Today was an interesting day and I ended up working with the class that I don't typically work with. Holt High School is combining with two other high schools to put on a concert. I don't have all of the details because Mr. Bishop was running around still setting some things up. Because of this, I lead warm ups just to relieve some of the stress. I unfortunately had no preparatory time but I knew he needed the extra second to breath and check for the buses so I very willingly lead the young women's ensemble. I did have the Pledge of Allegiance to plan so this is what I came up with and a bit of rationale:
Stretching (It's 7:30 am. They need to move)
Quick breathing exercise, pulsing on eighth notes (Part of our standard warmup procedure)
Vocals sighs, to get the breath moving (phonation)
Very bright Mi-eh-mi-eh 5-3-4-2-3-1-2-7-1 (Classic Elizabeth Hermanson warm up to get the resonators moving)
The tone was very breathy during this warmup, even with insistence to make it very nasal, so I moved to a warm up that sings "Zing-a-zing-a-zoo, Zing-a-zing-a-zoo, Zing-a-zing-a-Zing-a-Zing-a-Zoo)" to get their air moving but still focus that sound through the Z consonant.
Since he still wasn't back, I moved to a tuning exercise where one part holds a tonic pitch, and the other outlines a major chord. This worked more effectively in getting a more focused tone.
Since this was an all women's group, the maturity level was significantly higher than the men's group. Talking during rehearsal was strictly about musical ideas and Mr. Bishop let that slide. The set up of the class was interesting, there were small pockets of singers spread out across the choir risers, in chairs with desks. I thought this would be a problem in terms of talking but it seemed to be held to a minimum. Mr. Bishop keeps a very open rehearsal, he allows for lots of questions and listens to his students needs. If someone said they needed help with a part, he would have everyone sing it. It's a very relaxed atmosphere, with him conducting from a chair or from behind the piano.
At this point, the rehearsal was taken over by Prof. Parr from Albion College, the conductor for this combined concert. The students were seemingly less responsive to him as they were to Mr. Bishop, and this may explain why they students were so unresponsive to me. They trust Mr. Bishop so much that it is hard for them to adjust. I do really like this atmosphere though. It is very trusting, and they believe that Mr. Bishop is there to help them. I can only hope that my future students will have that much trust in me, but maybe a bit more respect for a stranger in the classroom.
ZL
Wow. Great for jumping in with warmups! I definitely understand your feeling that they weren't responsive. Students feel allegiance to their teachers and without a proper introduction or preparation, they are naturally suspicious. Dr. Parr is a MSU alum, by the way :-)
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