When a student doesn’t want to come….

As teachers, we all have students who want to cancel their private lesson because they are not prepared…they didn’t practice.  When they (or their moms) call to cancel, I tell them this is a slippery slope; one week of not practicing turns into two, and before they know it, they don’t want to come to lessons anymore because their skills have gotten away from them.

I encourage them to come to that lesson anyway; even though they have missed an opportunity for muscle memory growth that week, it doesn’t mean you have nothing to teach them.  Don’t yell at them!  I don’t mean you shouldn’t admonish them, but don’t scare them into not wanting to come back.

Think of it as an opportunity to use their instrument to explore a new facet of music theory, to learn more about the composer of their piece, and yes, to find out just how important that lost week of muscle memory was….I have a lever harp in my studio that I use sometimes in those cases; I strongly believe that transference of skills (i.e.,relation of notes on the piano to notes on the harp) facilitates a deeper understanding of music theory and appreciation.

Authentic Purpose and My Passion

          http://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Purpose-Tamilyn-Banno-ebook/dp/B00A7D12XE

My sister, Tamilyn Banno, recently wrote a wonderful little book called “Authentic Purpose”.  She asked if I would read some drafts before publishing, and do some editing.  I thought, “How cute, my little sister is writing a little book”.  Well, it turns out I was very profoundly taken by her written words.

There is a “quiz” in it, but not like any quiz I have ever taken…as a matter of fact, I hemmed and hawed before I finally agreed to do it; I thought I just didn’t have the time.  I wanted to edit what she had written; I didn’t have time for actually answering the questions!  It’s sort of like a Cosmo magazine quiz we used to take when we were young (What Are You Looking For In A Relationship..remember those?).

But I did take it….and as a result, my purpose in life has never been more clear.  I do a lot of different kinds of things to make a living, and getting the bills paid each month was about all I could think about…until I took that little quiz.  I realize that my “Authentic Purpose” is more than teaching or performing.  My real passion, as I’ve now discovered, is providing my students with an opportunity to perform…not just for the sake of showing mom and dad what they’ve been working on, but by helping them learn, through recitals, that life can be a little messy.

Recital pieces are rarely perfect.  They’re not; get over it.  Yes, we strive for excellence, of course we do; but the real measure of a person, I feel, is how they handle their mistakes. That is what I often focus on in my teaching, and a much happier lady I am for helping my students to understand that.

Stagger breathing

Ok, I thought I was the only one who did this…thankfully. I am NOT!

When I was in high school, I was taught that “stagger breathing” was taking a catch-breath in between words.  A I grew in my craft, it occurred to me that in a choir situation, this could be ominous:  too many repeated consonants, and LOTS of “S” at the end of a word going on…

But how do you fix that?  The answer is easy, but difficult to employ at first because it is soooo counter-intuitive!  Here it is:

Instead of taking a breath in between words, take your breath instead of a word.  You read that right!  Instead of singing a short word or note (the word “the”, for example), pretend you are singing it (for the audience’s benefit)…but in reality, you want to inhale instead!

Now, this needs to be practiced; the technique is difficult at first, if one was trained to take that catch-breath in between words.  Once each individual in your choir becomes more comfortable with this concept, it’s time to make sure that everybody doesn’t take their breath on the same word!

That’s how I found out I wasn’t the only one who used this technique: an acquaintance of mine, Linda, and I were hired as ringers to be the only two altos at a performance.  At rehearsal, I decided to employ “my new technique”…only to discover that Linda was doing the same thing!  And yes, we were taking our breaths (for long phrases) on the same words.  We kept snickering every time it happened; at the break, we sat down to “divide up” the words so we wouldn’t stagger breathe at the same time.

 

And I thought I was so clever….!  Have any of you been practicing this method?

Evolution of Music by Pentatonix

This group’s Facebook video was sent to me on Facebook.  I had to pass it on; what wonderful, tight transitions, great pronunciation and blend.  If you like a capella groups, this is not to be missed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lExW80sXsHs&feature=youtu.be

 

Confused about Latin Pronunciation?

I thought I was pretty good at singing church Latin, but I was admonished by a choir member who taught classical Latin in the past for teaching incorrectly. This disturbed me, and I was actually afraid to do anything in Latin! I mean, I was pretty sure I was right, but still…I admit I don’t know everything…

Then another choir member put my mind at rest by this post:

“The EWTN network has a website, and they address the issue.  Maybe [the Latin teacher] would accept that as a source.”

“A characteristic difference would be the pronunciation of regina coeli. In Classical Latin the “g” is hard and the “c” sounds like “k”. In Ecclesiastical Latin, which is defined as: Latin spoken as Italian would be pronounced in Rome, the “g” is soft and the c has a “ch” sound.”

You can view the rest of it here:

http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/ecclesiastical_latin.htm

So, my classical Latin friend was correct, but only in her milieu; what singers have learned is correct in ours. Give the website a look, if you’re concerned; the vowel pronunciations are great if you’re learning or teaching how to sing a diphthong.

Dipthongs and Smooth Phrasing

This is an exercise that is difficult at fist, but becomes much easier in just a short period of time. If I could only pass along one single technique, this would be it!

We’ll be using this melody I made up for the occasion:

I Will Praise Your Name

What is a Diphthong?

Ear Training in Music Education

Before I get started, let me first share with you a video I received from a friend.  Now, I was blessed with a pretty darned good ear, but I have personally known folks with better.  I have never, however, encountered a case like this.  Obviously, this young gentleman can’t read notes on a page…so even though sight reading music is not an issue, you can bet that music theory and ear training helped push him ….along with his dad! ;

I loved knowing a bit about his early years.  I am the first to admit that I know very little about Patrick Henry Hughes so comments from you are encouraged!  I am going to research his music training, but for the record…I am truly amazed.

Music Education: Vegetable Soup?

These videos I’m sharing today put a whole new spin on teaching instruments and the orchestra; I believe you’ve got to somehow include this in your lesson plans!  Click here: Vegetable Orchestra

The above video I found on my MSN home page today;  I decided to do some research, and found links to the source: The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra.  For those of you who have your students make their own orchestra instruments, this is a trip!

Here is a sample of their concert work:

An innovative way of making music….as music teachers, finding a way to “serve up” the orchestra can be dry. Our responsibility is to motivate; this is a fine choice for teaching the instruments, and for an extension of teaching “found sound”.  Enjoy!

Unison vowel production in Music Education III

Robert Shaw, the incomparable American conductor, said, “To create a smooth legato line, sing vowels only until the vowels align with the beat. Then add the consonants back in “on top” of the vowel line“.

This is a very short way of stating my earlier blog on unison vowel production and legato line; but if short and sweet works better for you, then I am happy to include his words.  I do tend to belabor a point, I have been told….

Anyway, you can hear the success of using this technique in the Robert Shaw Chorale rendition of  “Shenandoah”.  I cannot think of a lovelier example of legato singing.