Had several people recommend "The Choral Warm-Up Collection" edited by Sally Albrecht
What resources do you use / recommend?
The BIG question is this.
Do you use the same routine every day or vary it?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Creating Space
I've heard choir directors including myself say, "sing tall vowels" over and over again. And I have observed many students who think they are but are not. Here is a neat trick I recently learned from a seasoned veteran.
Have them work for a bigger vocal space: "Open your mouth". Teach them that the mouth is a megaphone and the more sound they want, the better the shape they will have to make. Have them put their index finger right in front of their ear-tab that covers their ear-hole. When they cover their ear-tabs and drop the jaw, they should feel a big hole open up. As they sing, the hole they feel in front of their ear-tab should remain, if they keep their jaws open.
This should give singers a clear useful gauge as to how much space they are creating.
Have them work for a bigger vocal space: "Open your mouth". Teach them that the mouth is a megaphone and the more sound they want, the better the shape they will have to make. Have them put their index finger right in front of their ear-tab that covers their ear-hole. When they cover their ear-tabs and drop the jaw, they should feel a big hole open up. As they sing, the hole they feel in front of their ear-tab should remain, if they keep their jaws open.
This should give singers a clear useful gauge as to how much space they are creating.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Two Crazy Weeks
Today begins the second of two crazy weeks at our school. Last week we hosted the district basketball tournament. The other schools in our district did not want us to host because they think we are too small. We do have a much smaller gym than most schools but there were empty seats every game, so I guess everyone that wanted to come was able.
As a side note, I want to say how proud I am of my tiny pep band. Every year I try to accomplish two things with my band. I have this crazy idea that pep bands can and should play musically not just loud. We focus on dynamics, articulations, contrasting tempo, you know, music. In doing this I also strive to prove that small bands (even tiny ones) can sound better and be more entertaining. My other crazy notion is related to the first. I think the whole point of a pep band is to provide entertainment during the breaks in the basketball action and, to a lesser extent, help pep up the crowd and team. It pleases me greatly each year when I receive several complements from random strangers on the sound of my band. People know quality when they hear it and I think people would much rather be entertained by live music instead of canned.
Tomorrow begins crazy week two. It is the last week of the 3rd quarter and ends with the start of spring break. We still get to have our spring break while many of our neighboring public school friends have to give up theirs. We have had ZERO snow days because we are a boarding school.
Anyway, this will be a crazy week because teenagers, well they are teens. We will spend the week trying to keep them aware of the fact that break is next week.
The last quarter of school presents an unusual problem for me with my choir. I have never taught public school and was not in choir past the 8th grade but I suspect most high school choirs prepare one concert worth of music at a time, give a concert or a few, put the music away, and start the process over.
Our year goes like this. School starts mid August and we have a fall break after the first six weeks. After the students come back from fall break I have a week to get my choir back in the groove before we start traveling on Sundays. From mid October until early May we will be on the road nearly every Sunday available. In all we will sing in around twenty different churches around the commonwealth. Occasionally we even travel outside of Kentucky. In the first six weeks of school I have to assess the strengths and weakness of the ensemble, choose appropriate literature, and help them memorize about twenty minutes of music. We then spend the balance of the year trying to learn new things, improve our sound, and reading skills, all while attempting to keep our 'concert' fresh for each Sunday. An unenviable task to be sure. By this point in the year the fight with boredom is a war some days and a challenge the rest. I welcome any creative ideas to help fight the boredom from anyone who bother to read this far.
As a side note, I want to say how proud I am of my tiny pep band. Every year I try to accomplish two things with my band. I have this crazy idea that pep bands can and should play musically not just loud. We focus on dynamics, articulations, contrasting tempo, you know, music. In doing this I also strive to prove that small bands (even tiny ones) can sound better and be more entertaining. My other crazy notion is related to the first. I think the whole point of a pep band is to provide entertainment during the breaks in the basketball action and, to a lesser extent, help pep up the crowd and team. It pleases me greatly each year when I receive several complements from random strangers on the sound of my band. People know quality when they hear it and I think people would much rather be entertained by live music instead of canned.
Tomorrow begins crazy week two. It is the last week of the 3rd quarter and ends with the start of spring break. We still get to have our spring break while many of our neighboring public school friends have to give up theirs. We have had ZERO snow days because we are a boarding school.
Anyway, this will be a crazy week because teenagers, well they are teens. We will spend the week trying to keep them aware of the fact that break is next week.
The last quarter of school presents an unusual problem for me with my choir. I have never taught public school and was not in choir past the 8th grade but I suspect most high school choirs prepare one concert worth of music at a time, give a concert or a few, put the music away, and start the process over.
Our year goes like this. School starts mid August and we have a fall break after the first six weeks. After the students come back from fall break I have a week to get my choir back in the groove before we start traveling on Sundays. From mid October until early May we will be on the road nearly every Sunday available. In all we will sing in around twenty different churches around the commonwealth. Occasionally we even travel outside of Kentucky. In the first six weeks of school I have to assess the strengths and weakness of the ensemble, choose appropriate literature, and help them memorize about twenty minutes of music. We then spend the balance of the year trying to learn new things, improve our sound, and reading skills, all while attempting to keep our 'concert' fresh for each Sunday. An unenviable task to be sure. By this point in the year the fight with boredom is a war some days and a challenge the rest. I welcome any creative ideas to help fight the boredom from anyone who bother to read this far.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
One Week to Go
Anybody got any good ideas for the last week of the quarter leading up to spring break. Kids get so goofy, lazy, and unmotivated. I am not the kind of person that handles this well. I don't like to waste time.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Four Noses
Today I asked my colleagues to share their favorite breathing exercises. Here is one I really liked that two recommended.
I'll call it "Four Noses."
The premise is to have singers pretend they have four noses equidistant around their waist. Breath in all noses at once. I like it. Simple but quite useful I think. Can't wait to try it.
I'll call it "Four Noses."
The premise is to have singers pretend they have four noses equidistant around their waist. Breath in all noses at once. I like it. Simple but quite useful I think. Can't wait to try it.
Starting Out
I am a Band Geek. I have been a Band Geek over thirty years. After high school and a four year stint in the Army I went to college and majored in Music Ed. I had the idealistic vision of being a middle school band director who would impact young lives in much the same way my own middle school band director had impacted my life. A band geek mentor. Well, the short story is I have been a band director for 14 years. I have never had more than 25 in my band and I have only been to large group festival a few times. I haven't had a large enough group to take to festival in ten years. My bands have averaged about eight members in the last 5 or 6 years.
In addition to band I have been the choir director at my school for 12 years. My previous choir experience is minimal. As I said, I am a band geek. For reasons I'll not go into just yet, my choir has been much larger then the band over the years. We usually have around 40 students in the one choir we offer. So, we come to the reason for the birth of this blog.
This blog is part of my efforts to gain the knowledge to become a better choir director. I hope to collect and share ideas. Ideas that will help me and other band geeks like me in the world of vocal music.
In addition to band I have been the choir director at my school for 12 years. My previous choir experience is minimal. As I said, I am a band geek. For reasons I'll not go into just yet, my choir has been much larger then the band over the years. We usually have around 40 students in the one choir we offer. So, we come to the reason for the birth of this blog.
This blog is part of my efforts to gain the knowledge to become a better choir director. I hope to collect and share ideas. Ideas that will help me and other band geeks like me in the world of vocal music.
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