March 17 rehearsal

REMEMBER NO REHEARSAL NEXT WEEK--HAPPY SPRING BREAK!

Children's Chorus

Our focus was on memorizing words, and clearing up some stray harmony notes, and we had a good rehearsal!  I drew the same structure I drew last week on the wipe off board for the words to "You've Got a Friend."  I was pleased that they remembered what the drawings were from last week, and they were happy to draw them again.  I'm hoping those images will stay with them and they will remember the order of the verses.  We made a structured list of words that went with the song "Ordinary Miracle" as well.  They were able to sing all of the songs with out music today.  I pulled out a "stop and go light" as a visual aid, and they sang out loud for the green "light" and in their minds for the red "light".  That got a lot of smiles as I tried to make it tricky.  The stop light gave us a reason to repeat the song, and challenged them with something new to think about.

Footnotes
In order to drive home the rhythm reading concepts we've working on, I composed some new 'Patschen' exercises for the girls.  These are 4 measure rhythmic pieces that use clapping, slapping, and stomping to stretch their rhythm reading abilities!  Have your daughter demonstrate the following example that we worked on in rehearsal.  It's just enough challenge to be fun, and I think it reinforces in a new way the rhythms that we are learning.  I think I will adopt this into our regular routine for a while.

Footnotes continued...
As far as last week's assignment goes...over half of them put a pencil in their music folder, but only a handful attempted the other 2 assignments.  So I handed out a few hershey bars, and we'll see how the next assignment goes which is:

• Practice and  memorize.  Sing while listening to the opposite part and keep it going!
• Swingin' with the Saints--using pencil, write in where the beats fall in measures 1-20.  Over which notes do beats 1, 2, 3, 4 go?  For example:

This was challenging for them, and although I helped many of them in rehearsal, and I did a group explanation, you may want to show them this example to help get the job done.  I hope I get to lighten up my Hershey Bar load, I better not eat them all!


Sherwood Chorale
I'm sorry so many of you had sickness and troubles yesterday.  We missed you, hopefully you will all be okay and back with us next time!  Thanks to everyone who came for being flexible with all the commotion with the SHS concert going on and the parking lot being full.  It's good our rehearsal didn't start until 7:45 since it timed out well with the intermission of the concert.

I recorded the final rendition after our work session of each song.  I have those clips here with some comments. I hope you can  take time to listen and evaluate them as well...  Hey you could listen while you check your e-mail!  Have a great spring break, and I'll see you back March 31!

• Dream a Little Dream-the brighter, focused "ee" vowel really cleaned up the sound--it sounds so much better!  There were some nice crescendos, and the accents on the da,da, da, da, da part at mm 61 was nice.  We still need to work on diminishing the volume of the "s" of the word 'kiss' and 'miss'.  Altos and tenors--more breath support, and warm up the tone mm 30-35.  Men don't be late at mm 54 Ooh.

http://www.jerryjan.com/sherwoodchorale/rehdream.mp3

• Parade--Men accent the first beat of each section starting mm 11 and 29. Check notes at mm 22, 35, 59, 94.  Everyone sync the entrances especially at mm 47.  Men--we're missing the first word at mm 53--"I'm"!  At mm 77 I'll conduct better!  There was better intonation, in those problem spots.  It's coming along 

http://www.jerryjan.com/sherwoodchorale/rehparade.mp3

•  Rainbow--some nice dynamics are happening, and it sounds pretty solid.  Everyone who has a moving 8th note line needs to be more melodic, and more in sync as a section.  We'll work on stylizing it more and giving it a little more ring, and tightening up the chords.

http://www.jerryjan.com/sherwoodchorale/rehrainbow.mp3

•  Not While--it has a plodding quality...  :)  I think we'll up the tempo to help overcome that some!  In general the lines need more direction (sing to the climax of the phrase, have strong weak syllables, keep the breath moving), melodies need to be smoother, and unisons tighter. Check notes at mm 43, 50.  Listen for pitch on the word "can" at mm 32, and "time" at mm 71.  Listen for chords "jelling" a the beginning of phrases.  There should be a new memorizationl recording on the Chorale website soon.

http://www.jerryjan.com/sherwoodchorale/reharound.mp3

•  Lean on Me--Ya, just keep working on it! Don't be late at mm 35, 32 second time, and 61!            Go to  http://jerryjan.com/sherwoodchorale/mainpage and click on the link to buy Lean on Me online for $1.29, then email John jgbarrow@gmail.com  and tell him you bought it.  He will then e-mail you YOUR part superimposed on the recording with the piano.  Happy practicing!  It's gonna be good!

http://www.jerryjan.com/sherwoodchorale/rehlean.mp3

• By the way, I picked up copy #9 of Lean on Me off of the piano.  Let me know who to give it back to!

THANKS EVERYONE FOR SINGING, COMING TO REHEARSAL AND PRACTICING.  I APPRECIATE ALL YOUR EFFORTS!  IT'S A LOT OF FUN DIRECTING YOU!

March 10 Rehearsal

Children's Chorus
We're continuing our routine of vocal exercises, solfege hand signal reading, and singing familiar folk songs in 2 simultaneous keys (they love doing that--its so funny), and patschen.  They are getting better and better at these skills, and I think they enjoy it too!  Here's what we worked on for each song, in case your child wasn't there, or you're curious to know my teaching strategy!

• Ordinary Miracle-I checked for accuracy of notes by having part 1 sing independently while the part 2 "sang in their head" and directed the melodic contour of the song with their hand.  Then we reversed the process.  This kept everyone engaged and thinking while we focused on only part of the group.   I found that part 2 had some wrong notes they couldn't not seem to hear until until I had them stand up and while singing, bend their knees at the point the note went lower.  After about 3 times they had it. It's interesting how using the whole body helps define the abstract concept of pitch direction.
• You've Got a Friend in Me--I drew the structure of the song on the wipe off board:

Then I chose volunteers to draw a picture a key word for that section in each of the 4 boxes.  I asked them what they thought the arrows meant, and they said "it's when the song goes up or down".  I was pleased because that is what I've been drilling over the last few weeks with the arm gestures for the song.  Now they have a visual reminder, and I won't have them do the gestures much any more.  This structure will help them remember the words to the song and subtle melodic changes for the words "you got a friend in me".

• Dream Keeper--they knew this one well enough to "perform" it for the parents and Footnotes kids who were sitting in the back waiting.  We are working on dynamics and memory.  Good times!!

Footnotes


I tried something new for ear training.  After doing a solfege exercise with hand signals, I played some mostly stepwise exercises like do re mi re do, or do do mi re and then had them sing them back to me while they signed the appropriate syllable.  They did pretty well, and I think I'll continue to do this increasing the difficulty over the weeks ahead.  I reviewed the Hershey Bar Rhythm with an overhead summarizing the relationships between rhythmic values.

 
We moved on to subdividing the beat into 3's, and then clapped exercises I projected on the overhead that were from the music we are singing.  Although not all the girls were able to clap the examples accurately, I felt we made some good progress in understanding the concepts.  I want them to understand the notation of the music, so I will continue to devise exercises and activities to help them learn to read music accurately. This exercise lead into the first song of the day:

• When the Saints--we started the first section for the first time.  It's written in 12/8 time, and I've been laying the ground work for this, the hardest section these past weeks.  They did very well singing it with me, probably due to their practicing with the CD, so I'm really grateful for that tool.
• When You Believe--we sang the Hebrew section and they did great!  This is the first time I've heard them sing it since I assigned it because we only worked on Go the Distance last week due to the performance last Saturday.  I was pleased with how well they sang--I think, they think they are cool that they can sing in Hebrew!  

I GAVE THE GIRLS 2 ASSIGNMENTS FOR THIS WEEK, IN ADDITION TO PRACTICING:

1. When the Saints--mark the beats 1, 2, 3, 4 in the appropriate places for the first section up to measure 20 only.  I didn't tell them this, but I will be giving each person who does it a mini-hershey bar.  I'm serious about them knowing what they are doing!
2. When You Believe--Part 2 only is to listen to the recording and cross out words we don't sing, and write in the words we do sing in the appropriate places.

Please encourage your daughter to practice and do these assignments.  Believe me, this music is challenging and they need to be prepared for rehearsal.  THANKS!!!!


SHERWOOD CHORALE

Thanks to everyone who has come in early to audition for the solos these past 2 weeks.  You've all done a wonderful job, and there were several choices I could have made for each solo that would have been just wonderful.  I'm glad I had recordings, as I had to listen to a few people a few times before I decided!
Here is what I decided:

• Dream a Little Dream--Vicki 
• Parade-Emily
• Somewhere Over the Rainbow-Polly and Nathan
• Lean On Me-Niqui and Matt

John giving Cindy the checks for the VPA donation!

Now for more BIG news!  John Barrow presented the VPA with a donation of  about $2200 which was the result of an auction held by employees from McAfee.  The winner of the auction determined which charity the money was to be donated to.  John won the auction with his winning bid of $650, and he decided to donate the sum to the VPA for use in the schools.  He says that McAfee will match the donations of employees, so it's likely when all is said and done that the final donation will be around $5000.  We are THRILLED to have the donation which will help a great deal with the scholarships and grants we award this spring.  THANK YOU JOHN!  John also announced that he has taken a new job with the LDS church overseeing the translation of their written curriculum into foreign languages and integrating it online.  This is such a wonderful opportunity for him, but will require a move to Salt Lake City Utah.  We will miss the Barrow family tremendously.  It was kind of a bitter sweet moment for us with all that news!  WOW.

March 3 Rehearsal

Children's Chorus

It was so great to see the kids, and sing again after our week off.  The thing that tickled me during the warm up section was they wanted to sing a song with "Chinese" music.  True, a lot of Asian music is full of parallel 4ths and 5ths which is how we sang last week.  I had them guess what song I was leading them through with solfege hand signals.  They guessed correctly, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Then they sang as two groups in solfege again, but with the home note DO, 3 notes apart.  That made for interesting harmony, and the awesome thing is they stuck to their part, and were not pulled away by hearing the other group!  This is so essential for building harmonizing skills!  Another aspect of our warm up that I haven't mentioned yet is the rhythmic reading & skill building exercises.  I learned the concept of 'Patschen" in college, and devised my own exercises a few years ago, which I use with overhead projections.  The kids read the rhythms, AND multiple lines of music at once, teaching them to stretch their field of vision which is very necessary in piano or choral music.  There are 3 lines they follow simultaneously, clapping, knee slapping, and foot stomping.  They keep a steady beat, read accurate rhythm, and use multiple body parts thus engaging both sides of the brain in the activity, AND it's fun. That's the best part, they are gaining music skills, and to them it's a fun 2 minute game!  Here's an example for your viewing pleasure.  Take a minute, and try it out, you might have some fun too!

Footnotes

    We spent the entire hour preparing for our Saturday performance.  I was concerned that things would be pretty rough since we missed rehearsal last week.  I don't think a huge amount of practicing at home happened, but enough happened so that we could progress in rehearsal.   The girls focused well, and even though we spent time a lot more time on the details than we normally would in one practice, the time seem to fly by.  I feel like the performance will be fine on Saturday and will be a good push off for this season.  We will do more for the concert on that piece, but it will be fine. 

     It's hard to sing early in the morning for some people. So here are the tips I gave the girls:  

1. Be well hydrated Saturday morning--drink a glass of water right when they get up, then drink another after they shower and get ready, then eat breakfast and don't forget to go the bathroom!!!  
2. I recommended that they don't drink milk or orange juice for breakfast, instead apple juice or water is a good choice.  I also said to be sure and eat, and not skip breakfast. 
3. Lipstick and lip gloss can be throat drying, so vaseline is the best bet for dry lips.  
4. A good nights rest is a plus too.  
5. My last recommendation is to sing in the car with the CD on the way over, this will help them warm up the voice, and it will wake up their brains, and help them remember the song.  Please don't forget that detail.  

   Thanks for your support.  We are planning on all but 3 of the girls to be there.  Parents can come and watch if they want.  Afterward we are meeting at Shari's in Sherwood for a little socializing.  I'll post a picture of the performance later!  I'm looking forward to it!

Chorale

Thanks to everyone who came out for the solo/duet auditions.  You all did a wonderful job.  I can think of many possibilities to fill the solo roles, so we'll see what happens later.  I will wait until after next week's round of auditions to make the decisions.  

I was pleased at how much of Dream a Little Dream you had memorized.  Were you surprised?  We will keep working toward that end, and begin adding choreography at some point soon on that one.  For 'Lean on Me', I think the new voicings would be a lot less tiring on your voices, but I'm willing to leave it the way it was for the sake of simplicity as per your requests.  We'll see if we stay happy with that!  

Remember auditions are at 7:15 next week, and rehearsals start at 7:45.  Keep practicing!