Sing on!

Each choral rehearsal is a singing lesson, where the children work on the following vocal performance skills:

 

Healthy vocal production: The children learn to use diaphragmatic breathing, which will support the tone and keep the vocal instrument strain-free and healthy. Correct sitting and standing postures will be taught and reinforced through a variety of fun, age-appropriate activities.

 

Breath Control for singing is taught through a variety of activities -- stretches, exercises, and analogies. The students are taught to use diaphragmatic vs. clavicular breathing for singing.

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Learning the correct Pitches and Rhythms: Musicianship classes, with a focus on music theory, sight reading, and aural perception, are at the core of our curriculum.  The younger students learn new repertoire by rote, while rudiments of sight-singing are incorporated using the Kodaly system.  The director and the pianist will provide the appropriate model for the children to learn the music, using creative ways to facilitate students’ learning through repetition.  

 

Singing with correct intonation:  The students sing major and minor scales, the whole tone, and chromatic scales, identify and intonate the leading tones, as well as ascending and descending intervals.  To facilitate singing in tune, the students are provided with a rehearsal and acoustical environment conducive to healthy, free tone production.

 

Sing with uniform vowel sounds: The students learn to identify the correct vowel shapes through a variety of activities and apply this knowledge to singing the repertoire.

 

Diction: The students are taught to understand and communicate the meaning of the text in the repertoire. The repertoire of songs in English and foreign languages is studied each season.  Through various activities, the singers will understand the function of vowels as carriers of sound, and consonants as articulators.  The director will model a clear singer’s diction for the choir.  Native speakers and experts, when available, will be called upon to present foreign language texts to the children. 

 

Precision: Students learn to internalize the rhythmic motion of the music by using subdivision and finding the smallest possible units of beat.  How to start and end the piece together with the ensemble will be taught. The students will be taught to understand the conducting gestures, and how to follow them. The singers’ assigned placement will enable them to hear each other and see the conductor.

 

Blend in the ensemble is achieved by the unification of the vowel sounds and correct student placement within the choir. Balance in the sound of the choir will be assured by the correct division of the students into appropriate vocal parts (Soprano I, Soprano II, Alto I, Alto II, Tenor I, Tenor II, Baritone, Bass), based on the auditions.  Part placement will be re-evaluated later in the year and adjusted, if necessary.

 

Phrasing, Style, and Interpretation are important parts of the learning process. The choir will strive to achieve high-level authentic, artistic performances.   The singers will develop different models of the choral sound for specific historical music periods and musical styles within these periods. Collaborations with contemporary musical artists and composers and world premieres of new music are the essential components of MUSYCA experience. The children evaluate the performances of their peers and other choirs through participation in festivals and friendship concerts.