Annual ACDA Fall Retreat in Sun Valley features fun, food, and Dr. Edith Copley
Paul Olson elected president-elect
by Seth McMullen, President, ID-ACDA

Fifty-five Choral Conductors gathered in Sun Valley, ID during the state in-service days of October 2-4 for the annual Idaho ACDA Fall Retreat. 

Keynote speaker, Dr. Edith Copley of Northern Arizona University, energized the participants with new warm-up ideas on Thursday evening, and followed up with an outstanding packet of music, provided by Michael Sagun of Portland Sheet Music Service.  Literature in the packet represented a variety of genres and skill levels, mostly middle school and high school appropriate, and exquisitely accompanied by Dorinda Rendahl.  Everybody came away with something to use.

Friday began with time to reconnect with old friends over an excellent breakfast, provided by Colleen Black. 

Dr. Copley spent the morning session working with the participants on conducting and gesture techniques.  Following lunch, she presented on new rehearsal techniques to improve ensemble diction. 

Friday evening featured a salmon and chicken barbeque, with ACDA-Idaho President-Elect Quinn Van Paepeghem at the grill.  The outstanding meal preceded the evening concert, a ten-song presentation by Encore from Timberline High School in Boise, directed by Rich Lapp. 

Dr. Copley was generous with her time, providing instruction in the form of a public workshop for Encore following their performance.

Saturday brought rain to Sun Valley on our last day of the workshop.  The day began with team building exercises, otherwise known as Forced Family Fun (or FFF), wonderfully presented by Shirley Van Paepeghem. 

Dr. Copley’s morning session was a conducting master class, where she gave instruction to Quinn Van Paepeghem of Mountain View High School, Haley Jones of Taylorview Middle School, and Heather Prinzing of Borah High School. 

The session and conference was concluded with a general meeting, where Paul Olson of West Junior High in Boise was elected as the next President-Elect of ACDA-Idaho.

Building a Vocal Jazz Rhythm Section

by John Knutson
This article first appeared in the Fall, 2004, issue of Cantate, California's ACDA newsletter edited by Kevin Schieberl.

John Knutson teaches at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, CA. Under his direction, Cuesta Vocé performed at the 2003 IAJE convention and the 2005 ACDA National Convention. He is also a member of the professional vocal jazz ensemble Vocalogy, formed by Phil Mattson in 1998. His vocal jazz arrangements are available through UNC Jazz Press. John serves as California ACDA's Vocal Jazz R&S Chair. Contact: jknutson@cuesta.edu

Any competent choral director can be a competent vocal jazz director.
The elements critical to good teaching and performance - intonation, blend, balance, text stress, diction/articulation, stage presence, connection to the text - apply to both musical forms.

The real challenge is finding the time to learn the myriad stylistic components - but learning new styles is nothing new to us. There are a vast number of styles in choral music and we've dedicated our lives to trying to master them: Baroque oratorio, Renaissance, Ars nova, the
African-American Spiritual, Bach vs. Handel - the list goes on. If we can learn those styles, we can certainly handle at least the basic elements of vocal jazz.

But we're all so busy! Before you get frustrated with how much you might need to learn, keep in mind that there are a lot more commonalities than differences. The biggest difference is the rhythmic interpretation. For this reason I suggest that vocal jazz directors learn about the rhythm section at the same time that they are learning about the vocal styles. The goal of this article is to save vocal jazz directors time by pointing out some of the most common challenges and solutions to young jazz rhythm section players.

As with all languages, the key to learning the jazz dialect is to immerse yourself in the language. Listen, listen, listen to the rhythm section. Notice the rhythmic subdivisions inherent in swing, Latin styles, and Pop styles (Fusion, Funk, Shuffle, Hip-hop). Notice when
the rhythm section comes forward in the balance and when it is just an undercurrent. Notice how the dynamics of the rhythm section affect the performance. The rhythm section is the machine that can drive your vocal jazz singers forward "in style."

Drums
Drummers are perhaps the most difficult for a choral director to coach. The high school drummer is often self-taught and has listened to and played mostly pop music. Often the drummer will not read music. You will have to be firm with the drummer, convince him/her that it is important to be versatile and read music, and that they need to learn to listen and fit in with the ensemble. Most young drummers play too much and too loud.

1. Work on a light approach! Focus more on intensity with good time. This will prove to be more exciting and energizing than making tons of noise. Only play heavy on occasional big moments.

2. Convince your drummer to practice with a metronome. All subdivisions are triplets in swing and straight eighth/sixteenth in Latin and Pop. Practice drum fills with triplets on all combinations of drums/cymbals. Practice setting up musical "hits" on any beat.
Practice singing (like vocal percussion) the rhythms. A drum "fill" is done by filling with triplets (or eighth/sixteenth if Latin/Pop) for one or more beats and ending on the strong beat before the ensemble "hit." A drum fill will often be for a measure or two, but sometimes as
much 4 or 8 measures. A drum "set-up" is as simple and short as possible, setting up the ensemble "hit."

3. Listen to a recording or consult with your jazz band colleague to figure out where the drum "set ups" and "fills" will be.

4. Don't play the bass drum very often in swing styles. First learn the high hat and ride cymbal. Then add the snare drum for rhythmic interest and fills. Use the bass drum only to accentuate occasional rhythmic accents in the vocal part.

5. For Latin styles, buy a book of Latin drum patterns. The Latin patterns are generally very formalized and the fills/set-ups would follow the same rules as above, only with straight eighth notes.

Bass
1. Generally play smooth, legato lines. Swing: can put a slight weight on beats 2 and 4 at slow or medium tempos.

2. Don't have the piano double the bass line.

3. Young bass players tend to not be aggressive enough. Tell them to"dig in" with the right hand and really focus on connecting the notes with the left hand.

Piano
1. Don't double the bass line.

2. Don't play the root of the chord in your voicings. The key to making good chord voicings:

a. Left Hand: Play the 3rd and 7th of every chord.
b. Right Hand: Play small melodic fills or harmonic "color" notes (melodic notes from the vocal part or the chord extensions).

3. Use the sustain pedal sparingly. In jazz, the piano is a rhythm instrument and the pedal often muddies its rhythmic characteristics.

4. In general, don't play more than one "comp" per chord. Most amateur jazz pianists play too much, too often. Don't be afraid to just lay out for a measure or two.

5. Support the vocalists on difficult chords. Strongly play the bottom 3 or 4 notes of their chord voicing - these are the hardest parts to sing in tune.

6. While your pianist is learning how to make up his/her own chord voicings (remember: 3rd and 7th in LH), look for charts that have good written-out piano parts (often found in charts by Phil Mattson, Michele Weir, Kirby Shaw, Steve Zegree, and Paris Rutherford). A good, tasteful rhythm section will make your vocal jazz experiences brighter than they've ever been before. If you use the above advice, consult with your local experts, and do some critical listening to recordings of the songs you are programming, you will find that improving the rhythm section will be the easiest and most noticeable improvement to your ensemble.
A poor rhythm section will erase anything good that you've done with your singers. A well-trained rhythm section will form a symbiotic relationship with your singers. They will groove better (which improves intonation); your rhythm section will groove harder when the singers are grooving harder. Now sit back and let the synergy fly!

Ignite the fire for children's choirs
by JoAnne Stoddard
This article first appeared in the Fall, 2004, issue of Cantate, California's ACDA newsletter, edited by Kevin Schieberl.

Jo Anne Stoddard graduated from the University of Idaho and has spent many years teaching elementary general music. She has spent the past 10 years teaching choral music, elementary through high school, in Templeton, CA. She is the California ACDA R&S chair for Children's Choirs and can be reached at jstoddard@tusdnet.k12.ca.us

As I write this article, it is mid-August. I have recently returned from one of the most rejuvenating ACDA Summer Conferences I’ve ever experienced at ECCO. Dr. Eph Ely, our featured clinician, mentioned the subject of music advocacy repeatedly throughout the six sessions he presented to us. I found myself taking lots of notes, trying to copy his exact words, so that I would remember them later.

Two days after returning from ECCO, I drove up to Montana to visit my dad. I have had lots of time to think about all the things I learned at ECCO this year (It’s a long drive to Montana), and with my notebook by my side, I have passed the miles with quotes from Dr. Ely. His tremendous commitment to the teaching profession and his deep passion for music has spoken to me at a very personal level.

Whether we want to admit it or not, being strong advocates of our profession and music in general is one of our most important responsibilities. I would venture to add that it is probably the area most of us are the least skilled. We spend our valuable time attending reading sessions, workshops, conferences and conventions. We spend
days poring through piles of music and planning our repertoire.

Countless hours are spent planning tours and other activities that will be enriching and rewarding for our students. However, many of us are caught speechless and tongue-tied when approached with a situation that directly endangers the growth and stability of the elementary, junior high and high school choral programs we spend so much time nurturing!

For we who direct Children’s Choirs, I feel one of our main challenges is educating others to realize that the love for music and singing begins in kindergarten. Singing is as natural a human function as is laughing and crying. I am always wondering why this natural human activity isn’t more valued by our society. All children should be
encouraged and taught to share their musical voice at a very early age.

Music should be an integral part of our children’s education, from kindergarten through college and beyond! As with any subject matter, music should be taught by people who have a sincere passion, talent and wide-spread knowledge of the subject. Dr. Ely said many times, “Stop teaching music to students and start teaching students through music.”

In order for us to do this, we must have a very deep knowledge and understanding of music and all of its elements and history. This leads to my next concern; the minimizing or eradication of elementary music programs throughout our state. We are continually hearing stories of successful programs that have been cut back to the
point of serving as “prep times” rather than quality music education time. I am well aware that this is all done in the name of “Budget Crisis” but why, oh why, are music and the arts always the first to suffer the cut? Again I will quote Dr. Ely: “Through music we are able to experience the ethereal.” When we cut music education from our
school systems, what are we really doing?

One of the ways I think we can begin to change the current trend of disinterest in children’s music education is to offer many fun and enriching activities that serve to “ignite the fire.” For us as choir directors, this means we must be willing to organize and sponsor children’s choir festivals through out this vast state. (Right now there don’t seem to be many festivals geared towards children’s choir.)

Since our state is so large, we need a web site where we can post the
festivals being hosted.

To answer this need, I am organizing a new web site to serve the needs of children’s choir directors in California: cachildrenschoirs.com. At this web site you will find a list of Children’s Choir Festivals (which I hope will continue to grow), repertoire, a list of successful choral groups that encompasses church, school and community-based
organizations, as well as contacts and resource people for each of those groups. Last but not least you will find information on advocacy. Through this web site, I hope to provide some tools that will help all of us plan and provide enriching opportunities for our students. This will emphasize to our society that music is not“extra-curricular.” It is essential to the total education of our young people. The activities and experiences we provide to our students teach far beyond the textbook.

Here I would like to add yet another quote from Dr. Ely: “Our first learning takes place through sensation.” I hope you will visit cachildrenschoirs.com and offer any suggestions as to how it can serve our needs more effectively. If you know of a
festival that is not listed on the web site, please let me know so that I can keep the list updated. My contact information is on the next page. I will close this with one more quote from Dr. Ely, whose words will always remain with me:
“Nothing is more important than your students and no one has a tool like you. MUSIC!!! It’s like a drill.”

Jason Heald and the Umpqua Singers from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg treated participants at the ACDA Summer Workshop to a wonderful presentation of music and rhythm section techniques. Dr. Heald focused his presentation on developing a rhythm section to accompany a vocal ensemble.

Dr. Heald gave fine examples of how vocalists with some natural talent could be easily trained to provide a basic, yet solid, instrumental accompaniment in a variety of contemporary styles with a minimum of equipment and practice. Workshop participants were given the opportunity to practice these techniques with the Umpqua singers. Choral directors with no instrumental background put together an effective, credible, and stylistically appropriate accompaniment with one to three instruments.

We were challenged to consider training our singers to play rhythm instruments in the absence of solid players. Workshop attendees were impressed at how easily a single person playing a simple rhythmic pattern on a snare and hi-hat could produce a solid swing feel. Just a bass line added immensely to the “funk” feeling of a chart. A simple rhythmic ostinato on the conga provided a solid samba groove. The beauty of it all was that a vocalist with minimal practice performed each of these.

Dr. Heald provided a helpful outline for the session. The information included many of the techniques and strategies he has employed with the Umpqua Singers. Of particular interest are the rhythm grooves that were presented in the session, included on page __ for your reference. They are authentic and reproducible in any choral music situation at any level. By following the “road map” to produce each style, your group can sing and swing with only novice rhythm players.

Please feel free to contact Jason for an outline of the session and suggestions for implementing his ideas in your own choral classroom.

As I looked at the class list, my first thoughts were of sheer delight. The choir might finally have some changed male voices to balance the traditionally treble-heavy ensemble. I imagined the possibilities. I fantasized about the repertoire I had always wanted to program. I began to plan for the year ahead until I was suddenly jolted from my state of mixed choir euphoria (with a perfect balance of parts, of course), to the reality of nearly twenty years of middle school teaching experience. I began to ask myself some important questions. “Can these guys actually match pitch?” “How many of them have changed voices?” “What about their ranges?” “Why are they suddenly interested in joining choir?” To say the least, I was a bit suspicious of their motives. “Do they really want to sing, or are they just joining the class to goof off?” It is, after all, “middle school” and this was a reality I needed to face.

When I tell people that I teach middle school choir, I get a wide range of looks and responses. Most often I hear hushed tones dripping with pity as they pat my arm and say “God bless you.” Sometimes I see a look of sheer terror and hear gasps of “I could never work with kids like that. Their energy would drive me crazy.” I also get responses from the curious onlookers who wonder in amazement, “How do you ever get a decent sound from croaking voices during ‘the change’?” Obviously, middle school is not for everyone, but many of us, like my middle school colleagues in the ACDA Central Division, have found a perfect niche where we can work with students who possess wonderful attributes and who are begging for meaningful musical experiences.

If you are not lucky enough to work with adolescent children on a daily basis, I highly recommended the book “Not Much, Just Chillin’: The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers” by Linda Perlstein, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2003). This is an accurate, yet amusing, portrayal of the social, physical, intellectual, and emotional actions and reactions of adolescent students. I suggest this book not only to fellow middle school teachers, but also to high school directors to help them better understand the mindset and experiences of the students they will be teaching in a few short years. It is valuable to elementary teachers as well, since the onset of adolescence comes at an earlier age than was once thought. Parents of teens and “tweens” may also discover insights into the behavior of their own children through examples and profiles in the book. In the author’s view, music is often the defining factor of the middle school culture and social scene.

With those thoughts in the back of my mind, I decided to ask my “football choir” for anonymous responses to the question “Why did you join choir?” Their answers were honest and refreshing, although their spelling was sometimes “creative.” The reasons were reassuring and reaffirming to those of us who have chosen to work with adolescent students.

The majority of the kids joined choir because they like music. The answer seems so obvious, yet we often overlook the most basic aspect of what we teach. They like to sing quality music that is meaningful. My students (especially the returning members) said that they liked the challenge of “digging in” to a piece of music. One girl wrote, “It’s fun to know you’ve done a really hard thing. We were awesome.” One boy expressed satisfaction with “getting the job done.”

I try to find the balance between a variety of styles, genres, and languages, and to program songs with a range of difficulties. Some songs can be sight-read, while others take long-term preparation and teaching. My hope is to broaden their musical taste palettes, to build deeper understandings, and to strengthen the overall experience levels of my choir members.
Yes, it is true that kids also joined choir because their friends are in choir. They joined because we “do fun stuff” like taking field trips (out of school), and sponsoring choir parties and social events. I wasn’t surprised by those answers.

Looking back, I originally joined choir (and remain loyal to the choral world today) because I like to sing. I love the humanity of singing with others and that special bond we experience through sharing the beauty of the human voice. I also like discovering the nuance and meaning of texts, the excitement of rhythms, and the challenges of sustaining the long-spun phrase controlled with vowels and breath. I like to have fun with my friends, and I, too, also have sung with directors that I loved and admired. Many singing colleagues and choral directors continue to serve as my role models and sources of inspiration to this day. I am honored (and feel a renewed sense of responsibility) that someone could feel that way about our time together in choir.

The bottom line is, no matter what the motivation and state of their current musical ability, it is our responsibility to teach the students who enter our classrooms. My teaching goals are to provide quality experiences (musical and social), to help students build musical skills and independence, to further a love of music (of all kinds), and to encourage them to continue their music education by singing in high school choirs and beyond.

The Middle School Repertoire and Standards Chair in your state and at the division level can assist you in reaching your goals for working with middle school people. We want to assist you with repertoire selection, curriculum development, and with the scheduling challenges we all face. Please let us hear from you. Watch future issues of Resound for middle school events in your area. Support middle school singing whenever you can and, please, send good thoughts my way that my middle school football team will have a winning season on the field and in the choir room.

Getting the Most out of your Amateur Choir
Suggestions for becoming a strong and inspiring leader
while getting out of the way of the MUSIC.

Dr. Daniel Bara
Director of Choral Activities
East Carolina University

Nearly all conductors of adult community choirs and church choirs engage in the activity of rehearsing so-called amateur singers for regular concerts and/or musical offerings for a church service. Many of these singers assume the responsibility of choir membership in addition to their countless other roles as parents, professionals, community leaders, volunteers, as well as many other meaningful endeavors. Individual reasons for joining a community or church choir are widely divergent, but almost always include affection for music and a love of collaborative singing. Nearly as varied as the range of motivations for singing, is the level of vocal and musical ability present in these types of choirs.

Despite the different needs and motivations found within the mixture of singers found in any amateur choir, the conductors approach to teaching and music-making should remain incredibly positive, incredibly energetic, and incredibly professional, and always with the firm belief that any choir’s limitations are found first and foremost in the conductor. If we as conductors believe that any choir’s success is completely a product of our ability to recruit effectively, teach musicianship, teach beautiful singing, and inspire a commitment to excellence, then we empower ourselves to take responsibility for the growth and development of all aspects of the ensemble. Beware of the temptation to blame the budget, the singers, the board of directors, or anyone else for deficiencies that may lurk in the mirror. My teacher at the University of Michigan , Jerry Blackstone, always recited to his students, “There are no bad choirs, only bad conductors.” This is a tough pill to swallow, but an important part of an excellent conductor’s philosophy.

I have found that the fundamental ingredients for success that a conductor achieves with amateur singers are passion, a positive attitude, and most of all, professionalism.

PROFESSIONALISM
While your choir may not be made up of professional singers, there probably is a large contingent of career professionals in the choir that sing for personal enrichment, social fulfillment, or religious stewardship. These professionals (teachers, business persons. doctors, and lawyers) undoubtedly know and respect strong management and interpersonal skills, particularly when it comes to efficient use of their time.

Therefore:

• Learn what good management skills are and use them.

• Meticulously abide by the rehearsal schedule that you set. Avoid going beyond the rehearsal time at all costs. When you respect your singers’ time, they will be more willing to approach choir rehearsals with a professional attitude.

• Let your employees (choristers) know what the goals are for a given rehearsal or set of rehearsals so that they always know where they are heading, and how they are measuring up. As in business, it is important that everyone have a personal stake in achieving a common goal.

• Inform them (teach) what the criteria is (i.e. your expectations) for excellent and productive rehearsals, and excellent music-making / performing, and give them the tools for self evaluation during the rehearsal process. Good singers, like good employees, want to know how they are being evaluated and want to know how they are measuring up at all times.

• Correct only vocal and musical behavior during rehearsals. Establish a caring and professional rapport with singers in which they know that they are more than merely the sum of their vocal issues. Divorce the sound from the personalities and correct, shape, and comb vocal and musical issues honestly, objectively, and professionally – just as a medical doctor would inform an overweight patient that he or she needs to lose weight, we need to have the ability to correct vocal issues and behavior in a direct and constructive manner that is not perceived as confrontational or demeaning.

• Teach the choir to think of their singing voice as an instrument in order to encourage a more objective response to singing. Because the voice is regularly used for self-expression, it is closely associated with personal feelings and identity. There is a need to objectify the idea of singing so as to alleviate the chorister’s self-consciousness.

• The more an amateur singer is able to take vocal correction or criticism without feeling it as a personal assault of character, the more honest and direct your relationship will be with the choir – leading to productive, excellent rehearsals.

Remember, professionalism need not be impersonal or uncaring, it is merely a level of personal carriage from the conductor that lets the singers know (even subliminally) that he values their time and talents, and that he has great expectations for how they can be cultivated to achieve an artistic goal. When combined with the artistic and musical preparation that most of us learn in school and from mentors, a professional approach to choral rehearsals in which the singers are valued, well-taught, and inspired towards excellence can greatly improve the level of artistry from any choral ensemble.

It is usually assumed that all good choirs should blend, balance. sing in tune, produce their voices in an acceptable manner and sing with reasonable range of dynamics. Too often the importance of text is overlooked. We have the privilege of singing words. Let's make better use of them!
Essential techniques

• Study the structure of every sentence - in whatever language - in whatever period of music.
• Study the significance of nouns and verbs against prepositions and conjunctions.
• Consider the importance of individual adjectives and adverbs and their poetic significance.
• Have every singer mark the points of emphasis in the score.
• Concentrate in particular on phrasing of unessential syllables.
• Consider the weight required on every syllable. Some of the clumsiest word stresses are often in English! Have the singers savor their names with stresses on the wrong syllables.
• Sing an English text as it would be spoken by a good reader without any curious "singers vowels!
• Read the text aloud. questioning the stress and flow: dwell on the more powerful words. pass over the weaker.
• Don't be afraid of the diphthong - such an expressive ingredient of English and German!
• Relish and extend the softer liquid consonants: m. n. rmo. nt. etc.

Use the power of imagination to color the text

• Consider the meaning of the emotive words and how best to depict them in sound.
• Guide your singers to vary the vocal color of the choir. Have them sing certain significant chords using different tone qualities: soft/hard, warm/cold, dark/ bright, rich/ thin. etc.
• Ask them to imagine their  voices at different stages of their lives and sing with an appropriate tone to reveal the palette of colors available!
• Guide them as to when to sing with no vibrato, with a little vibrato, with with considerable vibrato!
• Guide them as to when to sing with edge, with warmth, with varying degrees of air in the tone.