Running:
I ran the Rochester Half Marathon a couple weeks ago, and it was very
fun. It was a small event, only about 300 people, but well-run with
plenty of support. The weather was beautiful, and I ran with my friend,
who finished her first half. It's such a great achievement! Her
husband and kids met her at the finish line, and I was so happy to see
them absolutely beaming at her! It wasn't a PR or anything remotely
fast, but it is always a good confirmation to me to know that I can run
the distance. I'm looking forward to The Northshore Half on Saturday!
Choir:
So, it turn out that I do have some resources available to me. I took a choral conducting class while in grad school. The class was for complete beginners, and I didn't learn much, but I did get some helpful little books on choral conducting which I pulled out to remind myself about the things a good choral conductor does. I have been skipping over warm-ups because we don't have enough time to learn our songs. But warm-ups are vital to so many aspects of choral singing, and I have vowed to do them, even though it always ends up taking up at least 10 minutes.
I met with my choir yesterday and did a few warm-ups, during which I discovered that there are few choir members who are quite tone deaf. Not matching pitch at. all. It's hard for me to remember that people don't know how to do that. Probably like how people who speak French (Spiff & Mhana) don't understand how a person like me doesn't naturally internalize it when it is being spoken. I'm not quite sure what to do with that, other than to continue doing warm-ups and to continue teaching.
The whole thing is very tricky with our limited time, very diverse age differences, and varying levels of talent and musical ability. But I did decide that I need to get back to the drawing board as far as the Christmas program is concerned. I need easier songs. Like I have mentioned, easy/pretty/enjoyable arrangements are not easy to come by.
Speaking of arrangements, what are you favorite composers/arrangers who offer free online sheet music for ward choirs? And what do we all think of Sister DeFord?
3 comments:
I just thought of some techniques from Sharon Paul. When we have a new piece, we sing syllables, pa or la or something before we try to put words to it (of course, the words are usually latin or german), we also tap or clap out rhythms or speak the rhythms. Men in 3rd ward choir often have trouble with making words match notes, but the conductor doesn't think to separate the two. In sacred harp we sometimes all read and sing each part together. just some thoughts
I think the interwebs ate my earlier attempt at a comment:
We spend a quarter of the worship meeting singing, we should be willing to spend some of our budget on it too. So focus on finding something good, not something free.
Sally deford has some lovely things (I've sung her "Come, Thou Fount" at several funerals. However, in some of the stuff I did as a singer in past ward choirs, the voice leading was not good and the tessitura was too difficult, especially for a ward choir. I felt like she wrote a piano piece, and then added words. It would take a lot of time and talent to overcome those challenges, two things your singers may not have.
"Hymnplicity" arrangements have been recommended to me. Unfortunately our ward has a paucity of piano skills, and I haven't had a pianist able to play them. The idea is the singing is simple (choir members use the hymn book, chorister and pianist are the only ones you need to buy the book for.) You have a simple vocal arrangement and you let the piano do the heavy lifting of making it special and a little bit fancy.
Good luck, and I seriously think you've earned your place in heaven already.
One more thing I forgot- you can make some interesting switch-ups using the plain old green hymn book. Use the music of one hymn and the lyrics from another (using the meter index in the back.) The example they use is singing the words of "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" to the tune of "Jesus, Lover of My Soul."
You can also create a very simple hymn melody. Choose a few songs in the same key, or create a simple (yet elegant of course) chord modulation between them. I think of it as the "best of" arrangement.
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