Andrew’s Corner / Notes:

Thank you for all your interest in our Fall Sing. Our goal is to go through the Bach Magnificat. We will start with warm-ups, which is critical for every time we sing. Then we will go through notes on the composition itself. The piece is a five-part choral piece, with the Soprano’s that have a split. 

We will run through each piece quickly and point out spots that may be difficult to sing, on first read.  The secondary goal today is to meet any new people and to renew friendships from previous seasons. If possible, please stay for the lunch, which is scheduled for 12:00 pm. All are welcome.

The final goal is to sing this piece in the last 30 minutes of the day. The full piece is 25 to 30 minutes in length, with the solo movements, this should be fun.

Please find rehearsal resources on the RESOURCES PAGE

Schedule:

SATB: Warm-up / announcements (10:00 pm – main room)
SATB: Mvt. 1, 4, 7, 11 & 12 (if time) RUN (11:30)

Pronunciation tip of the week:

Always be careful to make sure consonants come before the beat. Breath goes in and immediately out, no glottal starts. As always… Be very careful of the “s” that when surrounded by two vowels it becomes a “zz” sound. In addition the “r” should be rolled or flipped, never a “hard R” sound as in th word “are.” Example: paradisi sounds like [pah-rah-dee zee].

Practice tip (repeated…):

When working through the music, be sure to use plenty of air / support / space. Try to ensure you’re not “chewing” vowels and using the pure forms of I (EE), E (EH), A (AH), O (OH), U (OO). Saying these vowels to yourself through the day can help you to become more familiar and catch yourself when diphthongs creep in!

If you are missing notes because of the words, sing on a neutral vowel until you have the rhythm / notes down. THEN (just as we do in rehearsal) speak the text by itself, THEN speak it in rhythm, THEN add the pitches with the rhythm and text. Everyone works through this at different paces. Try not to get frustrated if you’re not getting it all on the first try. Work for 10-15 minutes, take a mental break, then come back and do another 10-15 minutes. I am confident you will this to be a good method. If you can work through any of it with someone else who is in the ensemble, that’s great. Often, we learn from hearing what others are doing… in addition to learning by teaching.

I can’t wait to work with you all soon!

-Andrew