Music Is Not for Insects

Yes- you read the title of that post correctly- Brian Eno’s thoughts on singing. Not some well known choral maestro, but the eclectic musician/composer/producer known for his work with Roxy Music, Talking Heads and U2.

You must check out his essay here, and can hear his insights on “The Key to a Long Life” at NPR’s this i believe website.

Here is a sample of from the essay:

When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume yourself into a group consciousness because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That’s one of the great feelings—to stop being me for a little while, and to become us. That way lies empathy, the great social virtue.

If you are a church musician, at some point in your career, you will conduct Handel’s Messiah in part or whole. Unfortunately, this well-known masterpiece is often performed poorly by well-intentioned choirs.

Leonard Van Camp’s “A Practical Guide for Performing, Teaching and Singing Messiah” will help you approach this choral mastepiece in detail.

Section One is devoted to dispelling common Messiah myths such as “The proper title of this oratorio is The Messiah” and “Messiah was intended for a large chorus of amateur men and women to perform.”

Section Two answers practical questions regarding the various published editions of Messiah, performance practice considerations and an invaluable list of suggested church services when using portions of Messiah.

Section Three provides analysis of each piece for singers and conductors and gives great tips on dealing with all the melissmas in the most famous choruses.

Finally, in the appendix you will find the greatest rehearsal schedule for Messiah with orchestra down to the minute: when to rehearse various sections with orchestra, chorus and soloists so you can maximize your time with all involved in this timeless oratorio.

In conjuction with on-line music collaboration service Indaba music, you can win a chance to record with cellist Yo-Yo Ma:

In celebration of his album’s upcoming release, Yo-Yo would like to share the joy of collaboration with Indaba’s international community. To get you started, he has recorded the melody of the traditional song, “Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace)”. Collaborate virtually with Yo-Yo by adding your own counter-melody or record an entirely new set of variations.

The contest rules are simple:

Download the audio file of Yo-Yo Ma performing Dona Nobis Pacem. Record your counterpoint or set of variations. You can use the Indaba Session Console on-line or your own recording software. Submit your final mix from the Indaba Session Console (or upload it if you used your own software) and submit it to the contest. Then vote for your favorite entry.

When I first heard about this contest from a fellow music educator, I thought for sure there would be several hundred entries on the Indaba music site. As of this posting, there are only 16 submissions!

And after listening to the submissions on-line, I thought, “My students can do this! They can record a set of variations using Garageband and enter this contest!”

So- you have until December 31, 2008 to submit an entry. Look for our submissions soon and give us a vote if you don’t plan on entering the contest…

Inspired by the Flickr group pool “What’s in your bag?”, I decided to take a shot of all the stuff in my backpack I take with me to work since I am transferring all my gear into a new bigger satchel. (Note: I have what you would call a “bag” addiction; messenger bags, backpacks, briefcases, I have several and can’t get enough of them. My wife claims I have a serious problem, but we have an understanding since I tend to bring up her shoe collection when I’m being admonished…)

I’ll highlight some of the things in my bag and why I have them, how I use them and then list what I wish I had in my bag. I’m hoping you’ll comment with some items in common or tell us what’s in your bag.

HIGHLIGHTED CONTENTS:

*13.3″ black MacBook. Not the latest one, but after having to give up a school MacBook at my previous job, I decided to bite the bullet and get my own. The list is endless on how I use this laptop and it’s many apps. You can get some ideas from my previous posts here.

*Flip Video Camera. I have this camera with me for instant digital video shooting. I also have a nifty mini tripod to go with the camera. From camera, to MacBook, to iMovie, to YouTube, the flip is so easy to use for digital video. I have reviewed this at length in the past.

*Sharpies. I currently have three and I am missing one…more thoughts here.

*Metro bus pass provided by my employer. Ask if your school has an employee discount for your local bus or metro system. I did not know this was an option with my school until someone told me about it…

*Cables, cables, cables. Firewire, ethernet, ipod, 1/8″ to RCA, etc., etc. You never know what kind of hook-ups you’ll need.

*USB drives- three of them in various sizes.

*250 GB external drive. More storage and back-up.

*Custom Westone Hearing Protectors. Custom ear plugs; they reduce the sound by about 15db and save my eardrums from constant bombardment. You need these if you teach in a room that is really live or have students blaring instruments at you day after day. I’ll bet your school health plan will pay for them. At first, they will bug you, but then at the end of the day when you are not suffering with a headache, you’ll get used to them and be grateful for some piece of mind and PROTECTION FOR YOUR HEARING.

*Rhodia Staple Bound Graph Pad. I’m a big fan of technology, but nothing beats a good little note pad and pencil to jot down ideas.

*Targus TG-CRD25 Universal 32-in-1 Memory Card Reader. Ok, you may not have to ever read 32 different memory cards, but this adapter works great for SD cards, memory sticks, compact flash, XD- almost any kind of memory card you or your friends digital camera or other digital device uses. Plug it into a USB port, and you are ready to transfer.

*Fish shaped bottle opener (for a refreshing beverage…after work of course), two ipods, Sony earbuds, guitar pick, headphone splitter, Kensington laptop lock and extra cell phone battery.

THINGS NOT PICTURED BUT WORTH MENTIONING

*Scores. Music scores for band, choir and piano classes I teach.

*Daily Lesson Planner. The paper kind.

*Blank CD’s. A couple for playlists that need to be burned.

*Paper calendar. I still use one of these even though I’m a Google Calendar user…

THINGS I WISH I HAD

*Zoom H2 Digital Recorder. I used to have a digital recorder like this at my last school…I would like another one so I can record rehearsals on the fly.

* A digital camera. Crazy, I know, but my wife has the digital camera in her bag!

I completely missed it…I started my blog a year ago at the end of October.  Kind of a fun milestone. Many thanks to all my blogroll Music Ed. cronies who inspire me to keep blogging and Edublogs for their great service.

I tried an experiment with my middle school ensembles a couple of weeks ago. I ran three entire rehearsals (two bands and one choir) without talking.  All my directions were given with a conducting gesture or short bullet sentences on a white board.

The result? I  had some of the most productive rehearsals since the start of the year. One of my students came up to me afterwards and said, “That went well today. We should do that again…”

What started as a sore throat for me turned into a great opportunity for my ensembles. Some observations:

*I wouldn’t recommend this until your ensemble has a particular routine for the start of a rehearsal (warm-up, scales, solfege work, etc.). Once that is established, the rehearsal can begin as expected; then when they notice you are not giving verbal directions, the fun begins.

*This will force you to rely on your conducting to do what it’s supposed to do: communicate with a gesture that is clear and meaningful. You cannot just beat time; you will need to know your score and use your baton or hands to communicate what you want from the music. Extremely difficult, but worth the effort.

*Have fun with exaggerated facial expressions that communicate joy, surprise, confusion, disappointment, you name it. You will have a captive audience looking and responding to your non-verbal cues.

What other ways have you conducted a rehearsal to get your students to focus?  I look forward to your comments below.

This was printed on the back of a choir anthem we sang today at my church. I was taken by the timeless truth of these observations from The Sacred Harp, first published in 1844.

General Observations on Singing

Persons may be well acquainted with all the various characters in music; they may also be able to sing their part in true time, and yet their performance be far from pleasing; if it is devoid of necessary embellishments, their manner and bad expression may conspire to render it disagreeable. A few plain hints, and a few general and friendly observations, we hope, will tend to correct their errors in practising vocal music.

Care should be taken that all the parts (when singing together) begin upon the proper pitch. If the parts are not united by their corresponding degrees, the whole piece may be run into confusion and jargon before it ends.

It is by no means necessary, to constitute good singers, that they should sing very loud, and if the singers of any one are so loud that they cannot hear the other parts, because of their own noise, the parts are surely not rightly proportioned, and ought to be altered.

In applying the words, great care should be taken that they be properly pronounced, and not torn to pieces between the teeth, nor forced through the nose.

The superiority of vocal to instrumental music is that while one only pleases the ear, the other informs the understanding.

Too long singing at a time injures the lungs. A cold or cough, all kind of spiritous liquors, violent exercise, too much bile on the stomach, long fasting, the veins overcharged with impure blood, etc. etc., are destructive to the voice of one who is much in the habit of singing. An excessive use of ardent spirits will speedily ruin the best voice.

There should not be any noise indulged in while singing (except music), as it destroys the beauty of harmony, and renders the performance very difficult, and if it is designedly promoted, is nothing less than a proof of disrespect in the singers to the exercise, to themselves who occasion it, and to the Author of our existence.

How hard it is to make some believe soft singing is the most melodious; when, at the same time, loud singing is more like the hootings of the midnight bird than refined music.

All affectation should be banished, for it is disgusting in the performance of sacred music, and contrary to that solemnity which should accompany an exercise so near akin to that which will, through all eternity, engage the attention of those who walk in climes of bliss.

If singers, when performing a piece of music, could be as much captivated with the words and sounds as the author of the music is when composing it, the foregoing directions would be almost useless.

We should therefore endeavor to improve the talent given us, and try to sing with the spirit and with the understanding, making melody in our hearts to the Lord.

-From THE SACRED HARP, 1844