Choir Lesson

Last week I had the opportunity to teach a 5-minute choir warmup in my grad class at UB. Unlike the prior week, when I taught a beginning clarinet lesson, I actually have experience in this field. In fact, I think that experience actually worked against me in this mock lesson! I know a number of standard vocal warm-ups that I can comfortably accompany on piano, and demonstrate clearly. I chose a basic melodic exercise that focuses on 5 syllables (ee, eh, ah, oh, oo) and it went well, as I expected. The students met my objectives by 1. being able to memorize the exercise and 2. sing from one starting pitch (without exact melodic accompaniment).

After participating in lessons from the others in class, I realized that there are many more things I could be doing in my warm-up routine at school. Some of these were physical exercises, melodic exercises that were new to me, and harmonic exercises. I realized that I've been in a comfortable routine of warming-up my small choir at school with mostly the same exercises. Although those usual warm-ups are valuable, it's important that I explore more options that will help my students grow and prepare in rehearsal.

I am currently enjoying a long spring break from teaching, but look forward to getting back to my vocal ensemble with a number of fresh ideas. It should be interesting to see how this will effect their level of focus during rehearsal - I'm thinking it will benefit them greatly. I am inspired by the short lessons from my classmates and will do my best to pass that inspiration along to my students!