Nice Job at the Senior Center!

Performing at the Senior Center on Monday was a wonderful way to get our feet wet and prepare for the concerts this weekend.  The kids focused well, and sang their hearts out!  They looked great in their new concert attire too.  I've heard nothing but praise for the performance, and I hope they are all stoked about performing this weekend!  See you at rehearsal Thursday--3:00-4:00 for SCC and 3:10-5:00 for Footnotes at SHS.

Here are a couple of pictures from my video camera yesterday!

Sherwood Children's Choir

Footnotes Girls Choir

Footnotes Practice Help

Hi Girls and Parents of FOOTNOTES choir.  Below is a video of Swingin' with the Saints choreography.  It starts a few pages into the song, but the first bit, you know--it's just clapping and leaning starting LEFT!  Please practice till you know this independently, AND remember always start with  your LEFT foot for leaning, clapping, jazz square, Charleston etc.  See you next Thursday at 3:10 or as early as you can get to Sherwood High for rehearsal.  Thanks for practicing!

sweet chariot choreography

April 28 Rehearsal

Children's Chorus
Wow--we had a lot of kids gone, I guess the day of school off took it's toll on choir that day!  10 of the 19 kids were absent!  We had a good rehearsal with kids who were there, but I'm a little concerned with the fact that we only have one more rehearsal before we perform at the Senior Center!  I'm sure we'll be fine if we have good attendance this week. 

I had a rehearsal video, but my internet isn't working well right now, so unfortunately, I haven't been able to upload it yet.  Maybe later....

Senior Center Performance is at 12:10 PM on May 9.  Information is coming about the logistics of that.  You will be given a form for your child to take to school so they can be excused from class, and the parent council is working out car pooling.

Footnotes
Good rehearsal!  We made a lot of headway on the music.  I'm concerned about the choreography for Swingin' with the Saints, but the choreography for When You Believe is very close to being ready.
I had a rehearsal video, but my internet isn't working well right now, so unfortunately, I haven't been able to upload it yet.  Maybe later....   Thanks!

We'll be passing out the vests at choir this week before rehearsal, so get there early!


Senior Center Performance is at 12:10 PM on May 9.  Information is coming about the logistics of that.  You will be given a form for your child to take to school so they can be excused from class, and the parent council is working out car pooling.

Chorale
Fun rehearsal on stage!  I think we are going to be ready for the concert!  This next week we will work on stage as well, and we will have our bass and drum combo with us.  Please be ready to go at 7:45.  Could a few people arrive at 7:30 to set up the stage with risers and the piano?  This is the week for NO MUSIC, so practice and take the chance!  See you Thursday!

My Vacation!

Thanks to all my subs on April 21!  I hear things went well, and I'm looking forward to rehearsals this coming week April 28.  We are on for the same time at the same place--even though there is no school that day.

See you then!

Cindy

April 14 Rehearsal

Children’s Choir

We began rehearsing with some platforms, and getting our blocking worked out even more.  The kids are just about memorized, so we are in great shape!  We did some video taping which was fun.  Next week they will watch the clips and evaluate what they see. 

Footnotes

We made great progress on the Hebrew dance, and I showed them a bit of choreography for Swingin’ with the Saints.  We are in the practice, practice, practice mode.  Next week they should plan to practice the dance from 3:00-3:30 with Elizabeth, then they will rehearse with Rachel and Elizabeth on all the songs during our regular rehearsal.  I won’t be able to be there this week, but they will be in good hands, we have a plan.  Remind them to practice and memorize!

Chorale

Good rehearsal—I was glad we didn’t have all the sickness this week.  Next rehearsal will be on the stage, and since I won’t be there, the emphasis will be on the choreography and using the stage space.  I’ve given Russell specific measures to work on based on what I heard on the recordings.  This week you should be out of the music for Dream, Rainbow, Not While, and Parade.  That leaves Lean on Me for next week.  Please play your recording in the car, while you groom, and anytime you can!  Memorize during those spare minute that happen throughout the day.  Good luck! 

PS—make sure you have your concert attire all ready to go. Talk to Jean and Matt if you have questions.

April 7 Rehearsal

Well March 31's rehearsal came and went without comment because I was so excited about welcoming my son home from Australia, and having my daughter and her family visiting.  It was awesome!  I'll recap a bit now about last week's rehearsals, and we'll keep on moving forward from here!

Children's Choir
I loved the beginning of rehearsal when Emma asked if we could sing "I put Music in My Life" and started singing it.  So I just joined in, and soon everyone was singing, and we turned it into a round as we went!  I love these kids!  We had started some choreography on March 31, and I continued and built on that.  We set the choreography for Dream Keeper, and got some good things going on You've Got a Friend.  These kids have enthusiasm!  I keep having to dream new things up to keep them engaged, and moving forward.  They have really risen to the challenge, and I don't want them peaking before the concert, so I'll keep adding challenges!  The kids should be singing from memory now, and they should be reviewing with the CD using the tracks that have both Part 1 and Part 2 singing.  The mom's passed out the concert blouses on March 31.  I haven't heard any complaints, so I hope they all fit!   Plan on the black skirts, black tights and shoes for the girls, and black pants, and white button shirts for the boys.

Footnotes
What a productive rehearsal.  We reviewed 'Go the Distance', and the Part 2 girls discovered they had some wrong notes in their heads.  Hopefully we cleared that up, but I'd like them to review on their own this week with the CD.  Please encourage that!  We blocked the Hebrew dance in 'When You Believe'.  I was impressed at how quiet and attentive they were when I explained how the dance worked, and when they got up to try it out, they had very good attitudes and effort.  I asked them to use the time just before the next rehearsal between 3:00 and 3:30 to work on it in any available space that there might be at the senior center.  After talking with the senior center, I don't think there is a space except outside, so we'll see how that goes.  My friend Elizabeth is coming early to help them with that while I'm in the Children's choir rehearsal.  We DID NOT rehearse Swingin' With the Saints, and that is unfortunate!  PLEASE ASK YOUR DAUGHTER TO PRACTICE THIS WEEK!  We really need to get that one committed to memory ASAP.  Last time we practiced it it wasn't even close to memorized, so we have much to do there.  The song is begging for choreography, and I hope we get to it!


Sherwood Chorale
I hope all the sick people are feeling better this week! We had 12 absences YIKES!
A note about concert attire:
Women--wear the sparkly blouses and jewelry, long black skirts, black closed toed shoes and black hosiery--no exceptions!  Men wear black shirts, slacks, socks and shoes, and a silver tie.  If you don't have the blouse or the tie, check with Jean or Matt.
Memorization--This week Dream,  and Not While I'm Around.  Next week Rainbow and Parade. April 28 Lean on Me.  Feel free to be memorized ahead of time!

Here's a run down on our last rehearsal:
Not While I'm Around-

• Men check the note at mm 21, it wasn't off last week, but it's downright wrong this week! :)
• Altos check mm39 again, I hear no pitches on the first 2 notes!
• mm73-76 we'll work on unifying 'around' so the diphthong matches
• we need to work on phrasing, eliding consonants, and having overall support in the lines, I think we will make much more headway on it when it is MEMORIZED.  So work on it this week.

Lean

• It was cleaner than last week!  Progress is happening!
• we need confident entrances as mm 22, 26, 33, 35, 61, 67
• Get in the groove!  I think this will click in a while.  Let's work on clarity and precision now, and style will evolve out of that.

Dream 

• Nice! This is getting into the performance mode!
• Men mm 61 g to g# isn't precise.  Get that in your head first, then you can sing it out loud.
• MEMORIZE this.  No music this next week.  We'll block it.

Rainbow

• Bass m24 sing out with more confidence
• Sops m61 you've got the right style and character!  Let's get the tone placed a little higher (saggy pitch), and it'll be perrrrfect.
• last 3 measures need the ritard synced with the duet and choir all together.

Parade

• This was FUN!  We choreographed the whole song, and I think it's going to be a crowd pleaser. If you were not sure of notes, please get them nailed down, and be ready to get out of your music this week as much as possible.  You're out for sure by April 22.  Good job Emily-you're gonna be a good diva!
• The recording is from March 31.  Here are the notes for that recording:
• mm 11 softer, mm 39 is mp
• get the 't's together at mm 19-20, 56-57 and 82
• bulls eye pitches at mm 91, 92, 94

Have a great week, and be healthy--we need you!

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!