Vivificus totalus!

Hello, solfa adventurers!

Here it goes...my big push to resurrect this here solfa blog...

First of all, I miss you very much! I feel really great about how this year went, and I truly hope that each of you feels inspired by what you learned during your summer studies...and that a week of normal sleeping habits has restored you to feelings of well-being. Yours truly has spent the week teaching music classes for vacation Bible school at my church gig and thereby renewing my admiration for general music and preschool teachers everywhere. I mean, I love three-year-olds a lot, but my pal Katalin Forrai wasn't joking when she said that group music lessons where everyone is basically paying some kind of attention should probably begin at age 4. This is a lesson I've learned and shared multiple times, but interestingly, this does not deter anyone from sending me large groups of 3-year-olds and thinking that's all gonna work out well. Perhaps I involuntarily slip into speaking Sanskrit when I share these pearls of wisdom with the world....oooh, which makes me wonder....

....nope, rats....no Sanskrit application on Google Translate. Crying shame, I tell you...

Ok, ok, back to the matter at hand:

Rising Level 2's
Step 1: Locate your Ottman and your tuning fork....aaaaaggghh, I know, I know, they are probably stowed away someplace where they cannot torment you, but humor me...
Step 2: Look through chapters 6-12 of the Ottman and select 3 examples in C major and 3 in
A minor and write them down on a sticky note (or leave a comment on the blog).
Step 3: Read one a day this week (minus a sabbath of your choosing). That's right, just one measly Ottman a day...in a key with no sharps and flats...just to ease into the habit, to get accustomed to the presence of Mr. Ottman and Ms. Rogers in your everyday lives, and to make sure that you keep up your tuning fork chops. It's like making your bed every day...if you get into the habit, it won't even seem like work after awhile.
Extra credit step: Call my cell phone and sing one example on my voicemail or call a classmate and sing for each other!

Rising Level 3's
Step 1: Locate your Ottman, your Classical Canons book, your tuning fork sheet, and your tuning fork...yes, I know it's painful...
Step 2: From the Ottman, choose 3 examples from any of the following chapters: 16, 17, 20; from the Classical Canons book, choose any 3 canons between #71 and #105. Write them down on a sticky note or leave a comment on the blog.
Step 3: Read one a day this week (minus a sabbath of your choosing). Focus on using the tuning fork to find the key, applying the correct syllable names to the correct notes (this is a crucial step to fluency, and the thing that will get you there is repetition over time), and feeling stable about diatonic pitches...the chromatics will take care of themselves.
Extra credit step: Call my cell phone and sing one example on my voicemail or call a classmate and sing for each other...this would be particularly fun with canons or duet examples, don't you think?

Rising Level 4's
Step 1: Heave a sigh of relief! This is totally just for your personal enrichment!
Step 2: Track down your Bartok xeroxes from the last full day of class
Step 3: Look at Ciposutes...sing through in key-area sections one at a time, using the tuning fork to re-establish the key between sections and check yourself. By the end of a week, see if you can make it all the way through one of the voice parts.
Step 4: Call a friend and sing small sections or the whole thing together...preferably while sipping a glass of something tasty...

Enjoy, and as always, feel free to seek clarification if needed...good luck!!!