Welcome to Mgchoir !

Welcome to Choir!

Hello fellow MG Choristers!

This blog has just been restarted after a really long hiatus, and soon, it will become the main source of your choir information! For example, we will be uploading posts containing important information and videos very often so be sure to check it out at least once a day.

A very warm welcome to the Secondary Ones joining choir this year! The choir is both educational and enjoyable, and is definitely not for the faint hearted. To guide you through your Secondary one choir journey, here are some important things to note!

What does the MG Choir do?

• We make music together to the best of our ability, and have fun doing it!
• We have practice twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3pm-5.30pm and 3pm-6pm respectively.
• Report at 2.55pm in PE Attire at the Bamboo courtyard before practice starts.
• We have our runs before choir practice on both days. Runs take place from 3pm-3.30pm, where we play ball games or run around the school.. (Runs is compulsory unless you have a Permanent Medical Certificate)

What do individual Choristers have to do?

• Have a good attitude towards learning
• Attend practices and runs regularly
• Individual learning and taking responsibility in your learning
• Listen attentively to the conductors, Mr Albert Tay and Ms Ellissa during practice.
• Sing every piece of music to the best of your ability
• Always ask for help from your buddies or Section Leaders when necessary (They will be happy to help!)

Skipping choir practice for valid reasons:

• Inform your Section Leader if you have a valid reason for missing choir and hand in your MC or Parents Letter to your Section Leader during the next practice.
• If you have remedial or VIA please attend choir after your session ends.
• Tuition is not a VR and 0 attendance would be given.

Choir requirements:

• Attend at least three Choral concerts a year with fellow choristers.

• Have a black file for your scores, a water bottle and a pencil in hand during practice. Also, choristers are expected to get a choir journal to take down important dates or notes.

Important Events of the Year

• January :  - We welcome the Secondary Ones!

                            - Performance for the Supreme Judges at Fullerton Hotel

• March:  Choir Camp, 16th -17th (YAY!)

• April: - Collaboration with St Andrews Secondary school, 8th April

                     - Collaboration with Mg Strings for strings concert, 9th April

• June: Cantabile, 25th June (Our annual choir concert)

• July:  - Orientale Concentus Competition, 1st to 4th July

                     - Founder’s Day Ceremony

                     - Prefect’s Installation

• July onwards: Preparation for Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) for 2017.

We hope that your first choir practice has been fruitful and fun!

Always remember that the choir is one big family, and everyone plays an important role so perform to the best of your ability! Do not be afraid to ask questions when in doubt!

That’s all for now,  if you have any other questions that need any clarification, feel free to ask your seniors.

We are sure that all of you will have a great time through this amazing choir journey.

Managers of this blog:

Elizabeth Loke and Faith Yip

MGCHOIR secretaries

All about logistics for choir performances

Hi choir! :) This is post is about the logistics that is to be done before a choir performance. For your information, this was also a workshop-ish session conducted by Mr Tay for the choir. Happy reading! 

Logistics for choir performances

- everything must be done at least 2 weeks before the actual performance!

1. Attire

• ensure availability of spares (e.g. brooches, organza)
• gown check to be conducted as well: gown is not too tight, organza is not torn or burnt, properly, silver ballet flats looks okay (i.e. no parts of the flats should be peeling off)
• if one's attire is less than perfect, one will not be allowed on stage

2. Folders

• black ring files are to be used as performance folders
• folder should be non-glossy, should not reflect light
• it should be in plain back colour, without any markings or the rings popping out
• files check to be conducted before performance

3. Emcees

• assign 2 or more, preferably from different sections
• emcees are to be coached by teachers first
• script are to be vetted by teachers (on language and other stuff) and the conductors (on music stuff) at least 1 month in advance for proof-reading and checking

4. Stage logistics

• must be rehearsed by student leaders and teachers
• stage logistics include walking in and out, positioning on stage, stage manager to cue for starts (usually by teachers)
• sound control room on video and audio recording, and stage lightning
• preparation of tokens of appreciation
• Self-visualization by each choir member (sequence of songs, walking in and out)

5. Musical readiness

• Auditions to be held for pianists, soloists and octets
• Appoint more than 1 soloist, in case the original soloist is unable to perform on that day
• Octets: everybody in the octet should be able to sing the whole section by her own voice

Hope you find this helpful! :) For more information, please check your choir booklet and view Ankita's post (She's our ex-treasurer) on how to put on makeup, and Anthea's post on performance etiquette (She's our ex-secretary) (Thank you Ankita and Anthea! :) ) that's all for today. See you all soon! :)

-Wen Yi

Expectations of the MgChoir

Hello Choir! :) So these are the expectations of Mr Tay on us. Read them through and print a copy of this, or copy them into your choir journal (if you haven't done so) if you think that you might forget everything after you leave this webpage. Enjoy! :)

MGS Choir Expectations (Quality of a good choir)

1.Each and every choir member must have musical independence and good discipline:

• do the right thing even though nobody is around you
• open your mind and no judging on arts (music pieces, in this case)
• "Excellence is a habit. You can't switch it on and off" - Mr Tay

2. Remember the choir mission and values at all time.

3. All performances put up by the choir must be of high standards regardless of 

• the magnitude of the performance (i.e. be it an overseas choral festival competition or performing for our school's prefects' installation, we must maintain the same standard)  
• the circumstances you are performing in (i.e. even if the performance venue is very noisy and nobody is paying attention to us, e.g. in a pasar malam, we must perform to the best of our ability)
• who the conductor is  

4. Quality of a good performance

• professional behavior
• good characters: strong, powerful, confident, introspective, reflective
• visual aspects: body language (this shows the character of the musicians (us), hence showing how professional our behaviors are), facial expressions, mood

5. Sound-wise, take note of... (the aural aspects)

• diction (text pronunciation)
• prosody (rhythm, stress and intensity of words)
• dynamics
• coming in on time/ cutting off on time
• rhythm (keeping in time) 
• awareness and sensibility to others (following the conductor's gesture well)
• expression of music and phrasing (comes with understanding of text)
• projection of voice (vocal production)
• balance (balance of volume among the four sections)

6. Musicality-wise, take note of...

• intonation
• phrasing
• articulation

7. Technically...

• precision (entries and cut-offs must be together and accurate)
• resonance 
• spatial distribution
• positioning on stage (make sure that everybody has a window)

8. As for internalization and memorization...

• memorization should be done immediately after you have learnt the piece during choir session, without waiting for student leaders or conductors telling you to do so
• internalization should be done regardless of hoe foreign the language is, how difficult and piece is or how much you like/dislike the piece
• we should all exercise individual responsibility by self-revising old pieces and self-learning new pieces without being told to do so 

9. Ways to exercise individual musical independence

• from an individual level: soloists, pianists, and every choir members should know their stuff well enough to perform as a soloist 
• as a group: octets and main choir should possess the ability to self-run without conductors or student leaders around
• in terms of note-taking: notes taken must be detailed, systematic, and in pencils, not pens  

10. Last but not least, improve your vocal techniques!

• it is highly recommended to go for outside vocal technique lessons, especially so for members whose voices are not tall enough
• members' voice range should remain consistent and flexible at all times

Quote of the day: "think from other's perspectives, be considerate for people around you" - Mr Tay

So that's all for today. Also, do take the above listed expectations seriously, as the choir members, teachers-in-charge and the conductors are actually working as a team, hence the choir will only progresses well when we, the choir members, who make up the largest proportion in this team, exercise our individual responsibility as a good choir member. Quoting from Mr Tay (again), "a choir is only as strong as its weakest member", so let's live up to the expectations of our teachers and conductors and maximize our potential as a better choir! Yayy! :D

Love, Wen Yi

Types of Warm-ups by Mr Tay

Hey choir! :) This workshop on "warm-ups-that-we-can-do-as-a-choir-before-actual-choir-session-with-conductors" was conducted by Mr Tay too! 

Types of Warm-ups (vocal and Physical)

      ---------------it is unwise to sprint too much without proper warm-ups--------------

1. Rhythmic exercises on 'ta's,'ti's,'te's, etc.

for example: 

ta     ta     ti-ti      ta     ti-ti     ti-ti     ta-a

                   tim-te           ta             tim-te        tim-te        tim-te        tim-te     ta        ta

                   ti m-m ti       ti m-m ti      ta ti-ti       m ti m ti     ti m ti m-   -m-m-m ti                      

                            ti-ti-ti-ti  ti-ti-ti-ti     tre-o-la tre-o-la tre-o-la tre-o-la

2. Numbers warm-up

example: one, one-two-one, one-two-three-two-one, one-two-three-four-three-two-one, etc. on 'do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do-ti-la-so-fa-mi-re-do.

alternatives: 

• doted notes
• augmentation and diminuation
• metric transformation
• chance procedures
• the jigsaw puzzle (rearrange all the notes)

3. Back-slapping warm-up

• effective for waking up people
• tension=relaxation!

4. IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

the standard way to start warm-ups: start with the 'e' vowel, then the 'a' vowel, and finally the 'o' vowel.

(from the less resonant vowels to the more resonant vowels)

• e.g. by singing 'yah-yoh-yah-yoh-yah'

5. Be mindful of the compass of notes

compass of notes = range of notes suitable for warm-ups

• e.g. "m----" (like humming) helps to find the correct placement and resonance in our voice. 

For example, singing "mi-me-ma-mo-mu" helps us with our diction, and is able to exercise our mouth.

6. Placement of voice

it is important to find the format in a singer's voice too! 

7. Tessitura

this means the range where most of the notes are within the instrument's (in this case, our body) register.

• the ideal tessitura to warm-up is to start from the middle low range, then to the high range, and finally the low range.

Yup, so that's all for today. See you again soon! :)

-Wen Yi

Rehearsal Technique Workshop by Mr Tay

Workshop by Mr Tay

Hi guys! :) Sorry it took me so long to put this up... Anyway, here's the summary of the choral workshop Mr Tay conducted for us in January!

Rehearsal Planning and Rehearsal Technique for conductors

              --------Everybody in the choir can be a conductor------

1. Effective conductors must... 

• be perceptive assessors
• have clear objectives
• plan suitable (warm-ups) activities
• have good time management

2. Functions of rehearsal are to

• introduce/revise skills and techniques learned in the previous sessions
• learn music
• rehearse the technical and logistics stuff, e.g. acoustic check in the performance venue, walking in and out, "windows-finding")
• combination of any of the above

3. Stages of music preparation

• 1st stage: SIGHT-READING; get a taste of the music; read the music 1 line by 1 line; do not go into the details yet.
• 2nd stage: FAMILIARIZATION; must ensure that musical elements e.g. notes, text, dynamics have been inserted, and are well learnt.
• 3rd stage: POLISHING: look into the details; activate higher musical elements e.g. stage presence, expression, ensemble, intonation, tuning.

4. Suitable activities to be conducted by music leaders

• physical preparation e.g. stretching, vocal warm-ups
• mental preparation/musicianship training e.g. focusing games, literacy skills, intonation
• music familiarization/polishing

* do take care of percentage time spent on each activity! :)

5. Rehearsal planning

• Assess state of preparation
• Have clear objective
• Plan suitable activities
• Time allocation

* this can be done by constructing a table as shown below.

6. Rehearsal techniques

    There are two ultimate sets of rehearsal techniques that conductors can use flexibly, in     no particular order. Presenting the 'Yin's and 'Yang's of choir rehearsal techniques!  

  THE YINs

• visit the easier section(s) first
• visit the section(s) with repeating musical patterns first
• sweat out the details painstakingly
• progressively add layers
• avoid over reliance on the piano
• sing the piece faster than its actual tempo

  THE YANGs

• visit the challenging section(s) first
• visit the section(s) with a lot of variations first
• sweep the details under the carpet: get the big picture of the music first
• be ambitious and demand it all
• use more piano
• sing the piece slower than the actual tempo

7. Tips for conductors

• be demanding
• be kind
• develop senses and sensibility (be a trouble-shooting machine)
• be succinct and clear with your communication (e.g. visual cues, verbal communication)
• Voice your opinions and feedback aloud to the choir (state what was good, who/what could have been better, how can the choir get better, etc.)
• Insist on rehearsal discipline
• Be prepared for challenges and difficulties
• Always question self before others (e.g. was it my fault? Am I the one who caused this problem? Was I unclear in giving instructions? etc.)

Last but not least,

"Repetito est mater studiorum(Lat.)=Repetition is the mother of study (Eng.)"

So there you go! :) See y'all next time.
Love, 
Wen Yi

German Translation

Hi everyone! Abby Lee translated this for us:):) Pls take a look!

 

Lyn:)

 

Romanzen für Frauenstimmen mit willkürlicher Begleitung des Pianoforte

Schwirrend Tamburin, dich swing(e) ich, doch mein Herz ist weit von hier.

Whirring tambourine, I swing you, but my heart is far from here.

 

1. Tamburin, ach könnt(e)st du wissen, wie mein Herz von Schmerz zerrissen, deine Klänge würden müssen weinen um mein Leid mit mir. 

Tambourine, oh can you know, how my heart is torn by grief, thy sounds must have been crying with me over my suffering.

 

Schwirrend Tamburin, dich swing(e) ich, doch mein Herz ist weit von hier.

Whirring tambourine, I swing you, but my heart is far from here.

 

2. Weil das Herz mir will zerspringen, lass(e) ich hell die Schellen klingen, die Gedanken zu versingen aus des Herzens Grunde mir

Because my heart wants to burst, let me ring the bright bells, the thoughts to sing from the bottom of his heart to me

 

3. Schöne Herren, tief in Herzen fühle ich immer neu die Schmerzen, wie ein Angst ruf ist mein Scherzen, den mein Herz ist weit von hier

Handsome sir, deep in my heart I feel the pain again and again, as fear calls my pain, my heart is far from here.

 

Klosterfräulein

Ich armes Klosterfräulein, o Mutter! Was hast du gemacht! 

My poor miss monastery, O Mother! What have you done!

 

Lenz ging am Gitter vorüber, hat mir kein Blümlein gebracht.  

Lenz went over the fence, brought me no little flowers. 

 

2.  Ach wie weit, wie weit dort unten zwei Schäflein gehen im Thal! 

Oh, how far, how far down there do the two sheep go in the valley! 

 

viel Glück, ihr Schäflein, ihr sahet den Frühling zum erstmal! 

Good luck, their sheep, (sth sth) the spring for the first time!

 

3. Vöglein fliegen in Ruh! Viel Glück, ihr Vöglein, ihr fliegt der besseren Heimath zu! 

Bird flying alone! Good luck, you birds, you're flying home for the better!

 

Meerfey (‘Meer’ means sea, ‘fey’... well, in English it means fairylike)

 

Still bei Nacht fährt manches Schiff, Meerfey kämmt ihr Haar am Riff, hebt von Inseln an zusingen, die im Meer dort unter gingen

Still goes many a ship at night, Meerfey combing her hair on the reef, raises from islands to sing, went down there under the sea

 

Pupurroth, smarag den grün sieht’s der Schiffer unten blühen, silberne Paläste blinken, holde Frauenmienen winken.

Purple-red emerald green sees the skipper bloom below, flashing silver palaces, lovely faces waving.

 

Wann die Morgenwinde wehen, ist nicht Riff noch Fey zu sehen, und das Schiff lein ist versunken, und der Schiffer ist ertrunken!

 

When the morning winds blow, Fey is still not to be seen on the reef, and the ship is sunk, and the boatman is drowned!

Concert Etiquette

hey guys!

so after the dunman high disaster, what we all realised is that we desperately needed a lesson in concert ettiquette. so here it is: (btdubz: these rules apply to concerts in general, not just the ones like the one at dunman high)

1. Mind your time

Make sure that you arrive before the concert starts. This will give you enough time to find your assigned seat. Also, stay in your seat until the end of the performance. Standing up, wandering about or leaving the concert hall before the end of a performance is disrespectful.

2. Stay quiet*

This is the most important rule in concert etiquette. As best you can, avoid talking, whispering, whistling, singing along or humming to the music while the concert is ongoing so as not to distract other people. Listening attentively to the music and paying attention to the performers on stage will help you appreciate the concert more.

3. Stay still

Of course nobody expects you to sit perfectly still; however, stretching while you're seated, tapping your feet, cracking your knuckles or chewing gum are inappropriate. These actions also distract other viewers and the musicians themselves. Try your best to stay put while the concert is ongoing.

4. Alarm off *

If possible, leave items like cellphones and wristwatches with alarms at home. If you really need to bring these things with you, make sure to turn it off or set it to vibrate/silent mode before the concert starts.

5. Flashes off

Flash photography is usually not allowed during concerts. The reason behind this is the flash from your camera can distract the musicians. Other items like camcorders and camera phones are usually not allowed and may pose copyright violations.

6. Hold your applause

It is a common practice when watching  concerts to hold your applause until the end of a music piece. However, this might get confusing if you're unfamiliar with the piece being performed. Your safest bet is to clap when most of the audience starts clapping.

7. Take advantage of intermissions (if there are any)*

Concerts usually have intermissions; this is the time when it's OK to leave your seat. If you need to, you can go to the restroom, get a drink or a snack, or call someone on your cellphone during intermissions.

 

*-v.impt.

 

muacks,

Keets

 

PS, don't forget to check out the post on make up, for those who don't know how to do it.

PPS, don't forget about your gowns & shoes and brooches that we're supposed to bring tomorrow.

PPPS, GO PRACTICE YOUR SCORES

3 april 2013

Heylo guys!

So runs on wed was kinda bad because everybody kinda died at the halfway mark. Haha. (that was some totally insane speed!) However, considering that you guys actually ran, like really ran RAN, I think it wasn’t too bad actually. But you guys had fun right? That’s kind of the crux of everything.

Then was practice. Quoting Mr Tay,“Must chillax kay?” But not too much.

Warmups

physical warm-ups were quite ok, like people were really stretching. However, vocals weren’t that good. Ren Ai and Chrystie made us do the Gaudeamus Hodie exercise and Mr Tay told us to place our ‘s’es just before we sing the next word and he even demonstrated how it should be sung. But we still took a while before getting it. Can we aim for as few repetitions as possible next practice? pls? k thanks. Then after that he gave us a short talk on what we should be looking out for as singers and as artists. I won’t elaborate on this cos it should already be in your choir journals. That’s what they’re for.

Ave Maria

Vowel unification. this applies to all the sections. Mr Tay reminded us to do it again on wed. This isn’t something you can really work on unless you’re planning to go through and fix all the vowel pronunciations with your section one by one. (which is not impossible but very time consuming :P) So right now, the only thing we can do is to REMEMBER that we have to do. As well as to LISTEN out to how everybody’s singing their vowels. Lastly to ACTIVELY SING the same vowels every practice and every time you sing it (unofficial practices) so it’s wired into your brain. Also do not, I repeat, DO NOT do the fortepiano the first time we sing it!! most of the details should be in the second time we sing it. it’s cos it will cause more contrast because we’re starting off softly so if you cresc. or fortepiano it’s more obvious. And last thing, PLEAD for prayer for us sinners(ora pro nobis peccatoribus) and not DEMAND. You need to have the text in mind when you sing the song and inject the appropriate emotions at the appropriate times. That will totally bring out the meaning of the piece.

Ecce

Actually this sounded really good that day.  I could feel the ENERGY. OH YEAH! The sops and altos were blasting the ECCE CRUCEM DOMINI ECCE!! The solo group was AWESOME too! It sounded so SCARYYY!! Haha. Things to take note though: Solo group, the tempo is slightly off. Sometimes the solo sops come in slightly late, or else it’ll be the mezzos or altos who come in late. If possible, try to correct it? (OF COURSE it’s possible!) It already sounds great but im sure it’ll be *woahhhh* if everything is strictly and exactly in time. :D And sop 1s don’t freak out at your entry at section G. it’s super high and super crazy but if Mr Tay didn’t think you could handle it, he would NEVER have chosen that song (although it IS his song). Anyway, that is ay SUPER IMPT ENTRY! It’s a new day! The evil is GONE! So don’t freak out there.

There was once in Prague where the sops who were to open the first song of the four songs we were to sing freaked out and didn’t come in properly. As a result, the whole performance was terrible. You can hear the story from any senior who went to Prague.

Set Piece

It’s quite good already just maybe add in a bit more of the dynamics, tune the ending chords, watch out for ending consonants, vowel unification (yes this isn’t just for Ave), watch Mr Tay for speed and cut offs(when I mean watch I mean eyes GLUED on him the ENTIRE time), run through the stomping and tapping cos it’s a bit messy now and I think it’ll be quite perfect.

Lastly, Mr Tay said to add in the MGS SPARK when we sing ANYTHING. That will make the piece SPARKLE and STAND out than if you just sing it according to the score. to add a touch of UNIQUENESS and INDIVIDUALITY into the piece will make us DIFFERENT from the other choirs. That is the X-FACTOR that will lead us to APPROVAL from the judges in SYF!! So, with all this advice from our beloved and most esteemed conductors, LET’S GEAR UP FOR SYF!!

KIMIE

Performance things.

General performance prep:

Be mindful but don't be anxious. Visualise walking on stage, performing, walking offstage. Have the appropriate mindset, and the discipline. think of the details: dynamics, body positioning, mood. Be considerate to others - silence backstage. Stage awareness - quick walking, find your windows, position yourselves and adjust where necessary. Face the audience, not each other!

SYF:
Meeting time has yet to be announced, but we will be warmed up and ready to report at SOTA by 1.15, and we'll perform at 2pm.

Rows 1 and 2 will enter from Door 1 (closer to the audience), 3 and 4 from Door 2. Row 1 will be on the stage, 2, 3 and 4 on the risers, curving down onto the stage for the sides.

When notes are given, think about how you will sing the first bar. We'll sing the set piece, then Ecce, then Ave Maria - and we'll do it well!!!

After the end of the performance, we bow (3 seconds, hands on knees) and then walk offstage with ineffable grace and unflappable poise. Silently.

Rows 1 and 2 will exit towards the piano, 3 and 4 on the opposite side, down the stairs, into the audience seats. After 2 performances we will head back to school.

Further details will be announced later (such as when/where we're to meet in school etc) and if you want tickets for parents/family to watch, check with Lyn!

(:

See you all soon,

Anthea

17mar2013

Hello! Sorry this is so late.

For practice on 27 March we worked quite a bit on vowel unification, for both Ecce Crucem Domini and Ave Maria basically making sure that the choir blends together and sounds like one voice. It means we need to make a conscious effort to listen out and sound exactly the same as our neighbours, in terms of tone and colour. And an exercise for this would be "mee-mae-mah-mou-moo" on the same note for warmups.

Specific:

Ecce - In general, sops need to be more relaxed, less sharp and nasal and forced. Altos need to put in more energy and effort. Both of us should sound tall, dark and hollow, less bright, and have more space - drop jaws for "ah" vowels. When both the sop2s and alto1s sing "fugite partes adversae" their parts are meant to fit together, meaning we have to make EXTRA effort to match each other and have vowels and consonants that are absolutely together, meaning clean, precise rhythms. There will be some (intentional) clashes so stick to your parts! For "radix david" and "alleluia" there must be an audible change in dynamics. Decrescendo should only begin on "vid"  Some changes have been made to part B, I think, where we sing Crucem and then go to glissando-ing. Note: do NOT slide before Mr Tay signals. Also, changes have been made to the sop line at Mysterioso, on page 4. Check with your SLs for specifics and remember to channel this dude



General things to remember:

1. Vowel Unification (see above)
2. FOLLOW MR TAY - scores memorised or not we follow his beat and conducting. No matter what the composer has written, it is IMPERATIVE that whatever the conductor conducts, we follow.
3. Balance. yin/yang. equal mixture of tense and relaxed, etc.
4. Performance prep - will make a separate post on this.
5. If something has been said before, take note, do it, and don't waste time by having everyone repeat it again. If we do repeat something, it should only be so that we can make the second repetition better! (which we can, and we will.)
6. As a chorister you have a responsibility to the rest of us to be dependable so that we can rely on you and trust that you'll do your best! It's also our duty to sing well regardless of the performance, competition, or rehearsal -this is out of respect for the music.

Loosen up, guys. Don't be so tense during rehearsals, yeah? (: And don't overstrain yourselves with too many octet practices. Drink lots of water, the weather's been pretty crazy, take care of yourselves!!!

Love,
Anthea

13/03/13

HEY IT'S KEETS!

Okay. Lemme just start off by saying that today's practice was AMAZING. Really. Right from runs we were focused and determined and on task! Barely anyone walked and we managed to finish the entire 3 rounds around the school AND make it to practice early! The energy level was super high throughout the practice and even though it dropped a bit in the middle, we managed to pick it back up right after we RAN down to sing. I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope we can keep this up because it felt really really good right? Right. There were a few areas that we can still improve on, but judging from the efficiency with which we worked today, I think we can overcome these challenges. 

ON WITH BUSINESS

Warm-ups

So today we ran through WHY we do warm-ups and WHAT it does for us when we do these things.

Table and chair

We do this exercise to engage our core muscles so that we can project our voices when we sing. Also our core muscles look something like this. Just FYI. And please don't laugh at the picture. It was the best one I could find. *Sniff* 

Beating exercise

To energize ourselves if we're feeling groggy or tired or sleepy

The person getting slapped gets relaxed. (Or at least their muscles do)

And the person getting slapped gets stress relief. Kidding. Not really.

We then did the '1,1,2,1,1,2,3,2,1' warm-up in solfege. Kim made a section pulse the doh so that we could keep in tune and then Mr. tay introduced another warm-up to us, 'mi mae ma mo moo'. He said that this was to help with our diction, especially with our vowels. He also said that the 'm' before the vowel helps us place our voices better and starting with the 'I' vowel helps our voices sound more focused.

Practice

Practice itself was another half-lecture, half-practice. Today, Mr. Tay was teaching us how to ... sing la. What did you expect? How to cut up a whale? Pshh no.

sinceIi ASSUME most of you have taken down notes while Mr. tay was going through his slides, I’m not going to put anything up on the blog.

Ave Maria

MUSICALITY. for most of us who are in the main choir, we need to learn when we need to give way to the soloists and when we need to come out in our own parts. Mr. Tay went through this during practice, but if you need help, go look for your SLs! I’m sure they'd be glad to help!

at 'dominus tecum', don't do a fortepiano the first time we sing it through. it's only on the second time that we do that.

at the third line on the second page, remember to CLIMAX at the last ‘jesus’, which means getting more intense and slightly louder. 

please please go look at the translation provided by anthea on the previous post. I’ve mentioned this before but having the meaning of the text of the song in your head as you sing  is really really important especially when the song is in a foreign language. write it in your scores, yeah? have a look at the video on the previous post as well. it might help.

ecce crucem domini

sorry sops but this piece was pretty bad for us :( it's okay though! we can always improve, right? right. 

at mysterioso, the rhythm needs to be fixed and we can do this by subdividing. a lot.

at part F, please don't be afraid to come in! and be very deliberate when coming in. and please don't be late.

at the end of part G, we practiced the slowing down portion. subdivide and you should be able to get this part easily. 

unfortunately, this is the part where a lot of people switched off. it's also the part where Mr. Tay had to repeat himself over and over again just so that we could get this part. guys. I know it's been a long day and that you're really tired, but we cannot afford to switch off. it's way too close to SYF to be doing this. Kay? Kay.

announcements:

there will be SYF auditions during camp. not actual auditions mind you. it'll just be auditions to see where we're weak and how we can improve on these areas in our own small octets.

Miss Jenifer Tham will be coming down for a workshop tomorrow. BE NICE. there's been a change of venue to LT1 instead of the Audi.

bring PE attire. there WILL be runs.

for new members, bring your $12 tomorrow to give to your SLs

for everyone else, bring your choir fees tomorrow if you haven't already given them to your SL.

yup that's about it!

GREAT JOB TODAY GUYS! KEEP IT UP!

love,

ankita