Energy and Goosebumps and Chills, Oh My!

My school choirs have a concert a week from tomorrow.  I'm now into the "Oh, my gosh, there is no way we'll be ready in time for the concert" frame of mind.  I usually don't worry too much about my groups, but this year I added a concert in October instead of waiting until December.  I wanted to give my kids something to work toward right away.  Unfortunately, I think it may have been a wrong choice on my part.  Can I cancel it?  Yes, but I don't want to unless I absolutely have to.  The kids have all ordered new outfits, and they are so anxious for them to come in.  If I canceled the concert, they wouldn't get to wear them until December.  Well, at least I know they'll look good.

My job is at a K-12 laboratory school on the Ball State University campus.  It is a relatively small school, with around 650 kids from K-12.  Because it is small, and because I teach both elementary music and choirs, I only have one high school choir and one middle school choir.  This puts grades 6-8 in my one middle school choir and grades 9-12 in my one high school choir.  Consequently, I have some people who are seasoned veterans in there with kids that are newbies.  Trying to find music for them that will keep everyone happy can sometimes be a challenge.

I was working with my high school choir today.  They are actually sounding pretty good, at least as far as the notes go.  As we all know, though, music is more than just the notes.  Two of the songs we are singing are uptempo and need lots of energy.  For some reason, I just haven't found the right thing to say or do that has helped them "get it."  I've had them say the words in an intense whisper.  I've had them bend up and down at the knees with the beat while they are singing.  I've tried walking around in front of them and clapping my hands in an off-beat rhythm.  Unfortunately, nothing I do or say seems to make a difference.  I may be selfish, but I want more than just the notes.  I want the energy.  I want the excitement.

Either the kids don't want those things, or they don't know how to get there from here.  I was talking to them today and trying to encourage them to keep working at finding that level of excitement.  Then I stopped talking to them as a teacher and started talking to them as a fellow musician.  I told them that I hoped more than anything that they could someday have an experience singing where the music takes their breath away, where it leaves them with goosebumps and chills.  I have had those experiences, when my whole spiritual being is lifted to a higher place, where I don't want to breathe for fear of breaking the spell.  It is a most awesome experience, and one that I hope they can someday share with me.

I don't think they will reach that level at this concert.  Maybe not at the next...or the next.  However, I do hope that they can someday experience it and come back and tell me about it, and we can marvel together at the special moment.  I wish that more than anything.

Technology and Choir

I am sitting right now at a technology conference. The conference is sponsored by Ball State University.  Because I work at a lab school under the umbrella of BSU, I am considered a BSU employee and was invited to the conference. I think that all of the people here are from the academic world, so there was really nothing that was directly about teaching music or directing music.  However, it is up to me to find a way to apply it.

Students today are tech wizards; they expect to use it wherever they are. Choir is no different.  However, singing is the foundational tenet of the class.  The class is a performance-based class.  Other than recording the class and having the students critique their performance, how can we incorporate technology?  Of course, students can always do research about the composers or the text of the song, but research of this type is really not something that I feel is helpful.

I have a big task: finding a way to incorporate technology that the students will enjoy and in which they actually want to participate.  I took some classes this summer on using Web 2.0 tools in education.  These tools help instructors make the classes more collaborative and a lot more fun for the kids. There are a bunch of things out there from which to choose; I just have to figure out which ones best suit my needs.  There's the problem -- I don't know which ones best suit my needs. The only thing I can do is try several of them and see what works.

The first one I want to try is a blog.  I am going to setup a private blog for my students.  Two or three times a week, I will ask them to share with me what they learned in class that day and what impact, if  any, it had on their singing.  I will also occasionally give them other types of prompts to which they will respond.  I also want to try using a wiki, which is similar to a Google doc.  I will give the students a subject to discuss, and they will discuss it on the wiki, where all the students will see all of the responses and be able to respond to them.  Those two things will be my collaborative tools.

With students being into social media right now, I'm going to plug into that interest by using both Facebook and Twitter.  I will set up a Facebook page for the choirs.  I will post concert dates, fundraising activities, and other items of public interest.  I will also Tweet with the students.

These are all great ideas, but they will only happen if I make them happen.  Will I be able to do it and still have time to do the music?  Who knows?  Check with me in two months, and I'll let you know.

Excitement in the Air

My community choir had its first rehearsal of the new season this week.  I love starting a new season. The singers come to the rehearsal with an energy and an excitement that is catching.  They've had the summer off, and they are ready to sing again.  They gather together with their friends and fellow singers and look forward to creating some beautiful music.

Unfortunately, there are some problems that arise after taking some time off.

1. The cohesiveness of the group is diminished.  At the end of the season, the choir blends beautifully and syncs their thoughts together.  When we start a new season, the group is different -- we have lost some singers and gained some others.  It takes us a while to find that blend and cohesiveness that we have had in the past.
2. With new personalities added to the mix, the choir often has underlying tensions that can only be worked through with time.  I encourage my singers to talk to me -- about anything.  As the director, I need to know if a singer is bothered or offended by something I do or another member does.  Over the summer, I went to lunch with a couple of ladies.  One of them told me how much she was bothered by some members of her section chatting during the rehearsal.  Since I am so focused on what I am doing, I was totally unaware of any chatting taking place.  I need to be informed of those things.  If someone doesn't tell me, and I am unaware of the problem, there's no way that I can address it.
3. The singers may forget that singing requires a different voice than talking.  Singing requires a raised soft palate and open, pure vowels.  The sounds I hear from them at the first rehearsal are usually nothing like what I hear from them later in the season.  It just takes time for them to remember how to sing.
4. The singers often forget how to phrase correctly.  They forget that every phrase has a high point to which the music should rise and fall.  Having them physically lean toward that high point as they are singing can help them not only sing the phrase well but also feel the phrasing.
5. We have to start learning all new music.  Some of my singers are musicians that are excellent readers; I have others that don't know how to read music at all.  Although it is every director's desire that all of their singers learn their notes at home, that usually doesn't happen, so we often have to plunk out notes during the beginning rehearsals.  This can be frustrating for those who know how to read music.  However, I keep reminding them that they are the leaders and that they need to lead so that the others will have someone dependable to follow.
6. We have to start learning all new music.  I know -- that was point #5, also.  However, another aspect of that is that it gets tedious working through parts on songs.  Most singers would love to just open the music and sing through the piece.  We can sometimes do that, if the piece is a fairly simple one.  There are other times, though, when the music is really difficult, that we have to tear apart the music and learn it line by line.  That usually happens in the spring, when we do a major work.  The singers are always thrilled when we can put the piece together and sing it through for the first time.

The exciting thing about starting a new season is that everyone is fresh from the summer off and ready to start singing.  There is an excitement and enthusiasm that I work hard to hang onto as long as I can. When my singers are enjoying themselves, then I know that the two-hour block of time that they gave up to spend with me was worth the sacrifice.  I also know that singing can bring a joy and peace to my singers that nothing else can do.  That's why they keep coming back week after week.  I hope, though, that they also come back because they're having fun.  A rehearsal that isn't fun is a waste of my time and of theirs.  That is something I work very hard to keep from happening.

Singing Is Good for the Soul

      I love my community choir's rehearsals.  Yes, I lead a busy life, and, yes, another evening away from home can be the last thing I want or need.  However, no matter how tired I am, I know that going to rehearsal will be the best thing that I can possibly do for myself.   You see, no matter how hard we work at the rehearsal, I come away invigorated, excited about what we have accomplished.  I leave with a heart that is almost bursting with happiness.  The only thing that makes me sad is that it has to end.

     How do you feel when you leave a rehearsal?  Do you feel worn out?  Do you feel tired?  Or do you feel invigorated?  Happy?  Robert Shaw once said,  “The wonderful thing about the amateur chorus is that nobody can buy its attendance at rehearsals, or the sweat, eyestrain and fatigue that go along with the glow; and nobody but the most purposive and creative of music minds can invite and sustain its devotion.”

     Singing is fun.  It is even more fun when it is done with a group of people with the same goal in mind – to create beautiful music.  It gives each of the singers an opportunity to let go of what is bothering them or what is going wrong in their lives and focus instead on something beautiful – the music.  Stacy Horn, the author of the book Imperfect Harmony: Finding Happiness Singing With Others, says this about why singing in a choir is such a good thing.  “That’s because it gets you out of house every week to do something that is like exercising joy.  As I move firmly and inexorably into midlife, I need it more than ever.  I thought that these would be the easy years.  I was sure I’d be settled by now, not wondering how I’m going to pay for all the dental work I just learned I needed or still crying about the last guy who broke my heart.”

     Singing with other people gives everyone involved a sense of peace – a sense that, no matter what is going wrong in the world, all is well as you blend your voice with the voices of all the people around you.  At that moment, you are happy.  You are lifted to a place where all is good and pure and hopeful.  At that moment, you forget about the pressures of life and focus instead on the beautiful music you are creating.

     The next time someone asks you why you sing in a choir, try to tell them.  I bet you will have problems doing so.  Singing is personal; it affects every person differently.  It is difficult to put into words the joy and peace that it can bring you.  It is a feeling that one can get only by experiencing it.  Instead of trying to explain why you sing in a choir, invite that person to come with you.  Once they experience it, they will understand.