Yellow Point Singers
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.