Pat Ryan
Choral
President
Montana Choral Directors Association
Rehearsal Ideas
Reprinted From Montana Cadenza
singers aware of when the crescendo, Occasionally ask a small group to sing for
A
s choral directors, most of us
spent a great deal of time in
decrescendo, or articulation happens. the choir. Then, have the choir sing,
college focusing on conducting
By emphasizing the subdivision of the with the small ensemble providing
technique, music history, music theory,
beat, legato is assured. As one conduc- feed back for the group. Sometimes we
vocal pedagogy, and music literature. As
tor told me many years ago, “Music can assist memorization of a piece
professional conductors and teachers we
happens on the back half of the beat.” simply by having every singer in the
find our time stretched by a litany of minu-
choir sing for the group in a small
tiae: concert programs, budget concerns,
A similar technique is to pulse the words ensemble. As teachers, we also have a
festivals and touring, auditions, recruit-
on staccato subdivisions of the beat. As better tool for assessment and place-
ment, retention, grading, scheduling… the
a bonus, most ensembles seem to find ment.
list could continue for most of this article!
this technique incredibly amusing.
But, the most important aspect of our con-
Your choir will quickly stop rushing Mix up your seating arrangements. It is
ducting careers is the time spent in front of
shorter notes by practicing in this amazing how much we can accomplish
our ensembles, rehearsing. Consider the
manner. Edith Coples words are true: by moving our singers within their sec-
amount of time we spend in rehearsal com-
“To sing great legato, think staccato.” tions. Place that timid singer next to a
pared to in concert: a typical one
more confident one. Surround the
hour-per-day school group might spend
Sometimes all our singers need is a new singer with a large vibrato on either
forty hours of rehearsal for fifteen minutes
acoustical environment. Have them side with voices that naturally are
of concert singing.
sing in the gym, a hallway, even a bath- straighter in tone. Blend can be largely
I occasionally fall into a predictable
room! The occasional trip to a school achieved by placing opposites next to
pattern of rehearsal. This sometimes leads
office to sing for the principal or each other.
my choirs into the “rehearsal doldrums,”
administrative assistants can have a
usually at the point when we need our most
positive effect on your administration, Movement will help solve a variety of
energetic rehearsals to turn notes into
as well as getting the students energy vocal problems. Have your singers
music. How can we refresh our rehearsals to
level up for a perfor mance-type situa- march to the beat, sway, make circles
better engage singers? For me, the best way
tion. with their arms, conduct themselves.
is to watch other conductors rehearse, and
Be creative. For a piece in three, we
to find new rehearsal techniques, or perhaps
Choral singers love to sing in a variety of might sway on beat one and clap two
remember many of the skills I filed away
arrangements. Make a circle around the and three. Or, sway on the macrobeats
and forgot.
room, or have rows switch with each and lightly tap subdivisions on your
Here are some ideas for refreshing your
other. The possibilities are limitless, as chest or leg. If a communal tempo is
rehearsals. Very few of these are my own;
we experiment with having groups of lacking, have singers tap the subdivi-
most are borrowed from my teachers and
students sing at each other, or have our sion on their neighbor’s shoulder.
colleagues.
choirs sing in concentric circles.
Count-singing, made famous by Robert
Have your group sing with their eyes
Shaw, is perhaps our most useful and
To engage the brain and improve intona - closed and the lights off. To emphasize
widely applicable tool. It not only cre-
tion, put one half of your choir on each the importance of vowels carrying tone,
ates a great ensemble, but a rock solid
side of the room and then have them and consonants creating meaning and
awareness of tempo that creates solid
sing a piece, with each side singing rhythm, have your choir sing only on
blend and diction. Singing in this
alter nating measures. They can quickly the vowel. Their vowels (and conse-
manner, with subdivision, makes our
move to alternating by word. quent blend and intonation) will
improve with this awareness, and when
TEMPO 70 MAY 2009
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