30 January 2013:

Hello choir! It's ANTHEA here.

Okay so today we had a choir briefing. Hopefully everyone's clear on expectations and requirements, yea? You should also know the proper procedures if you need to be excused from practice by now. If you  got lost/ are still kinduv confused about things, do check the choir booklet that was printed for you.

There's also some information on rehearsal etiquette etc that you should at the very least skim through. Remember to bring it for every practice! Someone's already left theirs in the chapel today - if it's you, get it from Ankita. Label your booklets and don't lose them please.

Also remember A4:
[in order of importance]

Attendance
Attitude
Ability
Auditions.

So today we had a mini-workshop on how rehearsals work, and then put all the things we learnt into practice when we actually, uh, practiced. Our music, that is. We worked on the last 2 pages or so of the set piece, and cleaned up the consonants on, "Looking to that place, moving to a greater stage."

We need to remember to have crisp consonants, especially on the downbeats, so it should sound like "Looking to that place, moving to a greater stage." Also, put the 's' right before 'moving' so it sounds like Smoving to a greater staaaaaage. Also please remember when to do ending consonants, and the work we did on the dynamics - if unsure, check with your seniors/SLs!! It's important!!

Emphasis should be on moving lines, and when we sing in unison it's important that we're VERY TOGETHER. Like, MORE TOGETHERER. As in. Making a conscious effort to match with other parts and listening to them!

Things for you to do/remember!

- google IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
- begin to internalise and memorise the set piece
- when pushing the pews back into place, please take note that there are markers on the floor for the pews to be aligned to.
- practice on the 13th Feb (Wednesday after CNY) is cancelled as it is an official school holiday.
- because we had such a productive rehearsal today, tomorrow's sectionals are cancelled!! woohoo!!!

As Mr Tay said, sectionals will only be held when they're necessary, and there is something that needs to be worked on. Today's rehearsal was a good one, and I really hope we keep this up, and improve!

Good job!

-anthea

Friday (26/1/13) practise

Hey guys !!!
Its me again, my second post this year. I hope that the first one was of help, especially for those who were unable to make it.

This is what we did:

For warm ups (and this is really helpful to fix rhythmic problems)

We used the tune of Frere Jacque (Are you sleeping brother john)
that goes like this...


(1     2     3     4 )  (1   2      3    4) ...
Are you sleeping, are you sleeping?
Brother John, Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing
Ding dang dong, ding dang dong.

...and clapped the 4/4 rhythm ...
 1  2  3  4

1+ :  "slap" your left thigh

2+: "slap" your right thigh

3+: clap your hands in front of your chest

4+: do the "macarena" , use your right hand to touch your left shoulder and vica versa


and attempted to sing the tune to an offbeat rhythm ---I'll get back to you on that, 'cause I'm not very clear myself


then we sang 4 different variations in canon.

Next, for practice itself...

We spent most of our time correcting rhythmic problem for the set piece, Singapore Our Home

Focal points:
Bar 10-15--- we worked on both the alto and sop parts

Main concept; SUBDIVIDE that's the trade secret for really clean, precise rhythms
Count-sing in semiquavers (thats how it looks like)


So an example would be
using the SOP 1 part------ "one/1" represents 1 semiquaver

12    1    12       12      12        12     123
ci  - ty    lights    will     guide    our    way

1         1           12       1          12    12    12      12   123 
down   these   streets   we've   me - mo - rised   by   heart

12        12          1      123        12    12     1    12345
where   dreams   are   shaped   our   lives   re - made

I hope you understand what I mean... the numbers above the words tell you how long to hold each note. You can apply the same concept to your own part. You may also want to use a metronome to check that you are singing in the right speed.

Bar 18-19--- for all sections since we are singing to the same rhythm
So, depending on what you are singing, another way to count-sing  is by counting in

1 e & a     2 e & a     3 e & a     4 e & a

Below is the subdivision :

1 e      &      a 2       e &     a 3 e &    a 4     e & a    1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

Red    and    white    the      moon       and    the        stars

The characters in pink refer to the change in notes for the sop 1s. What I wanted to point out using this example is that while singing the subdivisions you must be aware when you have a change in note okay?



That's the "dirt" for the set piece. Practice makes perfect , so don't give up if you can't master it now!
It's a little outdated but we were tasked to memorise the set piece by 30/1/13, still try to start now if you haven't already done so.
I know the deadlines may be quite tight, but first of all believe that you can do it. A positive attitude and mindset will make the seemingly impossible possible! Moreover, by memorising the piece as soon as possible you are really helping yourself: you can avoid stumbling during page turns, and Mr Tay can work on the finer details more easily.



Just a summary of the rest of practice...
For Ave Maria, (sung in  sofage)
Ms Tham (PW) said that the notes and rhythm were impressive (yipee, you guys deserve it!).

All we needed to do was to add in the dynamic contrasts
- highlight/circle on your score please!

and phrasing (messa de voce)

messa de voce--- (Italian, placing the voice) is a musical technique that involves a gradual crescendo and decrescendo while sustaining a single pitch.^[1] That is, a note is sung at a very quiet volume, gradually and smoothly made louder until it reaches a high volume, then similarly made quiet again.)

Ecce
Also well done .
One thing I learnt is that the purpose of us stamping the pulse, is for internalising it.
Actually once you've internalised it, stamping should come naturally.

Hope that helps
Love, April

our first Thursday practice 2013!!!

Its April, the "good"!
I'm quite new to posting "what we did during rehearsals" so through the course of the year, do guide me along... (●⌃ٹ⌃)

Sectionals

So, basically what we did from 3-4pm was split up to have sectionals. I'll start off by writing what my section, the first 'soppies' did during our sectionals .

Soprano 1s

Hey sop 1s,
today what we covered Ecce Crucem Domini section B to E, SYF set piece, Singapore Our Home and Ave Maria (Angelus Domini). Huai-Jin lead us today | (• ◡•)| (❍ᴥ❍ʋ)

Musical Details (what we did)
ECCE CRUCEM DOMINI

1. As you know it, the sop 1s have never really had a very good sense of pulse... so, today when we ran through Ecce, we decided to stomp-clap the 6/8→2/4 →9/8→ 4/4 rhythm

translated into sticks and "+" : 1++ 2++, 1+ 2+, 1++ 2++ 3++ , 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+

Firstly, half of us stomp-clapped the rhythm while the other half of us whispered the Mysterioso section (page 4, 1st system ---aka stanza, 5-8 bar) 

Next, we exchanged roles and those who beat the rhythm previously whispered the text. 

The whole point of this exercise was to try to instill a common pulse in all soppies. We didnt use a metronome though...

2. Next, we worked on the start of section B the rhythmic "fugite partes adversae" whisper leading into Mysterioso. One problem we faced was not knowing when to come in for Mysterioso.

How we fixed it: Huai-Jin sang the sop 2 part for us to use as a reference point.

A point to note: how to enter correctly;

(1) we enter at the same time when the alto 2s sing "gi", so start to prepare for our entry after you hear them sing "Fu" at Mysterioso

(2) count the upbeat to our entry (a.k.a 6/8 rhythm: 1++ 2++, beats in red refers to the entry of "fu")

 3. Lastly, we worked on section C. 

This section is generally well sung, JIA YOU'S to everyone!!! Continue giving your best juniors, you're doing good ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

Problem spots: accidental at page 4, 2nd system, 2nd bar

The accidental does not interrupt the rhythm of "te",  that means "te" should still be on the (1++ 2++ 3++ 4++)







Next up will be the sop 2s followed by alto 1s and alto 2s sectionals. I owe this section to the efficient, enthusiastic section leaders of all sections. Thank you everyone!!!

Soprano 2s

Heyy sop 2s! 
Danke (german) Ren Ai and Chrystie for leading sectionals !
This section is done by Ren Ai;
Okay, during sectionals we covered Ecce Crucem Domini and ran through the syf piece, Singapore our home.

Musical details (what we did)
ECCE CRUCEM DOMINI
1. We stamped + clapped the rhythm of part B to the end of part D
(page 4 to page 5, first system)

We didn't have time to stamp the best for part E, though we did sing through it and made sure people knew the rhythm and notes

Problem faced:
We get confused when we have to coordinate the stamping of the rhythm while singing. (Mr Tay wants us to stamp)





Solution: I guess we have to practice on our own at home.
You could try to use Mr Tay's method of downloading a metronome app on your phone, or on your computer (whichever is more convenient), set it to 90bpm in quavers and count! (clap on strong beats and tap on the weak beats;
e.g 1++ 2++ , 1+ 2+ , 1++ 2++ 3++ , 1+ 2+ 3+ 4+
red beats represent strong beats- clap, black represents weak beats-tap)

Remember excellence is not an act but a habit, so you have to consciously keep working on these weaker spots for mastery!

• If you are using an i phone, I recommend that you use this app called 'Metronome' by Steinway & Sons

After Ecce, we sang through the syf piece to make sure that everyone knew their notes and rhythm. We fixed some note problems as well.

Alto 1s:

Jane helped me out with this section ╰( ^ ㅂ ^)╯ Thank you!!!

Hiyaa alto 1s,  this is what we did during sectionals,
we managed to go through Ecce Crucem and Ava Maria and the set piece,

For Ecce Crucem,  
we worked on sections B to E for Ecce Crucem Domini with text and some dynamics put in.We also practiced coordinating singing with stamping our feet on the main beats of each bar.

Tips: 
It really helps to draw ARROWS on the main beats so you know when to stamp, especially since the time signature  changes rather often

•  You can use the suggestion I gave earlier for the soprano 2s, draw the arrows on the beats in red

For the set piece, 
we worked on some tuning and rhythmic problems. 
We also worked on enunciating the consonants and putting the s's and t's before the next word. 

• For example "rests" in bar 7

Lastly, for Ave Maria,  
we just went through the piece and worked on dynamics.


Something to work on during the weekends/ for the next week ahead 
(if you are facing problems):
Enunciation --- try to think through when you need to place the consonants. 
Using "rests" as an example, after "re" you need to place the first "s" before "t (te sound)" and the second "s" after "t". That would mean that you can't combine both "s" 's and ignore the "t".

• If you do need extra help, do approach your section leaders, we are always there to teach you guys. You don't need to feel embarrassed or scared; we don't bite.
• Alternatively, you can check out an online dictionary's audio recording of the word to be doubly sure that you're pronouncing the word correctly. I recommend the "Cambridge Learner's Dictionary".

Don't be discouraged if you can't seem to get it correct now, learning is a journey and 'failure is only an opportunity to more intelligently begin again'~ Henry Ford

Alto 2s:

Danke to Rui Jun and Kim who helped me with this portion! ( ˘ ³˘)♥ hehe

A high five to all Alto 2s, keep fighting to do your best!
What we did was to run through all three pieces: Ecce, Ave Maria and the set piece.

ECCE- stamp clap clap 

Stamp the main beats and clap the subdivisions. 
It helps to clean up the rhythm which is very messy right now. 
Also remember to count during the rests, cause the "sae" in B still comes too early



Set Piece-Problem spots ( don't be disheartened, they are just opportunities to learn)

Bar 10 rhythm is still off for some people, 
Newbies 人◕ ‿‿ ◕人, you're almost there! Just remember to learn your parts at home okay?

One observation is that some people who are not so sure of their parts, follow behind others, making them late and out of tune.

What we need to work on: 
(1) cut at "home" (bar 15)
(2)hold the "streets" (bar 11) for the full crotchet count

AVE- We practiced the last page
On the whole, juniors jia you! 
Familiarise the last page because there are still quite a number of stumbling over notes that we have worked on during previous practices.

We also ran through the solo part. It was better than the choral part (GOOD JOB!)




｡◕ ‿ ◕｡ General comments for our combined practice:
The syf set piece was well done,only some rhythm problems present. Remember to count during the rests to know your entries!
Ecce was well done too. Good job everyone!
Ave Maria, the notes and rhythm are in place (wohoo!) but on the whole, the piece sounds quite flat due to a lack of dynamic contrasts/shape.

Practice 0n the 18th and 23rd

HEY IT'S KEEEETS!

warm-ups: okay. I’ve forgotten all about last Friday’s warm-ups, unfortunately, but I do remember today's! basically what we've found is that we're pretty airy and not focused enough. so what can we do to combat this? glad you asked! (insert cheesy smile and thumbs-up) we can put our fingers along the top of our cheekbones with our fingertips on the bridge of our nose because this magically makes us sound more focused. I really don't know why. if someone can come up with an explanation why, put it in the cbox.

then we broke up into our sections for sectionals and section bonding and since I don't know what happened during the other section's sectionals I’m just going to tell you what happened when we combined.

ecce: so we basically haven't really touched the first part. not combined anyway. I know sop 2s have already started, because we're awesome (amirite?) but I don't really know about the other sections. so the part we have learnt is from B till E.

 and you know that there's a translation on the back page of the score, right? go write it down in your score. just scrawl it all over the place if you want. just make sure it's there. this is really helpful 'cuz when you're singing, you'll see the meaning of the text and you'll kind of get reminded of it while you're singing and you can try and get the mood(?) of the text into whatever you're singing. this is really important especially when you're singing in a foreign language you tend to forget the meaning 'cause you're just trying to get the pronunciation right and focus on the other stuff as well.

 and if you haven't already guessed, we've put in the text for the parts mentioned above. sops be careful of rhythm, make sure you've got a suuuuper steady sense of pulse and draw sticks if you need to. if you don't know how to draw sticks, go ask your seniors. 

sidebar: did you notice that at part E, the alto and sop lines are kind of symmetrical around the mezzo part? yeah I didn't either. Mr. Tay mentioned it during practice, which was the only way I could have seen it.

ave Maria: today, we practiced the pronunciation of the words again and also re-learnt the alto solo part at the beginning of the piece. if you need a guide to Latin pronunciation, here it is:http://www.mgchoir-.blogspot.sg/2012/10/practice-on-231012.html

(USE THIS FOR ECCE AS WELL)

there are a few changes, of course, since this is German Latin. I think I covered emphasis on my last post so go refer to that if you need to. 'c' is pronounced as 'ts' and when there's an 'I' after 't' it's pronounced as 'ts' again.

Info on Franz Biebl: 

Biebl was born in Pursruck, now part of Freudenberg, Bavaria, in 1906. He studied composition at the Musikhochschule in Munich. Biebl served as Choir Director at the Catholic church of St Maria in München-Thalkirchen from 1932 until 1939, and as an assistant professor of choral music at the Mozarteum, an academy of music in Salzburg, Austria, beginning in 1939, where he taught voice and music theory.

Biebl was drafted into the military beginning in 1943 during World War II. He was a prisoner of war from 1944 to 1946, being detained at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan. After the war, he moved from Austria to Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany, where he served as director of the town chorus.

Singapore our home: we only really ran through the piece actually. the rhythm was pretty terrible actually and there were a lot more things that we need to work on that I can't remember right now but good news! we're going to work on them during sectionals tomorrow! yay! 

announcements: please go fill up the contact list. I’d aimed to get everybody's contact info by this Friday and share it with the teachers by then too. BUT FINE. since that's not going to happen, by next Wednesday EVERYTHING must be filled up. if you don't I’ll just assume that you live in a Timbuktu cave. OR. I’ll get creative and put your names up on the blog. YOUR MOVE.

if you haven't written your well wishes for Janine, come to my class and write or just look for me during choir whenever there's a break

MR TAY SAID THAT TODAY'S REHEARSAL WAS REALLY GOOD AND THAT HE WAS REALLY HAPPY WITH OUR PROGRESS! WOOHOO! I'M REALLY PROUD OF YOU GUYS!

Love, Keets

16 JANUARY!

HI GUYS IT'S ANTHEA!

I'll be helping Ankita out with choir blog posts from now on!! This is your cue to cheer loudly and clap!! Woohoooo!!!! okay okay anyway.

What we did on 16 Jan - worked on Ecce Crucem Domini and Ave Maria. Mr Tay led warmups.

Warmups:

remember the tuning work that we did, and remember to put in each new instruction as we go along. It's also really really really important to have a good sense of pulse, to not switch off during warmups (AND PRACTICE TOO OK) and to sing together, yeah?

Ecce Crucem Domini:

TERMS TO GOOGLE: Passacaglia, Ostinato. We learnt most of part B, and tried to put in some of the ad libbing. Remember the rhythms that we practiced.

Ave Maria:

Everyone is to learn the trio solo! Also, emphasis should be on the moving parts! We managed to go through the trio part for the whole piece today.

Please make sure that you put in everything you learnt from this practice from now onwards. If any one still doesn't have scores, please approach Ankita! As Mrs Liow announced during practice there's also going to be practices on 24/1, 31/1, 14/2, 7/3, 14/3, and 28/3.

And for all new members, if you haven't already done so, send your contact info to your SLs.  Bring a set of PE attire for every choir practice, get a file for your scores, and a choir journal to record things during practice. I hope y'all don't feel too intimidated or anything.If you ever need help, feel free to approach any of us, and/or your buddy!

♥
anthea

Practice on 11/1/13

Hey guys!

So on Friday, we learnt a new piece called Ave Maria. (How many songs do have that start with ave? 2? 3?) AND WE MANAGED TO LEARN THE ENTIRE PIECE ONCE AGAIN!

Which is, quite obviously, awesome. Well, not the entire piece. We managed to learn all the choral bits and the solo bits before the other solo part. Wait. That didn't make sense. Lemme try again. We learnt the solo bits for verses 1 and 2. After we learnt the notes for the first 2 verses, we put in the text and made sure to underline the syllables that we were supposed to emphasise. FYI, for German Latin (which is the language this piece is in) here are the general rules:

Emphasis is placed on the 1st syllable if the word's got 2 syllables
For 3-syllable words, if the last syllable's got a 'u' in it, then the emphasis is placed on the last syllable of the word. If not, then it's on the first syllable of the word.

These rules are pretty general and not hard and fast, I think. There are exceptions, for example, Dominus. It's a 3-syllable word with a 'u' vowel at the end, but the emphasis is placed on the 1st syllable. So yeah.

Just a gentle reminder to those whom this is applicable: please write stuff down in your choir journal. Or, if you didn't bring it, on your score(s). It'll help you remember whatever the conductors said during practice for future practices :)

Lotsa love,
Ankita

2nd practise for the new year, 11/1/13!

Hi guys,
This is one thing that I have learned from the 11 January practice yesterday.  What have you learned?

Love, April