Hello, stalwart solfeggists!
It's been a crazy week in my world, and the weekend has left me with very little room to breathe. So, this week's installment will be short, but (hopefully) pithy.
In your Ottman book, chapter 18 is all about forbidding-looking rhythms, specifically, those that use very small divisions of the beat. Recently, I've been teaching some rhythmically challenging pieces in choral contexts, and it's once again come to my attention that many folks use a repetitive physical gesture (foot or hand-tapping, usually) when they encounter any sort of rhythmic difficulty, and they usually try to tap to a pretty small rhythmic value. I understand the inclination to do this, but I'm quite opposed to it. Why?
-We tend to be taught as children that our western rhythmic system is based on mathematical operations, and that's not really true (I mean, it's factual in a way to say that rhythm is mathematical, but math is not nearly as influential on our experience of rhythm as we think it is). Our rhythmic system is extremely influenced by hierarchy, and it is hierarchy that makes a rhythmic pattern feel how it feels to us. Therefore, if we don't reflect hierarchy in any aid we use to read a rhythm, we're sabotaging ourselves.
-Tapping a small rhythmic value as your "beat" the same way over and over (without any kind of hierarchy) is a recipe for getting lost. Your brain barely has a fighting chance of keeping track of all that repetitive motion, despite what your sense of security might be trying to tell you. We tend to feel like we're being more accurate because we're doing something, but the something we're doing in this case is likely to just distract us from inaccuracies.
-Rhythmic patterns aren't made difficult by speed, they're made difficult by unpredictability or unfamiliarity. So, slowing something far past the point of its intended tempo is probably less useful than we think -- the composer heard it inside her/his head as a pattern that made sense at a given tempo, and if we get too far away from that tempo, the pattern doesn't feel the same way anymore.
-Our brains aren't wired to perceive quick notes as isolated incidents, but rather as elements of a pattern that has a specific interplay within an established hierarchy.
Now, these rules start to fall apart if you start working with some types of early music or 20th/21st-century serialized rhythms or rhythms chosen through chance operations, etc., but the Ottman examples we're dealing with here definitely play by these rules. So, I'm going to insist on a few things:
1. Conduct. This doesn't necessarily have to be a traditional hand/arm pattern, but you have to do something with your body that shows the beats of the measure in distinct places AND gives a sense of which beats are strong in the hierarchy of the meter and which are not. For example, if you were to use your foot in a 2/4 meter, you could decide that your heel touching the ground would be beat 1 and your toe touching the ground would be beat 2.
2. Don't stray too far from the notated tempo. A conservative tempo is one thing, but if you're thinking in 32nd notes, the rhythm you think you're performing has nothing to do with the actual piece of music the composer wrote (unless it's in 3/32 or some such craziness).
3. If you're struggling with notes and rhythms together, isolate the rhythm.
4. Think in groupings and phrases, not in isolated note values. Start to see that the last sixteenth note of a beat will feel like a pickup to (or a decoration of) the beat that follows, etc. Just like in the world of pitches, the magic of rhythmic patterns has everything to do with the relationships being expressed.
5. Trust your body. Before you begin reading each example, take the time to really ground yourself in the the meter by moving (see item 1). Once you've started reading, if something seems wrong, see if you can figure out a reason -- it might just be a mistake, or it might be a misplaced metric accent, or an unusual phrase length, etc. Trust that your body knows how a good, solid 4/4 ought to feel, even if it's slow, and if something happens to upset your expectations, be a good detective and figure out why.
Rising Level 2's
Try your hands/feet/voices at these...ignore any grace notes:
18.1 & 18.2
18.12 & 18.13
18.16
18.17 (make sure you look carefully at the key)
18.22
18.29
Rising Level 3's
Give these your best shot:
18.18
18.19
18.21
18.23
18.25 (don't let the sixteenth rests freak you out)
18.26
Rising Level 4's
Your examples are longer and more complex, so you can spread them out over multiple days as you see fit:
18.30
18.31
18.32
18.34
So, hold steady and don't let the little notes scare you -- they're just a decorative part of the whole, and if you approach them calmly, they'll fall into place.
PS: It looks like I lied about this post being short...sometimes that happens when we get going, I guess...my apologies!
Showing posts with label Ottman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ottman. Show all posts
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The Power of Suggestion
Greetings from snow-blanketed Denver!
The Universe gave me the unexpected gift of a snow day yesterday -- despite my disappointment in the cancellation/delay of conference events at my British Studies gig, I must confess how badly I'd needed a real day off.
A little time to think and gather myself, plus a few conversations with my graduate colleagues and some of my private students, have brought the article below back to my mind:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/12/07/143265882/vowels-control-your-brain?sc=fb&cc=fp
The gist of the article is this: front vowels ([i], [I], [e], [E]) tend to imply smallness or lightness, and back vowels ([u], [o], [a]) tend to imply heaviness or largeness. Obviously, this isn't completely universal, but there are definitely some pretty convincing examples in the article.
What does this have to do with solfa, you ask? Well...I have a bit of a pet theory that I can't exactly prove yet that Guido's choice of syllables (and the later evolution of our modern syllables, including chromatics) wasn't merely coincidental with the beginning of each line of the chant Ut queant laxis. I believe the syllables were chosen intuitively and intentionally to phonetically represent both the tendencies and the relative placement of each tone. Furthermore, I believe these vowel choices had some impact on the evolution from a modal to a tonal system.
Here's what I mean -- the original six syllables were ut, re, mi, fa, so, & la. If we go strictly by the rubric above, ut, fa, so, and la fall into the category of back vowels, and re & mi belong to the front vowel category. I would argue that Guido's Italianate [a] would have been more toward the bright (front) side, especially in the case of la, since the dental [l] pulls the tongue forward (resulting in a more fronted vowel). Let's leave fa in the back vowel camp for now, and assume that we now have this situation:
ut (heavy)
re (light)
mi (light)
fa (heavy)
so (heavy)
la (light)
or in the more modern system:
Now, as speakers of American-accented English, we pronounce these syllables differently, so they feel a little different to us, and our pronunciation idiosyncrasies create intonation issues different from the ones likely encountered in 11th-century Italy. If we think carefully about our pronunciation, however, the tendencies of these vowels reflect the proper intonation for a major scale, especially if we designate the vowel [o] as "stable" rather than "heavy" (which seems an allowable substitution to me):
The Universe gave me the unexpected gift of a snow day yesterday -- despite my disappointment in the cancellation/delay of conference events at my British Studies gig, I must confess how badly I'd needed a real day off.
A little time to think and gather myself, plus a few conversations with my graduate colleagues and some of my private students, have brought the article below back to my mind:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/12/07/143265882/vowels-control-your-brain?sc=fb&cc=fp
The gist of the article is this: front vowels ([i], [I], [e], [E]) tend to imply smallness or lightness, and back vowels ([u], [o], [a]) tend to imply heaviness or largeness. Obviously, this isn't completely universal, but there are definitely some pretty convincing examples in the article.
What does this have to do with solfa, you ask? Well...I have a bit of a pet theory that I can't exactly prove yet that Guido's choice of syllables (and the later evolution of our modern syllables, including chromatics) wasn't merely coincidental with the beginning of each line of the chant Ut queant laxis. I believe the syllables were chosen intuitively and intentionally to phonetically represent both the tendencies and the relative placement of each tone. Furthermore, I believe these vowel choices had some impact on the evolution from a modal to a tonal system.
Here's what I mean -- the original six syllables were ut, re, mi, fa, so, & la. If we go strictly by the rubric above, ut, fa, so, and la fall into the category of back vowels, and re & mi belong to the front vowel category. I would argue that Guido's Italianate [a] would have been more toward the bright (front) side, especially in the case of la, since the dental [l] pulls the tongue forward (resulting in a more fronted vowel). Let's leave fa in the back vowel camp for now, and assume that we now have this situation:
ut (heavy)
re (light)
mi (light)
fa (heavy)
so (heavy)
la (light)
or in the more modern system:
do (heavy)
re (light)
mi (light)
fa (heavy)
so (heavy)
la (light)
ti (light)
Now, as speakers of American-accented English, we pronounce these syllables differently, so they feel a little different to us, and our pronunciation idiosyncrasies create intonation issues different from the ones likely encountered in 11th-century Italy. If we think carefully about our pronunciation, however, the tendencies of these vowels reflect the proper intonation for a major scale, especially if we designate the vowel [o] as "stable" rather than "heavy" (which seems an allowable substitution to me):
do (stable)
re (light) (note that the resulting do-re-mi 3rd should be wide)
mi (light)
fa (heavy)
so (stable)
la (light)
ti (light)
If this theory holds water, it casts some significant doubts on the pedagogical wisdom of both fixed-do solfege (where the vowels are at least partly contradictory of correct intonation in all keys except C) and do-based minor (where the syllables me, le, & te are used to denote the lowered 3rd, 6th, and 7th scale degrees in minor, and each has a vowel that still implies "highness" -- la to le being particularly egregious). In my earlier years, I felt much more absolute about all this. These days, I'm more willing to acknowledge that vowel influence is probably much stronger for some people than it is for others. However, from an acoustical standpoint, this all seems to hold up, too, and if physical fact gives one system even a small advantage over another, I think that's worth acknowledging. If vowels can suggest to ear and voice that two notes have a certain relationship to one another, why not use the power of suggestion to our students' advantage?
I'm curious to know what you all think about this, and I'd like you to try it out and let me know:
All Levels
Read the NPR article and all my verbiage above.
Track down your Ottman book and read some examples that come easily for you (ch. 2-9, as appropriate). The first time through, sing without thinking much about the syllables -- just sing as you normally would. The second time through, be extremely sensitive to your pronunciation of each syllable. Does your intonation improve? Do you feel an increased sensitivity to the proper intonation of each syllable/interval? If you like, choose a few examples in minor and try singing them once in do-based minor and once in la-based minor, both times with a strong focus on pronunciation. Was it hard to get the intonation of the lowered scale degrees correct in do-based minor? Try singing an example or two in fixed-do (no chromatic inflections, meaning that F-flat, F, and F-sharp are all called fa), still with an eye towards pronunciation. What happens to your intonation?
I'm really quite curious to hear what you discover...
Saturday, January 28, 2012
A Farewell to Agony
Greetings, dear students!
Now, before anyone panics, I'm talking about self-inflicted agony here. This isn't the kind of agony that can't be avoided, the kind that comes from outside. This is the kind of agony we bring upon ourselves by fixating on all the wrong stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2ZWZqTD5Hg&feature=related
In general, I'm sort of a chronic agonizer....I've talked about the symptoms lots of times, and I know many of us could cop to the same sort of thing: something complex or unexpected happens, and we spend endless amounts of time thinking about why it happened, whose fault it is, all the various ways we could respond, the possible consequences of each of those responses, all the things we'd like to do about it but probably shouldn't, etc. It's crazy-making. It seems to be one of my favorite pastimes. And I think it's time to quit.
So, four weeks into the new year, I'm determined to make this something I work on: giving up on agony. This is hard, because I know for a fact that the processes behind my agonizing (attention to detail, a propensity for empathy, the desire for clear communication) aren't bad human qualities at all, and in fact, they've played a huge role in my personal and professional success. But, they're kind of like tonsils as Bill Cosby used to describe them in his stand-up routines -- tonsils are like big security guards armed with bazookas that stand guard against germs, but sometimes something goes wrong and they join the other side. Tonsillectomy, as I learned at the age of four, isn't a pleasant solution, but it's a permanent one. The problem with the other side of this little analogy is that it's not desirable (and probably not possible) to remove qualities like empathy or attention to detail or a desire to understand/be understood, so there's no scalpel involved in the long-term fix...it's got to be a moment-by-moment management kind of thing. I need to find a way to be empathetic, detail-oriented, and a person who desires to communicate clearly, but also to stop myself from obsessing over the stuff in life I can't change or control. This has become clearer to me over the last few days through several performance experiences wherein I almost managed to steal the joy of performing from myself by working myself into a tizzy about the details rather than trusting the process. I don't want to be that guy. I want to be happy. So, if being happy means I have to be brave enough to change, so be it.
I've spoken before about using solfa as a kind of mindfulness exercise, a way to reinforce the kind of thinking that makes us into healthier and happier people. Sight-reading in particular forces us to live in the present and continually move on from any setbacks if we wish to be successful, so I've got some of that on tap for you this week:
All Levels
Before you even go hunting for your Ottman, refresh your own memory as to the procedures behind good sight-singing:
1. Look ahead.
2. Pick a good tempo and maintain it -- conducting is a very good idea!
3. Ground yourself in the key.
4. Keep your eye moving ahead of your voice.
5. If you make a mistake, keep going.
Rising Level 2's
Ottman, ch. 9 is your playground. Pay attention to the character/tempo markings in the book, and try to find examples you don't already know. Read 2-3 examples per day -- I bet you'll find that your strategy gets better between the first and third example of a given day.
Rising Level 3's
Go nuts with Ottman, ch. 12. If you find that you know most of the examples already, expand your search to ch. 11 and include some C-clef examples (you're allowed to pretend you're in a different key if you want). Read 2-3 examples per day.
Rising Level 4's
Take a look at Ottman, ch. 16. The main challenge of this chapter is meant to be rhythmic rather than melodic, but I'd like you to work with the melodic examples (16.37 and up). If you get in over your head in terms of chromaticism, you have my permission to backtrack. Read 2-3 examples per day.
Good luck, dear students!
Now, before anyone panics, I'm talking about self-inflicted agony here. This isn't the kind of agony that can't be avoided, the kind that comes from outside. This is the kind of agony we bring upon ourselves by fixating on all the wrong stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2ZWZqTD5Hg&feature=related
In general, I'm sort of a chronic agonizer....I've talked about the symptoms lots of times, and I know many of us could cop to the same sort of thing: something complex or unexpected happens, and we spend endless amounts of time thinking about why it happened, whose fault it is, all the various ways we could respond, the possible consequences of each of those responses, all the things we'd like to do about it but probably shouldn't, etc. It's crazy-making. It seems to be one of my favorite pastimes. And I think it's time to quit.
So, four weeks into the new year, I'm determined to make this something I work on: giving up on agony. This is hard, because I know for a fact that the processes behind my agonizing (attention to detail, a propensity for empathy, the desire for clear communication) aren't bad human qualities at all, and in fact, they've played a huge role in my personal and professional success. But, they're kind of like tonsils as Bill Cosby used to describe them in his stand-up routines -- tonsils are like big security guards armed with bazookas that stand guard against germs, but sometimes something goes wrong and they join the other side. Tonsillectomy, as I learned at the age of four, isn't a pleasant solution, but it's a permanent one. The problem with the other side of this little analogy is that it's not desirable (and probably not possible) to remove qualities like empathy or attention to detail or a desire to understand/be understood, so there's no scalpel involved in the long-term fix...it's got to be a moment-by-moment management kind of thing. I need to find a way to be empathetic, detail-oriented, and a person who desires to communicate clearly, but also to stop myself from obsessing over the stuff in life I can't change or control. This has become clearer to me over the last few days through several performance experiences wherein I almost managed to steal the joy of performing from myself by working myself into a tizzy about the details rather than trusting the process. I don't want to be that guy. I want to be happy. So, if being happy means I have to be brave enough to change, so be it.
I've spoken before about using solfa as a kind of mindfulness exercise, a way to reinforce the kind of thinking that makes us into healthier and happier people. Sight-reading in particular forces us to live in the present and continually move on from any setbacks if we wish to be successful, so I've got some of that on tap for you this week:
All Levels
Before you even go hunting for your Ottman, refresh your own memory as to the procedures behind good sight-singing:
1. Look ahead.
2. Pick a good tempo and maintain it -- conducting is a very good idea!
3. Ground yourself in the key.
4. Keep your eye moving ahead of your voice.
5. If you make a mistake, keep going.
Rising Level 2's
Ottman, ch. 9 is your playground. Pay attention to the character/tempo markings in the book, and try to find examples you don't already know. Read 2-3 examples per day -- I bet you'll find that your strategy gets better between the first and third example of a given day.
Rising Level 3's
Go nuts with Ottman, ch. 12. If you find that you know most of the examples already, expand your search to ch. 11 and include some C-clef examples (you're allowed to pretend you're in a different key if you want). Read 2-3 examples per day.
Rising Level 4's
Take a look at Ottman, ch. 16. The main challenge of this chapter is meant to be rhythmic rather than melodic, but I'd like you to work with the melodic examples (16.37 and up). If you get in over your head in terms of chromaticism, you have my permission to backtrack. Read 2-3 examples per day.
Good luck, dear students!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Higher Ground
Hello, Solfa People!
So, courtesy of the 2009 Conspirare holiday album, I've had Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" stuck in my head for days, especially the chorus:
I'm so darn glad he let me try it again,
'Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin,
I'm so glad now I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin' 'til I reach my highest ground.
It's a good general walking-around tune for sure, and possibly an even better one for this time of year full of freshly-made resolutions. I get especially black-and-white about my resolutions sometimes, and one little slip-up on one lofty goal or another causes me to abandon the whole effort. This is more than a little childish, but I think this happens to everyone -- we get terribly dualistic and hard on ourselves, and we sabotage our own best efforts by believing that we have to be completely successful or completely unsuccessful.
So, this post is especially dedicated to those of you who maybe haven't worked on solfa in months and months, or who did it for awhile and got behind, and even to those of you who have been pretty consistent. It's ok to miss a day, a week, a month....and even missing more than that doesn't mean that you should abandon any idea of working on your skills between now and July. You can try it again any time -- falling off the wagon can be just an isolated incident. It doesn't have to be the end of the world. Every moment is a new chance to start reaching for your highest ground. In fact, it is only in each moment that we have the chance. So, forget about what you didn't do yesterday or last week or last month. Right now still belongs to you.
All Levels
Seek out your Ottman and your tuning fork, and put them someplace visible -- a coffee table or end table might be a good spot. Remember, you can get your daily 15 minutes of solfa in during the commercial breaks of an hour-long network television show -- you just have to hit the mute button.
Rising Level 2's
Check out these longish examples, and work through one a day. Be sure to find the key from your tuning fork, and to work intentionally on any snags:
8.44
8.46
9.3
9.15
9.36
9.37
Rising Level 3's
You have the same marching orders as the 2's, but with these examples instead:
14.26 (the D-sharp is "di")
14.28
14.29
14.31
14.32 (despite its ending, this piece is in D)
14.33
For all examples above, I stay in the same key, but you're welcome to experiment with changing if that helps!
Rising Level 4's
Your instructions are also the same as the 2's, and you also get your own examples to play with:
14.38
14.40
14.41
14.42
14.43
14.44
In each case, the choice of whether to change keys or not is up to you!
Carpe diem, my dear students! It's time to try again.
So, courtesy of the 2009 Conspirare holiday album, I've had Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" stuck in my head for days, especially the chorus:
I'm so darn glad he let me try it again,
'Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin,
I'm so glad now I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin' 'til I reach my highest ground.
It's a good general walking-around tune for sure, and possibly an even better one for this time of year full of freshly-made resolutions. I get especially black-and-white about my resolutions sometimes, and one little slip-up on one lofty goal or another causes me to abandon the whole effort. This is more than a little childish, but I think this happens to everyone -- we get terribly dualistic and hard on ourselves, and we sabotage our own best efforts by believing that we have to be completely successful or completely unsuccessful.
So, this post is especially dedicated to those of you who maybe haven't worked on solfa in months and months, or who did it for awhile and got behind, and even to those of you who have been pretty consistent. It's ok to miss a day, a week, a month....and even missing more than that doesn't mean that you should abandon any idea of working on your skills between now and July. You can try it again any time -- falling off the wagon can be just an isolated incident. It doesn't have to be the end of the world. Every moment is a new chance to start reaching for your highest ground. In fact, it is only in each moment that we have the chance. So, forget about what you didn't do yesterday or last week or last month. Right now still belongs to you.
All Levels
Seek out your Ottman and your tuning fork, and put them someplace visible -- a coffee table or end table might be a good spot. Remember, you can get your daily 15 minutes of solfa in during the commercial breaks of an hour-long network television show -- you just have to hit the mute button.
Rising Level 2's
Check out these longish examples, and work through one a day. Be sure to find the key from your tuning fork, and to work intentionally on any snags:
8.44
8.46
9.3
9.15
9.36
9.37
Rising Level 3's
You have the same marching orders as the 2's, but with these examples instead:
14.26 (the D-sharp is "di")
14.28
14.29
14.31
14.32 (despite its ending, this piece is in D)
14.33
For all examples above, I stay in the same key, but you're welcome to experiment with changing if that helps!
Rising Level 4's
Your instructions are also the same as the 2's, and you also get your own examples to play with:
14.38
14.40
14.41
14.42
14.43
14.44
In each case, the choice of whether to change keys or not is up to you!
Carpe diem, my dear students! It's time to try again.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Going Through the Motions
Welcome, Solfa Slayers!
Many of you may already know that I have tremendous appreciation for all things Joss Whedon (and I am not particularly concerned with outside judgments of this appreciation, so if you need to roll your eyes, know that it doesn't bother me -- I am, after all, a graduate of K-12 homeschooling AND a person who blogs about solfege on a weekly basis, so coolness is obviously not a central part of my life), and in particular, I LOVE Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series, naturally...I've actually never seen the movie). Many of you also know (because of my running commentary here and elsewhere) that I'm in the midst of preparing for my written comprehensive exams, which are now 10 days away. If you've been through this process, you can probably make a good guess about my head-space at the moment, and if you haven't...well, I am in no place to have great perspective right now, but I can tell you this:
I'm doing a lot of stuff right now that feels like it's not accomplishing much. I'm looking at pieces of information, reading a lot, typing a lot, trying to make sense out of many things, and feeling like I have a skull full of Malt-o-meal rather than a functioning brain. In fact, I feel like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO7J2knk4Ew
[For the uninitiated, here's the backdrop. Buffy (the singing woman...she doesn't usually sing, this is just a special musical episode, for which someone has diligently taught her Julie Andrews' approach to internal r's in English diction) is a vampire slayer, meaning that she was born with super-human strength and fighting ability and it is her sole responsibility to save the world...a lot. Well, a few months before the time of this episode, Buffy saved the world and died in the process, but then her friends used a powerful spell to resurrect her, because they thought she was trapped in a place of unspeakable torment. However, Buffy was not where they think she was when she was dead, but instead in a state of bliss and rest, and now she's been yanked back into her daily grind of world-saving and demon-fighting and isn't too pleased. She hasn't told her friends any of this, though, and none of them can figure out why she seems so disengaged from life.]
My point is that I feel like I'm going through the motions, too. Unlike Buffy, however, I am not a once-in-a-generation chosen one. I have the advantage of knowing lots of people who have gone down this road before me. So, I already know the moral of the story, even though it pains me to admit it:
Just keep going.
Work doesn't always feel satisfying. Pushing through is sometimes lacking in any kind of immediate reward. The point is to have faith that the reason you set out down this road is still there someplace, just beyond where you can see.
And, while this is all particularly applicable for my specific situation at the moment, I suspect everyone has been through this kind of thing before. It can be a real drag...I mean, none of us became artists because we cope well with the feeling that we're just slogging through. Probably we all hear a lot from folks who work outside the arts that we're lucky, and I agree that we are. However, that luck does NOT exempt us from this kind of trial-by-sweat-without-much-satisfaction. Inspiration can be flighty. Rewards and reinforcement can come too infrequently. And in those times, sometimes you have to go through the motions, let your body and your discipline take over when your spirit and your emotions are dragging, and trust that your mind and heart will ultimately work themselves out. What's inside is always changing. What's outside is always changing. Even when it doesn't seem like it, what you do in the meantime still always matters.
Rising Level 2's
Begin with a little set-up exercise:
Using your tuning fork, find the key of F major and sing a tonic triad.
Then, sing a V7.
Then, sing the resolution of everything in that V7 that needs to go someplace:
f-m
t,-d
s,-d
Repeat this process in F minor, still remembering to resolve your tendency tones:
r-d
si-l
m,-l
Now, go to Ottman, Chapter 11 and sing through one major (section 1) and one minor (section 2) per day, setting up each example you choose with the exercise above, first in solfa and then in letter names. Believe me, this will make these exercises seem like a piece of cake, and it'll go a long way towards helping you think in fifths, which will come in very handy when we start talking about chromaticism next summer.
Rising Level 3's
Begin with our favorite chromatic scalar exercise:
d d t, d r r di r m m ri m f....etc.,
Sing both the ascending and descending versions, with "wringing" motions at the half steps if you have any trouble with intonation. If you have lots of trouble, find a friend and get him/her to sing a major scale in long notes along with you to help you stabilize your chromatics. If you don't have a singing friend handy, as a last resort, you may play the tonic in octaves along with yourself.
Now, try singing the exercise from la instead of do...shazzam! It's a minor chromatic exercise!
Look at the following Ottman examples:
15.86
15.90
15.92
15.94
15.95
Before you begin singing each example, set it up with the appropriate incarnation (from la or from do) of the chromatic exercise in the key of the example you're singing (if you want, you may use letter names, but that might be more trouble than it's worth). Scan each melody ahead of time and pay attention to what chromatic syllables you'll need and how they resolve. Remember to anchor yourself in the diatonic, because (after all) chromaticism is just a splash of color!
Rising Level 4's
Use the set-up exercises outlined for BOTH the rising 2's and 3's, but use these more challenging Ottman examples:
16.39
16.41
16.42
16.44
16.51 (look at the end so you're not tempted to pick too fast a tempo!)
Go through the motions, my friends...sometimes it's the only way to get to the end.
Many of you may already know that I have tremendous appreciation for all things Joss Whedon (and I am not particularly concerned with outside judgments of this appreciation, so if you need to roll your eyes, know that it doesn't bother me -- I am, after all, a graduate of K-12 homeschooling AND a person who blogs about solfege on a weekly basis, so coolness is obviously not a central part of my life), and in particular, I LOVE Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series, naturally...I've actually never seen the movie). Many of you also know (because of my running commentary here and elsewhere) that I'm in the midst of preparing for my written comprehensive exams, which are now 10 days away. If you've been through this process, you can probably make a good guess about my head-space at the moment, and if you haven't...well, I am in no place to have great perspective right now, but I can tell you this:
I'm doing a lot of stuff right now that feels like it's not accomplishing much. I'm looking at pieces of information, reading a lot, typing a lot, trying to make sense out of many things, and feeling like I have a skull full of Malt-o-meal rather than a functioning brain. In fact, I feel like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO7J2knk4Ew
[For the uninitiated, here's the backdrop. Buffy (the singing woman...she doesn't usually sing, this is just a special musical episode, for which someone has diligently taught her Julie Andrews' approach to internal r's in English diction) is a vampire slayer, meaning that she was born with super-human strength and fighting ability and it is her sole responsibility to save the world...a lot. Well, a few months before the time of this episode, Buffy saved the world and died in the process, but then her friends used a powerful spell to resurrect her, because they thought she was trapped in a place of unspeakable torment. However, Buffy was not where they think she was when she was dead, but instead in a state of bliss and rest, and now she's been yanked back into her daily grind of world-saving and demon-fighting and isn't too pleased. She hasn't told her friends any of this, though, and none of them can figure out why she seems so disengaged from life.]
My point is that I feel like I'm going through the motions, too. Unlike Buffy, however, I am not a once-in-a-generation chosen one. I have the advantage of knowing lots of people who have gone down this road before me. So, I already know the moral of the story, even though it pains me to admit it:
Just keep going.
Work doesn't always feel satisfying. Pushing through is sometimes lacking in any kind of immediate reward. The point is to have faith that the reason you set out down this road is still there someplace, just beyond where you can see.
And, while this is all particularly applicable for my specific situation at the moment, I suspect everyone has been through this kind of thing before. It can be a real drag...I mean, none of us became artists because we cope well with the feeling that we're just slogging through. Probably we all hear a lot from folks who work outside the arts that we're lucky, and I agree that we are. However, that luck does NOT exempt us from this kind of trial-by-sweat-without-much-satisfaction. Inspiration can be flighty. Rewards and reinforcement can come too infrequently. And in those times, sometimes you have to go through the motions, let your body and your discipline take over when your spirit and your emotions are dragging, and trust that your mind and heart will ultimately work themselves out. What's inside is always changing. What's outside is always changing. Even when it doesn't seem like it, what you do in the meantime still always matters.
Rising Level 2's
Begin with a little set-up exercise:
Using your tuning fork, find the key of F major and sing a tonic triad.
Then, sing a V7.
Then, sing the resolution of everything in that V7 that needs to go someplace:
f-m
t,-d
s,-d
Repeat this process in F minor, still remembering to resolve your tendency tones:
r-d
si-l
m,-l
Now, go to Ottman, Chapter 11 and sing through one major (section 1) and one minor (section 2) per day, setting up each example you choose with the exercise above, first in solfa and then in letter names. Believe me, this will make these exercises seem like a piece of cake, and it'll go a long way towards helping you think in fifths, which will come in very handy when we start talking about chromaticism next summer.
Rising Level 3's
Begin with our favorite chromatic scalar exercise:
d d t, d r r di r m m ri m f....etc.,
Sing both the ascending and descending versions, with "wringing" motions at the half steps if you have any trouble with intonation. If you have lots of trouble, find a friend and get him/her to sing a major scale in long notes along with you to help you stabilize your chromatics. If you don't have a singing friend handy, as a last resort, you may play the tonic in octaves along with yourself.
Now, try singing the exercise from la instead of do...shazzam! It's a minor chromatic exercise!
Look at the following Ottman examples:
15.86
15.90
15.92
15.94
15.95
Before you begin singing each example, set it up with the appropriate incarnation (from la or from do) of the chromatic exercise in the key of the example you're singing (if you want, you may use letter names, but that might be more trouble than it's worth). Scan each melody ahead of time and pay attention to what chromatic syllables you'll need and how they resolve. Remember to anchor yourself in the diatonic, because (after all) chromaticism is just a splash of color!
Rising Level 4's
Use the set-up exercises outlined for BOTH the rising 2's and 3's, but use these more challenging Ottman examples:
16.39
16.41
16.42
16.44
16.51 (look at the end so you're not tempted to pick too fast a tempo!)
Go through the motions, my friends...sometimes it's the only way to get to the end.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
A Way around It
Happy Sunday, Solfa Adventurers!
October is here, but it's still short-and-sandal weather in Colorado, with delightful cardigan mornings and evenings. Autumn is making quite a positive impression on me this year, I must say!
Many of you know that I've embarked on the adventure of a gluten-free diet (until recently, it's been gluten-free pescatarian, but on the advice of my alternative health practitioner, I've now introduced small amounts of super-humanely-raised-you-can-request-a-picture-and-personal-history-of-the-bird-to-confirm-it-had-a-happy-life chicken...quite a change for me), which has necessitated something of a paradigm shift in what it means to put together a meal. However, it's a LOT easier to do this kind of thing now than it used to be, I believe, especially since lots of other people are on similar journeys and talking about it in interesting and helpful ways.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/fresh-nourishing-salads-for-all-seasons
Tons of information is out there -- you just have to be willing to look for it, and be willing to embrace a different way of going about the procedure of everyday things. Is it convenient? Not really. However, does it give you an opportunity to grow? Undoubtedly. And, the experience of exploration opens you to new delights, treats and treasures that people who walk the path more-traveled-by don't get to see.
As I've been dipping my toes into new dietary waters, I've been fortunate to have a parallel experience, but from the perspective of the guide rather than the tenderfoot explorer. Several intrepid and delightful women have been studying music fundamentals with me over the past few months, and we've been having tons of fun. As I mentioned last week, new information takes time to sink in, and that tends to worry us unnecessarily. Additionally, I have increasingly come to believe the "direct path" is a myth. Sometimes we get lucky, and the first time we explain something, it sinks in for the learner. However, in the world of music, almost nothing works like that. Multiple modes of operation, conflicting vocabulary, redundant synonyms (how many ways can you think of to say/describe "half step"....it's just plain sick to have that many ways to say the same thing), an ancient notational system, all within a culture where many of our most handsomely compensated "musicians" boast of having no formal training and no knowledge of any of the above -- these are some serious learning barriers. Anyone who makes it in the door despite all of that (especially as a grownup) is worthy of a big dollop of respect in my book, and they deserve to have a teacher who can show them more than one way to navigate through the choppy waters of determining the quality of an interval, unraveling the mysteries of the circle of fifths, constructing the three forms of the minor scale, etc. And, while it's a difficult task to do what we're doing, and many people would consider it more trouble than it's worth for a person who is pursuing music as an amateur, the expressions of empowerment and pride and good old-fashioned geekiness I've seen and heard out of these students have convinced me that this is worth it for them. Sometimes it's just a matter of repetition. More often, it's a matter of repetition from a variety of perspectives, taking a whole panoply of routes past one point of interest until it becomes a landmark, and then adding more landmarks, then determining the spatial/conceptual relationship of one landmark to the others, then creating a map of an ever-larger hunk of musical geography incrementally over time. In this way, being a teacher is sort of like being a human GPS device...and sometimes road closures or human error or bad neighborhoods or new developments make us say "recalculating" about 9000 times along the way, which can be annoying, but it's our job. We're the ones who already have a pretty good map (even though we, too, are always learning), good enough that we can find a way around it.
So, this week:
All Levels
Take a look at Ottman, chapter 2. Yes, I'm serious.
Read pp. 12-13. Now, take yourself back to your earliest sight-singing experience and think through what else your teacher would have needed to say in order for all of this prose to make sense to you. Did you know what a major scale was? Did you know what half steps and whole steps were? How would you define them for someone (like your former self) who had been singing them forever, but who didn't know what they were or why they were called that or why they had other names? Would you use a keyboard?
After thinking through these issues (and others that might come up along the same lines), create a procedure for teaching an older beginner basic sight-singing using the material in Ottman, chapter 2. For the purposes of the exercise, you may assume that the imaginary student already has a basic understanding of rhythms and meters.
Now, if you're curious, empirically minded, or if you have a willing victim/captive audience handy, it might be interesting and fun to try out your strategies on a real live person. In fact, I highly recommend it -- that person will inevitably teach you far more than I can. If your handiest student is a bit beyond chapter 2 skills, adapt your strategies and the material to the situation. Notice what surprises you. Delight in your student's successes. Be creative in your descriptions and your problem-solving. As you think on your feet, remember what it's like not to know. Recalculate as needed.
Enjoy!
October is here, but it's still short-and-sandal weather in Colorado, with delightful cardigan mornings and evenings. Autumn is making quite a positive impression on me this year, I must say!
Many of you know that I've embarked on the adventure of a gluten-free diet (until recently, it's been gluten-free pescatarian, but on the advice of my alternative health practitioner, I've now introduced small amounts of super-humanely-raised-you-can-request-a-picture-and-personal-history-of-the-bird-to-confirm-it-had-a-happy-life chicken...quite a change for me), which has necessitated something of a paradigm shift in what it means to put together a meal. However, it's a LOT easier to do this kind of thing now than it used to be, I believe, especially since lots of other people are on similar journeys and talking about it in interesting and helpful ways.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/fresh-nourishing-salads-for-all-seasons
Tons of information is out there -- you just have to be willing to look for it, and be willing to embrace a different way of going about the procedure of everyday things. Is it convenient? Not really. However, does it give you an opportunity to grow? Undoubtedly. And, the experience of exploration opens you to new delights, treats and treasures that people who walk the path more-traveled-by don't get to see.
As I've been dipping my toes into new dietary waters, I've been fortunate to have a parallel experience, but from the perspective of the guide rather than the tenderfoot explorer. Several intrepid and delightful women have been studying music fundamentals with me over the past few months, and we've been having tons of fun. As I mentioned last week, new information takes time to sink in, and that tends to worry us unnecessarily. Additionally, I have increasingly come to believe the "direct path" is a myth. Sometimes we get lucky, and the first time we explain something, it sinks in for the learner. However, in the world of music, almost nothing works like that. Multiple modes of operation, conflicting vocabulary, redundant synonyms (how many ways can you think of to say/describe "half step"....it's just plain sick to have that many ways to say the same thing), an ancient notational system, all within a culture where many of our most handsomely compensated "musicians" boast of having no formal training and no knowledge of any of the above -- these are some serious learning barriers. Anyone who makes it in the door despite all of that (especially as a grownup) is worthy of a big dollop of respect in my book, and they deserve to have a teacher who can show them more than one way to navigate through the choppy waters of determining the quality of an interval, unraveling the mysteries of the circle of fifths, constructing the three forms of the minor scale, etc. And, while it's a difficult task to do what we're doing, and many people would consider it more trouble than it's worth for a person who is pursuing music as an amateur, the expressions of empowerment and pride and good old-fashioned geekiness I've seen and heard out of these students have convinced me that this is worth it for them. Sometimes it's just a matter of repetition. More often, it's a matter of repetition from a variety of perspectives, taking a whole panoply of routes past one point of interest until it becomes a landmark, and then adding more landmarks, then determining the spatial/conceptual relationship of one landmark to the others, then creating a map of an ever-larger hunk of musical geography incrementally over time. In this way, being a teacher is sort of like being a human GPS device...and sometimes road closures or human error or bad neighborhoods or new developments make us say "recalculating" about 9000 times along the way, which can be annoying, but it's our job. We're the ones who already have a pretty good map (even though we, too, are always learning), good enough that we can find a way around it.
So, this week:
All Levels
Take a look at Ottman, chapter 2. Yes, I'm serious.
Read pp. 12-13. Now, take yourself back to your earliest sight-singing experience and think through what else your teacher would have needed to say in order for all of this prose to make sense to you. Did you know what a major scale was? Did you know what half steps and whole steps were? How would you define them for someone (like your former self) who had been singing them forever, but who didn't know what they were or why they were called that or why they had other names? Would you use a keyboard?
After thinking through these issues (and others that might come up along the same lines), create a procedure for teaching an older beginner basic sight-singing using the material in Ottman, chapter 2. For the purposes of the exercise, you may assume that the imaginary student already has a basic understanding of rhythms and meters.
Now, if you're curious, empirically minded, or if you have a willing victim/captive audience handy, it might be interesting and fun to try out your strategies on a real live person. In fact, I highly recommend it -- that person will inevitably teach you far more than I can. If your handiest student is a bit beyond chapter 2 skills, adapt your strategies and the material to the situation. Notice what surprises you. Delight in your student's successes. Be creative in your descriptions and your problem-solving. As you think on your feet, remember what it's like not to know. Recalculate as needed.
Enjoy!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Course Corrections or Information Marination
Greetings, solfa navigators!
Well, there's no denying it....the equinox has come and gone, and now it's autumn in earnest. The sky has that impossibly blue Colorado summer look here still, but the leaves are starting to turn, slowly but surely.
In my own everyday academic life, I'm up to my eyeballs in studying -- my big doctoral written exams are exactly a month from tomorrow, and while I always swore I'd remain calm when the time came for me to take part in this particular academic ritual, like so many before me, I am eating those words a bit. Gratefulness for the people who remind me of all the reasons why it'll all be ok continues to run high, but sleeping and maintaining focus has already becoming a challenge. However, as difficult as this process is, there's a part of me that enjoys playing Jane Goodall while the rest of me is a bit more like a troop of riled-up chimpanzees, and she's made the following observations:
1. Looking at information that is new or unfamiliar tends to cause the subject (me) to become anxious. However....
2. Repeated viewings improve both the subject's emotional response and her intellectual understanding and retention.
3. Going over information that was formerly familiar to the subject is typically quite successful immediately.
None of this should be a surprise, most likely, but I have to admit -- I'm a little startled at how true it is. Part of me naively insists that I should be able to force-feed myself as much information as I want (familiar or not), and everything should go into a nice little box inside my head and be readily accessible to me thenceforth just because I say so. And it ain't so. As it turns out, being in a hurry just makes it harder. Patience with others is a virtue I've spent a good amount of time cultivating (to varying degrees of success at any given moment), and as I get older, it bothers me less and less to have to repeat myself to my students or my choristers. However, I find myself unaccustomed to being patient with myself -- so it's time for a personal course correction. It's time to make a change. And I'm willing to bet I'm not the only Type A out there in need of this particular lesson. So:
Rising Level 2's
Check out Ottmans 11.33 and 12.39. By the end of the week, I bet you a dollar you can learn to do both of these as sing-and-plays. No, seriously. Breathe. You can totally do this:
First, sing through one voice part at a time. Do this until completely fluent -- give yourself a couple days. Once you're fluent, aim for memory.
When you're nearly memorized on one voice part in each exercise, try tapping the melody of the opposite part from the one you're singing. Go slow if that helps...it may help less than you think. If you find yourself getting metrically lost, you may find it helpful to "conduct" with a foot or sway back and forth...it's a favorite trick of mine, and pretty easy to do in 2/4.
Slowly, add piano. Figure out a hand position and fingering for the part you play that is consistently successful...take the time to be strategic rather than winging it.
Be sure to let me know if I owe you a dollar!
Rising Level 3's
Track down your Classical Canons book and look at #139-166 (all by Cherubini). Before you freak out, I'm not suggesting you read through all of them (unless you want to, of course!). Instead, choose 3: 1 that's easy for you, 1 that requires a little bit of concentration to get through, and 1 that kicks your behind a little bit. If you like, phone a friend and coordinate one or more of your selections. Work together. Collaborate. Teach one another. Encourage one another. Take the time you need for each example, respectively. Observe your own process, and have patience as you let the music sink in.
Rising Level 4's
The day has come....it's time to look at #15 in the 15 2-part Exercises!
You have enough analytical savvy at this point to figure out your own key areas, however, I'll give you these hints:
I spend a lot of time in E minor and G Major -- the end (as you probably figured) is a Picardy.
I go to B minor a bit and C Major a bit, and maybe to A minor for a teensy minute. You'll see the usual signs pointing to these changes...
Figure out the "head" right away and go hunting for it throughout the piece....it's quite tell-tale, I think.
Don't bite off more than you can chew. If you start to feel like the piece is endless, break it up into smaller sections.
Enjoy, and don't frustrate yourself. Marinate yourself.
Well, there's no denying it....the equinox has come and gone, and now it's autumn in earnest. The sky has that impossibly blue Colorado summer look here still, but the leaves are starting to turn, slowly but surely.
In my own everyday academic life, I'm up to my eyeballs in studying -- my big doctoral written exams are exactly a month from tomorrow, and while I always swore I'd remain calm when the time came for me to take part in this particular academic ritual, like so many before me, I am eating those words a bit. Gratefulness for the people who remind me of all the reasons why it'll all be ok continues to run high, but sleeping and maintaining focus has already becoming a challenge. However, as difficult as this process is, there's a part of me that enjoys playing Jane Goodall while the rest of me is a bit more like a troop of riled-up chimpanzees, and she's made the following observations:
1. Looking at information that is new or unfamiliar tends to cause the subject (me) to become anxious. However....
2. Repeated viewings improve both the subject's emotional response and her intellectual understanding and retention.
3. Going over information that was formerly familiar to the subject is typically quite successful immediately.
None of this should be a surprise, most likely, but I have to admit -- I'm a little startled at how true it is. Part of me naively insists that I should be able to force-feed myself as much information as I want (familiar or not), and everything should go into a nice little box inside my head and be readily accessible to me thenceforth just because I say so. And it ain't so. As it turns out, being in a hurry just makes it harder. Patience with others is a virtue I've spent a good amount of time cultivating (to varying degrees of success at any given moment), and as I get older, it bothers me less and less to have to repeat myself to my students or my choristers. However, I find myself unaccustomed to being patient with myself -- so it's time for a personal course correction. It's time to make a change. And I'm willing to bet I'm not the only Type A out there in need of this particular lesson. So:
Rising Level 2's
Check out Ottmans 11.33 and 12.39. By the end of the week, I bet you a dollar you can learn to do both of these as sing-and-plays. No, seriously. Breathe. You can totally do this:
First, sing through one voice part at a time. Do this until completely fluent -- give yourself a couple days. Once you're fluent, aim for memory.
When you're nearly memorized on one voice part in each exercise, try tapping the melody of the opposite part from the one you're singing. Go slow if that helps...it may help less than you think. If you find yourself getting metrically lost, you may find it helpful to "conduct" with a foot or sway back and forth...it's a favorite trick of mine, and pretty easy to do in 2/4.
Slowly, add piano. Figure out a hand position and fingering for the part you play that is consistently successful...take the time to be strategic rather than winging it.
Be sure to let me know if I owe you a dollar!
Rising Level 3's
Track down your Classical Canons book and look at #139-166 (all by Cherubini). Before you freak out, I'm not suggesting you read through all of them (unless you want to, of course!). Instead, choose 3: 1 that's easy for you, 1 that requires a little bit of concentration to get through, and 1 that kicks your behind a little bit. If you like, phone a friend and coordinate one or more of your selections. Work together. Collaborate. Teach one another. Encourage one another. Take the time you need for each example, respectively. Observe your own process, and have patience as you let the music sink in.
Rising Level 4's
The day has come....it's time to look at #15 in the 15 2-part Exercises!
You have enough analytical savvy at this point to figure out your own key areas, however, I'll give you these hints:
I spend a lot of time in E minor and G Major -- the end (as you probably figured) is a Picardy.
I go to B minor a bit and C Major a bit, and maybe to A minor for a teensy minute. You'll see the usual signs pointing to these changes...
Figure out the "head" right away and go hunting for it throughout the piece....it's quite tell-tale, I think.
Don't bite off more than you can chew. If you start to feel like the piece is endless, break it up into smaller sections.
Enjoy, and don't frustrate yourself. Marinate yourself.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
The Body Remembers
Greetings, Solfa-practitioners!
Today in Colorado, it is the rare, beautiful kind of September day that I've seen almost nowhere else in the country (though occasionally in Portland, OR). Just warm enough, but with a hint of delightful coolness that telegraphs colder weather to come. Please remind me of how I went on and on about how gorgeous Colorado weather is next April when I'm whining about the blizzards.
And, I've had yet another run-in with alternative medicine that ties into our solfa labors. Yesterday I went to an alternative clinic and had a treatment that's based on the idea that our bodies (the gut in particular, as it turns out...go figure) are pretty smart. Their smartness, in fact, is smart enough to circumvent our minds at times, meaning that sometimes, our bodies are holding onto things that have happened to us that our conscious minds may not even remember or recognize as significant. This being the premise, getting the body to release the stress/fear/injury that our minds may not be aware of is the key to unraveling lots of inexplicable problems. Speaking as a person who has had a lifelong struggle with various health problems that don't behave as the typical M.D. expects them to, I find this idea to be a tremendous relief. Speaking as a voice teacher, I'm inclined to say (respectfully, of course): DUH! How much time do we singers spend unraveling the coping mechanisms our muscles/jaws/necks/shoulders/you name it have come up with in order to compensate for other underlying issues? And how difficult is it to re-program those mechanisms, and how often have we said to ourselves, "Ugh! My shoulder/neck/jaw just has a mind of its own!"? I have a feeling most of us can relate to this.
In our own practice of musicianship, how can we best work with/around obstacles like this? In the 2011 summer class, I think this came up a number of times as we talked about how to prepare class assignments most effectively. In general, my advice is to try something one way no more than three times, and if it still isn't working on the third attempt, stop and change your strategy (and/or ask yourself if you've possibly misunderstood the assignment or looked at the wrong example). Why? Because struggling over and over with the same task attempted in the same way is essentially teaching your body that the task is a struggle, and that it will always be difficult and never easy. And even if you eventually get through it, when you get into class the next day and attempt the task there, your body will likely remember the panic and frustration of the process and undermine your attempt. Am I saying that it's always a bad thing to struggle? Not at all. But, if you struggle in only one way and refuse to step back from a problem and come at it from a slightly different perspective, chances are you won't understand it completely. Struggle is worthwhile when it is strategic, when you have gone through a process to determine that your effort is indeed being spent in the best and most efficient fashion, and when you know for a fact that what you're working to learn is actually truly what you want to know.
I sort of liked last week's method for dividing up tasks, so I'm going to follow a similar pattern this week.
Harmonic Analysis Intensive
Look at your Music for Analysis book, examples #186 (p. 126), #193 (p. 132), and #200 (p. 137).
Now, the first two examples have a similar problem, and it can be easily solved if you follow my rule about playing through any example you analyze before attempting the analysis. The question you need to ask yourself as you listen is: "What key is this example really in?" Make sure you really believe in your answer before you start going hog-wild with Roman numerals -- in each case, the key signature is misleading. Once you've made a decision, make sure that your progression makes sense by the numbers -- if something sounds normal, but looks weird, chances are that something is wrong. So, if you find yourself in that situation, immediately stop and re-assess rather than pushing through and finding yourself in a frustrating mess.
The third example is a good candidate for solfa chord analysis, in my opinion. Once that's done, you can easily add Roman numerals where it's appropriate -- meaning in the places where the numbers actually work. If you get into a situation where the numbers move in a strange way, but the harmonies actually sound ok, don't worry about the stupid numbers. This is pre-Mozart stuff, and while Handel's stuff is pretty functional, he still takes a jaunt to the wonderful world of modality every now and again....it's no cause for alarm.
Rhythmic Intensive
In your Ottman, look at chapter 15, section 3 (pp. 252-54). Two part exercises with syncopation...don't panic! I'd recommend doing about 2-3 of these in a sitting, fewer if you find them difficult, more if you find them easy.
First, have a little talk with yourself about how to best take on some of these. I highly recommend learning one part at a time while conducting. I also recommend taking out ties for the sake of practice if necessary and tapping on two different surfaces so you can keep track of both parts. Or, you may choose to speak one part and tap the other...that can also be helpful. I started my musical life by taking piano lessons, so it feels natural to me to treat the two staves as right hand and left hand of a piano piece.
Second, if you do run into problems, be creative. Figure out what it is that's causing a train wreck -- don't just blindly start over from the beginning more than 3 times. Use your noodle. Isolate difficult elements. Work backwards. Use syllables if you need them.
Melodic Intensive
Grab your Ottman and flip toward the back of the book. There are several exercises back there that are much more visually forbidding than they are difficult, once one has made some savvy tonal choices.
19.7 (My initial instinct was not to change solfa at all in this example, but if jumping to a "fi" gives you fits, feel free to do a brief switcheroo. I'm still trying to figure out what this piece is doing in the "remote modulation" chapter since it's a canon, but I'm sure there must be a good reason)
21.16 (You'll notice right away, I'm sure, that the piece begins and ends in E-flat major, and I'd recommend practicing those bits first. Then, starting in the second line, make some decisions about where to shift to new keys...I used a total of three key centers for the whole example...remember to look for enharmonic relationships and let the tritone be your guide).
21.64 (this little devil is entirely E-centric...sometimes major, sometimes minor, with a few dashes of modal inflection here and there. Try playing the lower voice while singing the upper voice...that should actually make it easier)
In the spirit of not creating struggle, I've tried to give a little bit less work this week. Hopefully that means you'll feel like you have time to walk away from something that's frustrating and come back to it later when you feel more energized.
Good luck, and good health!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Like cures like
Hello, my dear solfa singers!
It's a three-day-weekend! Hooray!!!
I have lately had occasion to have a bit of exposure to homeopathic medicine. You know, I've taken echinacea and goldenseal before, maybe even used a tincture or two, and my mom had this friend when I was growing up who grew her own kombucha (long before this video came out), so I'm not a total neophyte, but this time around (prompted by yet another round of extremely unpleasant abdominal pain...and can I just take this moment to say that when one's body wants attention, it frequently chooses not to fight fair), I encountered this principle:
Like cures like.
Ok, so in my case, I have these really nasty pains that come on without warning and feel like there are iron bands digging into the sides of my stomach while an army of angry chihuahuas also chew on it from the inside. I couldn't find anything specifically for the chihuahua problem, but thanks to a dear friend, I've been taking something that can actually cause a pain like iron bands if taken by a healthy person, but when taken (in extremely diluted and small quantities) by someone who already has those pains, it's supposed to cause the body to right itself. Essentially, it's the same principle as vaccines (or the hair of the dog) -- give yourself a little poison, your body rushes in to deal with the intruder, and in doing so, it fixes the problem you had to start with. And, while I retain a little healthy skepticism about the whole thing, it did work for me. Maybe it's placebo...but I feel better, so I'm ok with that.
And, just in case anyone is worried, I do promise to get myself fully checked out by a gastroenterologist soon.
So, naturally, I thought of this concept in terms of musicianship, and as it turns out, the principle appears to hold true. If you have trouble with rhythms, you have to give yourself rhythmic exercises to work on. If speedy solfa is your Achilles' heel, you have to sing more fast passages in order to improve. And so on. So, this week's battery of exercises will be organized a little differently with this principle in mind, and feel free to select from multiple categories as you feel the need.
Rhythm Intensive
Take a look at Ottman, chapter 15....and let's have some fun with syncopations!
Speak through while conducting: 15.3, 15,5, 15.6, 15.10, 15.11, 15.16, 15.19, 15.20 (plus more, if desired)
On p. 257, look at the text on the bottom of the page, and select 2 melodies from each category to prepare and sing. If you are a rising level 2 and the chromaticism has you worried, you may choose from only the first two categories.
Melodic Leap Intensive
If you get stymied by leaps, either because applying the solfa quickly is hard or because you're afraid you won't sing the correct interval, this section is for you!
First, there are several interval exercises you can do to help yourself -- I like this one because it's all pentatonic, but actually pretty challenging:
Sing (the solfa, and then the interval name on the same notes -- I'd start in A or B-flat):
d r major second; r m major second; s l major second;
m s minor third; l d' minor third;
d m major third;
r s perfect fourth; m l perfect fourth; s d' perfect fourth; l r' perfect fourth;
d s perfect fifth; r l perfect fifth; s r' perfect fifth; l m' perfect fifth;
m d' minor sixth;
d l major sixth; s m' major sixth;
r d' minor seventh; m r' minor seventh; l s' minor seventh
Sing that exercise until you can do so fluently -- if you have trouble decoding it from the text above, call me, and I'll sing it for you.
Additionally, sing through these Ottmans:
9.3, 9.6, 9.8 (note that it goes on to the following page), 9.26, 9.37, 11.25, 11.26
Quick-draw Solfa Intensive
If you feel like spitting the syllables out accurately in scalar passages is your particular cross to bear, look no further.
First, practice pentachords in sequence:
drmfsfmrd rmfslsfmr mfsltlsfm fsltd'tlsf sltd'r'd'tls ltd'r'm'r'd'tl td'r'm'f'm'r'd't d'
Start out at a moderate tempo, and gradually increase your speed. For added challenge, leave out the last note in each grouping and go immediately on to the next grouping.
And, sing through these Ottman examples:
12.4, 12.7, 12.24, 12.27, 12.52, 12.58 (pretend you're in F major in treble clef)
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Our daily bread
Hello much-missed students!
....yes, it's true....I miss you all!
So, I have spent this past week house/dog-sitting and re-acclimating to life at high altitude after my long sojourn on east and west coasts, respectively. School starts up for me a week from tomorrow, and like many of you (I'm sure), I've started to get anxious about it. This is supposed to be a big year -- the year of comprehensive exams, dissertation projects, final orals and GRADUATION....and the thought of all the work standing between me and that goal (see word in all caps) is staggering, and it makes me want to freak out.
There, I said it.
Many of you had a similar reaction to reading Kodály's "Who is a Good Musician?", and I think I can safely say that this feeling of freak-out is a common human phenomenon. It happens to everyone, and I think most of us tend to think our freak-outs are some sort of secret flaw that no one else has, and that's not true.
We also tend to think that only special people will live to achieve monumental things in their lifetime, and that you have to have been born with some kind of one-in-a-million genius in order to do so. Part of that is too much TV or something...
No, seriously...
At pretty much every major milestone in my life, I've had this irresistible urge to wander the streets looking for a phone booth that contained my unitard, cape, and superpowers, all of which I clearly needed in order to check off the next item on my list....and you'll probably be as disappointed as I was to discover that there is NO phone booth.
Anyhow, I think another part of it is a refusal to acknowledge our own empowerment, our own human ability to transform ourselves through transforming our behavior. We'd rather not believe that work is just work. I'm not saying that there aren't things in life we can't do, and probably we have a much better shot at prowess in some things than others, just from our genetic predispositions.
But, the truth is this: for the most part, it's just work. The daily grind is the path to greatness. There may be some kind of miraculous transformation or unprecedented revelation waiting for you in the wings, but do you know how it'll reveal itself? Day by day, in the business of doing what needs to be done, probably with very little fanfare, and probably when no one else is watching and when you yourself have perhaps forgotten why you've bothered -- that is when the magic happens. It doesn't live in some big genius/talent storehouse. It comes to you like your daily bread, and you have to trust that each day will bring its proper allotment as you do your daily work in order to earn it. Some days you'll feel like you're going hungry. Some days you'll feel too tired or depressed to put in the time. But, if you're patient and diligent and gentle with yourself along the way, you'll discover that you can transform yourself, and that no one can take it away. That's why I'm so serious about this weekly blog business...it's an investment that cannot fail. There's no way not to make good on the time you've spent and the effort you've used.
So, this week:
Rising Level 2's
In your Ottman, sing through:
11.24, 11.25, 11.26, 11.27, & 11.28
Identify any tricky spots after your initial reading of each melody, isolate those spots and creatively problem-solve your way through them. Hint: look for arpeggiated harmonies, melodic and rhythmic patterns, and places to strategically use your audiation chops.
Once you've sung through all five, do a little phrase/form analysis of each melody. How are the melodies similar to one another? Does the national origin of each melody seem to be reflected in unique phrase structure? Are melodies from areas geographically close to one another more similar?
Finally, choose one or two of these melodies and harmonize them. Sing and play, by yourself or with a friend.
Rising Level 3's
Take a look at these Ottman examples:
13.19, 13.22, 13.25
From an initial scan, determine if you'd like to change solfa at any point -- my advice would be to change if you sense a cadence in the new key, or if you do multiple arpeggiations of a chromatic chord in the original key (i.e. something that looks like a major II, aka V/V). Did your solfa choices work for you? If not, is the solution more practice, or is it to change your approach?
Additionally, look at examples 13.20, 13.23, and 13.24.
Sing through each, and then harmonize portions of the melodies as indicated in the textbook. Do you agree with Ottman/Rogers' harmonic choices? Did you come up with an alternative you like better? What's the easiest way to figure out what a V/V in the key of D is (hint: see parenthetical statement above or look at your secondary dominant planet handout to spell in solfa, then translate into letters)? How would you harmonize the final cadence of 13.24?
Feel free to share your findings!
Rising Level 4's
DISCLAIMER: I avoid this chapter of Ottman during the summers, mostly because the question of modulation in such short passages often causes tremendous confusion or bitter arguments, while studying modulation in longer chunks or imitative contexts is usually easier and less emotionally draining. If you experience distress from the following exercise, please submit a complaint to the management.
Look at the following Ottman examples:
14.5, 14.6, 14.17, 14.19 (note that the fi in the last line isn't a modulatory fi), 14.24, and 14.30
In each case, determine where each modulation occurs in each piece, noting that you should only need to move in either the dominant direction by one fifth or the subdominant direction by one fifth (meaning that you're looking for fi and ta). Note also that some of these excerpts modulate away and some end in the new key. Devise a solfa change plan for each example before singing through it. After the initial reading, decide whether you think your initial assessment was correct or if you should strategically alter it. Try to reach a point of fluency with each example.
Enjoy, my dears, and remember...in order to gain mastery, all you have to do is put in the time to make solfa your daily bread.
Monday, August 8, 2011
A new year carol
Hello, my long-lost solfeggists!
So, we are now one week into the 49-week cycle. You will have noticed, perhaps, that I missed week 1 -- sort of intentional on my part, but mostly due to my quick jaunt to Portland, OR for the wedding of the first of my siblings, my older brother. A good time was had by all, I think....in fact, dancing with my younger brother was sort of a cultural education in itself, but I digress...
On the last day of classes, my dear Loyola students were kind enough to collaborate with me in gathering some "solfa aphorisms" -- it brought me back to my days in girls' chorus when we (being the littlest bit dorky) carried around what we called "autograph books" (a la Laura Ingalls Wilder) to collect little sayings from our friends. Don't judge....we were homeschoolers, so we didn't have yearbooks. Anyway, here are some of the sayings that we came up with just a bit over a week ago, many of which transcend solfa and the musical realm:
"Let us take our children seriously! Everything else follows from this...only the best is good enough for a child." (ZK, paraphrased)
Live a little. Music doesn't belong in a china closet.
Modes are messy.
Solfa class is just like therapy....a place to share your troubles. When you talk about your problems, they become easier to solve.
You cannot be a great teacher without giving a little of your heart to every student and in every lesson you teach.
Chromaticism is just a splash of color.
Sometimes anger is just a part of caring.
Solfa is like a workout for your brain.
Listen. It's better than making noise.
We teach people. We teach music. Remember to love both.
Teach your students as if you were teaching your own children.
You choose what you take with you.
You never know for sure what seeds you plant will wind up taking root and flourishing.
Being a good teacher to yourself is a necessary step to becoming a good teacher of others.
The British Invasion would've really taken off if they had used solfa syllables.
Your teacher knows better than you at this moment.
Drinks are better than drama.
Sometimes sitting with failure is more valuable than a thousand successes.
C, D, E.....as easy as ut-re-mi!
You have both your strengths and your weaknesses for a reason. Embrace them. Know them.
Obviously, some of these are more serious than others, some are mostly inside jokes, and some are firmly in my favorite touchy-feely realm. However, I have to say that I think it's valuable to reflect on our recent experiences in the solfa classroom in ways that are both comical and serious, both concrete and hopelessly abstract, and both practical and merely ideal. After all, solfa is a musicianship course, and we all know that our personal experiences and reflections and senses of humor are inextricable from our artistic behavior.
As we ease into this new year, and in the spirit of all of the above, I invite you:
All Levels:
Take a moment sometime this week to write down what you enjoyed about this year's solfa experience, and record the ways in which you know you've grown. Brag. Revel....just a little.
Then, take another moment and write down the things you wish we would have spent more time with in class, the gaps in your own experience that you'd like to have spackled up, and the goals you have for yourself before embarking upon the next phase of your musical training.
If you feel comfortable, please share either or both of the above lists with me. I cannot overstate how important it is to me that each of you feels that this course is supposed to be for YOU, to help YOU grow and succeed. Believe me when I say: if it lies within my power to help you, I want to do that. Also, knowing what you want to work on during the year will really help me guide my posts here on the blog -- at the moment, I sort of follow my nose and try to give you all a nice variety, but if there's something you'd like me to focus on, I'd be glad to do that.
And, just so I don't feel totally soft-core about this week's post:
All Levels:
Each day, select 2 Ottman examples to sight-sing (one in major, one in minor), using the principles we discussed this summer....most importantly, DON'T STOP! If you're wondering what chapter(s) to use, try:
Rising 2's - ch. 6, 8, or 9
Rising 3's - ch. 11, 12, or (if you're feeling frisky) 13
Rising 4's - ch. 13, 7 (if you'd like to practice alto clef), or 20
Enjoy, my friends, and please do consider sending me some feedback -- just like at Burger King, I'd like you to have it YOUR way.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Nifty fifty....
Hello, solfa adventurers!
Guess what! Blogger (our host site) just told me that this is my fiftieth post! Now, the number really should be higher than that, if I were to have been consistent in my weekly posting since the blog's 2009 inception, but still....this is a milestone, and I think we should celebrate with some solfa and some beautiful music from La belle epoque....
Rising Level 2's
Day 1: Select 3 sight-singing examples (try Ottman, ch. 9) -- choose the 3 you'd like to try before you actually sing them. Begin with the first, and be sure to use your tuning fork to set your key. As you begin, take notice of what you do to prepare yourself for the task at hand, and after you're done with the first example, make some decisions about what to do differently for the next example, and build upon this experience for the third example. Once you've completed all three examples, make a note of which process was most successful for you, and write it out, step-by-step.
Day 2: Using your step-by-step list from yesterday, sing through 3 more sight-singing examples. Does the process still work for you? Edit as needed.
Day 3: Type up your process and save it as a PDF...email it to me and to your colleagues so we can compare notes!
Day 4: Look over other folks' processes and compare theirs to yours. Hunt down some new melodies and try out someone else's process. How does it work for you?
Day 5: Take a look at this beautiful piece by Reynaldo Hahn:
Sing through the melody....what do you suppose is happening with that E-natural?
Rising Level 3's
Follow the instructions above, but use Ottman chapters 13 and 14 for your sight-singing fodder...or the Haydn section of Classical Canons, if you prefer.
Also, on Day 5, look at this little gem, theme and variation 1:
How will you navigate through those chromatic passages? Will having an aural imprint of the theme (which is largely diatonic) help you along? I believe so....
Rising Level 4's
Follow the same instructions as the rising level 2's, but use the Mozart and Caldara portion of the Classical Canons book for your sight-singing fodder.
And, on day 5, look at this link, song #6:
What do you suppose "Mode Hypodorien" means? Do a little digging around (search for the anglicized spelling: "Hypodorian") and see what you come up with. Why would Mr. Hahn be fussing around with modes, anyway?
Oh, and extra points to anyone who can tell me (no Google/Wikipedia cheating!) where Reynaldo Hahn was born and what famous singer he was friends with....
Monday, June 20, 2011
People, Get Ready!
Though it is unseasonably cool and cloudy in my beloved Denver today, I am nonetheless keenly aware that the sultry heat of July in Baltimore draws nigh. And, while I am likewise extremely grateful for the slower pace of life that I’ve been graced with since the end of the spring semester, I feel the pace quickening as “the other 49 weeks” draw to a close and the 3-week stint we all spend in the classroom together approaches.
So, as I pore over past lesson plans and materials, think through what worked and what didn’t, and begin the process of figuring out what to bring (I might get really clever this year and make a shiny, organized binder that is The Big Book of Musical Examples for Solfa....and perhaps discover a life without piles of random books and 3 bajillion pieces of loose paper EVERYWHERE), I’ve also begun to think about what I might do to get myself ready if I were a student in my own classroom:
1. I’d physically track down all my books and make sure that I have them all.
2. I’d find all my notes and handouts from last year (and the year before, if applicable)
3. I’d make myself a list of what supplies I knew I’d need (because trying to find a music store to buy a new tuning fork after class has already started is an annoying process).
4. I’d take a little time to think about what happened last year in my solfa/AKI experience and make a mental (or physical) note about what I’d like to change for this year.
Note that any of your reflections from item 4 would likely be very useful to me as well, and I’d be very grateful if you’d be willing to share them. Upon looking through last year’s lesson plans, I know there are a lot of things I’d like to change. Maybe the biggest thing is that I want to be certain that my students have a strong sense of the relevance of what we do in solfa class to the rest of their musical lives. I want my students to leave solfa class on the 29th of July feeling more empowered and more musical than ever before, and I want that to be something that they own independent of me. I have several ideas for how to help make that happen, but as usual, I will crave your kind assistance:
Rising Level 2’s
Have fun with these preparations! If you have your tuning fork (and a mobile device with some nifty keyboard app to check yourself, if needed), you can even do this by the pool (umbrella drinks optional)! Bonus!
So, as I pore over past lesson plans and materials, think through what worked and what didn’t, and begin the process of figuring out what to bring (I might get really clever this year and make a shiny, organized binder that is The Big Book of Musical Examples for Solfa....and perhaps discover a life without piles of random books and 3 bajillion pieces of loose paper EVERYWHERE), I’ve also begun to think about what I might do to get myself ready if I were a student in my own classroom:
1. I’d physically track down all my books and make sure that I have them all.
2. I’d find all my notes and handouts from last year (and the year before, if applicable)
3. I’d make myself a list of what supplies I knew I’d need (because trying to find a music store to buy a new tuning fork after class has already started is an annoying process).
4. I’d take a little time to think about what happened last year in my solfa/AKI experience and make a mental (or physical) note about what I’d like to change for this year.
Note that any of your reflections from item 4 would likely be very useful to me as well, and I’d be very grateful if you’d be willing to share them. Upon looking through last year’s lesson plans, I know there are a lot of things I’d like to change. Maybe the biggest thing is that I want to be certain that my students have a strong sense of the relevance of what we do in solfa class to the rest of their musical lives. I want my students to leave solfa class on the 29th of July feeling more empowered and more musical than ever before, and I want that to be something that they own independent of me. I have several ideas for how to help make that happen, but as usual, I will crave your kind assistance:
Rising Level 2’s
Go through my numbered list above.
Find the “Our Tuning Forks, Our Selves” handout (if you can’t find a physical copy, check out the right side of your screen) and give yourself a refresher course. Check your accuracy with finding keys at a recently-tuned piano (if you find that you’re having lots of trouble, check to make sure your tuning fork itself matches the piano).
Practice your tuning fork skills with these Ottman examples:
11.28, 11.30, 11.31, 12.7, 12.16, 12.34
Also, if you haven’t already done so, download a copy of “Modes Made Easy” (see the right side of your screen) and give it a read-through.
Rising Level 3’s
Go through my numbered list above, and also track down your tuning fork and spot-test your key-finding abilities. If modes are a struggling point for you, you might want to check out “Modes Made Easy” as well.
Look through your notes and find your notation of the chromatic exercise we used last year (d...d t,d r.....r di r m.....m ri m f.....f m f so...., etc.). Sing through both the ascending and descending versions.
Use your refreshed chromatic savvy to peruse Ottman chapter 14 and find a few challenging musical knots to unravel.
Finally, draw yourself a musical timeline:
Take a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line.
Along the line, write: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th/21st Century.
Under each designation, write all the musical innovations, composers, forms, and instruments/voice types you associate with each time period. Don't worry if you have a lot more to say about some things than others -- just go off the top of your head.
Once that’s done, mark the items you’re personally curious or confused about, and share those items with me.
Rising Level 4’s
As you prepare for the less-musical portion of your graduate studies, I’d be thrilled to help you in any way I can. Give me a shout if you need anything...
And, just for old time’s sake:
Check out Music for Analysis, pp. 302-04
Sing through the violin II line on p. 302 -- you may wish to skate over to a new key at the beginning of the second system, but you’ll probably want to come back.
Sing through the oboe II line on p. 303...relish the chromatics!
Switch to the violin I line at pickups to the last measure (28) on p. 303, and continue until m. 36. What do you make of that A-flat?
At pickups to m. 37, switch to the flute line until the end of the minuet (if you’re overwhelmed with curiosity, take a look at the trio that follows...mind the key signature!)
Practice your tuning fork skills with these Ottman examples:
11.28, 11.30, 11.31, 12.7, 12.16, 12.34
Also, if you haven’t already done so, download a copy of “Modes Made Easy” (see the right side of your screen) and give it a read-through.
Rising Level 3’s
Go through my numbered list above, and also track down your tuning fork and spot-test your key-finding abilities. If modes are a struggling point for you, you might want to check out “Modes Made Easy” as well.
Look through your notes and find your notation of the chromatic exercise we used last year (d...d t,d r.....r di r m.....m ri m f.....f m f so...., etc.). Sing through both the ascending and descending versions.
Use your refreshed chromatic savvy to peruse Ottman chapter 14 and find a few challenging musical knots to unravel.
Finally, draw yourself a musical timeline:
Take a piece of paper and draw a horizontal line.
Along the line, write: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th/21st Century.
Under each designation, write all the musical innovations, composers, forms, and instruments/voice types you associate with each time period. Don't worry if you have a lot more to say about some things than others -- just go off the top of your head.
Once that’s done, mark the items you’re personally curious or confused about, and share those items with me.
Rising Level 4’s
As you prepare for the less-musical portion of your graduate studies, I’d be thrilled to help you in any way I can. Give me a shout if you need anything...
And, just for old time’s sake:
Check out Music for Analysis, pp. 302-04
Sing through the violin II line on p. 302 -- you may wish to skate over to a new key at the beginning of the second system, but you’ll probably want to come back.
Sing through the oboe II line on p. 303...relish the chromatics!
Switch to the violin I line at pickups to the last measure (28) on p. 303, and continue until m. 36. What do you make of that A-flat?
At pickups to m. 37, switch to the flute line until the end of the minuet (if you’re overwhelmed with curiosity, take a look at the trio that follows...mind the key signature!)
Have fun with these preparations! If you have your tuning fork (and a mobile device with some nifty keyboard app to check yourself, if needed), you can even do this by the pool (umbrella drinks optional)! Bonus!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Intuition
Hello, my artistic colleagues!
So, today I've got a little theory I'd like to test-drive on all of you...your feedback, as always, is invited and appreciated.
Probably most of you have had the experience of performing with a conducted ensemble in a hall that is either large enough or reverberant enough (or both) to have elicited this instruction from the conductor to the ensemble:
"Trust your eyes, not your ears."
Now, the reasons why vision is more trustworthy than hearing in this kind of situation are rather cold and scientific, as it turns out (sound waves travel more slowly and are "bendier" than light waves, meaning that light gives you time-related information more reliably in an objective sense). However, the reasons why we tend to have a hard time making our eyes the boss of our ears when we're behaving artistically are probably more complex. At the surface level, music IS sound, so it makes sense to use sound to govern the production of sound. I would argue, however, that we westernly-enculturated people are accustomed to using our eyes for most of the information-gathering we do any given day. And, while we use our ears for some pretty bland stuff as well, we still function relationally largely through our ears, and most likely, the feeling-ful aspects of music are what drew us to it first. So, when we make music, we are in the habit of listening and reacting, because our ears are a more direct connection both to our hearts and our intuition, if one accepts intuition as a kind of highly-ingrained and partially unconscious memory for how things have been before and are likely to be again.
That's my theory, anyway: there is a hierarchy of heart/intuition connectedness within our senses, which is probably a little different for everyone, but for many of us, our ears are probably more intuitive than our eyes. And, in turn, this intuition comes from habit and experience, but it's so close to us that we experience it as almost a "sixth sense". The good news is that if intuition is derived from conscious experience, we have the chance to educate it, and it'll become more finely tuned over time, if we invest our energies in awareness.
Rising Level 2's
Look at Ottman, 8.49 and 8.50
Read through the treble voice first in each example. What aspects of the melody behave as you expected (for example, the V-I feel between the first anacrusis and downbeat in each)? Did any turns surprise you? Are you able to suss out what you expected that didn't happen?
Now, for each example, read through the lower voice for each. Choose a voice to memorize in each example, and take a stab at singing the memorized part as you play the other on the piano. Go by feel. Trust your instincts, now that you've taken a little time to intentionally inform them.
Rising Level 3's
Look at Ottman, examples 8.51 and 8.52. Follow the same instructions as the rising 2's.
Rising Level 4's
Look at Ottman, examples 8.53 and 8.54 (mind the clef in 8.54). Follow the same instructions as the rising 2's.
And, in honor of intuition:
Monday, May 23, 2011
Repetition and magic
My dear friends,
It's the end of the school year for most teachers here in CO....I'm guessing you all are winding down as well. All my best wishes to you as you endure to the end!
Over the past few weeks, it has been my pleasure to take on a few new students who are interested in studying music fundamentals. We've been having a really great time, as it turns out, and I've been learning a lot.
First, I tend to get all freaked out about people getting bored, so I like to move quickly from one thing to the next. However, it seems that this is yet another opportunity for me to witness that new knowledge has a sort of germination period that is a bit different for everyone, especially when dealing with a system (like music theory) where the nomenclature is so specific and fussy (i.e., "a note" is essentially synonymous with "a tone", but "whole note" and "half note" refer to rhythm and not pitch, and "tone" and "semitone" refer to pitch, but so does "whole step" and "half step". Don't even get me started on the fact that seconds are one note apart, thirds are two notes apart, etc....that one really throws beginners). It isn't just a matter of memorizing the facts quickly and being able to recite them. It's a matter of taking on a whole new system, constructing a new paradigm in which one can interact differently with information, and building the system into one's head in order to master that interaction....all this on top of the actual vocabulary, mind you. So, patience is extremely important. This kind of rewiring is delicate and difficult work, and it takes both time and repetition.
Conversely, the moment when it clicks....is magic! And, the privilege of watching someone's face when s/he first independently aligns information with an understanding of the system at work is astonishing. Whether the person having this experience is young or old, male or female...it seems not to matter. In that moment, s/he makes a discovery that is newly and miraculously his/her property forever. No one can take it away. It is the best kind of empowerment. However, the stage must be set. Understanding of the system has to be there as a foundation, and the encounter with new information needs to be timed just right.
All Levels:
This week, your challenge is to take on something that puzzles you, something you've looked at before and couldn't quite get your head around. Maybe it's secondary dominants (use section 2 of chapter 13 from the Ottman, or chapter 17 from Benjamin/Horvit/Nelson), maybe it's modes (check out "Modes Made Easy" and use chapter 20 in the Ottman), maybe it's spotting modulations (check out the rising 4's assignment from last week...listening with the score really, really helps your ear grasp the concept, and your eye will get quicker with repetition...the later Kodály 15 2-parts have good imitative examples, too). It could be anything, and you likely know best what your own weak spot is. Make this week an exercise in exploring it. Take time to look at the problem from a variety of perspectives. Use music you like, or music that you've performed earlier in your life on your primary instrument...take steps to make it fun!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Fluency and Immersion, part 2
Greetings, solfa-speakers!
Well, my friends, I've been thinking about last week's post (see below), and while part of me is a bit nervous that I've made my final descent into dogma, there were two things that happened this week that both helped me feel more confident about what I said and suggested to me that I ought to follow up. Both incidents involved educators I respect deeply, and their perspective on this (as in many parts of my life!) has helped refine my own.
First, one dear friend of mine asked me soon after I posted: are you saying it has to be solfa? And the answer is no, I don't think it has to be. Kodály-based solfege pedagogy isn't a form of monotheism. It is certainly not the only path to good musicianship. It just happens to be the path I know, so it's the path I teach. And, while a healthy sense of the whole scope of options is good for one's sense of open-mindedness, I do also think there's a danger in being resistant to following one path because one is afraid of being cut off from other options. The other options will always be there -- and once good musicianship is in place, it can be endlessly re-informed and made over. It is true that whatever one does first may always feel like a kind of mother tongue (witness that, under pressure, most everyone counts and does arithmetic in whatever language they first learned). However, I don't think that's a bad thing. It is ok to embrace one perspective for a period of time and open one's self up to other perspectives later. It may not be ok to embrace one perspective to the permanent exclusion of all others....and it may also not be ok to refuse to embrace any perspective in the name of open-mindedness and then wind up not knowing things one wants and needs to know.
The other incident wasn't directly related to the blog or even to solfa, but it is a story about immersion. After a choir concert, the conductor and I were sitting at the post-concert dinner gathering and one of the choristers, a young guy who has sung in several choirs, asked if the choir could sing something in the restaurant. The conductor told him that was fine, but that he (the chorister) had to lead it. The chorister agreed, and led the chorus in a rendition of "Bonse aba" with himself as the caller. At the end of the piece, when a little bit of conducting is required, this brave singer (who has no formal musical training beyond that of a typical community choir singer) simply threw out his arms and gestured his way to the end of the piece, and his fellow singers followed him perfectly. His conducting was very reminiscent of my friend, the conductor of the group, and my friend definitely noticed. We talked about it later, and my friend said how unexpectedly touched he was by the experience, and how surprised he was that our singer, on the power of pure instinct, did what he'd been shown by the conductor and it worked. I said that I think we maybe shouldn't be so surprised when this happens. As conductors and teachers, we form mini-cultures in the form of classrooms and choruses, and we probably shouldn't be surprised when our singers' cultural vocabulary goes from passive to active -- because that just means we've done our job. The immersion has worked. The message has been sent.
So, in the spirit of immersion:
Rising Level 2's
Your Ottman examples are: 11.2, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.8, 11.10
For each example, scan (checking for tempo/character markings and noting the origin of each melody), set your key/meter, and sing it through. Then, do a bit of reflecting: did the melody do what you expected? Where did you have trouble? Did the trouble spots coincide with the places where your expectations were not fulfilled? Can you use this information to refine your musical instincts?
Rising Level 3's
Your Ottman examples are: 14.1, 14.2, 14.4, 14.5, 14.6, 14.7
Follow the same instructions as the rising level 2's, but add to your list of reflective questions: in each example, there is an opportunity to modulate (to a key a fifth away...watch out for the Handel!). Did you choose to? What was the key relationship involved? Did it work? What happens if you make a different choice? What seem to be the deciding factors?
Rising Level 4's
Your Ottman examples are: 14.8, 14.9, 14.10, 14.11, 14.12, 14.13
Follow the same instructions as the rising level 2's, with the same added questions as the 3's.
Jump right in, and enjoy!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Greed
Salutations!
Last night, I had the privilege of seeing Sweet Honey in the Rock perform live for the second time. If you don't know this group, you must, must, MUST check them out: click here, here, or here.
To my shame, I don't go to lots of non-classical concerts, but whenever I get wind of Sweet Honey coming to town, I'm there. Why? Because I always leave the hall feeling empowered and inspired, and I leave convinced that I'm not the only one who thinks what I think, that maybe there is such a thing as the larger human family. And, I happen to really love Sweet Honey's political agenda, which I'm sure not everyone does, but regardless of one's political views, they talk and sing about certain issues that transcend politics and reach into the realm of morals. At last evening's concert, there was a lot of talk about the dilemma of greed.
What is greed? Well, the woman who spoke about it said that Greed never shows up alone. Greed brings a bodyguard -- named Fear. And from there, human beings get scared of not having enough, of not being able to survive, and in response to this fear, they start hoarding. It happens to everyone, and it isn't just about money....for some of us, money never enters our consciousness as something to hoard. It might be about attention. It might be about our own expressions of love for others. It could be any substance or behavior even remotely under our control, and it is absolutely human nature to try to grasp, clutch, and hide away in order to keep ourselves from running out of whatever it is. What's the fix? Well, I doubt anyone can uproot it from themselves once and for all, but I believe that the practice of being present is a moment-by-moment antidote to freaking out and clamping down. Why? Because if you're invested in being where you are, doing whatever you're doing with all of your might, it's hard to be stockpiling off to the side.
I think musicians have a bit of an advantage here -- maybe that's why all those Greek guys talked about the ennobling attributes of music. High-level music-making, such as performing in a solo or chamber music context, enforces presentness -- hopefully ensemble performance of any kind enforces it, but if there's someone else singing/playing your part with you, there's always the possibility of zoning out and getting away with it, at least for the moment. Also, music-making that requires intense concentration, such as sing-and-play exercises or sight-reading, takes the mind away from the places it tends to get itself into mischief.
That being said....
Rising Level 2's
Sight-reading: Any Ottman example from 6.1-6.20 -- just scan, set your key and tempo, and go!
Sing-and-plays: Ottman, 5.38 and 5.39 -- read through each line on solfa, and then pick line to play on the piano as you sing the other. If you're very comfortable at the piano, play the harder line and sing the easier one. If you're more comfortable as a singer, sing the harder line, and play the easier one. I would also recommend practicing singing one part while just tapping the rhythm of the other as an intermediary step if you have trouble putting it together.
Rising Level 3's
Sight-reading: Any Ottman example from 12.18-12.25, 12.30-32 -- just scan, set your key and tempo, and go!
Sing-and-plays: Ottman, 11.33 and 12.39 -- follow the same instructions as the rising 2's.
Rising Level 4's
Sight-reading: Any unknown Ottman example from chapter 20 (we've done lots of them in the summer, so see if you can find a few we haven't used). Once you've found an unfamiliar one, just scan, set your key and tempo, and go!
Sing-and-plays: Ottman, 15.106 and 15.107 -- follow the same instructions as the rising 2's.
Strive for undivided attention in the few minutes you take to do these tasks. Try not to worry about how it's going to go or if you'll be able to do it. Be generous with yourself in the face of challenges and mistakes. Don't throw in the towel or try to give yourself too many crutches too soon. Take a risk on yourself. You'll be pleasantly surprised at what you get in return.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Perpetual Motion
Greetings, dear ones!
No doubt some of you noticed I had a little blog lapse last weekend. Originally, that wasn’t my intention, but things got a little crazy in the midst of CU’s spring break (no, not that kind of crazy...), so before I knew it, it was Thursday, and I decided I may as well wait until the weekend. So, apologies to anyone who may have felt deprived of their weekly dose of solfa...
Like I said, things have been busy -- good busy, though, and while I join with many in wishing spring break could magically repeat itself, I think we’ll all make it to the end of the school year in style. This final spring-break stretch, with its parade of concerts, dress rehearsals, holy days, musicals, etc., always scares me a little. The knowledge that it’s going to be a run to the finish line can be a bit daunting. However, hopefully this is also a time to start reaping the benefits of long months of preparation, the time when you get to find out if the steps you took were the steps you needed to take. So hopefully, for better or for worse, this will be a time of intense learning, and even if things get hairy, you’ll know better for the next time around.
With that in mind, I offer these rhythmically active examples for your enjoyment, your preparation, and your diversion:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at the following from Ottman:
12.1, 12.2, 12.4, 12.13, 12.24, 12.27
First, SCAN your way through each example. Look for patterns (scales, triads, rhythmic cells, melodic sequences) to act as guideposts.
Second, decide on your approach to any passages that look particularly thorny. Decide where audiation of a particular scale degree or harmonic underpinning might make your life a lot easier.
Third, pick a reasonable tempo (but hopefully not too slow!), sing the example through, and try not to stop. Once you get through it once, take care of any little boo-boos through smart practicing and go through it again.
Fourth, use what you learn each day about the troublesome parts of that day’s example to guide your practice for the next day’s example. See if you can come up with a list of the strategies that worked best for you. If you like, shoot me an email about what you discover, or call up a friend and discuss your pedagogical discoveries.
Rising Level 3’s
Take a look at these Ottman ditties:
12.40, 12.42, 12.48, 12.52, 13.7, 13.26
Follow the steps outlined above.
Rising Level 4’s
For you, a special treat!
We’ll modify the steps above in the following ways:
Take two days on each voice part, and go through steps 1 and 2 the first day, steps 3 and 4 the second day. Note that the key signature depicted may not necessarily dictate the best solfa choice (especially given the time of the piece's origin)
If you’re feeling particularly frisky at the end of the week, round up a group to sing through multiple parts together.
Definitely do yourself a favor and listen to the whole piece here:
Enjoy, my friends, and may you stay in motion!
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