Concert Choir, Friday 03/31/17

Rehearsal Notes: Today we worked on Il Est Bel Et Bon and we specifically focused on the pronunciation of the words in French. Then we moved on to Hallelujah Amen where we spent the remainder of class working on the second ending and page 12 'amen'. There were a few rhythm issues so everyone make sure you're counting the notes and rests on both songs!! :)

No Sight Singing

No Theory

Announcements:
-CV callbacks are Monday until 5pm
-Mrs. Patchett should have our statements about our chorus individual account info on Tuesday
-5 DAYS UNTIL SPRING BREAK WOOHOO!!!

Concert Choir, Wednesday 03/22/17

Rehearsal Notes & Assignments: Today Mrs. Patchett was absent. It was kind of a last minute thing so we weren't able to get a chorus teacher to substitute, but we worked on music theory. Here is what each group did on musictheory.net
GROUP 1- 50 examples of note naming with accidentals on, and 30 examples of key signatures
GROUP 2- 30 examples of key signature identification, minors on
GROUP 3- 30 examples of chord identification
At the end of class, if people finished early, they were allowed to go to the cafeteria and watch the dancers perform but some people chose to just stay in the class room and work on other stuff which was fine too. We turned in completed work on the piano :)

No Sight Singing

Music Theory: Worked in groups on our assignments

Homework: If you didn't finish your examples on musictheory.net, make sure you complete them and turn them in tomorrow!

Concert Choir, Tuesday 03/21/17

Rehearsal Notes:  Today Mrs. Patchett was back yay!!! We talked about how things went when she was gone and she told us about the Nashville trip! Then we went to the auditorium and listened to the symphonic band play. When we got back, we sang through Hallelujah Amen once :)

No Homework :)

No Theory

No Sight Singing

Concert Choir, Monday 03/20/17

Rehearsal Notes:  Today Ms. Delauney was here again and we worked on the second ending of Hallelujah Amen. After running through that, we took out Il Est Belle Et Bon and sang through the first and the second page comparing voice parts and where they overlap. We also worked on Muerto a little bit and solidified the notes on page 2 starting at measure 16. We ran through Omnia Sol and sang Irish Blessing which everyone knew! :)

No Homework :)

No Theory

No Sight Singing

Concert Choir, Friday 03/17/17

HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY!!

Rehearsal Notes:  Today Ms. Delauney was here and we worked on Hallelujah Amen for the beginning of class. We specifically focused on the 'Oh Judah' section and once each voice part became strong, we moved on to learn the last two pages of the piece. Then we took out Muerto! We focused on the first two pages and briefly touched on the top of page 3. After that, we took out Il Est Bell Et Bon! We didn't have tons of time to work on it, but we did learn our parts through the first page and we sped it up gradually on 'bum bum' (we haven't used words yet). Remember on Monday the bathroom pass will not be available so go BEFORE class!! Have a great weekend everyone :)

No Homework :)

No Theory

No Sight Singing

Concert Choir, Thursday 03/16/17

Rehearsal Notes:  Today we worked on Hallelujah Amen. We went through the song in our voice parts and sang through the 'cherubim and seraphim' part. We also got 3 new songs!! It takes a village, Muerto, and Il est bel et bon :) we will have Ms. Delauney tomorrow and Monday so remember to be on your best behavior :)

No Homework

No Theory

No Sight Singing

CV- 3/16/17

Announcements:

Thursday 3/16/17   

CV - Interims will go home today.

CV - Mrs. Patchett needs 3 scores  of Shining Night & Beulah - if you let me use your’s for MPA please let me use them again and make sure they have no markings on them.

All State Students - if you are unable to get on the remind, see Mrs. Patchett at the end of class.

All State Students - we have a lunch rehearsal for 9-10 A Lunch and 11-12 B Lunch

If you missed MPA you will need to complete a Make-Up Assignment- See Mrs. Patchett for this assignment

Students auditioning for Concert Choir and are currently in choir: you need to have signed up to audition for concert choir by March 24 on the online link

Students auditioning for CV - ALL must have signed up by March 21st on the online link.

Rehearsal:

Praise to the Lord
-even consonants throughout the piece.
-the ending needs to be a full sound.
-get piano and have dynamic contrast where we're supposed to in the piece.

Sure On This Shining Night
-silent breaths throughout the piece, breathe with your diaphragm as opposed to shallow breathing.

Way Over In Beulah Lan'
-we've got to have energy with this piece despite whatever else is going on in the context of us singing it.
-we slowed down the tempo significantly; follow the tempo Mrs. Patchett gives us.
-clarified the basses note on "good" in the intro. It's supposed to feel wrong and clashy with the sopranos. 
-use the "b" in "Beulah" to kill it in the last two "Beulah"'s  on the last page.
-we went and sang this piece in the commons area to really get a feel of dead space and how to overproduce emphasis behind words.

HOPEFULLY EVERY REMINDER YOU SHOULD/WILL NEED FOR NASHVILLE:
-bring/pack a breakfast tomorrow morning to bring with you on the bus, there will not be a big breakfast stop made.
-if your family has someone that would like to see you in Nashville, communicate this via email to Mrs. Patchett BEFORE 7pm tonight. something along the lines of "I student's parent give permission for student to see person A and person B at time o'clock on 3/day/17".
-your garment bag needs to have everything you need to walk on stage. Men bring all pieces of your tuxes, including pocket squares, and ladies remember to pack pearls.
-go through the document tonight with attention to detail, making sure that you pack everything you need.
-the weather will for the most part be cold and rainy. Bring a raincoat and appropriate clothing for this weather.
-wear comfortable shoes that are appropriate for the context of whatever we're doing.
-don't forget to pack this year's short sleeved CV shirt so that everyone can match on Monday! Do not wear this particular shirt until Monday.
-don't wear sweatpants Monday. Its not cute.
-you are responsible for your belongings regardless of whether your chaperone is your parent or not.
-the police will be called if you do anything illegal. If you witness someone in our group doing something illegal and you do not report it to Mrs. Patchett, you are just as viable.
-to be on time is to be early. Be on time (early) for EVERY meeting time.
-follow all expectations.
-if you're bringing medicine and/or prescription medication on this trip, talk to Mrs. Patchett at 3:30 am in the morning tomorrow to remind get of what you take. You only have to tell Mrs. Patchett but you can tell your chaperone if you want to.
-you need to be in front of the school at 3:25 am tomorrow morning.
-if someone is picking up your car later in the day Friday, because you drove yourself to the school in the morning, they need to pick up your car by Friday night.
-after you arrive at 3:25 am, at 3:30 am you will find your chaperone and get their number, and give them your phone number.
-if you have Ms. Wood or Mr. Wood as a chaperone, see Lindsey in the morning for their respective phone numbers.
-if you have Ms. Baker as a chaperone, make sure you get both get number and Ms. Morgan's number.
-show your chaperone that you have all of your concert attire, then it can be stored under the bus. (if your chaperone isn't there in the morning, show Mrs. Patchett)
-label ALL of your bags with your name. Especially your garment bags. But for real- all of them.
-in regards to bringing movies for the bus rides there and back, label them with your name (so we can know it belongs to you and give it back to you), and make sure  it's rated PG-13 or lower.
-set 217 alarms to wake up in the morning.
-if you plan on writing critiques of the various performances we'll be attending, you can do that by bringing a pen and writing on your program. Taking notes on your phone is not appropriate in this setting.
-make sure your outfits are dresscode. (because apparently we could scar the people of Nashville with bare shoulders). But seriously- let's keep it classy.

Sight Reading: none

Homework: be prepared for Nashville in whatever way you personally need to be

Concert Choir, Wednesday 03/15/17

Rehearsal Notes: Today, we worked on music theory in our groups. If you were absent, see Mrs. Patchett tomorrow to see what you need to make up. After working in our Theory groups for about 30 minutes, we came back together and sang Hallelujah Amen. We went through the song in our voice parts and sang through the 'cherubim and seraphim' part.

No Homework

Theory:
Group 1: worked with Mrs. Patchett on key signatures
Group 2: Did 30 examples of triad ID on musictheory.net
Group 3: Did natural, harmonic, and melodic chord progressions for the key of b minor

No Sight Singing

Concert Choir, Tuesday 03/14/17

Rehearsal Notes: Today, Mrs. Patchett handed out the audition piece (Once Upon A Time) and we ran through it a couple of times and talked about things like tall vowels, not going flat, and holding the notes for the appropriate amount of time. Then we talked about the different music camps for this summer such as the ones at UNC, UNCG, ECU, and Appalachian! After this, we ran through pages 11-12 of Omnia Sol and fixed pitch & vowel issues. At the end of class, we sang Hallelujah Amen and each voice part worked the Oh Judah Rejoice part :)

No Homework

No Theory 

No Sight Singing

CV- 3/14/17

Announcements:

If you missed MPA you will need to complete a Make-Up Assignment- See Mrs. Patchett for this assignment

CV - All Nashville Payments need to be in at this point - if you have not turned in all payments you need to see Mrs. Patchett

Rehearsal:

Once Upon A Time
-reviewed this audition piece (the sheet music was passed out during class)
-do something with the held notes, make them go somewhere
-don't chew the words "time" and "mine"
-take breaths in the correct places (rests)

Praise To The Lord
-the word "mighty" should be pronounced "mauhghty" (auh as in awesome)
-the word "praise" should be pronounced "prehse" (eh as in president)
-altos, accent the word "the" in the first phrase
-basses, get off the "r" in "praise" quickly, and the "l" in "let" quickly
-tenors, try to have generally taller vowels. Over-do the tallness!
-back off in volume on the "tion" of "salvation"
-for the phrase "round, let", put the "d" of "round" and the "l" of "let" in the same part of your mouth
-push and pull on the long held out notes in the phrase "let us make music resound"
-the phrase "hast thou not seen" for men should be falsetto and piano
-we recorded the piece to send to Mrs. Setzer

Sight Reading: none

Homework:
-go through your music and identify when/where your line is important throughout the piece.

Concert Choir, Monday 03/13/17

Rehearsal Notes: Today, we worked through Omnia Sol. We started on page 7 at the ladies part. Then we worked through pitches and dynamics until the end of the piece. We especially worked on the place where the altos/tenors split from the sopranos/basses on page 11-12. Remember, Ms. Delauney will be back tomorrow!

No Homework

No Theory 

No Sight Singing

*We also discussed the final exam and how there is a theory portion, sight reading portion, essay portion, as well as a solo portion. For the solo you may sing a song of your choosing but it must be school appropriate, 1:30-2 mins long, and you will need accompaniment (you can play for yourself, have someone play for you, or use a back track)! The final exam will take place in late May :)

Concert Choir, Friday 03/10/17

Rehearsal Notes: Mrs. Delauney (spelling??) was here today and we sang through Sing Me To Heaven where she pointed out certain things like vowels and a couple of pitches toward the end of the song.. we also tried singing it with a different, slightly faster tempo. Then we worked on I'm Gonna Sing and she helped us with things like energy and facial expressions. She also added more tenors to the small group which made it louder and the melody more prominent! To end class, we sang through Omnia Sol which was really great and we worked on the timing at the end of the peice on page 11 where sopranos/basses sing something different from altos/tenors. Some people took advantage of the fact that we had a substitute which led to a lot of useless chatter and obnoxious talking. Make sure you are 100% focused and respectful all the time, especially with a substitute!!!

No Homework

No Theory 

No Sight Singing

Concert Choir, Thursday 03/09/17

Today we listened to our MPA adjudicators feedback tapes. We listened for advice on how to improve our songs and talked about it as a class. Before this, we talked about a lot of logistical stuff. Here is a brief overview:
-All-Sate: if you are in All State and you were absent today, see Mrs. Patchett for the calendar for lunch rehearsals and to sign up for the remind texts. Start practicing your music for the mandatory rehearsal on March 30th at CHS!
-Auditions for Next Year- if you are auditioning for concert Choir, you will audition for Mrs. Patchett during class at the end of this month. If you are auditioning for CV, you will audition after school on March 27th or 28th (audition times tbd) and there will be a mandatory call back on April 3rd! Regardless of which Choir you are auditioning for, make sure to sign up on the link that was sent out in remind :)
-Busch Gardens- We went over who is chaperoning. Mrs. Patchett said that information will be sent home soon and now we know how much the trip will cost since we know who is going. Remember, you MAY USE MONEY FROM YOUR CHORUS ACCOUNT for this trip!!

Concert Choir, Wednesday 03/08/17

Today, the guidance counselors came in and and we registered for next year's classes! We spent most of the period doing that and and at the end, Mrs. Patchett bought us cupcakes as a congratulations for getting Superiors at MPA!! :)

Concert Choir, Tuesday 03/07/17

Rehearsal Notes and Assignments: Mrs. Smith was our substitute today and we ran through our MPA songs for her. Then we warmed up and sang through Omnia Sol! We all remembered it very well with the exception of a few note and rhythm issues toward the end. When altos/basses split from the sopranos/tenors on page 11, there were some issues that we worked through regarding the timing. After Omnia Sol we took out Hallelujah Amen and tried to get through that... it was really rough but after reviewing each voice part individually we were able to get through the whole thing. Once we got to the 'Judas' section, each voice part learned their pitches individually and we ran out of time before we were able to run the whole thing all together. Great rehearsal today! :)

No Sight Singing

No Theory

No Homework

Announcements: All 3 Choirs got superiors at MPA yesterday! Excellent job!!

Concert Choir, Monday 03/06/17

WE WENT TO MPA TODAY AND ALL 3 CHOIRS GOT SUPERIORS GOOD JOB EVERYONE!! :) :) :)

Concert Choir, Thursday 03/02/17

Rehearsal Notes and Assignments: Today during rehearsal, we Sight sang and then we worked through Sing me to Heaven and I'm Gonna Sing. We went around the school and tried singing in different places so we could experiment with the acoustics and what it might be like to sing at MPA.


Here are some notes for specific things we touched on in Sing Me to Heaven... (thanks Sydney Edwards)

• Measure 1: Ladies need to feel heart beat on heart and connect heart’s to sequestered so there are not a bunch of sssss 

• Measure 2: Connect chambers s to lie 

• Measure 5: Alone should be going somewhere and it should spin 

• Measure 9: Aching should ache 
• Measure 10: Silence should reflect the actual word. Also silence and the breath after are slower than before so watch and listen
• Pick up to 14: The transition should be seamless so match pitches and volume on and
• Measure 15: Wrap does not have an R
• Measure 16: Song needs to grow in volume so do not start too loud 
• Measure 18: Match vowels on song listen and blend since it is a nice held note
• Measure 19: Breathe on if vowel and watch to come in at right place and it is du K for would comfort 
• Measure 22: Lean on lullaby and back off so it is like you are rocking a newborn 
• Measure 24-25: Do not die from heart to sing
• Measure 25-26: Do not die from sing me to a love song 
• Measure 28: Change dynamic a lot for mourn and again wouldu mourn That whole little part with mourn: bring me to God should be delicate and smooth 

• Measure 33-34: Sing me to heaven should be like the heavens opening and should not be choppy 

• Measure 35-37: Manly yet with a soft side 

•  Pleasure anywhere should be pleasooo and then a slight r at end

• Measure 45: Take the edge off of sing me a lullaby 

• Measure 45-end: TUNE!!! Match vowels, pitch within voice parts, and volume

• Measure 50-51: Don’t die from me to bring 

• Measure 53-end: Focus not only notes but not being choppy

Sight Singing: Proficient SATB and intermediate rhythm 

No Theory 

Announcements:

Happy first day of March - in 5 days we will be singing at MPA and we only have 3 rehearsals left!

Mrs. Patchett needs 3 people with NEAT handwriting  in each class to erase all markings in their music except for their very neatly written measure numbers. Raise your hand if you can do this for her by tomorrow.

Next Monday, March 6 is our spirit night at Blaze Pizza.  You must show the flyer for this one and the flyer can be found online on the chorus website. 

In exactly 1 week from today we will have MPA at Meredith College.  It is extremely important that all of you come on the field trip and for those of you still owe a field trip from, you MUST turn it in ASAP.

We also need you each to be present in class every day this week. 

We want to put our best performance on stage next Monday morning, so let’s focus and do everything we can do to be our best in rehearsal for the next 3 days.

CV- 3/1/17

Announcements:

Happy first day of March - in 5 days we will be singing at MPA and we only have 3 rehearsals left!

Mrs. Patchett needs 3 people with NEAT handwriting  in each class to erase all markings in their music except for their very neatly written measure numbers. Raise your hand if you can do this for her by tomorrow.

Next Monday, March 6 is our spirit night at Blaze Pizza.  You must show the flyer for this one and the flyer can be found online on the chorus website.

In exactly 1 week from today we will have MPA at Meredith College.  It is extremely important that all of you come on the field trip and for those of you still owe a field trip from, you MUST turn it in ASAP.

We also need you each to be present in class every day this week.

We want to put our best performance on stage next Monday morning, so let’s focus and do everything we can do to be our best in rehearsal for the next 3 days.

Rehearsal:

Sure On This Shining Night
-we need more energy and dynamics
-don't have louder consonants than your dynamics (ex: don't have a loud "t" sound when we've just decrescendoed the word "night")
- the hot mess that is the top of page six into "I weep" needs to be decrescendoed more
-taller vowels all around, especially on words like "shine", "me", and "round"

Way Over In Beulah Lan'
-men, when we get into the fast part in the beginning (after the intro part), hit it, back off, and crescendo more
-when the lower parts sing "lan" and close the "n", crescendo way more into the "Beulah x4" part
-on the last page where we sing "way over in Beulah Lan, oh yes", its marked piano. So get quiet but keep the level of excitement
-the while intro is supposed to be piano... We gotta be quieter but keep the intensity
-at the very last page, don't strain your voice past the point of pretty for the sake of being loud
-we sang this piece in the cafeteria to practice singing in dead space
-turns out in dead space we need to accent "one hundred and fifty times more" -Mrs. Patchett

Sight Reading: none :)

Homework: Turn in. Your field trip forms. This is ridiculous.

CV- 2/28/17

Announcements:

Thank you to the half of our class that decided to show up :)

Next Monday, March 6 is our spirit night at Blaze Pizza.  You must show the flyer for this one and the flyer can be found online on the chorus website.

In exactly 1 week from yesterday we will have MPA at Meredith College.  It is extremely important that all of you come on the field trip and for those of you still owe a field trip from, you MUST turn it in ASAP.

We also need you each to be present in class every day this week.

We want to put our best performance on stage next Monday morning, so let’s focus and do everything we can do to be our best in rehearsal this week.

Rehearsal:

CV Alumni Angel is a senior at UNC and a member of the Clefhangers, a male a cappella group, who are having a performance on April 8th! He came to visit us today and was a really positive and inspiring voice in our class.

We went through all three of our pieces

Sight Reading: none :)

Homework: TURN IN YOUR FIELD TRIP FORMS

CV- 2/27/17

Announcements:

We have a spirit night TODAY! At Bass Lake Draft House, from 11 am -midnight the chorus will receive 10% of all profits from anyone who goes! You do not even have to show a flyer! Go out to dinner after your Musical Strike or after a sports practice!

Next Monday is our spirit night at Blaze Pizza.  You must show the flyer for this one and the flyer can be found online on the chorus website.

In exactly 1 week from today we will have MPA at Meredith College.  It is extremely important that all of you come on the field trip and for those of you still owe a field trip from, you MUST turn it in ASAP.

We also need you each to be present in class every day this week.

We want to put our best performance on stage next Monday morning, so let’s focus and do everything we can do to be our best in rehearsal this week.

Rehearsal:

We fixed generally our spacing and windows on the risers

Sure On This Shining Night
-we video recorded us singing this piece and the recording was sent out over group me and remind for us to look at and come up with things we can  potentially fix

Way Ov'r In Beulah Lan'
-sopranos, drop your jaw on the word "time" to produce taller vowels
-hold the very first "we", don't chop it short
-have less of a "t" sound  in the phrase "good good"
-we video recorded us singing this piece and the recording was sent out over group me and remind for us to look at and come up with things we can  potentially fix

Praise to the Lord
-men take a breath in measure 21 between the words "Lord" and "who"
-in the phrase "shelters thee under his wings, yea", the word "yea" should be pronounced as "yay"
-altos, don't scoop in measure 22
-add an "n" on the word "seen"
-breathe after the words "seen", "seen" (again), and "wishes", in that tricky part at the bottom of the second page

Sight Reading:
-2015 Sight Reading Booklet
-Advanced Rhythm #1, page 53
-Advanced SATB I, pages 46-48

Homework:
-Listen to the recordings we did today, they will be sent out via group me and remind, and come to class tomorrow with things in mind that we can fix

Concert Choir, Wednesday 03/01/17

Rehearsal Notes and Assignments: Today during rehearsal, we Sight sang and then we worked through Sing me to Heaven and I'm Gonna Sing. We went around the school and tried singing in different places so we could experiment with the acoustics and what it might be like to sing at MPA.


Here are some notes for specific things we touched on in Sing Me to Heaven... (thanks Sydney Edwards)

• Measure 1: Ladies need to feel heart beat on heart and connect heart’s to sequestered so there are not a bunch of sssss 

• Measure 2: Connect chambers s to lie 

• Measure 5: Alone should be going somewhere and it should spin 

• Measure 9: Aching should ache 
• Measure 10: Silence should reflect the actual word. Also silence and the breath after are slower than before so watch and listen
• Pick up to 14: The transition should be seamless so match pitches and volume on and
• Measure 15: Wrap does not have an R
• Measure 16: Song needs to grow in volume so do not start too loud 
• Measure 18: Match vowels on song listen and blend since it is a nice held note
• Measure 19: Breathe on if vowel and watch to come in at right place and it is du K for would comfort 
• Measure 22: Lean on lullaby and back off so it is like you are rocking a newborn 
• Measure 24-25: Do not die from heart to sing
• Measure 25-26: Do not die from sing me to a love song 
• Measure 28: Change dynamic a lot for mourn and again wouldu mourn That whole little part with mourn: bring me to God should be delicate and smooth 

• Measure 33-34: Sing me to heaven should be like the heavens opening and should not be choppy 

• Measure 35-37: Manly yet with a soft side 

•  Pleasure anywhere should be pleasooo and then a slight r at end

• Measure 45: Take the edge off of sing me a lullaby 

• Measure 45-end: TUNE!!! Match vowels, pitch within voice parts, and volume

• Measure 50-51: Don’t die from me to bring 

• Measure 53-end: Focus not only notes but not being choppy

Sight Singing: Intermediate on Page 21

No Theory

Announcements:-2 REHEARSALS UNTIL MPA-There is a spirit night at Blaze Pizza on March 6th

-Everyone make sure you are at school this week so we can rehearse and also make sure you are here before 7am on Monday wearing your concert attire :)