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MUED 376: Choral Music, Materials & Techniques

MIDTERM EXAM
Suggested Due Date: October 26, 2017 - midnight

NAME ___Ellen Atwood______________ DATE___10/25/17

Part I: From O% to 100% in 10 Rehearsals of 15 Minutes:

One Suggested Sequence of Rehearsal Threads

Directions:
Take the piece you are doing for VMRC and design a full lesson
sequence as indicated below, based on a fifteen-minute rehearsal.
Modify each class as needed from this template. Add or delete
activities and chunks as needed.
Do not do a Direct Instruction Script for this assignment, only
outline the activities and chunking that will complete each
rehearsal thread.
Be creative and include lots of kinesthetic and learning
experiences.
Please spend no more than 40 minutes on this part of the exam
Please feel free to work with others on this exam! Share answers,
help each other, share ideas, strategies and definitions!

Rehearsal 1 Hook and introduction to the piece (rote introduction,

and rote to note in the music.)

Time: (3/3/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome Good Morning VMRC! The piece we will be working on

today is:__Coventry Carol________ My rehearsal threads today are:Learning
notes

Chunk 2: Introduce the melody of the chorus on solfege through vocal

modeling in chunks

Chunk 3: Students sing chunks back

Chunk 4: Put it all together on text

Transition statement: Great! Lets move on to learning harmonies

Time: (3/6/15) Activity 2: Bass Harmonies

Chunk 1: Sing bass part of chorus on solfege in chunks

Chunk 2: Basses sing chunks back

Chunk 3: Basses sing entire line on text

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Chunk 4: Basses and sopranos sing both parts on text together

Transition statement: Now lets learn tenor harmonies

Time: (3/9/15) Activity 3: Tenor Harmonies

Chunk 1: Sing tenor part of chorus on solfege in chunks

Chunk 2: Tenors sing chunks back

Chunk 3: Tenors sing entire line on text

Chunk 4: Basses, Sopranos, and Tenors sing all three parts on text together

Transition statement: Finally, lets add in the alto line

Time: (3/12/15) Activity 4: Alto Harmonies

Chunk 1: Sing alto part of chorus on solfege in chunks

Chunk 2: Altos sing chunks back

Chunk 3: Altos sing entire line on text

Chunk 4: SATB on text together

Transition statement: Wonderful note learning!

Time: (3/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Sing entire chorus on parts again

Chunk 2: Congratulate students on a job well done

Rehearsal 2 Verses Melody and Harmony

Time: (3/3/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: Learning notes of the verse.

Chunk 2: Sing soprano line of verse on solfege in two chunks

Chunk 3: Sopranos sing back each chunk

Chunk 4: Sopranos sing line on text

Transition statement: Lets add the alto line

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Time: (3/6/15) Activity 2: Alto Verse Harmonies

Chunk 1: Sing alto line of verse on solfege in two chunks

Chunk 2: Altos sing back each chunk

Chunk 3: Altos sing entire line on text

Chunk 4: Sopranos and altos sing together

Transition statement: Lets add the bass line

Time: (3/9/15) Activity 3: Bass Verse Harmonies

Chunk 1: Sing bass line of verse on solfege in two chunks

Chunk 2: Basses sing back each chunks

Chunk 3: Basses sing entire line on text

Chunk 4: SAB sing line together

Transition statement: Finally, lets add the tenor harmony

Time: (3/12/15) Activity 4: Tenor Verse Harmonies

Chunk 1: Sing tenor line of verse on solfege in two chunks

Chunk 2: Tenors sing back each chunk

Chunk 3: Tenors sing entire line on text

Chunk 4: SATB sing entire line of verse 1 together on text

Transition statement: Wonderful focus and note learning today!

Time: (3/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Review once more the verse and the chorus learned last time

Chunk 2: Congratulate students on learning all of the notes in the piece!

Rehearsal 3 - Review Section A and Learn verse 2

Time: (4/4/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: Reviewing what weve
learned and learning the verse 2.
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Chunk 2: SATB sing chorus

Chunk 3: SATB sing verse 1

Chunk 4: SATB sing chorus going into verse 1

Transition statement: Lets learn verse 2, the notes are all the same!

Time: (3/7/15) Activity 2: Learning verse 2

Chunk 1: Chant words of verse 2

Chunk 2: Students chant back words of verse 2

Chunk 3: Draw attention to important breath/no breath marks

Chunk 4: Draw attention to important cutoff beats

Transition statement: Lets sing verse 2 now with those breaths and cutoffs!

Time: (2/9/15) Activity 3:Singing verse 2

Chunk 1: SATB sing verse 2

Chunk 2: Fix and review any cutoff issues

Chunk 3: SATB sing verse 2 with fixes

Transition statement: Lets add crisper diction and a fuller forte dynamic!

Time: (3/12/15) Activity 4: Singing with umph

Chunk 1: Chant words like raging with rolled are and slay with intensity

Chunk 2: Students repeat words with emphasis

Chunk 3: SATB sing verse two with crisp, intense diction

Transition statement: Wonderful sound! Lets review

Time: (3/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Sing through chorus, verse1 and verse 2

Chunk 2: Wonderful job putting together 75% of the piece!

Rehearsal 4 Review A and B sections and add Verse 3

Time: (4/4/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads
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Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: to review what weve
learned and add verse 3!

Chunk 2: SATB sing chorus, verse 1 and verse 2

Chunk 3: Fix any incorrect notes, cutoffs, or breaths, and remind students of
crisp diction

Chunk 4: SATB sing chorus, verse 1 and verse 2 again with fixes

Transition statement: Lets learn our final verse, verse 3!

Time: (2/6/15) Activity 2: Learning verse 3

Chunk 1: Chant words of verse 3

Chunk 2: Students chant back words of verse 3

Chunk 3: Draw attention to important breath/no breath marks

Chunk 4: Draw attention to important cutoff beats

Transition statement: Lets sing verse 3!

Time: (3/9/15) Activity 3: Singing verse 3

Chunk 1: SATB sing verse 3

Chunk 2: Fix and review any diction issues

Chunk 3: SATB sing verse 3 with fixes

Transition statement: While maintaining a supported sound, lets try this verse
pianissimo

Time: (3/12/15) Activity 4: Singing verse 3 softly

Chunk 1: SATB sing verse 3 very softly

Chunk 2: Fix any issues (soft doesnt mean slow or unsupported)

Chunk 3: SATB sing verse 3 very softly again with better support

Transition statement: Lets put it all together!

Time: (3/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Sing verses 1, 2, and 3 in sequence with all dynamic changes

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Chunk 2: Awesome contrast in your singing!

Rehearsal 5 Piece Roadmap and Dynamics

Time: (5/5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: Roadmap the piece and
focus on dynamics

Chunk 2: Explain the roadmap of the piece (Chorus, v1, v2, v3, Chorus)

Chunk 3: Sing the entire piece in this format

Transition statement: That sounds great! Now lets review the dynamic markings

Time: (2/7/15) Activity 2: Focus on Dynamics of each verse

Chunk 1: Explain that the first chorus and verse 1 are mezzo forte

Chunk 2: SATB sing chorus and into verse 1 mezzo forte

Transition statement: Lets move on to verse 2

Time: (2/9/15) Activity 3: Dynamics of verse 2

Chunk 1: Verse 2 is fortissimo because we are singing about the raging King
Herod.

Chunk 2: SATB sing verse 1 mezzo forte going into verse 2 fortissimo

Transition statement: Finally, verse 3

Time: (4/13/15) Activity 4: Dynamics of verse 3

Chunk 1: Verse 3 is significantly softer than the other verses: pianissimo

Chunk 2: SATB sing verse 2 fortissimo going into verse 3 pianissimo

Chunk 3: Lets try all 3 verses with this dynamic contrast

Chunk 4: SATB sing all 3 verses with contrast

Transition statement: Lets put it all together

Time: (2/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Sing entire piece: Chorus, v1, v2, v3, Chorus with all dynamic
changes

Chunk 2: Its starting to sound very musical!

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Rehearsal 6 - Perfecting Tone

Time: (2/2/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: working on tone

Chunk 2: Sing ee, eh, ah, oh, oo to remind students of pure vowels

Chunk 3: Students sing vowels back

Chunk 4: Pig snort to get backspace

Transition statement: Were going to work on having tall, open vowels with
backspace in the piece

Time: (3/5/15) Activity 2: Singing chorus with backspace and tall vowels

Chunk 1: In Julia Childs voice chant words to chorus

Chunk 2: Students repeat chant with tall vowels

Chunk 3: SATB sing chorus with tall vowels

Transition statement: Lets transfer this to the verses

Time: (3/8/15) Activity 3: Singing verses with backspace and tall vowels

Chunk 1: In Julia Childs voice chant words to verse 1

Chunk 2: Students repeat chant with tall vowels

Chunk 3: SATB sing verse 1 with tall vowels

Transition statement: Verse 2!

Time: (3/11/15) Activity 4: Sing verse 2 and 3 with backspace and tall vowels

Chunk 1: In Julia Childs voice chant words to verse 2, Students repeat

Chunk 2: In Julia Childs voice chant words to verse 3, Students repeat

Chunk 3: SATB sing verse 2 and 3 with tall vowels

Transition statement: Lets review once more!

Time: (4/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: SATB Sing Chorus and verses with tall open vowels remembering
our dynamic changes
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Chunk 2: Congratulate students on their beautiful tall vowels and tone!

Rehearsal 7 Harmonies and Blend

Time: (1/1/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: Isolating harmonies and
focusing on blend

Transition statement: Lets begin with the trebles and then the TBs

Time: (3/4/15) Activity 2: Isolating treble harmony

Chunk 1: SA sing v1 together while focusing on blend across the choir

Chunk 2: TBs sing v1 together while focusing on blend across the choir

Transition statement: Sounds lovely, lets now try ST and BA

Time: (6/10/15) Activity 3: Isolating ST and BA harmonies

Chunk 1: ST sing v 2 together focusing on blend

Chunk 2: BA sing v 2 together focusing on blend

Chunk 3: SB sing v3 together focusing on blend

Chunk 4: TA sing v3 together focusing on blend

Transition statement: Lets now divide into small groups of two sopranos, two
altos, one tenor, and one bass per group

Time: (2/12/15) Activity 4: Blending in small groups

Chunk 1: Divide into small groups

Chunk 2: Practice chorus within small groups

Transition statement: Now lets bring it all back together

Time: (3/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Practice the entire piece within small groups, blending to your
neighbor

Chunk 2: Congratulate choir on their fantastic blend!

Rehearsal 8 - Phrasing
Time: (1/1/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads
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Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: working on phrasing

Transition statement: Lets start with the chorus

Time: (4/5/15) Activity 2: Kinesthetic phrasing

Chunk 1: Do what I do: Draw large circle in the sky as I sing the chorus to
show phrasing

Chunk 2: Choir copies on their own parts

Chunk 3: Repeat this for v1

Transition statement: Lets try another kinesthetic game

Time: (4/9/15) Activity 3:Choir conducts

Chunk 1: Do what I do: Conduct and sing v2, showing phrasing

Chunk 2: Choir copies on their own parts while conducting

Chunk 3: Repeat this for v3

Transition statement: Lovely, lets try singing the piece with this phrasing in
mind

Time: (4/13/15) Activity 4:Sing piece with phrasing

Chunk 1: Choir sings piece while focusing on the phrasing of each verse

Transition statement: Wonderful job!

Time: (2/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 2: Today, we really did some good work with phrasing, and you sound
fabulous

Rehearsal 9 Buzzwords to deepen expression, tone, and sophistication

Time: (5/5/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: Singing with true expression
of the text

Chunk 2: Review the text for the chorus and verses 1, 2, and 3

Chunk 3: Ask students to think of what the text means to them and share with a
neighbor
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Chunk 4: Have students think of two buzzwords per verse to write down and
think of while singing- Students share these words

Transition statement: Lets run the piece with these buzzwords in mind

Time: (3/8/15) Activity 2: Singing with buzzwords

Chunk 1: Review some buzzwords for each verse

Chunk 2: Sing the entire piece-interject with buzzwords for each verse as they
sing

Transition statement: Lets go even further with expression by adding some of

the phasing kinesthetic motions we did last time while thinking of our
buzzwords

Time: (3/12/15) Activity 3:Buzzwords and Kinesthetic

Chunk 1: Review kinesthetic motion (big circle) for each phrase

Chunk 2: Have choir sing v1, 2, and 3 while doing this motion. Thinking of
buzzwords!

Transition statement: Wonderful job, lets also make sure were executing the
proper dynamics within this expressive singing

Time: (2/14/15) Activity 4:Review dynamics

Chunk 1: Choir sings entire piece focusing on phrasing, dynamics, and

buzzwords

Chunk 2: Fix if necessary

Time: (1/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Today, you all worked very hard on expressive singing, great job!

Rehearsal 10 - Run Fix Run

Time: (1/1/15) Activity 1: Introduction and Rehearsal Threads

Chunk 1: Welcome: Good Morning VMRC! Please turn to Coventry Carol in

your music folder. My rehearsal threads today are: running the piece several
times, performance ready!

Transition statement: Lets jump right in

Time: (4/5/15) Activity 2: Run piece

Chunk 1: Remind students of phrasing, dynamics, and crisp diction

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Chunk 2: Run piece

Chunk 3: Fix anything if necessary

Transition statement: Id like to go through and run some of the more difficult
sections, like v. 2

Time: (5/10/15) Activity 3:Digging Deeper

Chunk 1: Remember to sing fortissimo in this verse: do some quick breathing

exercises to engage supported singing

Chunk 2: Sing through v2 with support

Chunk 3: Lets now look at v1. Sing with crisper diction

Chunk 4: Speak through v1 with exaggerated diction, and then sing it

Transition statement: Finally, lets practice making the chorus sound as sweet
and pure as possible

Time: (3/13/15) Activity 4: Focus on chorus

Chunk 1: Lets try singing the chorus with an ugly tone once, just for fun

Chunk 2: Choir sings with ugly tone and vowels

Chunk 3: Now, lets do the opposite: sweet, pure, blended vowels

Chunk 4: Choir sings chorus with pure, blended vowels

Transition statement: Beautiful, finally, Id like to run the piece once more with
these specifics in mind

Time: (2/15/15) Activity X: Learning Summary

Chunk 1: Run piece once more

Chunk 2: Wonderful job, choir! I think were ready for the concert!

Any extra rehearsals?

Digging deeper, working on tone, breathing, meaning, expression,
sophistication
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Part II: PHILOSOPHY STATEMENTS LIST

Directions: Pick 10 out of the 20 philosophy statements below and define them
in 1-3 sentences. Please spend no longer than 20 minutes on this portion of the
exam.
Philosophy Statement Definition
97% of what you teach is who you are.

Be the Music. Music is a form of human emotional expression.

Put yourself and your own personal connections
into the music, and it will come alive.
Controlling the environment that in turn controls
us.
Creating the culture that in turn creates the
community.
Cultivate FLOW and the culture will GROW!

Curricularize the social and deliver highly

effective music curricula.
Everything is related to everything.

If it is meant to be, it is up to me. Not everything is by chance. Many things in life

happen because of your efforts or lack of efforts.
Its up to you to decide your future.
JAHEES? SHREDM! Arrogance, selfishness, and jealousy have no
place in the music classroom or on stage. These
are toxic behaviors that should be replaced with
more kind behaviors that are better for yourself
and everyone else.
Learning occurs at the intersection of the
academic and the social.
Meet your students where they ARE, not where Being a student-centered teacher means being
you think they should be. aware of the current needs of your students.
When teaching, honor their learning process by
adjusting your teaching to their needs NOW
rather than your own personal preferences.
Positives come and go, negatives accumulate. Dont dwell on the negative things in life. They
should be treated as we treat positives-coming
and going. Instead, celebrate the positives more
and keep trying!
The Concert is the Celebration of What Has Concerts can be nerve-racking and stressful. Its
Already Happened. important to remember that all of the preparation
for the concert has already been done. Just go
out and perform what you already know!
What is your agenda?

When you know better, you do better.

Wherever you go, there you are. Be in the moment. Daily life comes with many
stressors that cause us to live in the past or in the
future. Being present is the best way to enjoy
and savor every moment of life.

Who am I to judge?
Who claps for you?
Who do you want to be when you grow up?
You dont know what you dont know!
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No one is above anyone else regardless of ability,
age, or any demographic. Dont judge people
because you never know what their struggles are.
Reflect on the type of person youd like to
become. When you are gone, how would you like
to be remembered? Always be kind!
It is okay not to know something. Eliminate
arrogance or insecurity by accepting that its
okay not to know everything!