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?

Music Education and Mr G

I was under a director once, Robert Guenzler, when I was in high school.  After spending a good portion of the first few sessions of the school year in practicing good unison singing, he always taught a piece to the choir in this way:

 

 

1. Everyone was given their pitch.
2. We went entirely through the song (unless we just fell down so badly we had to be given new pitches for the desecrated section) ; we did our level best to sight read the music, even though most of us were newbies!
3. After we finished, Mr. Guenzler would then break the song into its phrases, and teach each voice.

Certainly the song wasn’t wonderful that first time through,. Often at that point we were nervous, and we thought we would never make it sound just right; but after a little experience with the material under his direction, we would
become more comfortable with the piece. 

 

After working on several pieces with him, we gained more and more confidence in our ability.  We also knew that with Mr. “G” conducting in front of us, we would never fall on our faces at our concert; we felt assured that we were in good hands, and that he always had our back.

From Bob Guenzler, I learned how to be a good conductor; not how to “conduct”, that I learned in college.  But he taught me that it is your job as a conductor to make the choir, or any performing group, absolutely sure that they can depend on you to hold them in your hands.

The best part is…I didn’t even know I was learning that!  Being a music educator, at that time, was not part of my plans; but Mr.Guenzler was an influence, nevertheless.  He may not have been the first music teacher I had, but he was definitely one of the best.

Tempo and Music Education

This morning I heard Fred Childs on NPR’s “Performance Today” speak about tempo.  He used as an example Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”; he contrasted two renditions: one was a very slow adagio, and the other quite a bit faster, more of an andante performance.

Tempos can vary from performer to performer; andante to one means a walking pace; to another, it could mean a leisurely stroll with some rubato!  Just take a look for it on YouTube. Try Moonlight Sonata – Beethoven.  This is an example of a quicker rendition of Moonlight Sonata, but it will get you “in the neighborhood” so you can compare renditions.

Interpretation needs to be taught as part of music education.  Of course it’s of no use to fly before you walk; reading the music and playing what’s there is crucial!  But afterwards, students need to be encouraged by their music teachers to express themselves and not just spit out a “cookie cutter” version of a piece.

Reading the notes comes next.

I myself had to wait until I was old enough to get a regular job as a babysitter for a family friend’s children before I could start to learn to read music; there was a piano at the house, and beginner’s books were waiting for me to discover them inside the piano bench.  It was summer, and when my charges were outside playing, I was in front of the piano teaching myself very painstakingly to read and play “Greensleeves”.  It’s very true that I picked up some bad playing habits, but I was a smart cookie, and at least I was able to lessen the frustration I was feeling by actually learning that different keys had specific pitches. Fingering…now, that’s a story for another day.

Yes, I know it’s almost cliche that I learned “Chopsticks” and “Heart and Soul” as my first songs.  My sister Renee  learned “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater” from a friend as her introduction! Playing by ear is a useful technique; children are thirsty, in the beginning at least, to MAKE music before they are actually taught to read music.  But students need to quench another thirst soon after; I feel basic reading skills should be taught so children don’t feel the frustration I did when I was a youngster.

When to Begin to Read Music I

Students, especially beginners, will often balk at learning to read music.  Oh, learning the musical alphabet may be OK, and knowing how to find middle C on a keyboard is as far as they want to go; sometimes even that is going a little too far.  They prefer to think of themselves as having a “gift”, and that they are a “natural talent”.  Indeed, they might be a natural talent; but that alone will probably not get them very far.

Sometimes getting students to understand that learning to read music is difficult, but it’s vital; vital to their personal growth, and vital to the groups they may perform with.

Michelle