Post-Production Notes
[Production Resources here.]
Written May 2022, following a nine week production schedule.
-I was asked to prepare the chorus of a spring production, while music director taught the bulk of the music to the three leads during January term.
-Consisted of Tuesday and Wednesday night sessions of music-learning each week, folded into a Tuesday-Saturday night/week production schedule.
-Director present at all rehearsals.
-Music Director/Pianist present at all rehearsals
-In most cases, I joined from 7pm-9pm, with cast beginning work before me, around 6pm or earlier.
If I could do it again:
I. Ensemble Sound
-Simpler warm ups that don't require instruction
-Mee Meh Mah Moh Moo- qqqq dh qr
-Add Simple, Enjoyable Motions,
Hula Hoop
unspooling kite string
Conan hip strings
bopping
arm swings with partner
I. Warm Ups
Avoid Curwen Hand Signs, but do use hands
Design custom, repeatable warm ups that work intervals, oreos, and other simple concepts
Do warm ups that teach challenging intervals away from the score material.
Do use tempos and meters of the pieces
Allow them to become "singers" by creating opportunities to make big sounds with simple, unbound warm-ups
II.Teaching the Music
Avoid Score, no need to use a score, perhaps just lyrics
-I insisted on score so they would learn to read, but not clear if students grew in their reading ability.
For teaching harmony, just use ladder hands
Teach dynamics as part of the melody.
Establish dynamics earlier.
-it seemed savvy to wait on that, but it would have been better to institute them gently and then strengthen them, rather than practice singing them with no acknowledgement of dynamics
Basically, when possible, teach the songs as songs.
-That might mean teaching melodies before teaching any harmonies.
-It also might mean learning the lead lines first, and then learning the "background figures"
-this is risky, in that it is possibly less efficient, but almost certainly more musical.
-in this case, leads participated in most choral rehearsals
III. General Strategy
Refer to my "to do" list more in front of them so they know/believe in an inner logic/plan
That way, I can stop explaining my teacher thoughts out loud
I can say what my goals are, and then ask them what theirs is on every run.
The hurried quality of many of the meetings was difficult to overcome, but I think this was more a result of me coming in less than fresh at the end of the day.
IV. With more time, I would:
Design a cue word for each song.
Have a worksheet with every song and a line to write one sentence describing the mood of the son, then reduce it to one cue word.
Emphasize Mask. "Put on the mask of this song, cue yourself to embody the music on every note, breathing in character.
Greet them like professionals at the beginning of rehearsal, not as weary high school students that need to be rallied/entertained!
If we hadn't been masked throughout the production, I think I would have used my hands and face more to conduct, but I'm not sure.
They did get pretty good at singing as an ensemble and cueing each other, but it's hard to say if that would have happened regardless, since Allen's playing is so solid.
They were doing math a lot, but some of that was because I did math in front of them, rather than have it all worked out. In general, too many teacher thoughts got said out loud.
I should have used a metronome more in rehearsal, if for no other reason than to institute the concept.
Singing to the met probably would have been overkill, but introducing the idea on week 9 was too late.
Singing to the track was effective, but also created a bit of a crutch, so met would have been an excellent stepping stone.
V. What worked?
Walking, moving together, was effective, doing songs like "Stand by me" and "For the longest time" lit them up and gave them a sense of their unabbreviated ensemble sound.
Neckties were effective but only when used at slow tempos that required engaged sounds. Mostly they just swung them around like jump ropes which made no point at all, except for instituting constant, untensed motion.
singing with the eyes was essential, and nearly always made a difference.
Other hot tips:
"Vowel formation happens in the front"
"Sing to someone"
most of the time, interacting as partners was effective, particularly on a slow 3/4 that tended to drag, with late entrances.
and once again, personal conducting became mostly a distraction; I didn't really teach it in an patient, embodied way, but almost as an harried aside.
VI. What didn't work?
-My assuming things about what they were seeing in the score. (For example, an experienced lead had never before seen accents)
-Assuming they knew to breathe in time and join the music in time
-Because there was no conductor, they often waited for each other to start, which meant late entrances or pianist having to wait
-Many of the Dalcroze meter exercises were moot or too abstract because of all the meter changes in the music.
-Less conducting! Conducting was mostly unnatural for them and became a cerebral exercise. Better to develop movements that are very direct and explicit: rubber band, bouncing ball, throw-catch, London bridge, swinging arms,
Pat clap partner clap was fun but challenging
Sway with pat clap partner for 3/4 was very challenging, should have been scaffolded more; incorporate walking.
VII. Environmental
-Chairs should be thoughtfully engaged, "rest position" "ready position"
-Pencils and binders were effective at creating a "strategic" approach
-Often was much too hot in black box to think clearly.
-Constantly turning to the director with questions created a "team" feeling, but it made the choral rehearsals haphazard rather than direct and goal-oriented.
-Better to write the questions down and try to get a direct answer later, rather than spinning off on a tangent.
-Workshopping staging and character motivation ideas while learning the music was largely ineffective, as they seemed to need 100% of the concentration to manage to sing notes, rhythms, and text.
-On the other hand, they were quite flexible about making changes to the music later on, partly because we learned it in a playful, undidactic way.
-Trying to teach away from the keyboard was a mistake; it made the rehearsal rhythm sloppy, and when I would do warm ups from the piano, it was like I was going into another room to play, losing connection with both the singers and their sound.
-It was a dry blackbox, so it made sense to have them sing from the stage just for the acoustical support, but meeting "down by the piano" might have helped create more of a connection to the instrument-as-conductor.
Written May 2022, following a nine week production schedule.
-I was asked to prepare the chorus of a spring production, while music director taught the bulk of the music to the three leads during January term.
-Consisted of Tuesday and Wednesday night sessions of music-learning each week, folded into a Tuesday-Saturday night/week production schedule.
-Director present at all rehearsals.
-Music Director/Pianist present at all rehearsals
-In most cases, I joined from 7pm-9pm, with cast beginning work before me, around 6pm or earlier.
If I could do it again:
I. Ensemble Sound
-Simpler warm ups that don't require instruction
-Mee Meh Mah Moh Moo- qqqq dh qr
-Add Simple, Enjoyable Motions,
Hula Hoop
unspooling kite string
Conan hip strings
bopping
arm swings with partner
I. Warm Ups
Avoid Curwen Hand Signs, but do use hands
Design custom, repeatable warm ups that work intervals, oreos, and other simple concepts
Do warm ups that teach challenging intervals away from the score material.
Do use tempos and meters of the pieces
Allow them to become "singers" by creating opportunities to make big sounds with simple, unbound warm-ups
II.Teaching the Music
Avoid Score, no need to use a score, perhaps just lyrics
-I insisted on score so they would learn to read, but not clear if students grew in their reading ability.
For teaching harmony, just use ladder hands
Teach dynamics as part of the melody.
Establish dynamics earlier.
-it seemed savvy to wait on that, but it would have been better to institute them gently and then strengthen them, rather than practice singing them with no acknowledgement of dynamics
Basically, when possible, teach the songs as songs.
-That might mean teaching melodies before teaching any harmonies.
-It also might mean learning the lead lines first, and then learning the "background figures"
-this is risky, in that it is possibly less efficient, but almost certainly more musical.
-in this case, leads participated in most choral rehearsals
III. General Strategy
Refer to my "to do" list more in front of them so they know/believe in an inner logic/plan
That way, I can stop explaining my teacher thoughts out loud
I can say what my goals are, and then ask them what theirs is on every run.
The hurried quality of many of the meetings was difficult to overcome, but I think this was more a result of me coming in less than fresh at the end of the day.
IV. With more time, I would:
Design a cue word for each song.
Have a worksheet with every song and a line to write one sentence describing the mood of the son, then reduce it to one cue word.
Emphasize Mask. "Put on the mask of this song, cue yourself to embody the music on every note, breathing in character.
Greet them like professionals at the beginning of rehearsal, not as weary high school students that need to be rallied/entertained!
If we hadn't been masked throughout the production, I think I would have used my hands and face more to conduct, but I'm not sure.
They did get pretty good at singing as an ensemble and cueing each other, but it's hard to say if that would have happened regardless, since Allen's playing is so solid.
They were doing math a lot, but some of that was because I did math in front of them, rather than have it all worked out. In general, too many teacher thoughts got said out loud.
I should have used a metronome more in rehearsal, if for no other reason than to institute the concept.
Singing to the met probably would have been overkill, but introducing the idea on week 9 was too late.
Singing to the track was effective, but also created a bit of a crutch, so met would have been an excellent stepping stone.
V. What worked?
Walking, moving together, was effective, doing songs like "Stand by me" and "For the longest time" lit them up and gave them a sense of their unabbreviated ensemble sound.
Neckties were effective but only when used at slow tempos that required engaged sounds. Mostly they just swung them around like jump ropes which made no point at all, except for instituting constant, untensed motion.
singing with the eyes was essential, and nearly always made a difference.
Other hot tips:
"Vowel formation happens in the front"
"Sing to someone"
most of the time, interacting as partners was effective, particularly on a slow 3/4 that tended to drag, with late entrances.
and once again, personal conducting became mostly a distraction; I didn't really teach it in an patient, embodied way, but almost as an harried aside.
VI. What didn't work?
-My assuming things about what they were seeing in the score. (For example, an experienced lead had never before seen accents)
-Assuming they knew to breathe in time and join the music in time
-Because there was no conductor, they often waited for each other to start, which meant late entrances or pianist having to wait
-Many of the Dalcroze meter exercises were moot or too abstract because of all the meter changes in the music.
-Less conducting! Conducting was mostly unnatural for them and became a cerebral exercise. Better to develop movements that are very direct and explicit: rubber band, bouncing ball, throw-catch, London bridge, swinging arms,
Pat clap partner clap was fun but challenging
Sway with pat clap partner for 3/4 was very challenging, should have been scaffolded more; incorporate walking.
VII. Environmental
-Chairs should be thoughtfully engaged, "rest position" "ready position"
-Pencils and binders were effective at creating a "strategic" approach
-Often was much too hot in black box to think clearly.
-Constantly turning to the director with questions created a "team" feeling, but it made the choral rehearsals haphazard rather than direct and goal-oriented.
-Better to write the questions down and try to get a direct answer later, rather than spinning off on a tangent.
-Workshopping staging and character motivation ideas while learning the music was largely ineffective, as they seemed to need 100% of the concentration to manage to sing notes, rhythms, and text.
-On the other hand, they were quite flexible about making changes to the music later on, partly because we learned it in a playful, undidactic way.
-Trying to teach away from the keyboard was a mistake; it made the rehearsal rhythm sloppy, and when I would do warm ups from the piano, it was like I was going into another room to play, losing connection with both the singers and their sound.
-It was a dry blackbox, so it made sense to have them sing from the stage just for the acoustical support, but meeting "down by the piano" might have helped create more of a connection to the instrument-as-conductor.