Good bye October

We had a great week of rehearsal!  I hope all singers will practice at home every week.  The recorded music is available on line, and they can either sit at the computer and sing, or you can download to your preferred device. If you would like a CD, you can e-mail me with the request at cindyachristensen@gmail.com.  Here is the website address and link:     http://jerryjan.com/sherwoodchorale/mainpage

This week quite a few kids from our choirs are involved in the VPA's production of Into the Woods. I hope it's a great experience for them all week.  Please take time to go see the production on Thursday Friday or Saturday!  For cast members who are in the Children's choir--I'd like them to stay for choir until 5:15, and then head over to get ready for the evening rehearsal.  It is slated to start at 6:00 with the 5:00-6:00 hour for getting into costumes, so I think it will be okay to compromise on that last 1/2 hour of practice and split the difference.


Children's Choir
It is so interesting how using spacial movements with the arms helps kids recognize and sing correct pitches.  There is a certain repeating phrase in "The Holiday Season" where the ending note is one pitch higher on the second repeat.  The kids struggle in singing both phrases with the different ending note, but when I go back to the gestures that I used when teaching it initially, they do it accurately!  Now I've got to figure out how to keep them remembering without the gestures, because they really aren't  choreography!  These kids are really singing well, with heart and soul. It's really very fulfilling to me to see them develop confidence in those melodies, and then to sing them like they own them! 

Notables
Singing Jingle Bells in 2 different key signatures simultaneously makes for a very quirky rendition that the kids thing is so fun.  They did a good job this week at holding on to their parts and not getting distracted.  I also had them sing it in 2 groups by starting the song 4 beats apart.  It sounds crazy, but it's so good for them to learn to be independent.  Next week I will try it again, with 3 groups which will be quite a challenge I'm sure.  I love warm ups!  The kids are getting better at solfege, and I'm finding in all the choirs that it clarifies a lot of little issues in the music that come up.  I can quickly explain some interval pattern, and they respond so well correcting misunderstood notes.  Our music is coming along well, but we need some practicing at home to happen in order to have things ready to choreograph in the next week or so.


Footnotes
For only having 8 girls, they are so strong.  I'm very pleased at how well these girls are harmonizing.  They are learning very quickly, and they have a very nice blend.  They love warmups that have a lot of harmony, and are always asking me to repeat things from previous weeks!  I threw in a "name that tune" warm up of "thumpity thump thump" from Frosty the Snowman..  It was a little too slow to recognize at first, but they got the interval so-re, which is a little tricky, and that made my day!  They have quite a lot of music to learn, so memorizing at home is pretty necessary this week.  Please encourage them to use the CD  if they have it, or go online for the recordings there.

We had a great outing to get character shoes at Dance Togs and they are giving us a group discount.  Afterward we took a little side trip to Beaverton Bakery for some delectable treats.  I found it quite amusing that 2 of our little petite girls split a pumpkin pie-and ate the whole thing!  Way to celebrate the season, and take advantage of an opportunity.


Chorale
We have A LOT of music, and with only 12-15 minutes per song in rehearsal that means we've got to work smart!  Our focus from here out should be on blend, tuning, interpretation, dynamics and cleaning/tightening each song.  That means memorization is starting this week, and fishing for notes is over!  Please take time to do a little wood shedding on your parts this week!  Here are some suggested areas to work on to nail down some notes on a few of our songs:
It's Beginning to Look...p. 12 to the end
Jazzy Bell p. 4--especially tenors
Snow Carol--women German from mm5 to mm16
Pata Pan-p. 10 to end

Thanks for your continued enthusiasm and support.  I certainly enjoy working with  you each week!

This Thursday, I will come to rehearsal late, but choir is starting at 7:30 with Russell directing.  Please come review the music, I will have specific things for you to work on with Russell.