Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy Spring!
Predictably, it's been a crazy week -- not only was it Holy Week (meaning that I have spent large portions of the last seven days here, working with some of the best people I know. It's been exhausting, but also wonderful -- Holy Week in high church mode has always felt so full of magic to me, so rich with imagery and drama, and it never really fails to capture my imagination.), but....
I passed my final DMA orals this past Tuesday, which means that my five committee members have agreed that I will be graduating on Thursday, May 10....and they officially gave me leave to start calling myself "Doctor". !!!!!
So, now I have many loose ends to tie up (revisions, finishing up editing projects, etc.), but my trajectory towards graduation has been confirmed. This, in turn, means that I need to figure out what's next -- I need to find a job, figure out what to do with my living situation, and generally prepare myself for life after my terminal degree. GULP.
To be honest, I guess I started thinking of the completion of my DMA like my own personal Red Sea somewhere along the line. I got so wrapped up in the student life I've known for many years now that I guess I never quite expected it to end -- I mean, I did, but I convinced myself it'd happen to a me that would be much wiser and more prepared than the me I am currently feels. This theoretical person would be ready for all that post-student life demands and offers, and she would step proudly across the graduation stage and listen as her advisor announced her extremely well-conceived future plans to the people in the auditorium, and smile serenely, knowing that all was as it should be. The reality is that for me, everything is still very much up in the air. It's early yet, and I made the conscious decision to focus first on finishing, and second on finding a job for next year, which is all very logical -- one has to be certain one will have a doctorate before one applies to positions that require one to have a doctorate. But now, the Red Sea is parting....the miracle of graduation is about to occur, and I have no idea what awaits me on the other shore (not to mention the chariots who are giving chase....in my case, they're not people, but student loans and my perceptions of others' expectations of me). It's time for me to walk through, and I don't know what's going to happen, and sometimes this makes me extremely anxious.
So, Holy Week came along in the middle of my misgivings, accompanied by a flare of an old back injury that slowed me down enough to remind me to be careful and make me think. Holy Week, with all of its stories and rituals -- all of which I've heard and seen before, but part of the Red Sea story really sucker-punched me this time around. In the story, the Israelites have made their escape from slavery, and they're up against the Red Sea, and now all of a sudden, they're being pursued by their former captors. They do what we all sometimes do: they freak out. They start talking crazy. They start saying they wished they never tried to leave. Then, in comes a message: RELAX. They get that call that I really wish would come in for me -- they get told that all they have to do is keep still, and that their battle will be fought for them.
I don't really expect that someone else is going to find me a job or pay off my student debt or any of that (although if anyone out there would like to make either or both of those things happen for me, I will not say you nay!). However, the story still rings true, and it's true for everyone. If you're in a situation that you know to be unsustainable, and you make a choice to change it, it's true that it might be really difficult for awhile. It is also true that unsustainable is unsustainable, and when it's time to go, it's time to go. There's no getting around it, and no point in trying to beat yourself up for not being willing to stay where you don't belong. I have no doubt that now is the time for me to graduate and move on with my life. The fact that I'm not sure exactly what that looks like does freak me out, but the fear doesn't change my certainty that I'm doing what I have to do. I wish I could do more to ensure my future, but for now, this is it. I'm doing the work to go to someplace unknown, even though it's unknown and scary, and I have to trust that I wouldn't be so certain if something wasn't going to come meet me halfway.
Ok, so now for the big solfa tie-in...why do we sometimes stagnate in our musicianship studies? Well, I think sometimes it's because we're afraid of what we could do if we didn't have the obstacles we've come to rely upon as compass points. We've convinced ourselves that we need limitations, we need to be afraid of harmonic dictation or Roman numeral analysis or sight-singing or using the keyboard, because those limitations tell us who we are. And, these kinds of limitations are self-fulfilling prophecies -- if you tell yourself you can't play the piano, you're right, you probably can't. However, if you were willing to start chipping away at the thing you believe you can't do, if you started making friends with your abilities as they are right now and doing careful, thoughtful, compassionate work in order to build upon them, you would grow. You would become someone new. You might not even recognize yourself....and believe it or not, that could be ok, because you would recognize yourself again in time. You could re-draw your own borders, and make a whole new map of what you can do.
All Levels:
Spend your first 15-minute practice session doing a little soul-searching. What is it that you think you can't do in the world of musicianship? Write it down. I challenge you to be vulnerable and honest in your diagnosis -- no one has to know but you. If you can't get your head around it the first day, sleep on it, and come back to it.
Once you know what you'd like to work on, look back on some old posts:
http://49weeksofsolfa.blogspot.com/2011/09/body-remembers.html
http://49weeksofsolfa.blogspot.com/2011/09/like-cures-like.html
(etc.)
to find some concrete suggestions for activities, or feel free to design your own course of study.
In even just a week's time, I bet you'll find you were able to make some headway. Give it more time, though. Don't be afraid. The you you never thought you could be (the you who does flawless sing-and-plays or lightning-quick analysis or crackerjack sight-singing) is waiting on the other shore.
Showing posts with label church epiphanies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church epiphanies. Show all posts
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Balance
Welcome, dear readers!
Spring-like weather is tentatively continuing here in Denver...I am attempting to remain skeptical, but all these sunny days have my hopes running sky-high for real spring! My journey to Phoenix later this week will probably only make it harder to keep my spring fever at bay, since they're expecting high 70's and 80's. I plan to bask unapologetically the entire time I'm there -- will any of you be joining the big OAKE party? If so, let me know, and let's catch up!
Thinking about the weather is an extremely pleasant distraction from the rigors of degree-finishing and future-forging that occupy most of my head-space at the moment. It's an interesting time, and my hopes are high -- I'm lucky to have good support from my faculty, and I believe that good things are on their way, employment-wise. Keeping the sense of urgency at bay is hard, sometimes too hard, and panic kicks me around the schoolyard and steals my sleep (like so much lunch money) and makes me feel like I'd better get my hands on a refrigerator box ASAP. And then, I'm lucky again...my dear friends help me piece my sense of well-being back together and remind me that sometimes I just need a good night's sleep and maybe an afternoon off...and having those things will not prevent me from getting everything done.
I'm sure I am not at all alone in this. The middle path is difficult to keep track of, and I'm not really sure why. It's just too easy to run to extremes -- enough somehow usually doesn't seem like enough. It's too big an issue for one little blog, really. But, a funny thing I caught myself doing two times today is sort of the inspiration for this week's assignment. Immediately upon both church services finishing, I made for the out-of-doors and immediately did something extremely silly -- skipping in my choir robe, quoting this movie, maniacal giggling, you get the idea. Why? Not because I disliked the services (I actually like the services and the music quite a bit), but because I had to behave myself just so for a certain period of time, causing a backlog of silliness that demanded to be set free the moment such a thing became possible. It felt good (like the proper resolution of a V7 or a 4-3 suspension), no one seemed to be the worse for wear, and balance was restored to my little corner of the universe. So, in that vein...
Rising Level 2's
Here's a little gem for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/5/53/Praetorius_-_Wie_schoen_leuchtet.pdf
We've dealt with this tune before, so hopefully it sounds a little familiar to you, though the rhythmic language of this setting is a bit more complex than what we've worked on before.
Therefore, start with the lowest line (extra points if you can tell me a little something about what "Bassus generalis pro organo si placet" means), just so you're not distracted by melodic material. Determine what meter you're actually in (hint: the top number in the time signature is NOT an 8, and neither should you count in 8), then tap or clap your way through. Once that feels comfortable enough, sing that bottom line (note the clef changes -- you may choose whatever octave you want to sing in).
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
At your next practice session, look at the top line and clap/tap your way through. Try tapping the rhythm with one hand while you conduct with the other.
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
Next time, sing through that top line. Note that the B-naturals are just a little chromatic inflection that you will call "fi" -- they shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Guess what? Go do something silly for five minutes.
Now, tackle the rhythm of the middle line....it's probably the most rhythmically challenging, and conducting along with your tapping is a good idea.
Done? Good...time for your five-minute break!
Try singing the middle line...like the top line, it has a "fi" here and there, but no worries.
And one more five-minute break!
If you can, find a friend or two to sing through this with....it'll be fun, and then you can take your silly breaks together!
Rising Level 3's
And here's a piece for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/scar-exr.pdf
Note that there's a rhythmic error in the next-to-last measure in the alto part -- that last C-sharp should be a whole note, not a half note.
You're going to follow the same general practice-break scheme as the 2's, but your learning procedure will be a little different.
First, look over the piece up to m. 45 and find what material Mr. Scarlatti used imitatively -- basically, you're hunting for motives or themes. The first one is easy: the opening of the soprano part, which I think you might call Theme A. Does it happen in other parts? Is it transposed? Find and label any repetitions. Then, find a few more themes like that in between the beginning of the piece and m. 45.
Now, what changes at m. 46 (hint: think texture)? How are you going to deal with the chromaticism you encounter? Go back through the whole piece and locate any places you suspect you may need to change keys.
Now, just tackle one vocal line per day. If you whip through that easily, do a solfa chord analysis of m. 46-end. Again, singing through the piece with friends could be a lot of fun....
Rising Level 4's
For you guys, something very Lenten and fun:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/f/fe/Battishill_o_lord_look_down.pdf
You're also on the alternation-of-work-and-fun plan, like the 2's, and your learning process is going to be rather similar to the 3's.
Begin by looking over the whole piece, noting any divisi and marking any homophonic sections. Do a cursory examination of the accidentals you encounter, and decide where you might want to change keys.
Now, look over the text and see if you can associate particular themes or motives with textual sections. Label these motives if you discover them.
Sing through the lines one at a time, paying special attention to intonation in any minor seconds or augmented seconds you encounter.
For fun, using the keyboard score (which is essentially a simplified reduction of the vocal lines), do a Roman numeral analysis of this piece. Or, if you don't have time for the whole piece, focus on these spots:
mm. 71-86 (in C minor)
m. 107-end (trust the key signature)
Enjoy!
Spring-like weather is tentatively continuing here in Denver...I am attempting to remain skeptical, but all these sunny days have my hopes running sky-high for real spring! My journey to Phoenix later this week will probably only make it harder to keep my spring fever at bay, since they're expecting high 70's and 80's. I plan to bask unapologetically the entire time I'm there -- will any of you be joining the big OAKE party? If so, let me know, and let's catch up!
Thinking about the weather is an extremely pleasant distraction from the rigors of degree-finishing and future-forging that occupy most of my head-space at the moment. It's an interesting time, and my hopes are high -- I'm lucky to have good support from my faculty, and I believe that good things are on their way, employment-wise. Keeping the sense of urgency at bay is hard, sometimes too hard, and panic kicks me around the schoolyard and steals my sleep (like so much lunch money) and makes me feel like I'd better get my hands on a refrigerator box ASAP. And then, I'm lucky again...my dear friends help me piece my sense of well-being back together and remind me that sometimes I just need a good night's sleep and maybe an afternoon off...and having those things will not prevent me from getting everything done.
I'm sure I am not at all alone in this. The middle path is difficult to keep track of, and I'm not really sure why. It's just too easy to run to extremes -- enough somehow usually doesn't seem like enough. It's too big an issue for one little blog, really. But, a funny thing I caught myself doing two times today is sort of the inspiration for this week's assignment. Immediately upon both church services finishing, I made for the out-of-doors and immediately did something extremely silly -- skipping in my choir robe, quoting this movie, maniacal giggling, you get the idea. Why? Not because I disliked the services (I actually like the services and the music quite a bit), but because I had to behave myself just so for a certain period of time, causing a backlog of silliness that demanded to be set free the moment such a thing became possible. It felt good (like the proper resolution of a V7 or a 4-3 suspension), no one seemed to be the worse for wear, and balance was restored to my little corner of the universe. So, in that vein...
Rising Level 2's
Here's a little gem for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/5/53/Praetorius_-_Wie_schoen_leuchtet.pdf
We've dealt with this tune before, so hopefully it sounds a little familiar to you, though the rhythmic language of this setting is a bit more complex than what we've worked on before.
Therefore, start with the lowest line (extra points if you can tell me a little something about what "Bassus generalis pro organo si placet" means), just so you're not distracted by melodic material. Determine what meter you're actually in (hint: the top number in the time signature is NOT an 8, and neither should you count in 8), then tap or clap your way through. Once that feels comfortable enough, sing that bottom line (note the clef changes -- you may choose whatever octave you want to sing in).
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
At your next practice session, look at the top line and clap/tap your way through. Try tapping the rhythm with one hand while you conduct with the other.
Now, go do something silly for five minutes.
Next time, sing through that top line. Note that the B-naturals are just a little chromatic inflection that you will call "fi" -- they shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Guess what? Go do something silly for five minutes.
Now, tackle the rhythm of the middle line....it's probably the most rhythmically challenging, and conducting along with your tapping is a good idea.
Done? Good...time for your five-minute break!
Try singing the middle line...like the top line, it has a "fi" here and there, but no worries.
And one more five-minute break!
If you can, find a friend or two to sing through this with....it'll be fun, and then you can take your silly breaks together!
Rising Level 3's
And here's a piece for you:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/scar-exr.pdf
Note that there's a rhythmic error in the next-to-last measure in the alto part -- that last C-sharp should be a whole note, not a half note.
You're going to follow the same general practice-break scheme as the 2's, but your learning procedure will be a little different.
First, look over the piece up to m. 45 and find what material Mr. Scarlatti used imitatively -- basically, you're hunting for motives or themes. The first one is easy: the opening of the soprano part, which I think you might call Theme A. Does it happen in other parts? Is it transposed? Find and label any repetitions. Then, find a few more themes like that in between the beginning of the piece and m. 45.
Now, what changes at m. 46 (hint: think texture)? How are you going to deal with the chromaticism you encounter? Go back through the whole piece and locate any places you suspect you may need to change keys.
Now, just tackle one vocal line per day. If you whip through that easily, do a solfa chord analysis of m. 46-end. Again, singing through the piece with friends could be a lot of fun....
Rising Level 4's
For you guys, something very Lenten and fun:
http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/images/f/fe/Battishill_o_lord_look_down.pdf
You're also on the alternation-of-work-and-fun plan, like the 2's, and your learning process is going to be rather similar to the 3's.
Begin by looking over the whole piece, noting any divisi and marking any homophonic sections. Do a cursory examination of the accidentals you encounter, and decide where you might want to change keys.
Now, look over the text and see if you can associate particular themes or motives with textual sections. Label these motives if you discover them.
Sing through the lines one at a time, paying special attention to intonation in any minor seconds or augmented seconds you encounter.
For fun, using the keyboard score (which is essentially a simplified reduction of the vocal lines), do a Roman numeral analysis of this piece. Or, if you don't have time for the whole piece, focus on these spots:
mm. 71-86 (in C minor)
m. 107-end (trust the key signature)
Enjoy!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Building Memories
Greetings, dear students!
Here we are, already up to the third Sunday of Advent! How did 2011 go by so very quickly?
I'm guessing that many of you are headed into a week full of concerts, and almost all of you will be dealing with stir-crazy students hopped up on too much sugar and the promise of the imminent winter break. This being the case, I'll try to keep things extra short and simple.
So, I was sitting in a church service this morning and we sang a hymn tune I particularly like (I've included it below for the rising level 4's), and I decided to see how much of it I thought I could sing from memory in letter names (and by sing, I mean audiate -- I think the person giving the sermon wouldn't have appreciated my little game very much if it had happened out loud). It only took a few minutes, and I was able to do it in a moment when I had to be sitting someplace quietly, but where I could divide my aural attention -- this would be a great bus-riding activity, or possibly driving, but be judicious on that one...I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting into an audiation-related car wreck. It's also nice to have a lovely new tune committed to memory, and that way you can share it with a friend or loved one.
The procedure will be basically the same for all levels. Take a couple days with each of the steps below:
Step 1: Listen to the tune a few times until you have it memorized (words are optional for my purposes, but you will probably want to learn them for your own use). Determine the form of the piece and start to think of it in phrases as you memorize, since that will help you with the steps below.
Step 2: Start to solmize the tune phrase-by-phrase. The rising 2's and 3's will keep the same solfa all the way through, but the 4's may choose to modulate if they wish. If you opt to modulate (which you could do more than one time, as it turns out...), be sure to keep track of where you've gone by remembering your original "do" -- otherwise, you'll be a little sunk for the next step.
Step 3: Once you can fluently sing the piece by memory in solfa, try singing it in rhythm names. Then, find a comfortable key for your voice, and start singing the tune in letter names. If things get muddled in the middle (especially for you 4's!), try for the first and last phrase and work inward. Once you're pretty sure you've got it right, write it down and check your notation (I'll leave the tracking down of a notational source to you so as to reduce the temptation to give up too soon).
What tripped you up? What was easy? Did you find it easier to commit the notes or the words (if you used them) to memory? Did you find that your memory of the tune was tied to your memory of the text? My hunch is that they will go together, simply because of the kinds of tunes being used.
Rising Level 2's
Take a listen to this lovely tune from Annie Lennox's new album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7s_zaF74gc
Rising Level 3's
I'm not crazy about the long pauses at the end of each phrase, but I think the voice on this old LP is quite sweet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_u07i1YdGY
Rising Level 4's
Again, there are some funny phrase things happening here -- if you find a recording of the tune "Jerusalem" (which is the same tune) that's more straightforward, feel free to bring it to my attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lpUk3UTJ14
I apologize for being so churchy...if you'd prefer to substitute something a bit more secular, but of a comparable level of difficulty, please feel free!
Enjoy!
Here we are, already up to the third Sunday of Advent! How did 2011 go by so very quickly?
I'm guessing that many of you are headed into a week full of concerts, and almost all of you will be dealing with stir-crazy students hopped up on too much sugar and the promise of the imminent winter break. This being the case, I'll try to keep things extra short and simple.
So, I was sitting in a church service this morning and we sang a hymn tune I particularly like (I've included it below for the rising level 4's), and I decided to see how much of it I thought I could sing from memory in letter names (and by sing, I mean audiate -- I think the person giving the sermon wouldn't have appreciated my little game very much if it had happened out loud). It only took a few minutes, and I was able to do it in a moment when I had to be sitting someplace quietly, but where I could divide my aural attention -- this would be a great bus-riding activity, or possibly driving, but be judicious on that one...I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting into an audiation-related car wreck. It's also nice to have a lovely new tune committed to memory, and that way you can share it with a friend or loved one.
The procedure will be basically the same for all levels. Take a couple days with each of the steps below:
Step 1: Listen to the tune a few times until you have it memorized (words are optional for my purposes, but you will probably want to learn them for your own use). Determine the form of the piece and start to think of it in phrases as you memorize, since that will help you with the steps below.
Step 2: Start to solmize the tune phrase-by-phrase. The rising 2's and 3's will keep the same solfa all the way through, but the 4's may choose to modulate if they wish. If you opt to modulate (which you could do more than one time, as it turns out...), be sure to keep track of where you've gone by remembering your original "do" -- otherwise, you'll be a little sunk for the next step.
Step 3: Once you can fluently sing the piece by memory in solfa, try singing it in rhythm names. Then, find a comfortable key for your voice, and start singing the tune in letter names. If things get muddled in the middle (especially for you 4's!), try for the first and last phrase and work inward. Once you're pretty sure you've got it right, write it down and check your notation (I'll leave the tracking down of a notational source to you so as to reduce the temptation to give up too soon).
What tripped you up? What was easy? Did you find it easier to commit the notes or the words (if you used them) to memory? Did you find that your memory of the tune was tied to your memory of the text? My hunch is that they will go together, simply because of the kinds of tunes being used.
Rising Level 2's
Take a listen to this lovely tune from Annie Lennox's new album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7s_zaF74gc
Rising Level 3's
I'm not crazy about the long pauses at the end of each phrase, but I think the voice on this old LP is quite sweet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_u07i1YdGY
Rising Level 4's
Again, there are some funny phrase things happening here -- if you find a recording of the tune "Jerusalem" (which is the same tune) that's more straightforward, feel free to bring it to my attention:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lpUk3UTJ14
I apologize for being so churchy...if you'd prefer to substitute something a bit more secular, but of a comparable level of difficulty, please feel free!
Enjoy!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Beginner's Mind...and Deeper Magic
Greetings, solfa sojourners!
I apologize for the lateness of this post....it was quite the week in my little world.
First, I am now officially (drumroll....)......A.B.D. (all but dissertation)! This means that the comprehensive exam process is now completely behind me, and there's just a collection of projects and papers standing between me and a shiny new set of letters to follow my name: DMA. I'm currently curled up on my couch with a glass of Spanish wine and a variegated collection of dark chocolate (courtesy of a much-loved colleague), but The Josquin Companion is glaring at me a little from my bookshelf, and I well know that I'll have to get cracking if I really want to get 'er done in time for a May 2012 graduation.
However, the four concerts and two church services I sang this weekend have earned me an evening of moderate slovenliness (and a breakfast tomorrow morning of these...), and also a moment of reflection -- courtesy of, in part, the aforementioned church services.
The orals portion of the comps process is more than a little nerve-wracking, although I was incredibly fortunate to have an extremely gracious and supportive committee of professors who I believe to be truly invested in my success. Still, though, the prospect of two hours in a room with five extremely smart people tasked with finding out what you know is pretty sobering. I definitely felt the pinch (especially over the "game" one professor decided to play: he told me to study choral music from 1000 CE to 2010, and he had planned to pick four years at random from that millennial span, whereupon it was my job to talk about what happened in those years. In the actual exam, he picked 1190, 1757, and 1910...if you're looking for something musicological to do, do a little digging on these years and see what you come up with...). Interestingly, however, there was a moment in the middle of the exam when I was feeling at a loss for one thing or another, and this thought occurred to me:
"Thank goodness for having more questions to ask."
Not that I'd started to wonder whether or not I know everything....I harbor no delusions on that front. However, there's an unavoidable jadedness that comes with all these years of post-graduate education and the rigors of study and practice and working too hard. Familiarity just breeds contempt, no matter what one does. So, this is analogous to what the preacher on Sunday called "Deep Magic" (in the Narnian sense)...sowing and reaping, the inevitability of a pattern based on natural law. But there is, as Aslan said, a magic deeper still. Sometimes, through the grace of something unforseeable, we are shaken out of the pattern, and we see something new. It isn't the pattern that has changed, as it turns out. It's us. We look at something well-worn and well-known and our perspective is reborn. We are able to be present in a different way, and we are beginners again. A well-known Zen teacher spoke about this phenomenon, too -- he calls it "beginner's mind," and he claims it is always with us. This kind of shift (a move towards enlightenment, if you will) is always about to happen.
So, in this spirit:
Rising Level 2's
See if you can find these in your handouts from Level I:
Canon 109
Canon 106
Canon 75
Sing through each one, remembering the twists and turns of each. Are the things that tripped you up once still troublesome, or have they changed? Do you perceive the phrase structures the same way you once did? Do you hear or see anything new? Sing through one of the other canons on the same xeroxed page and compare the experience of singing something familiar (if distantly so!) with singing something new. How has your musicianship evolved? How has your approach changed, if at all?
Rising Level 3's
Break out your Classical Canons book and track these down:
Canon 115
Canon 117
Canon 179
Follow the same instructions as the rising 2's.
Rising Level 4's
Track down your Kodaly 15 2-part Exercises, please....
Look at exercise number 12 and sing through both lines.
How well do you remember them? Which parts are the easiest to remember? What makes them memorable? How has your experience of this piece changed since July? Now look at number 15 (which I think we looked at only in passing, if at all). How will you approach it? How does it differ from number 12, both in terms of difficulty and in terms of its construction? Does the appearance of accidentals elicit a different intellectual/vocal response from you now than it did in July? How have you changed since then?
It is my hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you discover through these activities -- and even if you're not, my money's on the fact that you've all grown and changed and improved since I saw you last, even if it doesn't seem obvious at the moment. The hard part of this musical journey we're all taking is that we don't always get to enjoy our own progress. However, it's still there. The moment of revelation is always at hand. The deeper magic is never not at work.
I apologize for the lateness of this post....it was quite the week in my little world.
First, I am now officially (drumroll....)......A.B.D. (all but dissertation)! This means that the comprehensive exam process is now completely behind me, and there's just a collection of projects and papers standing between me and a shiny new set of letters to follow my name: DMA. I'm currently curled up on my couch with a glass of Spanish wine and a variegated collection of dark chocolate (courtesy of a much-loved colleague), but The Josquin Companion is glaring at me a little from my bookshelf, and I well know that I'll have to get cracking if I really want to get 'er done in time for a May 2012 graduation.
However, the four concerts and two church services I sang this weekend have earned me an evening of moderate slovenliness (and a breakfast tomorrow morning of these...), and also a moment of reflection -- courtesy of, in part, the aforementioned church services.
The orals portion of the comps process is more than a little nerve-wracking, although I was incredibly fortunate to have an extremely gracious and supportive committee of professors who I believe to be truly invested in my success. Still, though, the prospect of two hours in a room with five extremely smart people tasked with finding out what you know is pretty sobering. I definitely felt the pinch (especially over the "game" one professor decided to play: he told me to study choral music from 1000 CE to 2010, and he had planned to pick four years at random from that millennial span, whereupon it was my job to talk about what happened in those years. In the actual exam, he picked 1190, 1757, and 1910...if you're looking for something musicological to do, do a little digging on these years and see what you come up with...). Interestingly, however, there was a moment in the middle of the exam when I was feeling at a loss for one thing or another, and this thought occurred to me:
"Thank goodness for having more questions to ask."
Not that I'd started to wonder whether or not I know everything....I harbor no delusions on that front. However, there's an unavoidable jadedness that comes with all these years of post-graduate education and the rigors of study and practice and working too hard. Familiarity just breeds contempt, no matter what one does. So, this is analogous to what the preacher on Sunday called "Deep Magic" (in the Narnian sense)...sowing and reaping, the inevitability of a pattern based on natural law. But there is, as Aslan said, a magic deeper still. Sometimes, through the grace of something unforseeable, we are shaken out of the pattern, and we see something new. It isn't the pattern that has changed, as it turns out. It's us. We look at something well-worn and well-known and our perspective is reborn. We are able to be present in a different way, and we are beginners again. A well-known Zen teacher spoke about this phenomenon, too -- he calls it "beginner's mind," and he claims it is always with us. This kind of shift (a move towards enlightenment, if you will) is always about to happen.
So, in this spirit:
Rising Level 2's
See if you can find these in your handouts from Level I:
Canon 109
Canon 106
Canon 75
Sing through each one, remembering the twists and turns of each. Are the things that tripped you up once still troublesome, or have they changed? Do you perceive the phrase structures the same way you once did? Do you hear or see anything new? Sing through one of the other canons on the same xeroxed page and compare the experience of singing something familiar (if distantly so!) with singing something new. How has your musicianship evolved? How has your approach changed, if at all?
Rising Level 3's
Break out your Classical Canons book and track these down:
Canon 115
Canon 117
Canon 179
Follow the same instructions as the rising 2's.
Rising Level 4's
Track down your Kodaly 15 2-part Exercises, please....
Look at exercise number 12 and sing through both lines.
How well do you remember them? Which parts are the easiest to remember? What makes them memorable? How has your experience of this piece changed since July? Now look at number 15 (which I think we looked at only in passing, if at all). How will you approach it? How does it differ from number 12, both in terms of difficulty and in terms of its construction? Does the appearance of accidentals elicit a different intellectual/vocal response from you now than it did in July? How have you changed since then?
It is my hope that you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you discover through these activities -- and even if you're not, my money's on the fact that you've all grown and changed and improved since I saw you last, even if it doesn't seem obvious at the moment. The hard part of this musical journey we're all taking is that we don't always get to enjoy our own progress. However, it's still there. The moment of revelation is always at hand. The deeper magic is never not at work.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
The Way It's Supposed to Be
Hello, my dear readers!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday this past Thursday and are still basking in the glory of leftovers, loved ones, and a glut of sleep (for a change!). I had the privilege of spending my holiday with a dear friend, and we decided to get our celebration started a day early by doing ceremonial day-before-Thanksgiving grocery shopping (which is quite the people-watching opportunity), followed by a viewing of the new Muppet Movie (which I unabashedly adored -- truly, I felt like someone had just defibrillated my childhood....if you're afraid you'll be disappointed, cast your worries aside and go see it!). All was well, and we decided to go get a bite to eat afterward at a favorite sushi restaurant, and shortly thereafter, disaster struck. Food poisoning, but only affecting me (which was lucky, as it turns out). 'Nuff said.
Several hours into the unpleasantness of all that, I was reminded of a mantra I learned earlier this fall and have used periodically:
"Oh. So that's the way it's supposed to be."
Those of you who know me also know this kind of sentiment does not come naturally to me. Diagnosing and correcting problems is a choral conductor and teacher and administrative assistant's bread-and-butter, and just letting things be is not usually a part of that recipe. I find it especially strange that this thought came to me in a moment when there were some very clear things I would have preferred to change about my state of affairs. It helped....not physically, but it helped my little mind, which was oh-so-upset about the dinner preparations I wasn't doing, the inconvenience I was creating, the church service the next morning I was afraid I couldn't sing, etc., etc., etc. Maybe it was because I was too exhausted to fight it anymore, and my habitual pattern of "preventative worry" (because that always works, right?) was just plain unsustainable.
In any case, I had a somewhat extraordinary experience the next morning at the church service to which I did manage to drag myself. The choir sang two pieces, and normally those particular pieces require a fair amount of mental energy for me to stay focused and accurate throughout, and to my surprise, I found them considerably easier to sing when my brain wasn't working quite as well as usual. Isn't that strange? It was as if there were no distractions, just the task at hand, and I could do it without a problem. Again, this leads me to believe that the "preventative worry" gears in my head that always seem to be turning are a manifestation of energy that could be more effectively spent elsewhere.
With the oral follow-up to the written exams of a month or so ago happening on Monday, the worry gears are definitely grinding away again, but I'm trying to be patient with them, and patient with me as I get ready to cross this turnstile into the last phase of the degree. I am grateful that I had these glimmers of realization, even through the lens of something so very undesirable. Sometimes, it's important to be reminded that "the way it's supposed to be" exists in advance only in our imaginations, and when we form an attachment to that image, regardless of how nice it might be, we are setting ourselves up in a bad way. "The way it's supposed to be" in advance of "the way it is" is a trap. So:
All Levels
As we enter a very busy and crazy-making part of the year, when many of us feel obligated to make magic for other people and spend so much time planning towards an image of "the way it's supposed to be," I challenge you (and myself!) to stop anytime it occurs to you, take a breath, and remind yourself in that moment:
"Oh. So that's the way it's supposed to be."
No matter what it is.
Courage!
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday this past Thursday and are still basking in the glory of leftovers, loved ones, and a glut of sleep (for a change!). I had the privilege of spending my holiday with a dear friend, and we decided to get our celebration started a day early by doing ceremonial day-before-Thanksgiving grocery shopping (which is quite the people-watching opportunity), followed by a viewing of the new Muppet Movie (which I unabashedly adored -- truly, I felt like someone had just defibrillated my childhood....if you're afraid you'll be disappointed, cast your worries aside and go see it!). All was well, and we decided to go get a bite to eat afterward at a favorite sushi restaurant, and shortly thereafter, disaster struck. Food poisoning, but only affecting me (which was lucky, as it turns out). 'Nuff said.
Several hours into the unpleasantness of all that, I was reminded of a mantra I learned earlier this fall and have used periodically:
"Oh. So that's the way it's supposed to be."
Those of you who know me also know this kind of sentiment does not come naturally to me. Diagnosing and correcting problems is a choral conductor and teacher and administrative assistant's bread-and-butter, and just letting things be is not usually a part of that recipe. I find it especially strange that this thought came to me in a moment when there were some very clear things I would have preferred to change about my state of affairs. It helped....not physically, but it helped my little mind, which was oh-so-upset about the dinner preparations I wasn't doing, the inconvenience I was creating, the church service the next morning I was afraid I couldn't sing, etc., etc., etc. Maybe it was because I was too exhausted to fight it anymore, and my habitual pattern of "preventative worry" (because that always works, right?) was just plain unsustainable.
In any case, I had a somewhat extraordinary experience the next morning at the church service to which I did manage to drag myself. The choir sang two pieces, and normally those particular pieces require a fair amount of mental energy for me to stay focused and accurate throughout, and to my surprise, I found them considerably easier to sing when my brain wasn't working quite as well as usual. Isn't that strange? It was as if there were no distractions, just the task at hand, and I could do it without a problem. Again, this leads me to believe that the "preventative worry" gears in my head that always seem to be turning are a manifestation of energy that could be more effectively spent elsewhere.
With the oral follow-up to the written exams of a month or so ago happening on Monday, the worry gears are definitely grinding away again, but I'm trying to be patient with them, and patient with me as I get ready to cross this turnstile into the last phase of the degree. I am grateful that I had these glimmers of realization, even through the lens of something so very undesirable. Sometimes, it's important to be reminded that "the way it's supposed to be" exists in advance only in our imaginations, and when we form an attachment to that image, regardless of how nice it might be, we are setting ourselves up in a bad way. "The way it's supposed to be" in advance of "the way it is" is a trap. So:
All Levels
As we enter a very busy and crazy-making part of the year, when many of us feel obligated to make magic for other people and spend so much time planning towards an image of "the way it's supposed to be," I challenge you (and myself!) to stop anytime it occurs to you, take a breath, and remind yourself in that moment:
"Oh. So that's the way it's supposed to be."
No matter what it is.
Courage!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Da capo...
Greetings, dear students!
Well, the Grinch is already undergoing his heart-size transformation on TBS (and seeing the Whos come out to sing in the town square after he'd stolen all of their presents totally made me cry this year...that's a first for me...I must be getting even more sentimental, which is saying something for a choral conductor), there is general growling about people's decorations going up too early, and I taught the world's highest Silent Night descant to my graduate choir this afternoon...yes, I believe the holidays may be coming, like it or not.
I've been a little out of touch with the passing of time lately, so the typical post-halloween retail rush into things Christmas-y didn't get my attention like usual...it took something else, something more iconic, something melismatic....
Yes, that's right -- it took the first rehearsal of the choral numbers from Part the First of Messiah for me to realize that Christmas isn't too far away. I hadn't sung them in quite awhile...in fact, I'm reasonably certain the last time I interacted with them closely was way back in my undergraduate days with my pals from the Pacific Conservatory music fraternities. I still have an orange Novello score from the experience that is marked up within an inch of its well-loved life, as I used all of my brain power to digest and understand this music that so many before me have known, sung, played, and loved. It was a nice experience...I felt like I was meeting an old friend. The vocal lines never seem to have left that settled place in my voice, the imitation still makes good sense to my ears, the dance allusions still make my feet itch to move. It made me miss that time in my life, true to the predictions of my dear teacher who heard me do a lot of complaining at that time about how busy I was and how irresponsible my colleagues were being in rehearsal, and how I just wanted the whole darn thing to be over, etc., etc. So, while I feel a little ashamed of the me of a decade past because she couldn't be patient enough to enjoy the process, I am also grateful for one of the things about life that also has a way of driving me (and probably most people) nuts:
For better or worse, things have a way of coming around again.
Perhaps this is the reason why composers dreamt up musical forms like rondo, sonata-allegro, theme and variations, and da capo, where material returns, giving the listener a feeling of closure. A professor told me way back when that humans find repetition psychologically comforting, and that's why the return of A material is such a prevalent practice in music -- I thought he was a little nuts. And now, being the person who gets teary over Dr. Seuss movies and only knows it's almost Christmastime because Handel showed up in my choir folder, I think I believe it. I'm far from the first to notice this, I'm sure, but it seems to be worth saying, just the same.
So, I have some da capo (or at least, repetitive) examples for your analytical, musical, and psychological enjoyment:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look here:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/4/49/IMSLP11350-
Handel_Messiah_No.18_Rejoice_Greatly_O_Daughter_Of_Zion.pdf
And a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1xlYIoekE8&feature=fvsr
You've likely heard it before, but listen with the score anyhow. You'll likely be able to pick out the big sections right away. What distinguishes them from one another? Tonality? Tempo? Character? All of the above? What seems to motivate these changes?
Now, there are modulations within each big section, too. Listen again with the score, and at each cadence you hear, circle the home tone. Do the accidentals leading up to each cadence reflect that change? How would you sing the melody in solfa in light of this information? How would you sing the bass (continuo) line? Where is the easiest place to change keys?
Rising Level 3's
Take a look at this:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlB3E_OmpT4
(NOTE: I personally like my soloists on this one to sound a little more freaked out -- this guy's calm is impressive and his voice is lovely, but it's all somehow emotionally unsatisfying to me...call me a drama queen, but is it a refiner's fire or a space heater?)
Now, the form of this one is a bit different, yes? The repeated material is marked in even more obvious ways than the rising 2's example. Why do you think that is?
What keys do you go through in order to sing the vocal line of this little ditty? When the surface material gets extremely active in the fast section, what is happening in the bass line?
Rising Level 4's
Here is your wickedly chromatic selection:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a recording to match (with the recitative that precedes it...the aria begins at about 3:00....and this guy's face totally makes up for the placidity of the rising 3's guy...maybe a little too much, as it turns out...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rukah9okGs
So, perhaps at this point, you're saying to yourself: um....where's the da capo? Good question.
What was the problem with the da capo aria from a plot-line standpoint? If the singer has to go back and sing the music from the beginning of the aria over again, has the plot progressed? Has his/her mind changed? Nope. That's right, da capo = static, at least to some extent. So, if you look here:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Messiah,_HWV_56_(Handel,_George_Frideric)
at the context of the other movements and the text they contain, can you think of a reason why Handel might have chosen not to bring material back? In terms of the Christmas story, was something important about to happen in, say, the very next movement?
Anyway, see if you can dream up some clever chromatic solfa solutions to this rather tricky melody line. Feel free to email them to me if you come up with something you'd like to share!
Well, the Grinch is already undergoing his heart-size transformation on TBS (and seeing the Whos come out to sing in the town square after he'd stolen all of their presents totally made me cry this year...that's a first for me...I must be getting even more sentimental, which is saying something for a choral conductor), there is general growling about people's decorations going up too early, and I taught the world's highest Silent Night descant to my graduate choir this afternoon...yes, I believe the holidays may be coming, like it or not.
I've been a little out of touch with the passing of time lately, so the typical post-halloween retail rush into things Christmas-y didn't get my attention like usual...it took something else, something more iconic, something melismatic....
Yes, that's right -- it took the first rehearsal of the choral numbers from Part the First of Messiah for me to realize that Christmas isn't too far away. I hadn't sung them in quite awhile...in fact, I'm reasonably certain the last time I interacted with them closely was way back in my undergraduate days with my pals from the Pacific Conservatory music fraternities. I still have an orange Novello score from the experience that is marked up within an inch of its well-loved life, as I used all of my brain power to digest and understand this music that so many before me have known, sung, played, and loved. It was a nice experience...I felt like I was meeting an old friend. The vocal lines never seem to have left that settled place in my voice, the imitation still makes good sense to my ears, the dance allusions still make my feet itch to move. It made me miss that time in my life, true to the predictions of my dear teacher who heard me do a lot of complaining at that time about how busy I was and how irresponsible my colleagues were being in rehearsal, and how I just wanted the whole darn thing to be over, etc., etc. So, while I feel a little ashamed of the me of a decade past because she couldn't be patient enough to enjoy the process, I am also grateful for one of the things about life that also has a way of driving me (and probably most people) nuts:
For better or worse, things have a way of coming around again.
Perhaps this is the reason why composers dreamt up musical forms like rondo, sonata-allegro, theme and variations, and da capo, where material returns, giving the listener a feeling of closure. A professor told me way back when that humans find repetition psychologically comforting, and that's why the return of A material is such a prevalent practice in music -- I thought he was a little nuts. And now, being the person who gets teary over Dr. Seuss movies and only knows it's almost Christmastime because Handel showed up in my choir folder, I think I believe it. I'm far from the first to notice this, I'm sure, but it seems to be worth saying, just the same.
So, I have some da capo (or at least, repetitive) examples for your analytical, musical, and psychological enjoyment:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look here:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/4/49/IMSLP11350-
Handel_Messiah_No.18_Rejoice_Greatly_O_Daughter_Of_Zion.pdf
And a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1xlYIoekE8&feature=fvsr
You've likely heard it before, but listen with the score anyhow. You'll likely be able to pick out the big sections right away. What distinguishes them from one another? Tonality? Tempo? Character? All of the above? What seems to motivate these changes?
Now, there are modulations within each big section, too. Listen again with the score, and at each cadence you hear, circle the home tone. Do the accidentals leading up to each cadence reflect that change? How would you sing the melody in solfa in light of this information? How would you sing the bass (continuo) line? Where is the easiest place to change keys?
Rising Level 3's
Take a look at this:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlB3E_OmpT4
(NOTE: I personally like my soloists on this one to sound a little more freaked out -- this guy's calm is impressive and his voice is lovely, but it's all somehow emotionally unsatisfying to me...call me a drama queen, but is it a refiner's fire or a space heater?)
Now, the form of this one is a bit different, yes? The repeated material is marked in even more obvious ways than the rising 2's example. Why do you think that is?
What keys do you go through in order to sing the vocal line of this little ditty? When the surface material gets extremely active in the fast section, what is happening in the bass line?
Rising Level 4's
Here is your wickedly chromatic selection:
http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP11111-Handel_Messiah_No.6_But_Who_May_Abide_The_Day.pdf
And a recording to match (with the recitative that precedes it...the aria begins at about 3:00....and this guy's face totally makes up for the placidity of the rising 3's guy...maybe a little too much, as it turns out...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rukah9okGs
So, perhaps at this point, you're saying to yourself: um....where's the da capo? Good question.
What was the problem with the da capo aria from a plot-line standpoint? If the singer has to go back and sing the music from the beginning of the aria over again, has the plot progressed? Has his/her mind changed? Nope. That's right, da capo = static, at least to some extent. So, if you look here:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Messiah,_HWV_56_(Handel,_George_Frideric)
at the context of the other movements and the text they contain, can you think of a reason why Handel might have chosen not to bring material back? In terms of the Christmas story, was something important about to happen in, say, the very next movement?
Anyway, see if you can dream up some clever chromatic solfa solutions to this rather tricky melody line. Feel free to email them to me if you come up with something you'd like to share!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Leadership
Hello, solfa sentinels!
Shorts and sandals begone! I looked out my window this morning and saw...
the first snow of the season.
No kidding. The switch has flipped.
So, my mug of mint tea and I got to thinking about this week's blog, and this is what came up:
Leadership. I find this topic interesting, maybe because so much of my time is spent not being the boss, but definitely being in a position where I feel responsible for the way things go. I'm the TA, the big sister, the assistant conductor, the section leader, the Girl Friday. I have come to believe that there is quite an art to this, and while I've spent a good number of years in this kind of role, it's only more recently that I find myself able to comfortably analyze it and cope with everything it means. At the moment, I count myself very lucky to be spending the majority of my professional time in situations where the person in charge really is in charge, both in name and in the way s/he chooses to behave. In this kind of model, it's easy to be a supportive sub-leader -- I just get to do what is asked of me...no fussing, no mind-reading, no power struggles, no secret compensating. And, it's probably quite obvious from the list at the end of that last sentence that I've definitely been in situations that were less copacetic. There are many ways of getting around in such environments, and sometimes those getting-around behaviors stay with us unawares, even when things are better and we don't need them anymore. The upside is that having a whole palette of sub-leader behaviors should theoretically give a person a lot of options in any given situation....and options are powerful when we are able to recognize them as such.
And, since I've grown up in a world where computers have always been present, I tend to think of behavioral choices in terms of a Control Panel -- meaning that there are choices we make actively on a case-by-case basis, but there are also "default settings"...presets that make certain functions automatic. Over time, I think we become more acquainted with our own default settings, we realize that we have the power to change them, and through experimentation and blind luck, sometimes we come upon what works best for us. For me, that has had a lot to do with patience, slowing down, and realizing that consistency and small bites are usually the best way to go. As it turns out, the way I am slowly learning to treat myself is also the best way to lead and to treat other people.
This is perhaps one of the biggest themes of my own pedagogical philosophy, though I don't know if I've ever stated it in so many words before: the best thing I can do for you is convince you that you are your own best teacher. Or, stated another way: I can only make a series of guesses about how any person learns and set up contexts that get at them, but if you know how you learn, you hold the keys to limitlessness. It's just a matter of becoming conscious and then taking the time. In this sense, every student must be a leader. Hopefully, the teacher is capable and the activities and instruction are sound, and just following directions will get you close to where you want to be. However, the last step is always for the student to take -- translating what is outside into what lives inside. That takes guts and patience and knowledge. It takes leadership.
All of that being said:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at this lovely piece...only as far as the first measure of p. 3, unless you're feeling more adventurous:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/2/24/Pergolesi_09_Sancta_mater.pdf
You can take a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zw4GfuclCc
If you only look at the solo parts (up to the top of p. 3, as indicated), you can use the key of E-flat for the entire soprano solo and B-flat for the entire alto solo. This will mean that you have to cope with one little chromatic syllable (the same one in both parts), but I bet you'll be fine.
I'd advise you to work through the rhythm first, one vocal line at a time - conducting is your friend!
Are there common motives between the soprano and alto lines? What makes them easy? What makes them difficult?
If you do decide to go on to the true duet section, be advised that you'll be traveling in the flat direction around the circle of fifths, and that you'll need to watch out for excursions to minor keys.
Rising Level 3's
Look at this little gem:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/7/79/Pergolesi_08_Fac_ut_ardeat.pdf
I know it looks long, but I bet you can work your way through it little by little...
You can listen to it here (at ramming speed, but with a wicked countertenor!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOmk_wAo8c
And here (with a boys' choir, at a much more moderate clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afPj4dSuR1Y&feature=related
I'd advise you to print out the score and listen first, then mark the places where the material is repeated.
Once you've set up a little form scheme for yourself, check out the key centers....it does travel a little , but never very far afield. I bet you can puzzle it out.
From there, use your tonal and form schemes to guide your study of the piece. How will you break it up? Would working backwards be a good approach? Are the voice parts roughly equal? Will you count in 4 or in 2? Will going slow actually be helpful or not? You're in charge!
Rising Level 4's
For you, something a little different:
http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/9/9e/IMSLP42945-PMLP33670-Strauss--Op_37_6_Lieder.pdf
Check out the first song in the set. You can read the incredibly sweet translation of the text here:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=10228
And you can listen to a recording here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRNbjDzBBGw
Once you've had a listen, try your hand at figuring out key areas for the vocal line. If you get stuck, looking at the piano line might be somewhat helpful. There's definitely some enharmonic and remote stuff going on -- and isn't it magic how it all works out in the end?
Make some decisions about the solfa, and try to sing through sections unaccompanied. Once individual key areas feel reasonably secure, try stringing them together. See if you can make it through the whole piece unaccompanied, but in the right keys -- it's a bit of a feat, I must say!
Enjoy!
Shorts and sandals begone! I looked out my window this morning and saw...
the first snow of the season.
No kidding. The switch has flipped.
So, my mug of mint tea and I got to thinking about this week's blog, and this is what came up:
Leadership. I find this topic interesting, maybe because so much of my time is spent not being the boss, but definitely being in a position where I feel responsible for the way things go. I'm the TA, the big sister, the assistant conductor, the section leader, the Girl Friday. I have come to believe that there is quite an art to this, and while I've spent a good number of years in this kind of role, it's only more recently that I find myself able to comfortably analyze it and cope with everything it means. At the moment, I count myself very lucky to be spending the majority of my professional time in situations where the person in charge really is in charge, both in name and in the way s/he chooses to behave. In this kind of model, it's easy to be a supportive sub-leader -- I just get to do what is asked of me...no fussing, no mind-reading, no power struggles, no secret compensating. And, it's probably quite obvious from the list at the end of that last sentence that I've definitely been in situations that were less copacetic. There are many ways of getting around in such environments, and sometimes those getting-around behaviors stay with us unawares, even when things are better and we don't need them anymore. The upside is that having a whole palette of sub-leader behaviors should theoretically give a person a lot of options in any given situation....and options are powerful when we are able to recognize them as such.
And, since I've grown up in a world where computers have always been present, I tend to think of behavioral choices in terms of a Control Panel -- meaning that there are choices we make actively on a case-by-case basis, but there are also "default settings"...presets that make certain functions automatic. Over time, I think we become more acquainted with our own default settings, we realize that we have the power to change them, and through experimentation and blind luck, sometimes we come upon what works best for us. For me, that has had a lot to do with patience, slowing down, and realizing that consistency and small bites are usually the best way to go. As it turns out, the way I am slowly learning to treat myself is also the best way to lead and to treat other people.
This is perhaps one of the biggest themes of my own pedagogical philosophy, though I don't know if I've ever stated it in so many words before: the best thing I can do for you is convince you that you are your own best teacher. Or, stated another way: I can only make a series of guesses about how any person learns and set up contexts that get at them, but if you know how you learn, you hold the keys to limitlessness. It's just a matter of becoming conscious and then taking the time. In this sense, every student must be a leader. Hopefully, the teacher is capable and the activities and instruction are sound, and just following directions will get you close to where you want to be. However, the last step is always for the student to take -- translating what is outside into what lives inside. That takes guts and patience and knowledge. It takes leadership.
All of that being said:
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at this lovely piece...only as far as the first measure of p. 3, unless you're feeling more adventurous:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/2/24/Pergolesi_09_Sancta_mater.pdf
You can take a listen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zw4GfuclCc
If you only look at the solo parts (up to the top of p. 3, as indicated), you can use the key of E-flat for the entire soprano solo and B-flat for the entire alto solo. This will mean that you have to cope with one little chromatic syllable (the same one in both parts), but I bet you'll be fine.
I'd advise you to work through the rhythm first, one vocal line at a time - conducting is your friend!
Are there common motives between the soprano and alto lines? What makes them easy? What makes them difficult?
If you do decide to go on to the true duet section, be advised that you'll be traveling in the flat direction around the circle of fifths, and that you'll need to watch out for excursions to minor keys.
Rising Level 3's
Look at this little gem:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/7/79/Pergolesi_08_Fac_ut_ardeat.pdf
I know it looks long, but I bet you can work your way through it little by little...
You can listen to it here (at ramming speed, but with a wicked countertenor!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnOmk_wAo8c
And here (with a boys' choir, at a much more moderate clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afPj4dSuR1Y&feature=related
I'd advise you to print out the score and listen first, then mark the places where the material is repeated.
Once you've set up a little form scheme for yourself, check out the key centers....it does travel a little , but never very far afield. I bet you can puzzle it out.
From there, use your tonal and form schemes to guide your study of the piece. How will you break it up? Would working backwards be a good approach? Are the voice parts roughly equal? Will you count in 4 or in 2? Will going slow actually be helpful or not? You're in charge!
Rising Level 4's
For you, something a little different:
http://imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/9/9e/IMSLP42945-PMLP33670-Strauss--Op_37_6_Lieder.pdf
Check out the first song in the set. You can read the incredibly sweet translation of the text here:
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=10228
And you can listen to a recording here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRNbjDzBBGw
Once you've had a listen, try your hand at figuring out key areas for the vocal line. If you get stuck, looking at the piano line might be somewhat helpful. There's definitely some enharmonic and remote stuff going on -- and isn't it magic how it all works out in the end?
Make some decisions about the solfa, and try to sing through sections unaccompanied. Once individual key areas feel reasonably secure, try stringing them together. See if you can make it through the whole piece unaccompanied, but in the right keys -- it's a bit of a feat, I must say!
Enjoy!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
The yoke is easy
Greetings, solfa-bearers!
It just occurred to me that this post is shaping up to be doubly referential...first in a punny way, because I'm going to write about yokes, and I just got done with phase two of egg-devilling...the bit where you have to peel the eggs and scoop out all the yolks....
Ahhh, fun with homonyms!
So, I'm borrowing material from my church gig again (which I sort of got permission to do...or rather, I confessed to one of the folks from whom I borrow that I've been borrowing for blog purposes, and he seemed to like the idea). Today's gospel reading would sound familiar to anyone who knows part I of Messiah....it included:
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart."
and
"For his yoke is easy, and his burden is light"
The sermon focused on this text, and the preacher said several things that struck me, but maybe the most striking was this: he thinks that the idea of the yoke being easy comes from our truest and most important work in life being the authentic expression of our most honest selves, and as a result, the work is not onerous -- it feels like freedom. I am inclined to say that this kind of work is frequently anything but easy in the objective terms of hours and energy. However, I have long believed that the work that is most authentically ours doesn't feel like work. Being needed for what we love to give is a profound experience -- sometimes we get lucky, and it happens almost by accident. Sometimes we spend years being discontented and can't quite figure out why until we think or talk or journal ourselves into realizing what it is we need to change in order to be in the place we need to be.
This is the last of the forty-nine weeks for my students in Baltimore. In just a few short days, it'll all begin again, and it'll be a lot of work. And, while I hope this year's solfa students take some time this week to refresh their memories on some things for the weeks to come, I also hope there is time to reflect on what it is we're about to do. We are about to take up the yoke of furthering our musical education, and the hours will be long. In these last few days before the program begins in full force, it seems exceptionally important to rekindle and recapture a sense of purpose. I understand that getting a pay raise for having a graduate degree may be motivation enough to skate through a program like the one in which we participate, but it is definitely not enough to motivate heart, hand, ear, and intelligence to come together and give our whole selves to the study of the art we love.
So, my dear students, I exhort you: don't just show up and go through the motions. Homework may feel like a bummer, and that's understandable. But as you do your work, remind yourself of what you actually have the opportunity to achieve:
-Deeper, more comprehensive musicianship
-A more conscious and richer appreciation for music
-Strong, mutually beneficial connections with like-minded colleagues
-Discovery of things you've never learned
-Shoring-up of weaknesses that have held you back
-Uncovering hidden strengths in yourself and others
-High-level music-making in a challenging environment
None of this is trivial, and in the end, all of it is about you and your personal gain. Obviously, your students stand to gain from a teacher who is more musical and more musically fulfilled, but YOU are the one who gets to be fulfilled by your work. YOU are the one who gets to grow. These are gifts that no one can ever take from you. They are also gifts that only YOU can give yourself.
So, I challenge you all: recalling your purpose and knowing the musical wealth that awaits you, resolve to enter this year's session with open minds and hearts, ready to give from the depths of yourselves, and ready to receive unthinkable riches that can belong only to you.
Take up the yoke of musicianship, because in truth....the yoke is easy, and the burden is light.
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, May 1, 2011
Fluency and Immersion
Hello, my faithful readers!
Well, I missed another week....naughty, naughty. I have good excuses, related to Holy Week, the Bernstein Mass, and some annoying health-related woes, but nobody likes a whiner, right? Onward and upward!
During aforementioned Holy Week, I was privy to some quite good sermonizing on the part of the clergy at my current gig....and I must say, the speakers at this gig really are a cut above. You know it must be something kind of special if I keep on stealing material...sincerest form of flattery and all that jazz, yes?
Anyhow, at Easter Vigil, the preacher talked about language acquisition, and naturally, my ears perked up. His language up for discussion was Spanish, and specifically, how he really wants to learn Spanish, and he can decline and conjugate and memorize vocabulary with the best of them (being, as he is, a scholar and teacher of Hellenistic Greek), but what he feels is the missing link in his linguistic learning experience is immersion. Immersion is the gateway to fluency.
The speaker went on to tell a story about a friend of his who learned formal Castilian Spanish in the classroom, and considered himself quite accomplished in the language, and then he up and moved to Nicaragua and guess what...all his vocabulary and skill was essentially non-functional in that environment. He toughed it out, but had an incredibly hard go of it for a long time -- months, maybe longer. Then, it's the part of the story you already know if you've had an immersive linguistic experience: he woke up one morning, and he suddenly understood. He was thinking, speaking, even dreaming in the language of his surroundings. Having had a small taste of that experience myself, I couldn't stop smiling through that part of the story, even though I knew it was coming. Why? Because that feeling of finally getting it, of finally fitting into the rhythm of what is around you, of not having to struggle for every word anymore feels SO GOOD. I remember it as euphoric, no exaggeration, and my own experience was just a small transition from idiot American to barely functional temporary expat. But, when my teeny-tiny functional Hungarian vocabulary became second nature, I was completely delighted, and I have a suspicion that a linguistic neophyte has kind of an advantage in these matters, because the jump from one plateau to the next must be similar each time, and the joy must be just as wonderful and just as surprising each time.
You probably already know where I'm going with this.
Why do I fuss at you for writing in all your solfa or for wanting to read things on a neutral syllable before you "add solfa" or for not keeping tuning forks on your person, etc.? Why am I so picky about things that don't seem to matter? Because it's about immersion. And, the difference between learning a language and learning to be fluent in solfa is that you have music to interact with everywhere, all the time, all around you. It can certainly be helpful to have other people around you to help reinforce the immersiveness of your experience in daily life, but you can actually opt to be immersed in solfa anytime you want.
Really.
I know it for sure...because I was the kid on the trampoline in my backyard with a hymnal and a Casio keyboard to give me starting pitches (this was before my first encounter of the tuning fork kind). Granted, that's a little extreme, and definitely very homeschooled of me, but I know that's the time it took for me to get from stumbling over re, fa, and la to being able to apply the syllables instantaneously. The same thing happened when I was in college and struggling with dictation -- I just made myself solfa everything I heard and then write some of it down. I opted in for an immersive experience in my daily life, and it took some mental discipline and some time, but mostly it just took me making the decision. It didn't cost me any money. It took a lot less time than I thought. It just took me committing to it, buying in, deciding I wanted it, and choosing to pay attention to what I heard all the time. And the best part of all? Once you have it, it's yours. You get to keep it, and it doesn't go away, and no one can take it away. The more you do it, the happier and more empowered it will make you. Check it out: personal fulfillment, happiness, and empowerment, courtesy of Guido d'Arezzo, a dude who's been dead for 1100 years. It doesn't get any better than that.
So, this week:
All Levels:
Make an immersive decision, just one, every day this week. Stop yourself when you hear a tune you like (even if it's something you already know), solfa it, and write it down. Pick up a piece of music, any piece you like, and read it in solfa. Then read another part in solfa. Then tap one and read the other. Switch.
You can do this. It just takes time, and making the decision. Who knows? You might become addicted! Don't say I didn't warn you!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Fatal Flaws
Salutations, my dear solfeggists!
I'm writing from my comfy couch, looking out on an April snowstorm....not an uncommon occurrence in Colorado, but always a shock to the system when it follows an 80-degree day -- although that, too, is not uncommon.
This week's blog post subject material is courtesy of a conversation from yesterday with one of AKI's own...with a little help from church this morning.
In yesterday's conversation, we were discussing our respective "fatal flaws" -- the thing we just can't stop doing, even though we'd like to change it. Everyone has one (or several...), and chances are that you know about them in both yourself and other people. In fact, to some extent, we are even known by our flaws, and they actually become a part of our identity....it happens in choirs and classrooms all the time. You know the part in X piece where that one person always makes a mistake, and you can take a good guess at which kid turned in a paper without a name on it by looking at which answers are incorrect.
In a sense, when we Kodály types talk about going from the known to the unknown, we're dealing with an outward manifestation of an inward process: as we know ourselves and our strengths more thoroughly, we are better able to ascertain when we understand a concept, and we're able to demonstrate what we know in varying ways. Group dynamics and blind luck can disguise what is understood and what is not, and in the classroom, this happens all the time -- in fact, it is infrequent to be observed from the outside in a way that is identical to what's going on inside. If this is true, then all education is really self-education, because only the individual truly knows what he or she understands. And, similarly, when I teach you, I'm bound to start by teaching you as if you were me with all the flaws and strengths I recognize in myself. Hopefully, over time and by watching others, a teacher cultivates a more extensive bag of tricks than only what is effective for him/herself, but we all probably default to using ourselves as a point of departure. We are always our own first student.
So, all of that being said, I invite you to plot your own course for this week's assignment. Do what you know you need to do to be successful with this material. Make a note of what works for you and what doesn't. Be creative. Increasing your own self-knowledge is the name of the game.
Rising Level 2's
Take a look at this bicinia by Orlando di Lasso:
....and this lovely Brahms piece (you may know it in another form, with German text, as the second movement of his motet "Warum ist das Licht gegeben")
What is easy about each piece? What is difficult? Do they behave how you expect them to behave? If not, how will you cope? Creativity in practice is encouraged.
Rising Level 3's
Take a look at these pieces:
Sometimes you'll want to be in the key notated, sometimes a fifth away...I'll leave it in your capable hands to decide.
Rising Level 4's
Take a look at the chromaticism in these pieces:
What can you do to make the chromaticism seem less forbidding?
Now get out there, and show your flaws who's boss!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Transfiguration
Greetings, ever-adaptive singers!
This morning, I led some of my favorite singers through a service at a lovely church in Denver, which has re-sensitized me to the liturgical calendar and alerted me to the fact that today is "Transfiguration Sunday" -- the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday. So, for the folks who follow the liturgical calendar, Tuesday is the day to eat pancakes, get the Alleluias out of your system, and yuck it up...and starting Wednesday, the minor mode, fasting, and the color purple reign supreme for 40 days of Lent. And, Transfiguration Sunday itself is interesting and cool in its own right/rite: the gospel story is that Jesus and three of his disciples went up on a mountain, and suddenly Jesus didn't look like the guy they'd been trekking around with for the past 3 years -- all of a sudden, he glowed with a bright light and all kinds of crazy stuff went down (including a cameo appearance by Elijah and Moses).
Whatever your religious persuasion, I think it's possible to relate to this notion of transfiguration in some way. I think we all experience it -- a moment comes along, something happens that has never happened before, and we see ourselves or someone or something else we know change radically in an instant, and a part of them rises to the surface that we've never seen. Sometimes it's for the better, sometimes not, but it's always memorable. And, in a way, isn't it vital to our survival that we can still be surprised by what can happen both outside and inside ourselves? The world is chaotic, and we may all yet see things we've never dreamed of, but even so, we each have stores of strength and instinct that will surface only when the moment is right. So effectively, that means we're all stronger than we think, even when Plan A is a distant memory....and Plan Z is all of a sudden on deck.
So, here's a little exercise in "transfiguration" for you all...it's a stretch, and probably not so very profound, but I hope you'll enjoy it just the same...
Rising Level 2's
I'd like for you all to go on a little adventure with me....to Ottman, Ch. 20...
Don't panic!
20.1 - Read as written, go with the key signature for your solfa. Anything weird? No? Good.
20.2 - Read as written, go with the key signature for your solfa. All good? By now, you've surely figured out what the deal is with this chapter, yes? Now, try reading through the example again, but pretend it has a flat in the key signature, and sing the B-naturals as "fi". What did you think? Which way did you prefer?
20.3 - Read as written, go with the key signature for your solfa. For fun, sing it once in E minor with f-sharps instead of f-naturals. What happens to the character of the piece?
20.4 - Read as written, go with the key signature for your solfa. Now, pretend there's a flat in the key signature and sing it starting from do, but sing the B-naturals as "fi". Which way did you like better?
20.5 - Read as written, go with the key signature for your solfa. Now, pretend there's a sharp in the key signature and sing it starting with so,-do rather than re,-so and call the F-naturals "ta". Which way did you like better?
Rising Level 3's
Take a look at this piece by Palestrina:
Let's take it step-by-step:
Step 1 - Sing through the bass and alto lines up to m. 14. What mode does the piece seem to be in? What is the intervallic relationship between the bass entrance and the alto entrance? Is it imitative? If so, is the alto a tonal answer or a real answer of the bass?
Step 2 - Look at mm. 14-23. How has the texture changed? Sing through any two vocal lines of your choice.
Step 3 - Look at mm. 23-39. Has the texture changed again? Sing through the soprano and alto lines mm. 23-28. How would you characterize the way these two parts move in relationship to one another? See if you can find similar "duet" relationships between other voice parts in this section.
Step 4 - Look at mm. 39-55. What is the main rhythmic event of this section? What word does it seem to be highlighting? What does that word mean (hint: use Google translate)? Sing through any two voice parts of your choosing.
Step 5 - Look at mm. 55-end. Pay particular attention to the soprano voice -- compare it to what has happened before range-wise. Where is the highest note? Why? Sing through any two voice parts of your choosing.
Rising Level 4's
For you all, a special treat....
Look at this piece:
Sing through the tenor line only.
Now, look at this piece:
Sing through the soprano line. How often does it line up with the tenor line of the first piece? Now sing through the tenor 1 line. How often does it line up with the tenor line of the first piece? Is the original material sometimes transformed in some way? Does it ever creep into other voices? Is it ever transposed? Does there seem to be an obvious connection between the two pieces (sort of like L'Homme Arme masses)? If you're interested, you can read more about the tradition here.
And finally, in the spirit of the season:
Change by Tracy Chapman
Enjoy!
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