & Hawkes

MajorDuple and

Triple

2-part,a - a′′

VersesCombining folk,

jazz, andblues styles

• Complex rhythms andharmonies

• Effects: speaking, slides,grace notes

“Where the MusicComes From”

HoibySchirmer

MajorTriple

2-part,d – f′

VersesBallad

• Phrasing and dynamics• Good introduction to 2-

part singing



GMT Winter 2007 37

Submitted by: James [email protected]

James Merrill is an elementary classroom teacher in Ballston Spa, NY. He has served as music coordinatorfor his district and the state's Elementary Summer Conference chair.


VoicingRange*


“Thank You for theWorld So Sweet”

BertauxBoosey & Hawkes

MinorDuple

2-partc# – d′

Canon • Cello accompaniment

“Siyahamba”arr. RaoBoosey & Hawkes

MajorDuple

3-partb – d′

Verse/RefrainS. African

(Zulu) folksong

• Suggestions for perc.accomp. and mov't

• Zulu Language• History and culture of S.

Africa, colonialism, and anintro. to sub-SaharanAfrican vocal music

“Feel Good”Tyson & ScottBoosey & Hawkes

MajorDuple

3-partc – e′

Verse/Refrain20th cent.

black gospel

• Sophisticated use of restsand elongations

• Great introduction tosinging triads

“Hashivenu”arr. AlbrechtAlfred

HarmonicminorTriple

3-partb – e=′

CanonIsraeli folk

song

• Hebrew language• Jewish Culture• Includes mallet part

“I'm Goin Up a Yonder”HawkinsBoosey & Hawkes

MajorDuple

4-partc – f′

Verse/RefrainSpiritual

• Imitation• Vocal accomp.• Descant• Great introduction to

singing triads



GMT Winter 2007 38

Submitted by: Miriam [email protected]

Miriam Moore teaches elementary classroom music and choir at Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills,MI. She is a certified AOSA instructor, maintains a private voice and piano studio, and is currently com-pleting a Master of Music degree at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan.


VoicingRange*


“Dodi Li”arr. RaoBoosey & Hawkes

Aeolian andDorian

Duple

2-partd – e′

Verse/RefrainIsraeli folk

song

• Hebrew language• Jewish culture• Among many settings of

the Song of Songs

“The Corn Song”HolstSchirmer

DorianDuple

2-partc – e′

Verses withdescant

• Balance with melody inlower voice

• Gustav Holst

“Something Told theWild Geese”

PorterfieldHeritage

Harmonicminor withrelativemajor

Triple

2-partc – e′

ABALyrical ballad

• Connected style• Homorhythmic vs.

Polyrhythmic

“New Shoes Blues”LentzHeritage

MajorDuple

2-partc – d=′

ABA with part-ner songsection

• Swing rhythm• Blues inflections

“Swing Low, SweetChariot”

arr. CoxLorenz

MajorDuple

2-partc – e′

Verse/RefrainSpiritual

• African American spiritu-als and culture

• Connections to theUnderground Railroad

“Can't Help Singing”Mac Huff & JacobsonHal Leonard

MajorDuple

3-part(one forchangedvoices)c – e′

Verse/RefrainJazz/pop

• Swing rhythm• Vocal inflections (scoops

and slides)

* a = the a below middle c; a′ = the a above middle c.** Divisions mean note values smaller than the

microbeat (often 16th notes) and elongations requirethat you sustain through a macro- or microbeat, e.g.,dotted notes and ties.



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