Module 7-3

Musical Concepts and Development

While there are many aspects of music that I like to explore in my classroom, there are a few that could stand re-enforcement.  Here are four concepts that I would like to develop more in my classroom:

1. Rhythm (duration). For this concept, I could incorporate more rhythmic exercises in my warm-ups.  Currently, I use most of my warm-up time for sight-singing with pitches. Of course rhythm is incorporated here but there is no direct attention placed on rhythmic reading.  Dotted-quarter notes and dotted-half notes are the notes that need the most re-enforcement in this concept.  I have not introduced sub-dividing into rhythmic reading, but could utilize this approach for these types of notes especially.  By allowing my students to feel the pulse of the eighth note in the dotted-quarter note and the pulse of the quarter note in the dotted-half note, the students would be more apt to successfully perform these notes.
2. Pitch. The specific area of this concept I would like to develop is being able to transfer the student knowledge of reading pitches from sight-singing to actual repertoire.  In my experience there is a disconnect from the skills they use in sight-singing and the skills that they use in rehearsing their actual music.  It seems that students are use to being given the pitches by the teacher that they disengage in the reading process.  There are three ways that I can help develop this area: 1-use actual music excerpts for sight-singing, 2-have students sight-sing the re-occuring theme of new repertoire (where appropriate), or some section of the music before it is rehearsed, 3-play the piano with the students as they read instead of relying completely on vocal modeling.
3. Dynamics. For this concept, I can give practical references to identify the dynamic making.  Although my students are use to the dynamic terms and their meaning, sometimes the execution of the dynamic gets lost in translation.  For example, my students can identify that mezzo piano means medium soft and that mezzo forte means medium loud, but singing a line mezzo piano and then repeating that line mezzo forte can get a little confusing to them.  However, if I explain mezzo piano further as being the volume you would use to speak to your friend who is seated beside you and mezzo forte as the volume you would use to give a presentation to the class, students would have more of a practical reference that they could use to perform the dynamics.  Other examples could include, forte as loud as the roar of a lion, pianissimo as quiet as a sleeping baby. Also, posting these dynamics with their practical references somewhere in the classroom will help serve as a constant reminder.
4. Tone. This year my students have vastly improved their overall tone. Still, there is room for improvement.  To develop this area more fully, I could focus more on tone production.  I identify four basic steps to tone production with my students: 1-'singer's breath' (engaging the diaphragm), 2-raise the soft palate, 3-drop the jaw, 4-rounded lips.  I could consistently use these steps sequentially in everyday warm-ups.  For example, I could start the warm-up with deep breaths where the students focus on diaphragmatic breathing. Next, I could have them practice dropping the jaw, raising the soft palate up and lowering it through releasing their 'singer's breath' on 'ha'.  Lastly, I could have the students move from 'ha' to 'who' (like an owl). This would re-enforce rounded lips.  If I use this as a beginning warm-up consistently, perhaps the students will think of these tone production steps in a sequential manner and incorporate them in their everyday choral singing.