Observation #2

Since I am on Spring Break, I thought this would be a great time to catch up on some days that I've missed due to my various circumstances. As a quick reminder, these observations are at Holt High school with their Men's chorus.

I found it very hard to answer some of the prompts that were given to us for this observation. There are many great things that the teacher does, but in terms of actually being able to see if everything was planned is tough to tell. For example, each class starts with the Pledge of Allegiance. Even if official class time starts, they wait for that moment so they aren't interrupted. They then move straight into the warm up, which does not really relate to the music they will be working on. It's just singing with no guidance and no forethought. While the exercises are good in it of themselves, it just doesn't relate the way we expect it to.

In terms of the repertoire, the sequence of pieces seem to be in a need based order. If there is something to fix, we'll sing it. Typically, the teacher sits behind the piano, plucking out notes, or standing and listening to the sound while the choir sings to a YouTube recording. The main goal seems to be, sing the notes and have it not sound too bad. It's sometimes frustrating to sit in on because there are some easy fixes in terms of tone or rhythm or pitch and they just blow by it. Conducting rarely happens, and if it does, it is from seated in a chair. All instructions are verbal with some modeling, but without explaining it substantially first. There are also many tangents on very random stories that don't relate to the rehearsal.

While the actual rehearsal can be very frustrating, the students absolutely love their teacher. It's like an adult friend scenario. This makes it difficult to control the students but they will do anything that is asked of them, that is, if it is asked.