Post on readings for chapter 12 from Vocal Technique by Julia Davids and Interlude G from Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults by Jenevora Williams. Ah-ha moments/Comments 1) I liked reading on voice positioning in the choir. I don't have much choir background so this is a concept that I do not know much about. It is important to know about placing voices in your choir so you can blend the voices together. Some sections of the choir are bigger than others or you might have a singer that stands out so you need to know where to place these singers. They provide diagrams in the book of different arrangements that you could consider using with your choir. 2) In the first part of interlude G in William's book she talks about the terms we would use to describe how we want them to sound. Although we might understand what we mean by the term, the student could interpret this term in many ways. For example, the term clear is a pretty broad term and the students could come up with many meanings for this. As teachers we need to choose our words and adjectives carefully and make sure that our students have the same interpretation as us. Questions 1)If you have one student that still stands out while singing even if you move them to a different position in the choir to try and blend them with the other students, what are some other strategies or ways of dealing with this situation. 2) In William's book it mentions that we need open our mouths wide to make a better sound. Some people, especially younger children have small mouths and they are not going to be able to open them as wide as we want them to. Does this affect their sound much? Is there anything we can do to help their sound?

Resource Review PechaKucha by Kenzie Squires on Scribd

Post on readings for chapter 15 in Vocal Technique by Julia Davids and chapter 7 in Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults by Jenevora Williams.

Ah-ha moments/ Comments

1) I enjoyed the section in the book by Williams on prevention of voice problems. We use our voices every day. Some ways that we use our voices is putting a lot of stress on our voice. In the book it states a common problem and then provides a solution. 

2) I never thought of women's mentrual cycles affecting singing before this course. In the book by Davids there is a section on hormonal factors affecting the voice. It was interesting to read on the different hormones affecting people's singing. 

Questions

1) In the William's book it lists voice disorders. Would these disorders be similar for adolescents and adults?

2) How necessary are cool downs? I don't think I have ever been to a rehearsal where we have cooled down after.

Notes on the slides from the PechaKucha presentation on Group Vocal Technique Frauke Hassemann and James M. Jordan.

Slide 1 Intro

The book I have chosen is Group Vocal Technique by Frauke Hassemann and James M. Jordan. This is a complete methodology book for vocal technique in a choral setting. The book focuses on vocal training that can be taught to amateur singers. The text also references a video and vocalise cards that goes along with the text.

Slide 2 Dedication

This book is dedicated in memory of Professor Dr. Wilhelm Ehmann who passed away in 1989. He was known to be a combination of being a philosopher, pedagogue, musicologist, conductor, and teacher. He was an inspiration for his students and colleagues. This book is written in his memory to provide us with new insights of choral music.

Slide 3 Frauke Hassemann

Frauke Hassemann is a former professor of conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. She is recognized for being an authority in vocal music and worked with Dr. Wilhelm Ehmann with the Westfalische Kantorei. She is the co-author of another book that was written with Wilhelm Ehmann called Voice Building for Choirs.

Slide 4 James M. Jordan

James M. Jordan is the associate professor of conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He holds a master of music in choral conducting and a PH.D in music education from Temple University. He studied conducting with both Wilhelm Ehmann and Frauke Hassemann. He is a regular contributor to the Choral Journal and is on the editorial board of the Journal of the Southeastern Music Symposium.

Slide 5 Video and Cards

There is a video and vocalise cards that go along with this text. The text references segments of the video that provides aural and visual models of the techniques that are presented in the text. It also references specific segments of the vocalise cards that give additional exercises related to the technique that is being discussed in that section.  

Slide 6 Intro, Ch. 2, Ch. 3

They start the book off with an introduction which highlights the foundational concepts for group vocal technique. Chapter 2 prepares you to organize the foundational concepts found in the introduction and explains how to use the book. Chapter 3 gives examples and advice of how to prepare, examples of planning guides, and teaching strategies for your choir.

Slide 7 Chapter 4 and 5

Next they talk about relaxation and posture. They emphasize relaxation exercises in order to free up the body of any tension and provide a list that you can do with your choir.  They also list a step by step approach of how to explain posture to your singers. Chapter 5 highlights building spaciousness in the voice and to expand the vocal tract by relaxing your jaw, tongue and lips.

Slide 8 Chapter 6 and 7

Chapter 6 gives examples of exercises for breathing. They concentrate on diaphragm activity, inhalation, exhalation, and support exercises. The next chapter talks about the pedagogical use and importance of the sigh to help build our voices. They also have a section on encouraging and nurturing head tone in the choir.

Slide 9 Chapter 8,9, and 10

To create and develop a core sound they explore the concept of resonance. For proper placement they introduce the two concepts of fishmouth and rabbit teeth as foundations for appropriate vocal resonance and go into more detail on their benefits. They also explain the use of dynamics, crescendos and decrescendos with your choir.

Slide 10 Chapter 11, 12, and 13

Chapter 11 is about register consistency and developing vocal registers such as the head tone. Range extension and having flexibility in both high and low registers is important to develop and they provide exercises for you to do with your choir. Chapter 13 provides two major steps for executing leaps.

Slide 11 Chapter 14, and 15

Chapter 14 addresses legato, staccato, and martellato styles of singing. Each style is explained with diagrams of short exercise you can incorporate. English diction and the five pure vowels is their next topic to discuss. They go into detail about the international phonetic alphabet with vowels and consonants.

Slide 12 Chapter 16 and 17

Continuing with diction, they switch languages to talk about the Latin diction fundamentals. There are some differences between consonants in English and Latin so they provide an explanation for each one. Chapter 17 is German diction. It is important for choirs to sing in different languages and to have correct pronunciation.

Slide 13 Chapter 18 and 19

Chapter 18 examines vowel modification and the difference between open and closed vowels. Marking the score is the next chapter. Singers should mark their scores with technical reminders so that reoccurring errors are less likely to happen. The book provides an extensive list of different markings they could put in and their explanations.

Slide 14 Chapter 20, 21

Other things to consider besides the techniques and basic concepts of singing include auditions and seating plans. If you choose to audition your choir, they provide an audition form to help you organize your objectives. Depending on the type of choir and how big your choir is you are going to have different seating plans. The book displays several examples of different arrangements that are possible.

Slide 15 Chapter 22, 23, and Summary

Chapter 22 is about literature selection. They provide a list of points to consider when choosing a piece and included a template of a form you may use to help with selecting pieces. The next chapter deals with conducting technique. They go through a list of concepts you should be aware of and give specific instructions concerning conducting exercises.

Slide 16 Useful thing #1

One thing that I found useful as a choral conductor is the template they provide that you could use when auditioning your choir. It provides you space to write down their range, what concepts of their singing need attention, and space to write any comments that you might have. This is helpful in planning what part they are going to sing.

Slide 17 Useful thing #2

Another thing that I found useful as a choral conductor was the list of markings that student can write in the score. This technique of writing in the score is useful as technical reminders for the singers. If a particular problem is consistently happening this technique may help to reduce or eliminate it. This also allows singers to become familiar with the basic concepts of singing.

Slide 18 Potential

This book is a fantastic resource for choral teachers. Each chapter takes you through all the different aspects of singing and concepts you need to be teaching your students. It is an easy read and provides several tips and exercises for each concept. The video and vocalise cards that go along with the book are also very helpful.

Slide 19 Criticisms

The only criticism I would have is that the book is a bit dated being published in 1991. More research has been done with singing since then so this book would not provide you with the most up to date findings. Not all choral teachers may agree with everything written in this book but it allows you to gather information from their perspective.

Slide 20 Conclusion

To conclude, this book is great for beginning conductors with limited vocal training. It describes in detail the philosophy and teaching principles of Group Vocal Technique. With all their tips and exercises conductors will have no problem running rehearsals. This book provides a solid foundation for amateur singers so they can move on to higher.

This is my powerpoint for my PechaKucha presentation for my resource review. The book I have chosen is Group Vocal Technique by Frauke Hassemann and James M. Jordan.

Here is the link to the slideslow:

https://us2-broadcast.officeapps.live.com/m/Broadcast.aspx?Fi=f7e27f1d10527ebb%5F073c3947%2D7479%2D4d2c%2D9838%2D23363696960f%2Epptx

Post on readings. Chapter 16: A Productive Warm-Up from  Vocal Technique by Julia Davids and chapter 6 Structuring lessons and practice from Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults  by Jenevora Williams. 

Ah-ha moments/ Comments

1) In Ch. 16 there is a section on the warm up sequence. It states that the sequence is almost as important as the exercises themselves. This is something that I have never heard before. I knew that you should cover different concepts of singing but didn't know that the order mattered. 

2) I really liked in chapter 6 in the book by Williams that they explained every concept with a theory first then had a section on how to practice this with your singers. This is very useful for making your warm ups so you know why you are doing certain exercises.

Questions

1) How long should your warm ups be? How much of your rehearsal time should you be taking up for your warm up?

2) The list of techniques for improving your memorisation skills listed in the book by Williams is a great list to teach your students. Would these techniques be good for all ages?

Response to reading Chapter 7 and 8 readings

Questions
1) How are they able to measure how many fluctuations per second they are singing for vibrato?

2) Does vibrato produce easier in lower or higher registers?

Comments
1) Now that I am taking private voice lessons I can better understand what I am reading. I just learned what a mixed voice was and how to achieve it so I feel like I can better relate.

2) I have never heard of female whistle register or stroh bass before so it was interesting to read about it!

Cantabile Choirs of Kingston

-          Created in 1996 and are located at the Sydenham Street United Church

-          There are over 250 voices in the choir and they put off 5 themed concerts a season!

-          They have received several distinctions, trophies, and awards!

Dr. Mark Sirett

-          He holds a masters and doctorate in choral conducting and pedagogy from the University of Iowa

-          Won two international awards for conducting and has taught at several universities!

-          Dr. Mark Sirett is an award winning composer and has been commissioned to compose pieces for well known choirs in Canada

The Choirs

-          There are 6 Choirs

1)      Junior Choir- boys and girls ages 8-9

2)      Children’s Choir- boys and girls ages 10-13

3)      Young Women’s Choir- girls grade 8 to end of high school

4)      Young Men’s Chorus- junior high to high school

5)      Women’s Chorus

6)      Men’s Chorus

Recommendations

-          Chorister

-          Marketing/Recruitment

o   Facebook

o   Website – News and Events, Email updates

Repertoire

o   River in Judea arr. J. Leavitt -Gospel style piece for a young men’s choir. Unison parts help to work on tuning and blend. It has a nice piano accompaniment and is easy to learn.

o   Ononyatakaka by Mark Sirett - This piece was inspired by the Mohawk culture. It represents sounds echoing off rock cliffs. It is a very dramatic and energetic piece with percussion instruments that create cross rhythms.

o   Un canadien errant by Mark Sirett -This is a slow emotional french Quebec folk piece which allows the choir to sing in a different language with a gorgeous melody. It will help the choir to work on a beautiful blended sound.

o   Carol of the Bells arr. Wilhousky – This Ukrainian Folk Song is a common Christmas tune with expressive dynamics helps develop their technique of singing at a faster tempo.

    You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch arr. Funk- This is a fun and simple children’s choir piece. It is simple and easy to learn. It also incorporates fun percussion instruments such as a slide whistle and 

This is my prezi presentation on the Cantabile Choirs of Kingston:

http://prezi.com/rlxmaytq68eu/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy