Arioso

Assignments from 2/11 for 2/18

• Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round
  • ​We solidified the 3 part split based on our new voicing! Write in your numbers/solfege and practice. ;-) Altos - beware the "Freedom land"... it's higher than your ear would lead you to believe!!
• Jarba, mare jarbe
  • Use the pronunciation track provided to practice: click here.
  • Memorize mm. 22-51
• Om laul
  • We worked a lot on the refrain, paying careful attention to where and how our parts split (especially the Mezzos!)
  • Our composer, Mari, has sent us a beautiful pronunciation track: click here to listen! Use it to review the pronunciation of the chorus. We will go over the verses together on Monday.
  • Practice your part on the chorus. Rely on your eyes NOT your ear for which notes are yours! 
• Reflection
  • The list of heroines that people chose to profile is awesome, from women they have personal relationships with, to scientists, activists, artists, ground-breakers, political and historical figures, athletes, and more).
  • Ms. Kottman is researching Malala Yousafzai and sharing her research with everyone each week.
  • Last week's assignment was to select your heroine (haven't done that yet? Fill out last week's Google Form and let me know who you're researching!). This week's assignment is to dig into her story - what was her childhood like? What challenges has she faced in her life? Complete the Google Form here: bit.ly/ARheroines2

Assignments from 2/4 for 2/11

**We re-voiced in Monday's rehearsal. If you were absent, please complete all assignments below and see Ms. Kottman before rehearsal next week so she can place you somewhere!**

• Om laul
  • ​We learned the pronunciation for the chorus. Practice your words - the correct diction will depend on muscle memory, which is only built through practice over time. After voicing, we split into divisi sections for the refrain and started to learn the pitches. We also learned that Mari received the "Culture Treasure Award of 2018" for her home state of Võru. Lola brought up Mari's music video for this song, click here to check it out!
• Jarba
  • ​We put the pronunciation we learned last week together with the melody for the first portion of the A section. See last week's assignment for review and practice.
• ​Reflection - Week 1 of our heroine project
  • heroine: female hero. a legendary woman of great strength or ability. A woman admired or emulated (as a role model) for her achievements and qualities. Someone who you look up to for having raised their voice to change their community for the better.
  • Step 1 of this heroine project is to choose your heroine. Think of a woman (currently living, historical/deceased, or fictional) who inspires you by what she has done and how she has lived. Maybe she is someone you know in your life, someone you have learned about in your studies, someone from pop culture, or otherwise. Perhaps your heroine is someone whose story you know really well, or someone you don't know very well at all yet! Choose carefully - you will be spending a lot of time with this person over the next few weeks :-)
  • Complete this week's reflection assignment at: bit.ly/ARheroine1

Assignments from 1/21 for 1/28

• Om laul
  • We sang through the verses on 'loo' and 'lee,' noting the subtle changes in rhythms and pitch direction. We also practiced the chorus by tapping the rhythm and speaking it on the consonant combination "ch". Continue using these same practice tools this week on your own. Do not fall into the trap of singing each verse the same way!
  • We also learned that the National Song & Dance Festival (called 'Laulupidu') happens every 5 years in Estonia, featuring a choir of 30,000 and audiences of up to 75,000 people! Our piece "Om laul" was performed at last summer's Youth Song & Dance Festival, where almost all of the performers, conductors, and composers were "children of freedom" who were born after 1991 - less than 30 years ago! Research the significance of this phrase - why are Estonian people born after 1991 called "children of freedom?" Write this information on your reflection sheet.
• Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around
  • ​Using the Langston Hughes poetry starting at m.27, this melody became our voicing tool. Everyone sang it in duets (people who were absent - you will go next Monday!). Next week we will use this same melody to re-voice our sections, so please keep it in your voice.
• Jarba, mare, jarba
  • We added pronunciation for the first line of text and noticed that the different accents on the letter "a" change it's pronunciation.
  • Practice this one section on text this week!

Jarba, mare jarba,
YAR-buh mah-ray YAR-buh

m-as dusje akasza,
mahs doo-zhe ah-KAH-suh

da nu pot, ka am zsurat.
da noo poht kuh ahm tsoo-raht

Assignments from 1/14 for 1/21

• Jarba, mare jarba
  • We learned the rest of the A section up through m.36. We also discussed the meaning of the term "folk music" or "folk song" (music/song of the people) and talked about how vocal color, tone, and dynamics can be used to bring the spirit of this piece to life off the page.
  • We examined the published octavo and thought about why publishing Jarba, mare jarba as a "gypsy folk song" instead of a "Roma folk song" could be problematic. We wondered why Mr. Adkins might have made this decision, and decided to refer to Jarba as a "Roma folk song" while learning this awesome piece of music!
  • For homework on this piece, watch this short video to learn where the term "Gypsy" came from historically and hear an activist share her perspective on why the term "Roma" is more appropriate to describe her community.
• Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round
  • We learned all three parts of the refrain, identifying Part I as the melody. Please note that where your ear leads you and what's written on the page (especially for Part III) may be different! Let's do what's on the page :-)
• Voice change self-assessment and reflection
  • We discussed the physiology (the way the body works) of the adolescent female voice change and its impact on our singing.
  • We compared the different instruments that children, changing voice adolescents, and adults have (and learned that Ms. Kottman isn't 40 years old yet!!).
  • We went around the room and each did a vocal swoop through our range, keeping a floated "oo" vowel and using good breath support. We each noticed where our voice changed color and whether it had any cracks, breathy patches, or shifted "gears" while we swooped through. Then we used our How is my voice growing? sheets as a tool to identify how our instruments are growing.
  • Then we took turns singing each part of "Ain't Gonna Let" and reflected on which one was most comfortable for us last night. We reminded ourselves - and each other - that what's most comfortable for us to sing will continue to change as our voices grow.
  • For homework this week, do 2 swoops a day (one for warm-up, and one for noticing)! Notice what you hear. Are your sound and your range consistent, or do things change from day to day? If there's a noticeable difference, think about how you're feeling (physically, mentally, and emotionally) and reflect on how much sleep you got, what you ate, etc. Keep a swooping journal for this week's reflection.
• Expectations
  • As part of our voice change exploration, we also discussed how the Girl Choir program supports healthy vocal development. In addition to being placed in a Girl Choir based on each person's instrument, Ms. Kottman emphasized that musical skills, rehearsal maturity, and responsibility are also taken in to account. Weekly homework completion is an expectation (ESPECIALLY when you miss a rehearsal) and can be factored in to placement decisions. Please make sure to complete assignments every week so the learning continues outside of rehearsal.

Assignments from 1/7 for 1/14

​**new music was distributed!**

• There are many ways to start learning a new piece of music. We brainstormed different musical learning strategies (by ear, sightreading, through movement, improvisation, composition, imitating sounds in nature, etc) and began learning the melody of "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" by rote (call and response by ear).
• La-minor is a minor scale found within the notes of the Do-major scale. We used the pitch C as our Do and wrote in solfege for "Jarba, Mare Jarba." Then we broke into small groups and figured out how to sing it! Each group encountered challenges, particularly with the tied notes.
• What are tied notes? We heard several different explanations and figured out how to sing them.  Then we put "Jarba" all together on solfege at a variety of tempos!
• We watched this video of a piece called "Om laul" and noticed the performance setting/environment, the singers' performance attire, and how they were singing musically and expressively. We wondered what is going on in this video and where the singers are in the world.
  • Answer: This video was filmed in Estonia, and the language of the piece is Võru.
• Reflection
  • Listen to this performance of "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round" by famed women's acapella group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Notice that the object of the song changes ("Ain't gonna let ____________ turn me 'round") with each verse. Listen deeply, and write down all of the verses they use. Which verse is most powerful to you this week and why? Be prepared to show your reflection when you come in the room on Monday.