Notes and Rhythms, Check! What’s next? Critical Thinking and Advancing Musicianship in the Choral Rehearsal.

Lesley Maxwell Mann, Ph. D. Belmont University

RULES FOR EXPRESSIVE SINGING: Rule of Steady Beat

• Any note longer than one pulse of the steady beat grows or decays (Use critical thinking to decide which way!)

Rule of Melodic Contour • As notes get higher, sing louder. As notes get lower, sing softer.

Rule of the Phrase • Crescendo and Decrescendo throughout the phrase

Rule of Metric Stress • Add stress on the downbeat of each measure, with additional secondary stresses as appropriate

Rule of Slur • Give weight to the first note of the slur, de-stress all subsequent pitches.

Rule of Text Stress • Give weight to the emphasized syllable of words (micro) • Bring out important words in the phrase (macro)

Rule of Dotted Eighth/Sixteenth Pairs • Specific to some styles - Give space on the dot for articulation

Rule of Appoggiatura and Suspensions • Give weight to the non-chord tone, relax on the resolution

Rule of Texture • The voice part with the melody sings louder.

Rule of Final Consonants • When followed by a rest, final consonants are played on the rest. • When no rest, but the final consonant is the end of the phrase, divide the duration of the final

syllable in half to place the consonant. Rule of Final Syllable

• Do not clip final syllables in an attempt to gasp for air. Rule of Rubato

• When does strict tempo apply, and when do we stretch? ADDITIONAL RULES:

• Create any that you think can apply to more than one situation! • Create a rule specific to a piece • Create a rule specific to a style period • Create a rule specific to a genre (SCOOPS AND SLIDES AND GLOTTAL STOPS, OH MY!)

CRITICAL THINKING OPPORTUNITIES: • Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

• Ask students to think of a rule that they could APPLY to a piece – Always follow up and ask them to justify their

response! • Sometimes two rules may contradict each other in the way you would sing a piece (i.e. melodic contour

doesn’t complement text stress). Have students decide which rule is more important and why. (Procedural Knowledge)

• Have students listen to recordings and ANALYZE what rules the musicians may have been following. • Have students EVALUATE their performance of a rule. • CREATE rules and situations for their application.

Medieval Kyrie, by Vijay Singh (BriLee, BL518) TB, a capella with optional Hand Drum and Finger Cymbals

Rules to Apply: • Melodic Contour (m. 9-12) • Steady Beat (m. 8) – get louder or get softer? (What knowledge is required to make this decision?) • Text Stress (Does this ever contradict melodic contour?) • Metric Stress • Texture (m. 33)

Critical Thinking Question:

• Cut Time vs. Common Time –processional – does it make more sense to walk on the quarter note pulse or

the half note pulse? Why? What do you think the composer and intended, and how do you know?

Pretty Saro, arr. by Nancy Boone Allsbrook & Glenda Goodin (Boosey & Hawkes) 3 part Treble Voices and Piano (Read Across then down)

Rules to Apply:

• Metric Stress • Phrase • Texture • • •

Critical Thinking Question: • Is there a rule that we could apply that actually makes this sound worse?

Juntos, by Jim Papoulis (Boosey & Hawkes) SSA with Piano and Percussion Dr. Phillips HS Cora Bella 2012 Southern Division Conference, Winston-Salem, NC

Creating Rules Specific to this Piece/Style:

• What style of dance is this emulating? • What clues does the composer give us with accents? • Adjusting Tone Color • Rules for Scat Syllables

References:

• Bowers, Judy. “Structuring Success in Beginning Middle School Choral Ensembles.” In Teaching Music Through Performance in Middle School Choir, edited by Frank Abrahams and Paul D. Head, 58-73. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2011.

• http://www.celt.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/RevisedBloomsHandout-1.pdf • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2daYx-uG40