Viva Voce! Carol McClure, Editor. July, 2011 Greetings! Burns, TN

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1 monthly newsletter of Viva Voce! Carol McClure, editor St. James Music Press July, 2011 Greetings! Burns, TN Viva Voce! Welcome to the SJMP Viva Voce! project. As we launch the third year of Viva Voce!, I am in residence at East Hills Bed and Breakfast in Dickson, Tennessee, leading a conference for music teachers on the topic of assessing students progress. Many of the attending teachers are also church musicians, so we ve engaged in lively discussions about ways in which may make progress assessments, both formal and informal, of our choristers and of ourselves as directors. In order to facilitate the discussion, I posed a list of questions for the teacher/directors to ask themselves, questions which continue to help me improve my own teaching and directing. Here are few from the list. (1) What are the three best developed teaching gifts/talents I possess and how do I employ them to the benefit of my choristers? (2) What are the three most pronounced deficiencies I have as a teacher/ director and how do they impede my work with my choristers? (3) How do I plan to address my own deficiencies this year so that I see improvement in that learning area from my choristers? This year, each month s newsletter will include a letter from me as well as activity directions and game sheets to assist you in teaching music skills, hymnknowledge-y, music history and liturgics. Some of the pages of each newsletter are addressed to and intended for you, the director; others contain games and puzzles for choristers, to reinforce the music teaching you are providing. Please remember that the curriculum content is resource material from which you may draw each month; Viva Voce! is intended in its design to continue to be flexible and easily adaptable to your church s needs. This year, as St. James Music Press has gone to an all-electronic delivery format, anthem teaching overviews and recordings of the twenty-four curriculum anthems will all be posted on the website. Viva Voce! music learning activities, the warm-ups and the list of anthems for the year are attached to this letter. I hope you continue to enjoy using Viva Voce! Soli Deo Gloria, Carol McClure, Editor

2 Viva Voce Anthems Choir Dedication/Praise & Thanksgiving/World Communion Turner Father, Bless the Songs Bach Come Worship the Lord Handel, arr. Larter O God, Your Greatness is Everlasting CWM RHONDDA, arr. W. Ramsay Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer Harmonia Sacra Sing Praise to God Advent/Christmas HELMSLEY, arr. Shephard Lo, He Comes in Clouds Descending Ramsay, P. Sing, Gloria! McKay Star High, Baby Low McClure Little Hands Shaker source Angelic Invitation Shaker source This Is Jesus Birthday Kook Shepherds Ramsay, P. Hodie Christus natus est Season after Epiphany McClure God Be in My Head Shaker source My Robe Is New Shaker source Followers of the Lamb Lent/Palm Sunday/Holy Week SLANE, arr. Where Once re Lay Dragons Shephard Lord, Who throughout se Forty Days McClure Hosanna! DuBois Christ We Do All Adore e McClure Lamb of God Easter Cox We ve Just Seen Jesus McClure Shout Aloud This Easter Day General Praise TERRA BEATA, arr. This Is My Father s World Shaker source - Four Little Angels Shaker source - Play Your Harps, Children of Zion 2

3 Viva Voce Fall Semester 2011 Music Learning Activity Schedule September October November December Early Arrivers Activity Terms & Signs/ Reading Rhythm Instrumental Christmas Carol Note Games Patterns Game Improvisation Games Aural/Vocal Skills Musical Memory: Musical Memory: Musical Memory: Musical Memory: 3>4 Pitches 5>6 Pitches 7>8 Pitches 7>8 Pitches Interval Singing: Interval Singing: Interval Singing: Semester Review Review Internal Hearing Internal Hearing Sight Singing Sight Singing Sight Singing Sight Singing Hymn Tunes Hymn Tunes Hymn Tunes Hymn Tunes Rev. Time Sig: Rev. Time Sig: Rev. Time Sig: Semester Review 2/4, 4/4, 3/4, 5/4 3/2, 2/2 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 Cracking the Code Terms/Signs/ Terms/Signs/ Terms/Signs/ Semester Review Tempo Mark/ Tempo Mark/ Tempo Mark/ Note Values/ Note Values/ Note Values/ Rhythm Reading/ Rhythm Reading/ Rhythm Reading/ Treble Clef: Treble Clef: Treble/Bass Clef: Know the Score Know the Score Know the Score Music History Baroque Classical Renaissance Semester Review Hymn-KNOWLEDGE-y Hymn of the Mo. Hymn of the Mo. Hymn of the Mo. Hymn of the Mo. Immortal, Sing Praise to God God of Grace and O Come, All Ye Invisible Who Reigns God of Glory Faithful Above ST. DENIO MIT FREUDEN CWM RHONDDA ADESTE FIDELES ZART Liturgics Kyrie Gloria Credo Review 3

4 Viva Voce Spring Semester 2012 Music Learning Activity Schedule January February March April/May Early Arrivers Activity Musical Inst. Musical Inst. Musical Inst. Musical Inst. Strings Woodwinds Brass Percussion Aural/Vocal Skills Musical Memory: Musical Memory: Musical Memory: Musical Memory: 9-10 Pitches Pitches Pitches Pitches Interval Singing: Interval Singing: Interval Singing: Year Review Harmony Harmony Harmony Sight Singing Sight Singing Sight Singing Sight Singing Hymn Tunes Hymn Tunes Hymn Tunes Hymn Tunes Cracking the Code Terms/Signs/ Terms/Signs/ Terms/Signs/ Year Review Tempo Mark/ Tempo Mark/ Tempo Mark/ Note Values/ Note Values/ Note Values/ Rhythm Reading/ Rhythm Reading/ Rhythm Reading/ Treble Clef: Treble Clef: Treble/Bass Clef: Know the Score Know the Score Know the Score Music History Romantic Impressionistic Modern Year Review Hymn-KNOWLEDGE-y Hymn of the Mo. Hymn of the Mo. Hymn of the Mo. Hymn of the Mo. All Things Bright Praise to the Lord, Holy Jesus Jesus Christ Is and Beautiful the Almighty Risen Today ROYAL OAK LOBE DEN HERZLIEBSTER LYRA DAVIDICA HERREN JESU Liturgics Sanctus Benedictus Agnus Dei Review 4

5 Viva Voce Warm-Up by Carol McClure and Parker Ramsay 1. Siren Echoes Purposes: Vocal flexibility, uniform focused tone 2. Legato/Staccato Counting Purposes: unison pitch accuracy, uniform focused tone, uniform vowel placement, accurate attacks and cut-offs, dynamic accuracy, singing increasingly longer shaped phrases 3. Sliding Random Intervals Purposes: uniform vowel placement, uniform focused tone, singing across vocal breaks 4. Tip of the Tongue and the Teeth and the Lips Purposes: uniform focused tone, uniform vowel sounds, unison consonant formation, unison pitch accuracy 5. I Love to Sing Purposes: intervallic accuracy, uniform focused tone, uniform vowel sounds, shaped phrases 6. No-ah Purposes: pitch accuracy, uniform focused tone, uniform vowel sounds, shaped phrases 7. Kitty, Cat Purposes: unison pitch accuracy, uniform focused tone, uniform vowel placement, accurate attacks and cut-offs, dynamic accuracy, staccato and legato differentiation, legato line 8. Frog Song Purposes: intervallic accuracy, uniform focused tone, uniform vowel placement, accurate attacks and cut-offs, dynamic accuracy, staccato and legato differentiation, line 9. Intervallic Accuracy Purposes: intervallic identification, accurate pitch production, singing non-harmonic pitches 5

6 Leader sings each bar; choristers sing the echo. Pitches are approximate. q = Warm-Up #1: Siren Echoes 13 q = One two One two three Warm-Up #2: Legato/Staccato Counting One two three four five six One two three four One two three four One two three four five five six sev - en etc. 19 q = 60 Warm-Up #3: Sliding Descending Intervals 25 6

7 Warm-Up #4: q.= 100 Tip, Tongue, Teeth, Lips q. = 48 Legato I I love to sing. Warm-Up #5: I Love to Sing love to sing. I I love to sing. love to sing. etc. 7

8 54 q = 100 No Warm-Up #6: No-ah, No. 58 etc. No, No q = 92 Brightly Warm-Up #7: Kitty Cat Carol McClure (BMI) 72 8

9 74 q = 60 Legato I knew a frog; it Warm-Up #8: Frog Song was green: ver - y big, Carol McClure (BMI) but not mean; 78 Big - gest frog that I've seen, and he liked to sing. 82q = 120 2nd x accelerando Catch! Catch! Catch a fly! Catch it in your mouth! 84 Lick it! Taste it! Chew it! Swal-low it! Don't let it get out! Warm-Up #9: Interval Accuracy 86 As the chord in each bar is played, the choristers should identify the intervals, from bottom to top, that they hear. n they should sing a specified interval (minor 2nd, major 2nd, minor 3rd, major 3rd) above the highest pitch in the chord

Viva Voce! Carol McClure, Editor. September, 2011 Greetings! September 1, 2011 Louisville, KY

The monthly newsletter of Viva Voce! Carol McClure, editor St. James Music Press September, 2011 Greetings! September 1, 2011 Louisville, KY Viva Voce! My children s choirs first rehearsal of the year