The Choral Rehearsal
Friday, Chorus members just sang as part of the “Let There Be Peace on Earth” Community Choral Festival at the Church of Our Lady of Grace and will sing in a Bach Benefit next month in Rutherford, New Jersey. These are just two of many concerts to come this spring, widening students’ experiences in performance and stretching into new ground both musically and as young singers.
Mustard Seed School chorus members spend two hours a week in rehearsal. One hour of this rehearsal time happens in sectional after school, while the other happens every Friday with all members in one room making music together. Sectionals serve as a time for the individuals singing similar voice parts, as well as going through similar things developmentally, to bond musically and socially. Sectional work includes sight-reading both rhythmically and melodically, diction in foreign languages and english, and on building vocal skills. It is also a safe place to take new risks with steady encouragement from peers. Full chorus becomes a time to work on the group sound, balance, musical independence and better understanding of the music at large.
Every rehearsal begins with warm-ups. Warm-ups encapsulate far more than the average listener grasps. Every warm-up and rehearsal students are developing focus, agility, endurance and strength. The voice functions like any other muscle group in the human body, with the middle school years being crucial to muscular balancing and development since students are growing so quickly! Lip trills are done every music and choral class to build muscular mass and test flexibility safely, simultaneously encouraging proper breath flow. As coordination improves students build volume due to greater strength, which is a result of solid breath flow in balance with muscular resistance. Other warm-ups work to develop articulation, resonance, and intonation skills.
After warm-ups, students are challenged by some new music and sight-reading. This challenges students’ mental muscle and focus. Students learn to read solfege off of an unmarked score, understanding the tonal relationships between pitches in a given piece. This is a place where students can take all of the knowledge they have gained in the music classroom and in private lessons and apply it to their first instrument, the voice. Students often lead the discussion on how to approach the score and noting details we should see before we begin to sing. Students do a first reading, reflect on what needs work, work a problem spot, and endure through the new part again. The more students engage in the process, the more it furthers their sight-reading skills. There is a lot of ground to be covered from September to June for those that commit to the process wholeheartedly.
Next, students sing through repertoire they are currently polishing for performance. This may lead to talking about musical lines and where things are meant to go, or fixing some diction. This is the time for the voice to soar on material that feels known. It’s also the place to celebrate achievement. The rest of the rehearsal then fluctuates between material that is in the process.
The end of February is a powerful time. If you have a choral student, he or she may be noticing that chorus is getting easier or that there is a better grasp of what is musically happening. Rehearsal finished with a seventh grader raving about her love of Bach last week! Sight-reading that felt so impossible for a beginner in the fall, becomes something attainable and within grasp. The questions in class become more in-depth and advanced with sixth, seventh and eighth graders equally eager to join in the conversation. Music TAs look proud as their students answer questions their students didn't know they could a few months ago. And I get to revel in the excitement of it all. Yes, we will enjoy the celebration of all of the students’ achievements at each concert these coming months - but this is just a small piece of the largest accomplishment: the learning taking place in each rehearsal.