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 Intonation IX - Calibrating the Ear--John Goldsmith
May 23, 2013 by Richard Sparks 
 John Goldsmith is a terrific musician, directs the Heinz Chapel Choir at the University of Pittsburg, and teaches the musicianship courses for the Music Department. He was a member of Chanticleer and sang with Robert Shaw in France. If you wish to reach him directly about his workshops, contact him through his email address at the University of Pittsburg.
I first came across John's Calibrating the Ear--Developing Tonal Memory workshop material through Simon Carrington, requested a copy (which John gladly gave), and then met him briefly at a NW ACDA Conference. I've used these exercises with my choirs at PLU and found them valuable. I haven't used them since coming to UNT but, now that I'm reminded about them with this blog series, plan to this fall! I highly recommend them. This is the first of two parts:
Definition: Tonal memory is the ability to accurately sing back long phrases of melodic line after one hearing. This ability develops into the skill of singing in tune
John Goldsmith is a terrific musician, directs the Heinz Chapel Choir at the University of Pittsburg, and teaches the musicianship courses for the Music Department. He was a member of Chanticleer and sang with Robert Shaw in France. If you wish to reach him directly about his workshops, contact him through his email address at the University of Pittsburg.
I first came across John's Calibrating the Ear--Developing Tonal Memory workshop material through Simon Carrington, requested a copy (which John gladly gave), and then met him briefly at a NW ACDA Conference. I've used these exercises with my choirs at PLU and found them valuable. I haven't used them since coming to UNT but, now that I'm reminded about them with this blog series, plan to this fall! I highly recommend them. This is the first of two parts:
Definition: Tonal memory is the ability to accurately sing back long phrases of melodic line after one hearing. This ability develops into the skill of singing in tune and maintaining a stable key center in a cappella singing.
Premise: Most choral directors do vocal warm-ups with the choirs prior to beginning rehearsals. The most common method is to sing five-note scales or arpeggios up and down, possibly while playing along on the piano. The exercises are usually done in major mode and all tonal shifts are given to the singers with the piano. This type of warm-up actually prevents the development of tonal memory because: 1) no one really "listens" when singing in the major mode, 2) singers go on "automatic" and simply match pitch without thinking if the piano plays along, and 3) singers are not asked to engage their intellects or use their ears.
The Ear Calibration Warm-up system is an a cappella warm-up which utilizes patterns in the minor mode (which is so odd that singers actually pay attention), thus turning on that illusive "listening switch" in the brain. By teaching the fundamental skill of being able to hear and sing the difference between half and whole steps, tonal memory is developed and expanded, parts are learned more quickly, unisons are beautiful, and singing in tune becomes automatic.
At first the routine may take 8-10 minutes. Don't be impatient--tonal memory takes time to develop and the initial investment will be well worth it! Furthermore, the calibration rolls over from year to year, and new singers catch on quickly.
The Calibration Routine pre-supposes that the conductor can sing the given 5-note scale minor patterns, chromatic and whole-tone scales up and down, a cappella, in tune, and can demonstrate it.
Rehearsals are begun with a couple minutes of relaxing exercises (backrubs; shoulder rolls; movement of shoulders, arms, and face; yawns (raise the soft palate); and sprechstimme imitation (raise the soft palate). The Ear Calibration warm-ups must be done in an environment of silence. If there is a band playing next door your singers will not have enough quiet to hear that inner voice.
The First Step for Turning On the Brain's Listening Switch:
In a medium-high tessitura, using a neutral vowel (nyah, nyoh, nyoo) with no vibrato (you cannot tune vibrato!) in a soft dynamic, sing a five-note melody using the notes of the minor triad (e.g. mi-Do-re-ti-la) and ask your choir to sing it back to you. Then ask them to shift down one-half step and sing it again. Even if the singers accurately shift down a half-step (not likely), the exercise will fail the first time because they will sing the melody back to you in major.
Stop them . . . tell them what happened . . . say: "we are in minor, not major . . . make the 2nd note lower (i.e. "Do") - demonstrate. Start over. Sing the melody to them again and ask them to sing it back. Pause. Forbidding your singers to sing or hum, ask "can you still hear the first note (i.e. "mi") in your head?" (If anyone sings or hums the pitch the entire exercise is ruined for everyone else . . . tonal memory gets exercised in silence!)
Then ask them to silently shift down one-half step (NOBODY is allowed to sing or hum the new starting pitch!) and sing the melody back in the new tonality. Chances are they will have shifted at least a whole step. Repeat all this until they catch on to what a half step sounds like!. At consecutive rehearsals change the order of the minor melody always beginning on the fifth (e.g. mi-ti-re-Do-la; mi-re-ti-Do-la; mi-la-re-ti-Do . . . etc.) NOTE: by beginning in medium high tessitura and shifting down by half-steps the voice relaxes, and singers spend their concentration on the pitches rather than trying to sing higher and higher (and getting tighter and tighter).
Additonal notes:
- do the entire calibration warm-up routine at every rehearsal
- always entirely a cappella! never play the new shifts on the piano--insist that the singers remember (wihout humming) the first pitch of the previous tonal center, and make the half-step shift down without help (coach them and demonstrate it)
- begin the descending five-note pattern moderately high--by using descending patterns the voice will relax as you go rather than tighten up, as it inevitably will if you begin in ascending patterns
- make sure your singers are aware they must raise the soft palate!
- with whatever vowel you choose:
- watch their mouths for uniform shape
- demand perfect unisons (say, "make unison")
- soft dynamic with no vibrato
- be extremely picky about pitch accuracy, and be specific about which pitches are not accurate (e.g. "the fifth note is low because the fourth note was too low")
- when the five-note pattern becomes easy for the choir, change it
From my experience, this is a demanding exercise, but the singers will improve rapidly (wait until you see part 2!). It will make a huge difference in the ears of your singers and, therefore, in their intonation. Many thanks to John for being willing to share this Ear Calibration routine!
 Choral Caffeine: Professionalism Defined
May 22, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
Though the following comments are from an article on professional aviators, they are applicable to professionalism in every walk of life – including choral conductors.
Professionalism is a way of thinking about your work. Professionals don’t just understand the tasks they’re being paid to complete, they understand how all the pieces of everything in their profession fit together … and why. A professional (at least to me) understands the subtleties that produce a near perfect product or experience, whether that’s installing new carpeting in a home — clean up after yourselves and make sure everything fits before you leave — or flying an airplane near Virga — slow the airplane before you get too close since significant turbulence is highly probable.
And professionals wear their label proudly because they don’t need someone to tell
Though the following comments are from an article on professional aviators, they are applicable to professionalism in every walk of life – including choral conductors.
Professionalism is a way of thinking about your work. Professionals don’t just understand the tasks they’re being paid to complete, they understand how all the pieces of everything in their profession fit together … and why. A professional (at least to me) understands the subtleties that produce a near perfect product or experience, whether that’s installing new carpeting in a home — clean up after yourselves and make sure everything fits before you leave — or flying an airplane near Virga — slow the airplane before you get too close since significant turbulence is highly probable.
And professionals wear their label proudly because they don’t need someone to tell them what to study next or what rule to follow. They care enough to dive into their careers and learn because they want to be the best.
It’s not a surprise to me any longer that young workers require more precise instructions than we did growing up. I’ve seen it in my graduate students at Northwestern too. But why? Where did we fail them?
Is this need to hold their hands and to be told what to do and what not to do simply fallout from too much technology or is it decades of lousy, indulgent parenting skills coming back to roost?
ACDA Staff and Facility Safe
May 21, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
(Monday, May 20, 2013, 4:00 p.m. CDT) Despite massive devastation in various areas of the Oklahoma City metro area over the past 24 hours from a series of tornadoes, the American Choral Directors Association reports that the members of the staff and their families are safe. The ACDA national office in downtown Oklahoma City did not experience any damage.
Thank you to the many members of the choral community who continue to text, e-mail, and call out of concern.
ACDA Seeking New R&S Leaders
May 20, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
 One of the greatest benefits of ACDA membership is the opportunity to hold appointive or elective leadership positions in the Association. There are currently three openings within ACDA's national Repertoire & Standards structure:
Children's & Community Youth
Ethnic & Multicultural
Male Choir
Those interested in applying for these positions should submit a brief Statement of Intent outlining a vision for the future of the respective R&S area a résumé. Only electronic applications are being accepted. Send materials to Amy Blosser, National R&S Chair at amy.blosser@bexleyschools.org. Applications are due by JUNE 1, 2013. Intonation VIII - A Few Other Vocal Issues
May 18, 2013 by Richard Sparks
A few other vocal issues to consider in terms of intonation:
- Extremes of range - moving to the top of any singer's range will be a challenge--vocally and therefore for intonation as well. This is an area that needs the kind of long-term vocal work that I've already described: vocalizes that help singers learn how to sing high notes well and modification of vowels, especially for sopranos as they move to the top of the staff and above (closed vowels will need to be more open) - these aren't short-term fixes (although if you've already been working on these techniques, sometimes a reminder is all that's needed)
- Music written in the passaggio or break -- this is too complex a topic for a brief blog, but we're speaking of the transitions from one register to another -- suffice it to say that you need to learn how to help your singers deal with this issue and it's always an area to consider when diagnosing intonation problems -- all singers will find it challenging to sing with
A few other vocal issues to consider in terms of intonation:
- Extremes of range - moving to the top of any singer's range will be a challenge--vocally and therefore for intonation as well. This is an area that needs the kind of long-term vocal work that I've already described: vocalizes that help singers learn how to sing high notes well and modification of vowels, especially for sopranos as they move to the top of the staff and above (closed vowels will need to be more open) - these aren't short-term fixes (although if you've already been working on these techniques, sometimes a reminder is all that's needed)
- Music written in the passaggio or break -- this is too complex a topic for a brief blog, but we're speaking of the transitions from one register to another -- suffice it to say that you need to learn how to help your singers deal with this issue and it's always an area to consider when diagnosing intonation problems -- all singers will find it challenging to sing with consistent resonance in this area (well-trained singers might not) and therefore to sing in tune as well
- Sustained or repeated notes - this is both a vocal and mental/ear issue: when a singer has to sustain a long note, it's easy to 1) fail to keep a constant flow of air/let energy flag 2) fail to keep a pure vowel sound or 3) the singer fails to listen or pay attention to pitch -- any of these mean that sustained or repeated notes can easily go flat unless . . . attention is paid to air flow/energy, mentally "repeating" the target vowel, and the singer listens for sustaining the same pitch and not allowing it to change
- "Placement" of vowels - Mike mentioned in his post on barbershop the importance of vocal resonance and placement, much as I did when discussing vowels and teaching concepts of "bright" and "dark" (which one could also consider "forward" and "back," although that's a simplfication) - in general it's easier to keep a forward, brighter vowel in tune, compared with one that is placed further back or is darker (if these terms don't mean much to you, then we may need more discussion) -- really well-trained singers will be able to sing a much richer, "darker" tone without it affecting pitch
These are specific issues, but a reminder that intonation problems have many (and sometimes, multiple) causes. Don't forget to consider all the vocal issues in both the training of your choir or in your diagnosis of why the choir's singing out of tune in a specific place in the music.
ChoralTech: The Creative Commons, and a Different Way to Share
May 17, 2013 by Jeff Tillinghast
 (wikipedia.org)
As conductors, both we and our ensembles generate a tremendous amount of information - some of it in aural or visual performance, some of it in our research and program notes, and some in our presentations, journal notes and articles for professional organizations. In the past, we had only two options when it came to our own intellectual property: copyright it, in which case nobody could legally share it, or throw it to the winds without restriction, in which case it could be freely distributed, modified or copied. While these copyright options served an era in which copying, editing and redistributing were time- and resource-intensive work, computers and the Internet have made it much easier for our work to spread the world and influence others in a variety of ways. The Creative Commons organization has developed and supports a method of intellectual property that's much more nuanced and appropriate to the digital sharing age. If you or your ensemble generate
(wikipedia.org)
As conductors, both we and our ensembles generate a tremendous amount of information - some of it in aural or visual performance, some of it in our research and program notes, and some in our presentations, journal notes and articles for professional organizations. In the past, we had only two options when it came to our own intellectual property: copyright it, in which case nobody could legally share it, or throw it to the winds without restriction, in which case it could be freely distributed, modified or copied. While these copyright options served an era in which copying, editing and redistributing were time- and resource-intensive work, computers and the Internet have made it much easier for our work to spread the world and influence others in a variety of ways. The Creative Commons organization has developed and supports a method of intellectual property that's much more nuanced and appropriate to the digital sharing age. If you or your ensemble generate intellectual property, the Creative Commons system may give you more options to share and control your hard work.
What is Intellectual Property? What can I claim?
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and none of this should constitute legal advice.
Simply put, intellectual property ("IP") covers information, art or products of your creativity and hard work. In the digital age, intellectual property is data. Your program notes are a result of your intellectual work, so they are your intellectual property. Likewise, your ensemble's performance of a piece is that group's IP - a result of that combination of performers and your vision for the particular performance. You can record and distribute that performance and claim it as "yours"-- just as I could perform the same piece 2 months later and claim that performance as "mine."
That's broad strokes-- there are some essential details to consider. First, you can't claim something which is already out in the public sphere. I can perform the Verdi Requiem, record it, and distribute it as my performance. I can't claim the Verdi Requiem as mine, though, since it's already out in the sphere and obviously isn't my work. Second, copyright rolls uphill and starts with the original creator of the work. In other words, I own the copyright to any of my compositions. If a choir purchases one piece from me (I wouldn't recommend it-- they're terrible), then I give them the right to perform it. That's why octavos often have something written on them like "for non-commercial performance only." My copyright as creator of the piece supercedes yours as the "purchaser."
So what does the creator of an IP have in their copyright? The big ones that apply to us most often are distribution, commercial performance and derivative works. Distribution means that when I buy 80 copies of a piece, I can neither copy those to distribute to 100 singers, nor can I resell them. The issue of "selling used works" is actually much murkier than most people realize, but it's way past the scope of this article. Commercial performance means that I can't perform it for profit without royalties going back to the original copyright holder. Derivative works means that I can't create a work that is "obviously derivative" (i.e. directly derived from) somebody else's IP. There's one more wrinkle to consider: copyright is automatically awarded to the first person who can claim ownership/creation of an idea, whether or not they display the copyright logo or fill out the legal paperwork. In other words, this article is already copyrighted by virtue of my name being on it and there being a date at the top.
This means that technically speaking (again-- not a lawyer):
- You can't share a video of another choir's performance. You like the video that a friend sent you? Tough-- sit on it.
- You want to share a video of your choir's performance of a copyrighted work? Copyright says no.
- You give a new text translation of a traditional work to an interest session group and tell them "Please, use this in your programs! I waive my copyright protections!"? They can now modify it wholly at will and change your work to meet and fit their own.
The Creative Commons
The idea of the Creative Commons is two-fold: first, to identify restrictions to IP that are more in line with the digital sharing age, and second, to allow people more specific choices than "on-or-off" for their own IP.
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Attribution
This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation.
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Attribution - Share Alike
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you an license their new creations under the identical terms.
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Attribution - No Derivative Works
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.
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Attribution - Non Commercial
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don't have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
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Attribution - Non Commercial - Share Alike
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-comercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
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Attribution - Non Commercial - No Derivative Works
This license is the most restrictive of the our six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.
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You can see how these licenses give a wide range of settings for your IP. Artists, scientists and educators are turning to the Creative Commons to be able to share each other's works more fluidly. As creator of a piece of intellectual property (again, even if it's just a recording of a performance of a work that's not currently under copyright), you can choose any of these levels to reflect how you'd like the piece to be shared.
The Creative Commons website has links to many people who are using the Creative Commons "in the wild" as a form of protection, including the White House. Would you consider using any of these for your works? Have you come across people using the Creative Commons licenses? Would this offer you the ability to share things in a way that traditional copyright doesn't? Comment below!
Intonation VII - Rhythm & Ensemble
May 16, 2013 by Richard Sparks
While I haven't exhausted the topic of voice and vowel, another area that intersects with intonation is that of rhythm/ensemble. As I mentioned early on, poor (or excellent) intonation has many potential causes. That's why we have to diagnose correctly what the underlying problem is and help the singers solve it, rather than just saying, "You're out of tune!"
Because of the way that unified vowels affects intonation (see this earlier post), chords won't tune as well if the rhythm of the choir isn't crisp and together--because the vowels happen at different times and don't "line up" in such a way that all the overtones/partials line up as well.
There are two parts to this: understanding diction and that we don't really deal (technically) with words, but the sounds that make up words. "My country 'tis of thee" has five words, six syllables, but seven vowel sounds. The diphthong in the word, "my" means there are two vowels--if those vowels aren't together, the intonation
While I haven't exhausted the topic of voice and vowel, another area that intersects with intonation is that of rhythm/ensemble. As I mentioned early on, poor (or excellent) intonation has many potential causes. That's why we have to diagnose correctly what the underlying problem is and help the singers solve it, rather than just saying, "You're out of tune!"
Because of the way that unified vowels affects intonation (see this earlier post), chords won't tune as well if the rhythm of the choir isn't crisp and together--because the vowels happen at different times and don't "line up" in such a way that all the overtones/partials line up as well.
There are two parts to this: understanding diction and that we don't really deal (technically) with words, but the sounds that make up words. "My country 'tis of thee" has five words, six syllables, but seven vowel sounds. The diphthong in the word, "my" means there are two vowels--if those vowels aren't together, the intonation won't line up either. This is the genesis of Fred Waring's "Tone Syllables" (if you've seen the old Shawnee Press editions, you know what I mean!). Robert Shaw was brought to New York by Waring to help prepare his new radio choir and Shaw certainly learned those lessons. To get the best diction, the best unification of vowel (and best unification of pitch), the choir has to be able to sing all the sounds precisely together. I remember watching/hearing the King's Singers in concert quite a few years ago from the first row, dead in front of them. The unanimity with which they closed through every single dipthong was amazing--you could literally see their mouths closing through the "oo" as the vanishing vowel of the diphthong "oh" exactly at the same time.
The second part of this fits with Shaw's development of the technique of count-singing. This is a way to get the ensemble (before they pronounce words) to find a precise rhythmic ensemble and sense of intonation (since they're all singing the same vowel: one-and-two-and-tee-and) at the same time. Once the choir moves from count-singing to text, each sound (not each word) has to fit precisely in place. Shaw said, "There is no such thing as good intonation between voice lines that do not arrive or quit their appointments upon mathematically precise, but effortless schedule."
Again, the level of your choir will determine how far you take this and how you choose to teach it, but without a good sense of rhythmic ensemble and being able to sing all the vowel sounds in a given phrase together, your choir will not sing as well in tune as they could. Building a technique/discipline (whether or not you use count-singing) of rhythmic ensemble and learning how to correctly sing all the different sounds in the words we pronounce will make a huge difference in not only diction and blend, but of intonation as well.
And when intonation in your choir seems to be fuzzy, ask yourself whether the rhythm and ensemble of your choir is fuzzy, too. Again, Robert Shaw (although probably paraphrased, since I'm doing this from memory--Howard Swan's chapter in Decker/Herford's Choral Conducting: A Symposium): good intonation and good rhythm make a pretty smooth couple.
Well said!
GUEST BLOG: "No More Straw Hats" by Joe Ceruti
May 14, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
It’s time to throw away the striped vests and straw hats! Barbershop isn’t just for old folks anymore!
If you haven’t been actively involved with the barbershop art-form, you might not be aware of the renaissance that has been taking place over the last 10 years. Lately, even the simplest forms of barbershop harmony are being used in classrooms around the world to teach a number of lessons, reaping a number of exciting benefits, including improved ear training, part independence, sight reading, visual awareness, recruitment of male singers, and so much more.
Barbershop harmony in the quartet and choral setting has been blazing a new path in high schools, colleges and universities, concert venues around the world, and has even taken its own place on the internet. Don’t believe me? Take some time to look into some of the hottest barbershop groups around today, including the Vocal Majority
It’s time to throw away the striped vests and straw hats! Barbershop isn’t just for old folks anymore!
If you haven’t been actively involved with the barbershop art-form, you might not be aware of the renaissance that has been taking place over the last 10 years. Lately, even the simplest forms of barbershop harmony are being used in classrooms around the world to teach a number of lessons, reaping a number of exciting benefits, including improved ear training, part independence, sight reading, visual awareness, recruitment of male singers, and so much more.
Barbershop harmony in the quartet and choral setting has been blazing a new path in high schools, colleges and universities, concert venues around the world, and has even taken its own place on the internet. Don’t believe me? Take some time to look into some of the hottest barbershop groups around today, including the Vocal Majority, the Westminster Chorus, the Ambassadors of Harmony, OC Times, Vocal Spectrum, and Musical Island Boys, to name just a few. You’ll probably wonder…“Is this BARBERSHOP?!” Barbershop harmony has been working hard to improve its craft, and today you’ll find some of the very best in ensemble singing, advanced vocal techniques, and locking and ringing of chords with the tightest tuning around.
Above all no matter your age, musical/singing experience, or geographic location, barbershop harmony is the pinnacle of lifelong healthy singing and learning long after the college experience. So, if you haven’t given barbershop a chance recently, there’s a wealth of opportunities just a few clicks away. Check it out at barbershop.org and help to “keep the whole world singing!”
38 Days on the Road
May 13, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
 Concert tours are a relatively common event in the life of a college choir. The litany is familiar to many of us – long rides in a motor coach, pot-luck suppers in a church basement, warm receptions from concert audiences full of smiling alumni, and a welcome to a host home to end the day. Tours, usually the highlight of the choir’s season, last a week or two.
Imagine, if you can, a 38-day concert tour.
“They will see more of the country in these five weeks than they are likely to see for the rest of their lives,” said ONU’s choral director, Ben Ayling. “We know this remarkable trip will elevate our program to new heights. I’m looking forward to playing ‘Santa Claus’ every day as we share great music all
Concert tours are a relatively common event in the life of a college choir. The litany is familiar to many of us – long rides in a motor coach, pot-luck suppers in a church basement, warm receptions from concert audiences full of smiling alumni, and a welcome to a host home to end the day. Tours, usually the highlight of the choir’s season, last a week or two.
Imagine, if you can, a 38-day concert tour.
“They will see more of the country in these five weeks than they are likely to see for the rest of their lives,” said ONU’s choral director, Ben Ayling. “We know this remarkable trip will elevate our program to new heights. I’m looking forward to playing ‘Santa Claus’ every day as we share great music all over the country.”
Though luxuries are few aboard a motor coach trundling down the interstate, there is one notable modification being made to the ONU choir’s rolling home-away-from-home: four seats are being removed and a keyboard installed so that students can practice on the road.
CJ Replay: Sharing Objectives
May 23, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
Choral directors can foster even stronger partnerships with their choir members if they occasionally ask them what their individual objectives are. For example, a choral director might say, "Yesterday we sang measures 40 to 72 unaccompanied and in tune. With that in mind, what would be our next step to sing these measures artistically? Let's select one specific objective and determine how we will know we accomplished that objective in our rehearsal today." By taking the time to do this, students begin to think critically about their learning and it promotes their active engagement in the rehearsal. It also fosters a sense of ownership of the process among the choir members. This can be a powerful and motivating force for many middle school students, who are at an age where they are seeking greater autonomy and more decision-making power.
These examples
Choral directors can foster even stronger partnerships with their choir members if they occasionally ask them what their individual objectives are. For example, a choral director might say, "Yesterday we sang measures 40 to 72 unaccompanied and in tune. With that in mind, what would be our next step to sing these measures artistically? Let's select one specific objective and determine how we will know we accomplished that objective in our rehearsal today." By taking the time to do this, students begin to think critically about their learning and it promotes their active engagement in the rehearsal. It also fosters a sense of ownership of the process among the choir members. This can be a powerful and motivating force for many middle school students, who are at an age where they are seeking greater autonomy and more decision-making power.
These examples undoubtedly resonate with the experiences of many middle school choral directors, and they are validated by Saphier and Gower's research. When students know specifically what they are supposed to do, they are more likely to work harder toward the objective. Moreover, when students are actively involved in a rehearsal, they are more likely to remember what they learned when they come back to rehearsal the next time.
Middle school students are also more likely to achieve when they know the time frame in which they are expected to accomplish objectives. Thus, a choral director could include the time he or she intends to spend on each piece planned for the rehearsal with the daily agenda. When students know they have limited to accomplish an objective, their sense of urgency and engagement will be more focused, heightening their involvement.
Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic (Part 2)
May 22, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
 (An excerpt from the interest session, “Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic," by Reginald Unterseher. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
My perspective on the evolving way that conductors find and purchase music is formed by my experience as a composer and as an R&S Chair. I am part of both the traditional publishing model, by way of my pieces with Oxford and Walton, and the evolving model of publishing directly from my web site. As NWACDA Men’s Choirs R&S, I have been through the process of selecting and presenting pieces for reading sessions for state, divisional, and national ACDA conferences. My goal is for quality music to get the attention of conductors, regardless of publishing model.
These things led me to create an “ePublishing Reading Session” at the 2012 NWACDA conference in Seattle. This had several challenges—without any budget available for it, we had no access to printing, room rental, or
(An excerpt from the interest session, “Paradigm Shift: The New Conductor/Composer Dynamic," by Reginald Unterseher. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
My perspective on the evolving way that conductors find and purchase music is formed by my experience as a composer and as an R&S Chair. I am part of both the traditional publishing model, by way of my pieces with Oxford and Walton, and the evolving model of publishing directly from my web site. As NWACDA Men’s Choirs R&S, I have been through the process of selecting and presenting pieces for reading sessions for state, divisional, and national ACDA conferences. My goal is for quality music to get the attention of conductors, regardless of publishing model.
These things led me to create an “ePublishing Reading Session” at the 2012 NWACDA conference in Seattle. This had several challenges—without any budget available for it, we had no access to printing, room rental, or internet at the conference hotel. The session was quite successful, and we presented pieces from excellent, known composers as well as less known ones that had been excluded from the reading session process because they were not published in the traditional model. It was paperless, with options of reading from tablet or laptop or projected scores. We read some in the traditional way, piano and participants’ singing, and presented recordings and YouTube video for others. We believed that we were the very first such session at an ACDA conference, but later learned there was a similar session presented the very same day at the Eastern ACDA conference. This proves to me that it is an idea whose time has come.
(The ACDA National Conference is just one of the many benefits of membership in the American Choral Directors Association. Join ACDA today.)
CJ Replay: Argento on Composing
May 21, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
Douma: Do you find it helpful when you're beginning a composition to have a particular artist or ensemble in mind?
Argento: Oh yes. Not so much helpful as it is ~ way of focusing. Because, first of all, once I know I have a particular performer or organization in mind, it automatically starts to narrow down the possible subjects or kind of music. Then when we get down to an individual such as like Hakan Hagegard or [Frederica] von Stade, I know them so well, I know their persona, I know what they like to sing and what they don't like to sing. I've had the argument with students who know I like doing that, and they say, "But if you write something for Frederica von Stade that you think is exactly for her voice, isn't that bad for the other singers who are trying to sing it?" I say no, and the best example is that Britten wrote Peter Grimes fo
Douma: Do you find it helpful when you're beginning a composition to have a particular artist or ensemble in mind?
Argento: Oh yes. Not so much helpful as it is ~ way of focusing. Because, first of all, once I know I have a particular performer or organization in mind, it automatically starts to narrow down the possible subjects or kind of music. Then when we get down to an individual such as like Hakan Hagegard or [Frederica] von Stade, I know them so well, I know their persona, I know what they like to sing and what they don't like to sing. I've had the argument with students who know I like doing that, and they say, "But if you write something for Frederica von Stade that you think is exactly for her voice, isn't that bad for the other singers who are trying to sing it?" I say no, and the best example is that Britten wrote Peter Grimes for Peter Pears, and when you hear Peter Pears sing it, obviously you know it is written for him. But now that both Pears and Britten are dead, when Jon Vickers does it, it's extraordinary! And, I think the explanation is that when Britten was writing it, he was building a well-made house, in this case for a singer named Peter Pears, but since it's such a well-made house, and I'm speaking in terms of vocal composition, it's well made for Jon Vickers or any other singer, and they can live in it comfortably. Whereas, if somebody was commissioned to write a piece for some unknown, unspecified singer, they're apt to have done things that will make it look like an eccentric house from a singer's point of view. It would not be a comfortable one, whereas I think the idea of focusing on a singer makes it habitable for anybody else.
Is It Really THEIR Voices? Teaching the Urban Youth Choir
May 20, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
 (An excerpt from the interest session, "Is It Really THEIR Voices? Teaching the Urban Youth Choir," by Nicole Becker & Jeanne Goffi-Fynn. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
A person's voice is their means of expression in their everyday lives. They have lived with their voices, they are comfortable with them, it is a great source of their identity. We realized that asking them to change this, to change their voices was challenging for many students. Many students feel their voices need to be acknowledged before they are ready and able to change them. Our work here helps us to work with them and to involve them in the exciting process of developing their own voices. Everyone can improve if they are ready to listen. But we, too, need to listen to them, to their voices, to what they say. We want to acknowledge who they are.
We regularly ask our students how they feel about chorus and how they feel about their voices in questionnaires
(An excerpt from the interest session, "Is It Really THEIR Voices? Teaching the Urban Youth Choir," by Nicole Becker & Jeanne Goffi-Fynn. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
A person's voice is their means of expression in their everyday lives. They have lived with their voices, they are comfortable with them, it is a great source of their identity. We realized that asking them to change this, to change their voices was challenging for many students. Many students feel their voices need to be acknowledged before they are ready and able to change them. Our work here helps us to work with them and to involve them in the exciting process of developing their own voices. Everyone can improve if they are ready to listen. But we, too, need to listen to them, to their voices, to what they say. We want to acknowledge who they are.
We regularly ask our students how they feel about chorus and how they feel about their voices in questionnaires or interviews. Four weeks into the semester last spring, a new member wrote,
“I just think that instead of encouraging all of us to sing in a high voice we should sing out. The voice may be pretty but it’s not choir and it’s not strong. It’s singing in your chest, throat, and head instead of your vertebrae and stomach and singing strong with meaning. Personally, singing here I feel trapped and oppressed in one voice.”
The strong feelings this girl expressed reminded us that the ways that students sing, and the ways that they respond to our advice about singing is strongly shaped by how they want to sing and their conception of what good singing is. We believe that in order to work successfully with these students, we need to understand what they want to do, and to let them do it.
We invite kids to suggest songs, and we spend some time in each rehearsal singing their songs around the piano, with kids frequently volunteering to take solos. This gives students the chance to share their abilities with us and with their peers, which is an important step in their process of feeling appreciated and valued, and as a result, to engaging fully in our work. Vocally, we often find that when kids sing their own music, many pieces of vocal technique are in place; their posture and breathing tend to be quite good, and they support well. Kids singing their own songs frequently identify the problems they would like to address: “I can’t sing that high part,” or “That hurts my throat.” These observations and goals can be the launching point for their work with our voice specialist.
(The ACDA National Conference is just one of the many benefits of membership in the American Choral Directors Association. Join ACDA today.)
New "International Journal of Research in Choral Singing" Now Available
May 16, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
 The Spring 2013 issue of the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing is now available!
The current edition includes such articles as "The English Choral Tradition and the Secular Trend in Boys' Pubertal Timing" (Ashley), "Changes in Tone Quality as a Function of Focus of Attention in Untrained Singers) (Atkins and Duke), "The Effects of Watching Three Types of Conductor Gestures and Performing Varied Gestures Along with the Conductor on Measures of Singers' Intonation and Tone Quality: A Pilot Study" (Brunkan), and much more of interest to the choral musician.
Integrating Common-Core Learning Standards into the Choral Curriculum
May 16, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
 (An excerpt from the interest session, “Integrating Common-Core Learning Standards into the Choral Curriculum," by Victoria J. Furby. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
Changing lesson planning ideas to address the Common Core Learning Standards is presenting new challenges to integrate literacy into the choral music classroom. Many choral music teachers are struggling with the idea of teaching more than they already do. For secondary choral musicians, the Common Core Learning Standards can be approached in a variety of ways; the best ideas will be those that enhance and support the music instruction leading to the best possible cumulative performances that choral musicians desire.
The Common Core Learning Standards have been adopted by forty-five states across America, and are designed to provide a set of benchmarks that students should achieve at each grade level in both literacy and mathematics. In the elementary
(An excerpt from the interest session, “Integrating Common-Core Learning Standards into the Choral Curriculum," by Victoria J. Furby. Presented during the 2013 ACDA National Conference.)
Changing lesson planning ideas to address the Common Core Learning Standards is presenting new challenges to integrate literacy into the choral music classroom. Many choral music teachers are struggling with the idea of teaching more than they already do. For secondary choral musicians, the Common Core Learning Standards can be approached in a variety of ways; the best ideas will be those that enhance and support the music instruction leading to the best possible cumulative performances that choral musicians desire.
The Common Core Learning Standards have been adopted by forty-five states across America, and are designed to provide a set of benchmarks that students should achieve at each grade level in both literacy and mathematics. In the elementary grades, all teachers are expected to support the acquisition of math and literacy skills across the curriculum. At the secondary level, where most choral musicians work, teachers should be prepared to utilize the set of standards developed for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects. “Just as students must learn to read, write, speak, listen, and use language effectively in a variety of content areas, so too must the Standards specify the literacy skills and understandings required for college and career readiness in multiple disciplines” (www.corestandards.org). These standards are designed so that students are not just “musically literate” and able to read musical symbol systems, but also “literate about music”; in other words, that students can use the appropriate vocabulary and language in order to write and speak about music.
Choral musicians have a unique opportunity to teach some traditional language instruction through the text of their repertoire. However, it is important that choir directors also strive to teach literacy about music. Below are several ideas for literacy assignments that would also help prepare students to become literate about music, while enhancing musical knowledge and performance quality.
{} Describe the vocal quality you hear in this recording using appropriate musical terminology.
{} Evaluate this recording of our performance using appropriate musical terminology?
{} Define these musical terms.
{} Research and write a one paragraph biography of the composer of one of our concert pieces.
(Teachers: use this as program notes for your concerts!)
(The ACDA National Conference is just one of the many benefits of membership in the American Choral Directors Association. Join ACDA today.)
Student Composition Contest
May 15, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
The American Chor  al Directors Association is currently accepting applications for the 2014 Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Music Composition Contest.
The award includes a cash prize of $1,000 and the prospect of having the work premiered during a divisional or national conference of the American Choral Directors Association.
The application and guidelines for the Student Composition Competition Application are available online. The deadline for application is October 1, 2013 Conference Recordings Available
March 21, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
Want to have a little slice of the performances from the 2013 ACDA National Conference?
You can order CD and DVD recording of the concerts from SoundWaves. There are three easy ways to get Conference recordings. You can use the the CD, DVD and MP3 Order Form which can then be be mailed, faxed or emailed to Soundwaves. Orders may be placed by phone by calling 419-433-4918. For those seeking recordings of the honor choirs, they may be ordered online.
Need a Lift Between Venues? ART CART Can Help!
March 8, 2013 by Scott Dorsey
While the venues in the Dallas Arts District are within close proximity (some as close as a baseball toss), there may be times when a lift would be welcome. When your feet have had enough, take advantage of Art Cart. The free Art Cart is available to shuttle you to and from events and venues. It's a perfect way to enjoy lunch or dinner at One Arts Plaza, without missing the next concert or interest session.
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receiving a hand-out from one of the interest sessions presented during the recent ACDA National Conference, you can now access those documents online through Google Docs at 
