 Lindsey Wilkerson, Miles City, MT

 How this session came to be…  Your Question: What’s in it for me?  What I believe about you…  The Key Issues o Teaching Outside Your Vocal Comfort Zone o Technical Issues o Music Literacy o Repertoire o And, Piano!  Are you getting out of this what you hoped?  The Good of the Order

 Confessions:  My very competent colleagues were struggling.

 If you’re going to be here with us for 75 minutes, I need to know what you most want to know…  Acknowledgement of your professionalism and skill  Perhaps a different way to approach something you’re struggling with: repertoire, technique, accompaniment, mindset  Make Your Date

 Teaching Outside Your Vocal Comfort Zone  Technical Issues  Music Literacy  Repertoire  And, Piano!

 Talk Time: What’s the deal?  When you’re singing to, or with kids, how do you present yourself?  If you can demonstrate it on your instrument (especially wind instruments) you can probably do it vocally  Take some lessons already! (And be transparent about the experience)  You’re actually in a better mental state to appreciate what the students are experiencing.

 Brainstorm: Beginning Band Analogies  Just because the vocal folds are the mechanism, does mean they know how to use them…  “Weird Choir Warm-ups”  Developing the Muscle Memory for Great Sound (This is the part that gets skipped!!) o Liken to damaged instrument or very poor quality o Drastic change, improvement is possible  Changing Voices = Bad Ears?  Embouchures  Breathing

 But first, time for your date…  What makes sight-singing so hard? o Lack of tactile memory associated with instruments o Key signatures mean less Process is different Recognize the interval visually Remember interval aurally Be able to do it physically, with the appropriate rhythm Add language, or foreign language The point is not to argue that it’s harder or not, but recognize that it has to be approached differently…

 “Sound, then sight”  Key signature is important, especially for beginners.  Have to teach both aural and visual recognition systematically…  Draw upon what you already know about music literacy in an instrumental setting  When is the last time you reminded yourself how challenging it can be? o Cannon Beach

 Groups of 3 or 4  Introduce yourselves OR where did you eat last night?  Grab a piece of music  Based on what you already know about life, love, and happiness…

 If you find it boring, it will be very hard to convince them it’s not…  SAB literature  Getting everyone to sing at their initial comfort level  Unison  Compare to what you already know about instrumental literature  And a thought (or two) about conducting:

 Accompaniment, or the lack thereof... o The Truth Is…. o “We currently don’t have this option, so everyone has to do the best they can.”  Modified Accompaniments  Pre-recorded accompaniments  Students  Technology  Improving Your Own Skills

 What things still linger?

 Annalora, T. (1990). Warm-ups. Unpublished Manuscript.  Cooksey, J. (1999). Working with Adolescent Voices. Concordia Publishing House. Jefferson, Missouri.  Wall, J. (1990). Diction for Singers. Pst…Inc. Publications. Dallas, Texas.  ChoralNet o  Choral Public Domain o

 Lindsey Wilkerson  Custer County District High School  Miles City, MT    (406)