Solfa Sounds

On Herding Cats and High School Musicians

Joel Snyder — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 20:15:05 +0000

I have seen several of my classmates from college get music-teaching positions in schools that actively promote and support the arts. They get the advantage of receiving experience in a nurturing and music-loving environment. I grew up in a school like this. Participation in the arts was a given, not the exception.

Unfortunately, not all schools are like this. So, the question comes, how do you inspire teenagers to work towards musicianship in a tougher environment? I have wrestled with this question, and I would like to share some thoughts with you.

First, you need to recognize that many students do not have the passion for music that you do. Many are participating because they are bored, are forced to by their parents, or because they like you. The minute that motivation disappears, they will leave your choir. This is a fact of life. Do not be too distressed by it.

Second, you cannot force someone to love music. You can only do your best to encourage them to develop their talents. This takes love and hard work. Sometimes, they will not appreciate your love and hard work. Do not take it personally.

Third, it is extremely gratifying to see a student or choir really get the whole music-experience thing. They will actually work hard and be willing to do what you tell them to do. They will improve dramatically. But ultimately, this is not something you can force. Be willing to see students you have invested love, time, and effort in leave your group.

Fourth, do your best to foster an environment that encourages students to participate. For example, this semester, my choirs will be having hoodies made as well as taking trips of various kinds.

Not only should you have fun, but you should encourage your students to be the best musicians they can be. Your job is to teach music. Ensembles are only a vehicle to accomplish this goal. If you are not taking time during class to teach sight-reading and vocal skills, then you are not doing your job. This is true no matter how good your group is.

All in all, teaching can be a rewarding experience. However, it is always tricky working with students. People can make you feel good, and they can also let you down. It is your choice how you respond. My father used to say, “Be careful you don’t get the devil into you while trying to get the devil out of somebody else.” Don’t let your response to how someone treats you cause you to have a sinful reaction (anger, depression, etc.) Instead, use this as an opportunity to work with those who really care and want to learn.

First Bel Canto Performance

Joel Snyder — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:22:23 +0000

Yesterday, I sang in my first concert with the Bel Canto Company, a professional chorus here in the Greensboro area. It was a real treat to sing with this amazing choir, and it has certainly been a long time since I have been challenged with hard (yet fulfilling) music. Dr. Welborn Young is an excellent conductor. I was constantly challenged by his keen ear. Also, the repertoire was quite fun to sing.

Very often as a strong singer, I have to hold back my voice in order to blend and balance with other choir members. This was not the case in this choir. There were so many soloist-level singers in Bel Canto! Here is the program that we sang for the American Guild of Organists Region IV Convention:

Rytmus (Ivan Hrusovsky)

Lux Aurumque (Eric Whitacre)

Der Geist hilft unsrer schwackheit auf, BWV 226 (J.S. Bach)

Let the People Praise Thee, O God (William Mathias)

The Old Church (Stephen Paulus)

Spirituals from Harlem Songs (Gwyneth Walker)

Elijah Rock (Moses Hogan)

Twa Tanbou (Sydney Guillaume)

Past Life Melodies (Sarah Hopkins)

Stomp Your Foot from The Tender Land (Aaron Copland)

Sure on This Shining Night (Morten Lauridsen)

Saint Louis Blues (W.C. Handy, arr. Hall Johnson)

Jr./Sr. High Concert Spring 2011

Joel Snyder — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:20:13 +0000

Well, here is my last program for the year. We did some fun pieces this year. My jr. high students really enjoyed singing It Don’t Mean a Thing (if It Ain’t Got That Swing) by Mac Huff. Alleluia, We Are Not Alone, and Lord, Here Am I were crowd-pleasers. I really tried to give my students a good variety of songs. Anyway, here it is:

The Gift Of Love (Spring Concert)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I. The Love of Creation

This Is the Day (Mark Hayes)

Sr. High Band and Choir

Salmo 150 (Ernani Aguiar)

This Is My Word (Pepper Choplin)

Sr. High Choir

I Am the River (Amy Bernon)

It Don’t Mean a Thing (Arr. Mac Huff)

Jr. High Choir

II. Love of Each Other

Come and Trip It (G. F. Handel)

Koehna Jordan, Soloist

Nein Geliebter from Neue Liebeslieder (Johannes Brahms)

Barter (Rene Clausen)

Sr. High Ladies Ensemble/Marla Young, 2nd Piano

Fanfare on A Mighty Fortress

Angie Rush and Sarah Cummings, Pianos

III. Love of God

Alleluia (Jan Reese)

Here I Am, Lord (Arr. Jack Schrader)

Jr. High Choir

We Are Not Alone (Pepper Choplin)

Sr. High Choir

My Song Is Love Unknown (Edwin Childs)

Sr. High Ladies Ensemble

Yes, My Jesus Loves Me (Mary McDonald)

Sr. High Choir

Lord, Here Am I (John Ness Beck)

Jr. & Sr. High Combined Choirs

Elementary Spring Concert 2011

Joel Snyder — Fri, 06 May 2011 03:22:17 +0000

I just finished another concert. Here is the Elementary Program. It was entitled Bless the Lord! I had some very fun pieces which I would recommend to anyone. Let me just introduce my groups. They all meet once a week for 30 minutes. The first group is the 3rd Grade Ensemble. It meets halfway through each semester and learns a song for the concert. The second is the Elementary Singers (4th Grade). Elementary Chorus (5th-6th) is my unauditioned general chorus. I had a 53 students this year! Elementary Ensemble (16 fifth and sixth graders) is my select ensemble. Overall, I had a very enjoyable year with my elementary students. They had just great enthusiasm.

Prelude

Musette (Johann Sebastian Bach)

Lane Young, Piano

Song of the Sahara (Kevin Olson)

Alyssa Williams and Madison Chambers, Piano

One Song (Dave and Jean Perry)

3rd Grade Ensemble

Cantabo: A Song of Praise (Jerry Estes)

Bless the Lord (Andrew Carter)

I. Badgers and Hedgehogs

II. Butterflies and Moths

III. Grannies and Grandads

Elementary Singers (4th Grade)

Collection (Louise Herriage)

Beautiful Dreamer (Stephen Foster)

Tiffany Kurian and Maddie Wood, Piano

Sonatina in G (Ludwig van Beethoven)

Shu Xin Chen, Piano

The Little Horses (Aaron Copland)

Sierra Ferguson

Zion’s Walls (Aaron Copland)

Molly Boren

Little Firefly (Larry Schultz)

Ose Shalom (John Leavitt)

Elementary Ensemble (5th-6th Grade)

Al Shlosha D’Varim (Allan Naplan)

For the Beauty of the Earth (John Rutter)

Elementary Chorus (5th-6th Grade)

Solfa Lesson Plan (Ti)

Joel Snyder — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:16:48 +0000

Here is an outline of my lesson plan for ti. I have used this lesson for two years now, and it seems to work. I hope it is of some benefit to you.

I teach ti after I teach fa. What this means is that you should look to my previous post for more context. You should also realize that the student needs to have a good understanding of whole steps and half steps. I have shown this to them with an excellent illustration from Lois Choksy’s book Kodaly Method I ( p. 81). They need to understand that half steps are the smallest amount of space between two notes that we have in Western (I say “American”) music.

Greeting Portion (5 Minutes)

Have the class sing I’s the By in preparation for compound meter in later grades.

High Concentration (10-15 Minutes)

Have class sing For the Beauty of the Earth. Point out ti. I tell them that just like “fa” is closer to “mi” than it is to “sol,” so “ti” is closer to “do” than it is to “la”. This is why the “fa” handsign points down to “mi” and the “ti” handsign points up to “do.” We listen to it on the piano and sung. We learn that “ti” is a half step away from “do.” We practice “ti” by singing our song in solfa.

Change of pace (5 minutes)

Class plays one of the many games that we have learned so far. Currently, the song-game “We’re Floating Down the River” is quite popular.

Moderate Concentration Portion (5 minutes)

Class sings O How Lovely Is the Evening in canon. This is a great canon for part-singing.

Well, there you have it. Another hopefully useful lesson plan for you. I actually enjoy teaching “fa” and “ti.” The students enjoy learning them because they are tougher concepts. Please understand that it will take a while before your students will be able to sing “fa” and “ti” with complete accuracy. The smaller spacing (half steps) can be tricky.

Carrots and Sticks: Motivating the Elementary Choir

Joel Snyder — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:01:31 +0000

Elementary choir rehearsals can be some of the most rewarding rehearsals of a music teacher’s day. This is true because elementary students are some of the most transparent of the age groups. They can be unashamedly enthusiastic. I can’t tell you how many times my day has been made better after one of my elementary rehearsals. However, even with their enthusiasm, one of the biggest issues I have found is that of motivation. Some days, the choir is just more interested in chatting with each other than they are in singing. Motivation can be especially hard when you have a lot of them.

This year, my elementary chorus (5th and 6th grade) is 50+ students. And it has been very difficult to keep them focused and to accomplish tasks. I only get them one day a week for 30 minutes, and there never seems to be enough time to get everything accomplished.

I did learn a neat trick, however. This trick has made all my elementary choirs do better. I started to use. . .wait for it. . .candy. I know this is just astounding to all of you out there. I never said I was trying to reinvent the wheel:).

I created a system whereby they are rewarded, not as individuals, but as a choir. This is important, for choirs are corporate, not individual. Everything is connected. One misbehaving student may ruin the experience and musical growth of another.

The system is as follows: If my students, as a choir, earn less than 6 tallies in two weeks, they all get candy. They receive tallies for talking, not paying attention, and not trying. One student may earn a tally for the whole choir. The reason for this is simple. Choirs are only as strong as their weakest musician. A weak musician may not always be the least talented. I would rather have a less-talented, highly-motivated student than a highly-talented, less-motivated one. It is the choir director’s job to make sure the students are all giving as close to 100% as possible.

This system creates a culture that is rewarded for focused, intentional behavior. The penalties are generated by the students, and peer pressure is positive. Even with this system in place, however, sometimes there comes a need for more individual punishment. That punishment should be very clear and direct, and will be the standard punishments used at your school. In my case, the punishment is the student being issued a “demerit.” If that student earns a significant amount of demerits in my classes and rehearsals, I send them down to the principal’s office. My elementary principal definitely has the ability to reach students’ hearts. I also contact parents when the need arises.

I hope these methods will help you in your own classes. They have been of immense help to me. I would also say that I have still not found the perfect balance of rewards and punishment. I am still learning when it comes to discipline. The ideas are not original, but they are effective. If you have trouble in your music classroom/rehearsal, I recommend that you try these and see if they work for you.

Teaching to the Choir: Thoughts on Educating Choirs

Joel Snyder — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 01:39:26 +0000

Recently, I have been considering some new blog posts for this site. Here is the first in a series on my thoughts about choirs. I hope to address some topics that are commonly talked about in the choral profession in general, as well as those that are not so commonly spoken about. I would also like to talk about the Christian choral profession in particular. Specifically, what is our goal? What specific steps can be taken to reach that goal? How important is unison singing? How do we survive the lean years? How do we motivate volunteer elementary choirs? Should Christian conductors actively participate in secular organizations such as the ACDA or OAKE, or should we stay in our groups and competitions? Does solfege really work? I will do my best to answer these questions and more in the coming weeks and months.

Elementary Christmas Program December 2010

Joel Snyder — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:59:01 +0000

Well, as promised, here is my Elementary Christmas Program from this year. I was really pleased with how well my elementary students did this year. Their tone has been improving dramatically.

Prelude
We Three Kings…………………..John H. Hopkins
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen…………Trad. Carol (3rd Grade Recorders)
I
One Bright Star……….………………Lloyd Larson (3rd Grade Ensemble)

O Sing a Song of Bethlehem………..Arr. Joel Snyder (3rd Grade)
A Midnight Clear…………………………………arr. Mac Huff (4th Grade)
God of Great and God of Small………Natalie Sleeth
We Sing Noel…………………..Arr. Donald Moore (Elementary Singers)
Offering…………………………………Scott Kurtz
We Three Kings…….Arr. Randall and Nancy Faber (Skylar and Weston Moore, Piano)
II
All Things Bright and Beautiful………..John Rutter
This Joy…………………………………….Bob Chilcott (Elementary Chorus)
Once in Royal David’s City…..…Arr. Larry Carrier (5th Grade)
We Will Sing for Joy…..….…Arr. Helenclair Lowe
Noel, Noel……………………..arr. Linda Spevacek (Elementary Ensemble)
Good Christian Men, Rejoice……Arr. Joan Pinkston (6th Grade)
Who Would Send a Baby?……………Mary Kay Beall (4th, 5th, and 6th Grade Combined)

Jr./Sr. High Christmas Program December 2010

Joel Snyder — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:03:53 +0000

Well, it certainly has been a while since I last posted here. It has been a momentous year, and I have been very, very busy! However, I do plan to write some new posts. First, here is my Jr./Sr. High Christmas Christmas Program for this year. I also had the opportunity to take my Jr. High Students to the Four Seasons Mall this year for a joint performance with the Jr. High Band.

I
Deck the Hall..………………Arr. Mark Patterson
Gentle Mary, Tender Mary……….Jay AlthouseSusan Chen, Piano
My Favorite Things………………Arr. Mac Huff

Jr. High Choir

Lo, How a Rose……………….. MichaelPraetorius
Come See the Baby…………..…….JayAlthouse

Faculty Ensemble

Collection..……………………………Scott Kurtz
Away in a Manger.…………….Arr. Mark HayesSarah Cummings, piano

Bethlehem Spiritual……………..Donald Moore
Chill of the Nightfall………………..K. Lee Scott

Sr. High Choir

Candlelight Carol…………………….John Rutter

Sr. High Ladies Ensemble

III

Carol of the Drum………Arr. Russell Robinson
Ave Verum Corpus………………..W.A. Mozart
Sr. High Choir

The Method of Practicing Music

Joel Snyder — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 01:06:10 +0000

Music students should practice. This is a given. While many understand the need to perform this action, they also feel inadequate to the task. This post is designed to teach my students how to rehearse. The method I am using is not unique to me. I heard this from one of my teachers back in undergrad. So, without further ado, here is my method for rehearsing. It is called the three I’s.

First, Isolate the problem. Find what you are messing up. Usually, the problem is a music reading one (e.g. wrong notes, wrong rhythms, etc.). Sometimes it is a vocal one. Whatever the problem is, your first step in fixing it is to determine what it is.

Second, Instruct yourself on how to perform the problem area correctly. It might mean breaking the part down into solfege/rhythms, plunking it out on the piano, or asking someone else for help.

Third, Insert the section back into the music. You will not really know if you fixed the problem unless you perform it correctly in its context.

Hopefully, this will help you as you practice on this site.