IUCC Descant

4/6/17
4:30-5:45
Conductor Tiffany Bowen
Rehearsal set-up:
There are about 4 rows of chairs, a black board, piano and stand are at the
front of the room
Description of procedures:
Warm-up
Review of positions
o Sit in position 1
o Sit in position 2 tell me what Im looking for when I say position 2
Students raise their hands and tell Ms. Bowen what they think
Ahh siren
o What song do we use this vowel in?
Students raise their hands and tell songs that they use the ah
vowel
Practice speaking the text with appropriate vowel and then
singing it
Eh vowel
o All Day use Ah and Eh vowels
Ch Echoing
o Reminders about positions
 Roll your shoulders
Lots of talking about behavior and reminders about expectations
Focus on vowel sounds
Song 1 (lullaby)
Running through the song
Go over proper performance posture and facial expressions
Talk about dynamics dont decrescendo too early
All the pretty little horses
Reminder of position
Ill sing it first and you sing after
Behavior correction as necessary
Visual reminders while teacher is singing
Echo singing to review notes
Models phrase without breathing, students echo
Go over lyrics, make sure students know what the words are
Behavior reminders again
Posture reminders
Sing staccato, sing legato
Singing along with students
Home on the range
Going over form of the song
 Letters for verse and chorus as visual reminders
Reminders about proper vocal technique
Practice entrance for song
Reminder about position 2
Make it sound beautiful
Couple of wanderers
Trying to fix deer and the antelope leap because students are pulling their
chest voice higher
Kinesthetic movement to accompany leap
Working on fermatas eye contact
Think about vowel in all
Complimenting students who are doing a good job with posture and eye
contact

Connection between warm-up and rehearsal activities:

The warm-up was focused on beautiful vowel sounds. Tiffany then related
these beautiful sounds to the pieces the choir was working on for the concert.
The beautiful vowel sounds became a constant reminder throughout the
rehearsal process. The warm-up also involved the different positions, which
were used frequently throughout the rehearsal.
Sequence of instruction:
Opening debriefing on upcoming performances
Warm-up
Song by song
Closing
Conclusions:
The students are capable of making a really beautiful sound, however they need a lot of
reminders. This group of kids loves to laugh and have fun, at times it caused disruption to
the rehearsal but overall it made for a fun light-hearted rehearsal. I learned that it is okay
to be persistent and demand a lot from the students because as long as the teacher is being
realistic with their demands and expectations, the students can and will rise to the
challenge.
IUCC Allegro
4/13/17
4:30-5:30
Conductor Dr. Gault
Rehearsal set-up:
Chairs are set up in 3 rows with music on the chairs. Piano, stand and
projector are in the front of the room
Description of procedures:
Opening
On the projector
o When you come in put your music in this order: 1. My favorite things,
2. Bowling green 3. All the pretty little horses/ run through
Get a drink and go to the bathroom if you need to
Put away anything thats going to be a distraction, spit out gum or candy
Warm-up
Show me youre ready by sitting in position 1
Stretches
Show me position 2
Take your hands and be my mirror
Show me position 3, take your goal post for standing
Breathing exercises
Breathe in with cave, exhale
Breathe in on "oo", hiss out
 Ch pulsing, switch to z, v, k,
Throw a baseball with your voice on "oo"
F major open "oo" sound
o Listen row by row (assessing and correcting as necessary)
Flat put a little h in front
Beautiful tone from kids
Verbal reminders from Dr. Gault while students are singing
5,4,3,2,1 descending then ascending
Kinesthetic movement
5,5,5,3,1 biddy biddy bee bee bee ascending
yahahahaha ascending 1,3,5,3,1
Reminders about the last rehearsal
My favorite things
Tone ladder on board
Sit in position 2 and echo
Echo on solfege then switch to doo
No slide, Im hearing someone slide
Sing this staccato (this tells me how well youre singing in the middle of the
note)
Sitting tall, breathe when I do
3 part split-go over each part individually, put them all together
Dont over sing
 Music on PowerPoint-reminders of dynamics and no sliding
Teach everyone the harmony part
Divide the group in half
Very persistent to have accurate pitches and lots of repetition is necessary for
this
Bowling Green
Ti do echo then teacher enters on top with re mi
Switch parts
Do both parts together 2 part split
Go over separate parts
Both parts together (doo staccato)
Focus on vowel sounds and creating a beautiful sound
For the most part the kids know their part there are a couple tricky parts
Constantly monitoring posture
Stop on the trouble notes
Conductor knows parts really well and is good at trouble shooting
Position 2 reminder
Run through piece (correcting while they run through)
Always focusing on musicality
All the pretty little horses
Eyes closed, sit back, just listen to Ms. Gauldreault play this one
Open your eyes sit in position 2, sing on a loo
 Very smooth transitions
Lots of variations in positions
Now do it on the words with the same beautiful sound
Dont you not dontchu
Run the program!
As we sing trough pay attention to word problems and any memory issues and
take those home with you
Begon dull care
Go over words and pronunciation of text
Reminders about concert posture and facial expressions
Students sound good! They know their parts
"Can I have a much more beautiful "oo" sound?" (Repeat verse as needed)
Summer is a comin in
Transition into a semi circle
6 part split
Staccato on doo
Fixing vowel sounds
Verbal instructions while students are singing
6 part cannon is pretty good
The Night Wind
Map of how the song goes
Reminders about "oos" and canon
 Reminders about pronunciation
Show me youre ready
Make sure youre listening to the people around you
Keep it as a lullaby Its getting too shouty
Pretty sound
Bowling Green
Dont over sing
Already flat because its too heavy
Kids are getting fidgety
Some are doing a good job standing in concert position others still have
trouble standing still
My Favorite Things
Dont complain! You will have to do this for the concert
Melody got lost...stop and do it again
No slide! Remind them till they do it correctly
I want to see everyones eyes
Complimentary
Closing
Pick up a sheet for your parents
Dismiss row by row
Connections between warm-up and rehearsal activities
There was a strong emphasis on the oo vowel in the warm-up. In a lot of the
songs, the pure oo vowel is prominent and important so the focus on singing
a pure oo vowel in the warm-up was really helpful for this. There was
kinesthetic movement along with the warm-up that helped show the line and
direction of the activity. This was useful for some of the slower songs that
have a long line and a focus on direction.
Sequence of instruction
Opening
Warm-up
Review of most uncomfortable material
Song by song run through
Closing
Conclusion
This group amazed me! They were extremely well behaved, most of the time
their posture was spot on, and they used excellent tone for the most part. It
was helpful to see that just little reminders while the students are singing or
before the start of a piece can really make a difference in the quality of the
singing. Additionally, if the choir is still messing up something that youve
rehearsed it is okay to stop and fix the problem even in the middle of a run
through.
IUCC First Voices
3/2/17
5:30-6:20
Conductor Dylan Fixmer and Abby Furr
Rehearsal set-up
Students are sitting in a circle, piano is against the wall
Description of procedures:
Warm up
Shake out
Tall trees
Be my echo voice sirens
Capture our magic c
Listen to Abbys vocal model
Good pitch matching
D Major ascending 5,4,3,2,1
Silly voice vs. beautiful voice
Running feet
Juba this and Juba that (warm-up game)
Hums song, are they the same or different?
Magic lips (silent)
Move hands with contour of phrase
 Walk in circle while teacher sings, kids use magic lips
Singing voice are on (whoops)
Teacher sings most of the time, students get a chance to try
Frere Jacques
Number off 1 and 2
Reinforce "oo" for dormez vous
Draws contour of phrase for sonnez les matine
Posture check
Practice the opera singer vs. a child singer
Has one student model who is doing a good job
New concept sing it as a round
We lost our beautiful singing voices in the round
Think about am I using my beautiful singing voice all the time?
3 craw
Roll the r, show me the motion
Listen to Mrs. Furr sing the song
Tries to have students sing but they dont know it well enough
Teacher sings again and they get to sing On the cold and frosty morning
Id like to visit the moon
Put your finger on your nose when you know what my song is about
Talked about lyrics and meaning of the song
Closing
Play game Which witch

Connection between warm-up and rehearsal activities

The warm-up focused a lot on pitch matching and making sure the students
ears were warmed up as well as their voices. This was important for this age
group and especially for this rehearsal because they were continuing old
music as well as learning new music. It really helped the students learn the
song by listening to the pitches and drawing the contour of the phrases.
Sequence of instruction
Warm-up
Song by song
Game
Conclusion
I learned that this age really needs to involve a lot of movement and playful
energy. The students responded really well to the activities that involved some
sort of game or movement to accompany the songs. The two-part canon was
still a little bit difficult for them in this rehearsal but since they have over a
month until the concert I think they will be able to sing it comfortably. The
group had a couple of behavior issues, but on the whole it really didnt detract
from the rehearsal process. I was very impressed!