Yellow Point Singers
Example of "Rubatto"
Katherine Whitney Workshop Take away
The 4 Levels of Attention
These apply to any musical learning and are in order from least to most significant. It gives focus to our personal rehearsal goal.
Singular attention: Block everything else out. Does not allow for reasoned choice in relation to the
chord
Divided attention: Reading the music resulting in less physically relaxed, less confidence, less connectiveness to the body and group)
Focussed Attention: The critical thinking. What are the next words, am I in tune. Result is loss of relaxation and therefore musicality. This should be avoided if at all possible by familiarity with the music. This can be helped by doing something unrelated while singing (tie shoe, turn pages unrelated to the rehearsing song)
Executive Attention: Putting attention into thinking about the body. Your breaking, your tension points
to relax, vowel shaping, dynamic control through supporting the breath.
Practice Agenda
March 4
Thank-you for the focus on familiarity with the notes and words. What will make these
songs shine are the use of dynamics. Please look up as much as possible on the familiar
sections. Find resonance by thinking of the swan form of the mouth. Blend comes from
matching the resonances and the vowels with those around you .
Warm up
The Ashgrove Sections E-G Smooth as silk with connected notes. Try to articulate
the last consonant with the word after.
Big House Whole Song. Note the form: Intro, Chorus, Kitchen, Chorus, Outside,
Chorus, Bridge and Coda. Find the joy in this song. Best sung with a little
body engagement. Use an quiet intense, aspirated voice for the begining of
the song so there is somewhere to build from.
Old Lady Rose 57-Coda
Break
Until We Meet Again Ms. 33-Coda Do not oversing the ending. Singing too loud
often changes the pitch. Never sing louder than beautiful.
Sure on This Shining Night Ms. 27-47 Think in terms of circles and arcs.
All The Things You Are Ms 51-74 Think Latin samba.
Feb 25
We are begining to get beyond note bashing now and are looking for nuance with rhythmic accuracy and dynamic difference. To do that we need to look up as much as possible. Remember to take a breath in at rests and ends of phrase to make the cut offs clean. We are getting a better blend as we match vowels and resonances. Think of singing relatively quietly (to about an arms length away) and fitting your voice into the voices around you.
Sure on This Shining Night Sections A&B
Some changes:
.1. Tenors on pg 4 do ms. 27-35 by themselves. Basses would join on the last word of ms. 35.
2.Sopranos sing ms. 32-35 (no altos).. Altos can join on the last word of ms. 35,
3. On pg 6, right at ms. 40, 2nd sopranos sing the 1st alto part through ms.43. Sopranos add an Aflat as the first note of ms. 41 and be ready to jump back with the 1st sopranos on the second note (G) of ms. 43.
4. All altos sing 2nd alto from ms. 40-43.
We will go over all of this on Wednesday night. Please have a pencil (not as hard as it sounds