Face the Music

Blog Post #5 - Music Review #1 (Songs about water)

One thing you need to know about me is that I love just about any choral piece that references a body of water.  ”The Water is Wide” - yes, please!  ”Shenandoah” - absolutely!  ”Beyond the Sea” - I can’t get enough!  I don’t know what it is, but something about water in all it’s forms (rain, the ocean, a river, etc.) seems to conjure up vivid images of shimmering waves, drifting boats, and distant lands.  So in keeping with this theme, today I am going to offer my review of several choral octavos, all related to water.

Cross the Wide Missouri
arr. by Don Besig & Nancy Price
Publisher: Alfred Music Publishing
Available Voicing: SATB, Three-Part Mixed, SSA, TBB, 2-Part 
Accompaniment CD Available: NO

This piece is a partner song using “The Water is Wide” and “Shenandoah”, and it is lovely.  I used this piece with my 6th grade chorus to teach the importance of tall vowels, long vocal phrasing, and good breath support.  It could also be used in a unit about American Folk Music.

The vocal lines work together with the piano accompaniment and flute obligato to create lush harmonies that ebb and flow just like the river being described.  When working on this piece, I like to switch up my vocal parts every now and then (the altos singing the soprano part and vice versa).  I find that if my students are responsible for knowing a part other than their own, it makes them more accountable and more focused during rehearsals.  Also, each of the vocal parts is so beautiful that I feel everyone should have a chance to sing everything.  

Click here for more info on this piece.

Click here for a great performance of the SSA arrangement of this piece.

Looking-Glass River
Words by Robert Louis Stevenson 
Music by Janet Gardner
Publisher: Shawnee Press
Available Voicing: 2-Part
Accompaniment CD Available: NO

I would recommend this piece to any middle school director.  The text describes a flowing, bubbly river filled with colorful fish and gleaming in the sunlight (“Smooth it glides upon it’s travel, here a wimple, there a gleam. O the clean gravel! O the smooth stream!”).  This piece could be used in a lesson on poetry and imagery as well.

The vocal lines work beautifully together, weaving in and out of unison and harmony, creating images of a clear, sparkling river.  The descant at the end is a lovely addition and adds an extra little bit of “shimmer” at the end of the piece.

Click here for more information and a recording of this piece.

Riversong
by Roger Emerson
Publisher: Hal Leonard Coorporation
Available Voicing: SATB, SAB, SSA, TTBB, 2-Part
Accompaniment CD Available: YES 

Wow.  I am in love with this piece.  Building from a sparse, legato flute solo, this energetic piece captures the spirit of Celtic music and is a great piece to introduce students to this genre.  There instrumental parts available for purchase, but if you don’t have access to live musicians, the accompaniment CD is just as good in this case!

My only caution would be to make sure you and your group give this piece the energy and emotion that it needs - otherwise, you’ll be dead in the water (pun intended).

Click here for more info and a TTBB recording of this piece.

Please feel free to offer any feed back or to suggest other water songs!  And as always, thanks for reading!

Blog Post #4 - Choosing the Right Music (Part 2)

In addition to this blog, I keep a blog for my students to read on our school’s website and I encourage them to post their (school appropriate) comments. After my previous post here, I wrote something similar on my school blog - I told my students that directors have certain criteria that helps them to choose music for their groups, but before telling them mine, I wanted their opinion on what directors should look for when picking music.

Here’s what some of them had to say…

“Whenever it comes to selecting music I look for 1. Is the piece age appropriate? 2. Can my voice go that high or low, can I make those jumps, am I straining myself? 3. (Most importantly) Does the piece mean something to me?”

“The music the director chooses should challenge the group.”

“1. Is the piece at a level the group can excel at (notes and rhythms the group can successfully perform). 2. Will the piece have significance to the groups (will we care/know what we’re singing about?). 3. Will we have fun learning/performing the piece and will it be memorable for the audience?”

“I think we should sing a mix of traditional chorus music and music we kids listen to.”

“I think that choosing music is all about what suits the group. It should be challenging enough so that new skills or techniques can be gained from learning that piece. It shouldn’t be so difficult that it can’t be learned or performed well, but it also shouldn’t be too easy to the point where it’s not interesting. The music should reflect the skill level as well as the personality of the group.”

I tell you, for middle schoolers, they are insightful.

Check out my school blog to see what more of them wrote!

http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/734920102913639483/site/default.asp

Blog Post #3 - Choosing the Right Music

One of the things I’m most confident in is my ability to pick music for my groups.  This is one of the things that I learned in college that I’ll never forget (thanks, Dr. Buchanan).  

He taught us that first, you must look at the text.  If your singers can’t connect with the text, then how can you expect them to turn the octavo into music?  In my groups, we spend the first rehearsal or two looking at the text of the piece and really figuring it out what it means.  Words on a page don’t really mean much to a 12 year old unless you take the time to get them to see the meaning behind them.  I love music taken from a poem or a text that tells a story, and so do my kids.  It helps us all form a better connection with the piece, which in turn helps the audience to form a connection.  Win, win.

Second, I look at voicing and range.  I was taught a lesson in this about a week ago.  I was bound and determined that my 8th grade group was going to sing in 3 parts this year at Festival.  I had picked out Sherri Porterfield’s S.A.B. arrangement of “The Tiger” and we were plowing through it, one measure at a time.  My sopranos and altos were doing very well - my guys were having problems.  I would send the girls out to work in the hall while the guys stayed with me.  Without the girls, they were just fine.  They were hitting all the notes, singing with confidence, and being generally musical.  When I put them with the girls, everything seemed to fall apart.

I tried transposing the piece down a few half steps, I had the guys sing in a circle away from the girls, I rearranged them on the risers, nothing helped.  I was left with a choice - Do I continue with the 3 part arrangement because they are in 8th grade and it’s time for them to sing in 3 parts or do I switch to the 2 part arrangement and let the guys double one of the girls’ parts an octave down?  Do I teach them a lesson in finishing what they start and not giving up or do I sacrifice the overall tone of the group and possibly affect their score at festival?  Color me stressed.

I made the decision to switch to the 2 part arrangement and here’s why:

1. I can’t sacrifice the overall tone and sound quality of my group for the sake of teaching a section a lesson in sticking it out.

2. The 2 part arrangement actually has an optional soprano split in it that we are taking.  I’ve split my group this way - altos on the alto line, the majority of my sopranos on the optional soprano split, and 5 sopranos and the guys on the main soprano melody.  The balance is better and the guys are doing much better with this arrangement.  Middle school boys are a never ending puzzle…

3. It wasn’t that big of a deal to switch to a new arrangement - the majority of the notes are the same and my kids catch on quickly.  They are happier with this arrangement and the way we have the group split up and they are 100% more confident.

Win, win, win.  Festival here we come.

One of the last things I look for when selecting music is honestly, whether or not I would like to sing the piece myself. I know, I know, I also look for things like “can I teach this kind of rhythm” or “is this a good piece for teaching the minor scale,” but if I can’t picture myself getting into the piece and looking forward to working on it, how can I expect my kids to do that?  I’ve already scrapped one piece for our upcoming concert because I thought I would like it more than I do - it just wasn’t working for me and my kids could totally tell I wasn’t into it, and it affected their excitement and enthusiasm.

There is no shortage of songs to teach minor scales, but I would rather have a song that my kids look forward to working on each day that ALSO teaches them what “la” to “do” sounds like. 

ps.  Here is a link to the JW Pepper website where you can click to listen to Sherri Porterfield’s arrangement of “The Tiger.”  It’s so great!

http://www.jwpepper.com/1810324.item 

Blog Post #2: Is this going to be on the test?

When I graduated from ISU, I felt confident in myself.  I had just completed 4.5 years of classes, lessons, and exams that were all designed to mold me into a professional music educator.   Better yet, I had a job waiting for me.  I was on top of the world when I stepped into my new classroom for the first time, armed with my rosters and lesson plans.  Nothing was going to stop me, by golly.  I was going to teach those kids how to sing and read music and name all of Beethoven’s major works in chronological order all at the same time.

Then I had my first concert and half of my students didn’t show up.  

Seriously.

What happened?  Did the kids not like me?  Did I do it wrong?  Were my directions unclear?  What what what?!?!?

Then it hit me - this is a middle school, not a classroom of 25 other music education majors.  And there are some things that you just can’t learn in college.

1.  You are not there to make friends with your students.  That is not your job.  Your job is to teach them things.  We all want to be liked, but you have plenty of friends your own age who like you just fine.  You do not need the approval of teenagers.

2. You will encounter a variety of learning levels, even if the kids are in the same grade.  Kids who can’t read, count, spell their names, tell time, you name it.  You will need to develop several different teaching strategies for each concept.  Not everyone is on the same level and not everyone learns the same way.  Again, middle school.  Not college.

3. Ask for help early on.  It’s a lot easier for someone to help you out of a 2 foot hole than it is for them to help you out of a 25 foot hole.  

4. Don’t raise your voice, even when provoked.  (Notice, I said “when.”  You will be.)

5. Communicate with your students’ parents.  (Most of the time) they are on your side and want to help you help their child.  An email or phone call can go a long way, especially with a discipline issue.  When calling home, don’t wait for the 4th or 5th incident (see #3).  

6. Kids (for the most part) will do just what they need to in order to get by.  Don’t settle for that.  It may take some pushing and encouraging, but if you set the standard high, kids will know what you expect and meet it.  If you accept mediocre work, that’s what you’ll always get.

7. Make nice with the front office staff, coaches, counselors, custodial staff, and special ed. teachers.

8. Don’t be boring.  Even in college, no one likes a straight up lecture.

9. If you don’t already, get yourself organized.  I’m talking folders, labels, weekly planners, the works.  5 minutes of unorganized lesson plan searching can quickly lead to a classroom management nightmare.

10. Wear comfortable shoes.  

-A

Blog Post #1: Getting to know you.

Let’s start off with some introductions:  

My name is Amanda and I am a teacher.  More specifically, I teach chorus, drama, and general music to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at a middle school about 35 minutes north of Atlanta, GA.  I graduated with a BME in Choral Music Education from Indiana State University in December 2007 and began teaching in January 2008.  

As a Chorus Director, I have 3 grade level choruses that meet every day and 2 auditioned choruses (1 all-male and 1 all-female) that rehearse twice a week before and after school.  My groups put on 6 concerts a year and also perform several times throughout the community.  I have around 250 students involved in my Chorus program.

As a Drama Director, I have 3 grade level drama classes that I’ve just started at my school this year.  I’m also the director of our annual Fall Musical.  All in all, I have about 200 kids involved in my Drama program.

In the Fall Semester, I also teach 2 sections of 6th grade General Music.  I may be the only person I know who likes teaching this class.

I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t in love with music.  According to my parents, I’ve been singing since I could make noise and I’ve always been involved in some sort of choir or musical group.  I knew that music was a passion of mine, but it wasn’t until I was a sophomore in high school that I knew that I wanted to be a music teacher.  Now that I’m an adult and out in the world, it becomes more apparent to me every day that I am doing what I was meant to do.  Helping students to realize their talents and passions is so amazing and I’m thankful every day that I get to go to work and do something that I love.

I hope you’ll find the time to read my future posts.