IllinoisMusicEducationConference
January2016
Educating Young Singers: Pathways to Independence
JayBroeker,presenter
Sponsoredby:
TheSingingChild
Thechild’svoiceisafoundationalmediumfortheexperienceandexpressionofmusicalgesturesandideas.The
rhythms,phrasing,character,andmelodicriseandfallofthevoicewhenspeakingandsinginginstillintuitive
understandingandenableanalyticalcomprehensioninuniqueways.Developingthechild’ssingingvoice
requiresattentiontobothvocalskillsandtothemusicalunderstandingsinherentintherepertoireselected.For
thegeneralmusicteacher,developmentofvocalskillcanbedescribedinthefollowingstages:
• Vocalexplorationandindividualpitchmatching
• Speaking,chanting,andsingingtextmotivesandphrasesfrommodels
• Unisonsingingofmelodiesandrangedevelopment
• Expressivesingingincontext:dynamics,articulation,vocalquality
• Partsinging
• Choralensembletechniques
Thematerials&experiencesintoday’ssessionprovidemodelsforintegratingthedevelopmentofvocalskilland
musicalunderstanding,fosteringgrowthofbothexplicitandintuitivemusicalunderstanding.
Foradditionalinformationaboutdevelopingmusicalunderstandingthroughchoralrepertoireandrehearsals,see:
EducatingYoungSingers,AResourceforTeacher-Conductors,Goetze/Broeker/Boshkoff,Mjpublishing,2000.
E Aloha E
by Stacy Mailelauli'i Naki, 1998
LessonFocus
• Asongofwelcome;echosinging;tri-tonicchant
EAlohae=Greetings(toyou)
Leopilie=Thevoicesthatunite
Mohalae=Bloom
Ho’olohee=Listen Napuae=theflowers(theyouth)
Lokahie=Unitetogether
EAlohamai=Greetingshere Leopilimai=Thevoicesthatunitehere
Mohalamai=Bloomhere
Ho’olohemai=Listenhere
EMaliumai=Listen(tous)here
Lokahie=Unitetogetherhere
Forthepurposeofthesenotes:
T.=teacher;S.orSs.=studentorstudents;ID=identify;UPP=unpitchedpercussion;BI=barredinstruments
Unlessotherwisecited,allarrangementsofpre-existingmaterialsarebyJayBroekerandare©2016.PermissionisgrantedtoIMEAsession
participantsforuseofthesematerialsintheirclassroomteachingsituation.Anyotheruseorduplicationofthesematerialsisprohibited.
Questionsabouttoday’sworkshop?
ContactJayat:[email protected]
IMEAConference–EducatingYoungSingers,p.2,JBroeker–Jan2016
In & Out
trad. rhyme
LessonFocus
• performsteadybeatmotionwhilespeakingchoosingchant
• create&performchanttunetofittext;performcontrastingchantsincanon
Procedure
Tspeakstextchantwhiletappingfistsaroundcircle,Sswhoare“out”joinTwithtap;Ssspeaktextasfamiliar.
Ssspeaktext,exploringBPtoarticulatetextrhythm;performin2-beatcanon:
§ withcontrastingsingletimbresforeachpart(one=clap,other=snap)
§ withsametimbrepatternforeachpart(patclapsnap)
Tpresentscontourarrowsandpitchsetforchantpatterns;Ssechosing3-notemotivespairedwithgestures
andcontouricons;chantrhymeusingsinglepattern
T,thenindividualS,modelsfirstlineoftextwithimprovisedpitchmotive,Ssjoinsingingrestoftextusingsame
pitch,rhythm,vocalquality.
Ssexplorecombining2patternssimultaneouslystartingfromsamepitch:ex:s-l-s&s-m-r;m-r-m&m-s-l.
Ssexplorecontrastingpatternsincanonstartingfromsamepitch(seebelow).
m s l
m
s
l
m
s
l
s
m
s
l
Inandout,rounda-bout,O-U-TandthatspellsOUT! m
r
m
m
r m
m
r
m
r
m
r
m
Inandout,rounda-bout,O-U-TandthatspellsOUT!
Bye Bye Baby
trad. Anglo-American lullaby
LessonFocus
• singpitchsetssms&mrdasmelodicdescant
• vocallyimprovisearrhythmic(arioso)melodic“wishes”to“baby”usings-m-s&m-r-dtonalcells
Procedure
Ssechosing/ID/readdescantfromThandsigns;Sssingwithtext,performasostinato,Taddsmelody.
Exchangejobs,Sssingmelodyphrases,Taddsdescant;repeat,Ssperformall.
Present“baby”forgoodnightwishes,sungusingsmsormrdpitchset:
ex:“Getsomesleep,tomorrow’sabigday.”or“Youcansleepintomorrow”
Never Sleep Late
LessonFocus • performpentatonicmelodywith
countermelodyaccompaniment
Procedure
Ssreadm-r-dandm-s-m-smotivesfrom
staff;Tsequencestofitcountermelody
form,singwithtext.
Tadds“connector”motivesandtext,Ss
read/echosingall,performwithmelody.
IMEAConference–EducatingYoungSingers,p.3,JBroeker–Jan2016
Choral Tools
ExperiencesselectedfromToolsforVocalDevelopmentinEducatingYoungSingers,pp.65-96.
• PhysicalandMentalAttention:ShakeOut,Bounce/Aim/Shoot
• PhysicalAlignment:ShapeMyPosture,Position1-2-3
• BreathManagement:WalkingtheBreath;RhythmicSizzle
• RangeExtension:Frisbees
• ResonantVowels:VowelPairs;OO-EEPuzzles
Johnson Boys
arr. Jay Broeker – Boosey & Hawkes
LessonFocus
• Exploreaa’a”bmelodicformwhilelearningsongmelody
Procedure
Ssechosing/ID/readdopentatonicmelodicmotivesinG;Tpresentssolfegenotationofselectpatterns,Ss
read/singeach
TsuggeststhatSsknowmanysongswherethefirst3phrasesbeginwiththesamemotive,invitesSstosingone
ofthemotivespresentedasbeginningofphrase1,2,and3,Tsingstherest;SsIDfamiliarsong;continuewith
othermotivesasdesired,ID-ingphraseformofeachsong.
Repeatprocedureusingm-s-smotivetostarteachphrase,TsingsremainderofJohnsonBoystune,SsIDformof
phraseendings.
TpresentsnotationofJohnsonBoysmelody,Sssingopeningmotiveagainviewingsolfege.
Repeat,Sssingtextofopeningmotive,Tsingsremainder,Ssoffercommentsaboutstorylineofsong.
Continue,echosingingasnecessary,Ssaddphraseendingsandphrase4untilSssingall.
To Work Upon the Railway
arr. Jay Broeker - SBMP 1121
LessonFocus
• rhythmicpatternsin6/8meterincludingdottedquarter,quarter-8th,andthree8ths
• identifying/readingandsequencingpentatonicmelodicmotivesleadingtoacountermelody
Procedure
Part1–rhythmicphraseofrefrain
Ssperformapat/snapBPostinatobysimultaneousimitation.
SsechoclapT’s4-beatrhythmicmotivesin6/8;whennotclapping,SscontinueBPostinato
Tsingsandclapstherhythmofeachmelodicphraseintherefrainof“ToWorkUpontheRailway”(mm.21–29)
Ssechoclap.
Tpresentsteadybeatlinesonthescreen,Ssclapthepreviousphraseastheteacherpointstothesteadybeats;
Ssindicatewhethertheyclappedone,two,orthreetimesforeachbeat,Ttranscribesusingicons:
________________
________________
________________
_________________
IMEAConference–EducatingYoungSingers,p.4,JBroeker–Jan2016
Tpresentsrhythmicnotationforbeatdividedintothirds,replacesiconswithrhythmicnotation:
________________
________________
________________
_________________
Tpresentsscoreformelodicrefrain,SsreadclapfamiliarrhythmwhileTsings;Ssechosing
Part2–solfegeofcountermelody
Tpresentsvisualofpentatonicscalemotivesandsingseachonneutral
s–m l–s–m
syllable,SsIDeachpatternandsingbackusingsolfege
T.sequencestwopatterns,Sssingback;continueuntiloutineofentire
d–r–m
m–s–l
countermelody(ms.70)issung:
l–s–mm–s–l l–s–md–r–m d–r–ms–m
l–s–md–r–ms–m l–s–ms–m
Locatemelodicmotivesonstaff/inscore,IDbridgepitchre,rhythmicvariation;singallasnotated
Risseldy Rosseldy
Procedure
arr. Jay Broeker - SBMP 310
Studentsdemonstrate&explore"high5's","low5's",etc;pairsofSschoosetwoandsequenceas:
abpatpatpat;teacherplays4beatrhythmicphrase,Ssrespondwithabpatpatpat;
Sspairspracticeimprovising4beatbodypercussionrhythms,followedbyabpatpatpat.
Exploreothervariationsongesture,sequencesofpartnercreatelongerphrase:
ccddeefffollowedbyfamiliarresponse
abpatpatpat;
GroupsofSscomposegroupversionincludingspaceforimprovisedsolos:
1234abpatpatpat1234abpatpatpatccdd eeffabpatpatpat
Continuingfromabove,SsperformBPwhileTsingsverse1ofRisseldyRosseldy;SsIDrefraintext=nonsense
words,placeinorder;repeat,Tsingsverses,Sssingrefrain.Singotherversesbyroteorfromboardorscore.
Sssing“risseldyrosseldy”with8vajump,addm r dcadenceon“mow,mow,mow”;IDinscore&sing.
SsIDs l t dof“rosseldymow”,singinslowmotion,addnewtext:
s-----------------l-----------------t-----------------d---------------r----------------mrd
risseldyrosseldyheybombassitynicketynacketyretricalqualitywillobywallobymowmowmow
IDoccurrencesofthisphraseinscore,singwithrefrain.