Just kidding. I don't think I could manage a rhyme scheme at this stage of the game. However, I warn you that I may indulge my muse-ier impulses on this week's installment. First, though, the assignment...
Rising Level 2's
Continue with our syncopation theme from last week with Ottmans: 15.96, 15.98, 15.100, 15.102, 15.108 (one voice one day, the other the next). I'm sure I don't need to remind you to conduct as you sing these examples....
Rising Level 3's
More syncopation for you all as well! Check out Ottmans: 15.95 (the chromatics are all just decorative -- remember to audiate the resolutions and you'll be fine!), 15.106 (both voices), 15.112 (both voices, try to do a true allegro tempo), 15.117, 15.123, and 15.124. Conducting helps!
Rising Level 4's
Take a stab at Ottmans: 15.126, 15. 128, 15.130, 15.132, 15.133, and 15.134. The melodies are easy, but their style lives at a particular tempo -- if it seems unsatisfying, try it a little quicker, and be sure to note whether an example is in 2 or in 4.
Obviously, it's possible and sometimes necessary to subdivide in order to get all the 16th notes in the correct place, and I get that. However, I MUCH prefer that you start to feel these rhythmic cells as gestures at least a beat long...especially if a figure happens repeatedly throughout an example. None of these examples should feel unnatural or contrived....and they should all sound fun!
Now, back to the title of this entry... The Denver Gay Men's Chorus is in the midst of their concert weekend (1 down, 2 to go), and things are going quite well, I think. Spending lots of time with the chorus this weekend keeps them at the front of my mind quite a bit, and I have to say, I really love and respect these guys. I'm not sure when I've seen a community chorus that takes such responsibility for putting on a show that they feel proud of musically, visually, and interpersonally. The singers bring so much energy to what they are doing, and as an occasionally cranky Christmas professional, I find their verve very inspiring. What's more is they take care of one another -- and in their minds, that even includes me. It's enough to make the heart of the grinchiest grinch grow three sizes at least.
So, after last night's concert, a lot of the chorus members and the artistic staff went out for some merriment and celebration, and towards the end of the gathering, a bunch of us were talking, and one of the singers started talking about modes...and naturally, a very geeky and giggly conversation (complete with singing) broke out. And, though it was just a silly moment at the end of a long and happy evening, it reminds me of why we do what we do, why I love teaching solfa, and why it's important. Any information, no matter how innocuous or boring or mathematical it may seem on the surface, can act as a catalyst for human connection. It can be the vehicle that teaches human beings to seek to understand one another, not merely to be understood. It is the reason why (to paraphrase ZK himself) a more musically literate world has the potential to be a more peaceful world.
So, while I am not quite so idealistic as to believe that Mixolydian will cause soldiers around the world to lay down their arms, nor do I assert that music is only valuable as an agent of social change, I do believe that music educators and performers and lovers of music have a responsibility to realize the power we bear. We can be instruments of connectedness....and thereby, instruments of peace.
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