Take a Deep Breath

We are cruising right along ... learning notes, choreography, staging, lyrics AND trying to incorporate proper vocal technique at the same time. I felt like we needed to take a deep breath during rehearsal as the kids were up and down today -- one minute doing the Charleston in "Sleigh Ride", the next working on proper vowel placement in "On Christmas Night". They definitely have to keep their wits about them to get it all straight and they are doing just that!
One interesting fact about "Sleigh Ride" and "On Christmas Night" however, is that they both require a tremendous amount of breath control in order to sing well. We really do need to "take a deep breath"! Today we learned how to stagger our breathing when holding a note for a long time (check out the end of "Christmas Sing-Along"). We also re-emphasized deep breathing from the diaphragm as opposed to more shallow breathing with the shoulders and chest. Breathing correctly helps with singing while dancing, sustaining long notes, producing louder, clearer sound and even staying on pitch. It is important in choral singing and very important for the soloists -- a good first breath can make all the difference in sounding bright and confident.
With some simple practices we reviewed today in rehearsal, each singer can learn to better control their breath, using it as the power behind each note....or to hold their breath longer under water... or to have more volume when public speaking!

Why Do We Memorize?

Some children's choirs perform while holding their music.  While there can be some short term benefits from this (being able to perform after just a few rehearsals), we feel very strongly about our singers performing without their music.  We believe that the best performances come when the music (and choreography) are memorized and the music has really become "part of" the singer.  In order to accomplish this, we utilize four different types of memory:  kinesthetic, aural, visual and harmonic.

You can learn more about these four "memories" in this great article!

In addition, there are HUGE benefits that come from developing strong memory skills (math facts, anyone?).  We will address those in a future post!