Solo auditions Tuesday after school. If you are interested, please sign up and don't forget to have a note to stay after.
Good rehearsal. We finally fixed the "fa la" section, now that everyone understands how the alto and sopranos are having a "fight" in what they are singing. Not sure if we should keep the descant and will decide on this for sure next rehearsal. Chapua sounded good once we fixed the harmonies. Altos need to be careful not to sing the soprano or the baritone(guy) line. We might add percussion, but I am unsure. Yonder Come Day is really very good. We just have to get serious about the motions so they look realistic.
Solo auditions Tuesday after school. If you are interested, please sign up and don't forget to have a note to stay after. Not a bad rehearsal. I think the voice tests will help everyone out, and I am proud of all of you so far for trying your best at them. If you don't do well, don't forget you can always retest until the end of the trimester.
Be prepared for voice tests starting Monday, November 14th - 21st. Groups of three will be selected by me. This will count as the "performance grade" of the trimester, so this will count as 30% of your overall chorus grade. I hoped not to do this, but there is little other choice since there are too many note errors. Being sick will not be an excuse of taking the test. You must test by Monday, November 21st. A copy of the test is below. You will test on random portions of each song. To practice, use your folders and the rehearsal file folder to listen to your part.
Overall, chorus went well today. We pretty much have Chapua down, but we need soloists, and some instrumentalists would be cool to have to play the percussion. If we add it, I will pick the people who do it, so please do not ask or beg me.
Fun, Fun, Fun had some major issues unless I directly conduct the guys at the end. The Fa la las are also weak in the middle, so this will be a priority to fix. We didn't get to "Yonder Come Day," but keep practicing. Overall, we could do better if everyone listens to feedback during the transitions. Focus. Only 3 rehearsals left! IMPORTANT DATES: December 6th after school (Tuesday) will be solo group audition day. You can perform in a group with as many as you want, or you can try for a solo. Solos will be picked off of a rubric and the songs must be "holiday/winter friendly." Also, the concert is December 14th! Don't forget! Feel free to reply to this REALLY good rehearsal. Once we settled the folder issue at the beginning of rehearsal (which I'll admit was chaotic), we ended up having a great rehearsal. I never got around to recording all of you, but I didn't want to stop the progress you were making.
First of all, basses. What an awesome sound. What an improvement. It's like you left as boys last rehearsal and came back as men today. Bravo! I liked the way your songs sounded. The balance definitely improved. I think you should practice "Bridge Over Troubled Water." The ending soprano part needs some serious help. If you have the high Bb, let me know. Don't try to be a super hero and hit notes you don't have because it only drags the sound down. Anyway, keep having rehearsals LIKE THIS. Do not forget to bring your folders back for both sectionals and rehearsal. I think you having ownership over your folders is an essential skill that will bring you the the next level of responsibility and awesome. Decent rehearsal. Basses must practice their parts! You can do this by just singing at home and trying to match pitch. A lot of you are struggling. I suggest using the "carol of the bells" recording on the student page and singing along with the bass recording. Please practice. If I do not hear improvement by Thursday, there will be voice tests for basses only, worth four rehearsal grades.
Wild Geese sounds good. Great accents. Careful of dynamic contrast and watch me more for cut offs. Also careful of the word "winter." Carol of the Bells is fine except basses, but you already know that. Bridge is getting there, but still needs work in both the ending and in the middle sections. Have you seen doesn't sound bad, but we need to learn the middle part. You now have folders. You can start taking them home tomorrow. I was very impressed with the 5/6 Grade Chorus today. Everyone sounded good, and sang out. There are some people that need to work on staying focused again; especially front row sopranos, and both 2nd and 4th row guys. If you want to do well, stay focused!
Song wise, I feel that we made awesome progress with Yonder Come Day, finalizing it. Just be careful to SLOW DOWN and WATCH during the ending! Fun, Fun, Fun is good until the fa la las in the middle and the last two pages of the song. Practice this if you can, and if not, we'll do it in sectionals. Chapua sounded great! Good job and keep up the solid work. I really enjoy working with all of you and I hope that we continue to succeed. Okay everyone. A few quick things:
1 ) Do not forget to sell those pies! The more you sell, the less Great East will cost for us. 2 ) Listen/watch to the recordings on the "student page" so you can hear how the songs sound. 3 ) Be prepared to get your own folders on Monday for rehearsal. These will go home and you will practice so we sound better as a group. Music wise: Carol of the Bells and Wild Geese sound very good. Have You Seen the Baby sounds okay, but we need to work on page 8 (the bridge) where the basses have that low part. Bridge Over Troubled Water sounds troubled. We need to sing out. Next week, I will record you guys and post it on the site so you can listen and respond. Thanks for reading this post! Reply if you do for potential extra credit and tell me your thoughts. Same as the 7th and 8th grade post. Please post for credit by responding to this post. For "user name," please use the name you gave me in chorus. Do not use your real name at all or I will not accept the post and you will not receive credit. If you are struggling with what to say, then just type "I went on the site." Check out the videos of Chapua and Yonder Come Day on the Student page, and feel free to practice "Fun, Fun, Fun" as well. No other practice recordings are up yet, and I'm not super concerned. Great job so far!!
Please "comment" below. Use your "user name" that you gave to me in chorus in the "name field" and you can leave your email blank when you post. If you use your full name, I will not accept the post. Also, check out the recording files and videos on the student page while you are here.
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AuthorMr. Phillips Archives
November 2019
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