WHAT ABOUT "STYLE?"
One of the things that caused me distress as a choral music educator was the fact that even though my warm-up might have been marvelous and beautiful, with high B-flats ringing from sopranos, rich A's from the altos, incredible B-flats from the tenors, and a maturity beyond words came from the sounds of basses….and….students were more focused during rehearsal….and….students were listening with incredible ears….and….the warm-up would have brought a tear to any eye any time, any day….for the absolute beauty that one might have heard from my group….even though all these things might have been the case while participating in the warm-up….once the rehearsal repertoire began, my choir sounded like a totally different group….a group who did not make all the beautiful sounds of the previous 15 minutes!! It was incredible….I had no idea what to do….and yes, I know it was my problem….not theirs….mine. I reminded students to transfer those things experienced in the warm-up to the repertoire, and though the sound improved….it never "happened" in the repertoire the ways it "happened" in the warm-up. Sigh…..
I am not certain as to why this might have been the case, but I think now that it might have had something to do with the style of music to be studied that day in choir. I think the "jump" from warm-up to repertoire was a bit too much. I needed to find some short warm-ups in the styles of every piece I was going to sing that day in choral rehearsal….I needed to include all the elements I had taught in the warm-up that day….and I needed to have them sing this style-specific example just before I began the repertoire selection. If the piece of rehearsal repertoire were in a Baroque style….I might have written or selected a short 4-8 measure example in Baroque style. I needed to teach them the Baroque choral style with a short phrase, perfecting it with repetition, before going to the repertoire. If the Baroque piece were scheduled first in the repertoire section of my rehearsal, my students would need to perform the exact style appropriate for the repertoire the last thing in the warm-up….then move immediately to the Baroque repertoire. At that point, the style is "in the ear." And yes….I needed to find the beautiful vowels, crisp consonants, and Baroque style in those 4-8 measures, before I try to find beautiful singing in a 68 measure Baroque choral composition. It is likely that the vowels experienced in warm-up are going to feel differently (in the voice), when singing in a different style.
In short, if we can't find what we want from a choir in a short example, why would we think we might be able to have it "appear" in a longer version? However, even if it does come together in the study of an 8-measure example, we will likely find it is necessary to remind students "over and over and over again" to transfer….not that our students lack intelligence….it is just a new way of thinking in the choral process, and it takes….time. It is an awesome thought: we are actually teaching students how to think in different ways.
You might find some helpful materials in either the Cross-Curricular Warm-Ups for Choral Rehearsals or in the Rehearsal Preparation Sheets on the EROP site. The first set has warm-ups that teach academic subject matter (we'll talk about them in a future blog), and they are intended to be sung in various styles. You can "hear" the styles of Broadway shows, Hebrew folk songs, Native American folk songs, Calypso folk music, Jazz, etc.
The truth is, if I had my own choir today, there might be times when I would need to write my own warm-ups in various styles. See blog posts beginning November 29, 2014, to get some ideas as to how to begin. There is a four-part series on creating Rehearsal Preparation Sheets you might find helpful in writing your own warm-ups.
It's that time….again. If you are a music educator in school or church, please know that you are appreciated more than you can imagine. Enjoy the new year!!
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