Hey guys!
Today I found a post on the choralnet.org forum that I (and I'm sure many of you) can certainly relate to. On September 8, Alex Probst wrote about his struggle to help improve a group of "non select" voices in a school music program. Since choral presentations are quickly coming upon us, and many of us will find ourselves in a situation similar to Alex's (if not now, then definitely in our future classrooms), I thought it would be valuable for us to start sharing some ideas on how to achieve success when working with an inexperienced choir. Do you have any thoughts on rehearsal techniques that work well for a beginning group? 

Here is the link to the original post:
http://www.choralnet.org/view/450171

Response/Reaction to Itay Talgam's TEDTalk: Lead Like the Great Conductors

I really enjoyed watching the many conducting styles that were demonstrated during the videos of this TEDTalk, all of which seemed to "get the job done" in one way or another. Although each conductor brought their own unique conducting style to the podium and succeeded, it occurred to me while watching this that there is a fine line between having too much control and not enough control as a conductor. I especially liked how Itay Talgam pointed out that if you have too much control, you are simply using the ensemble as a set of instruments, and not allowing them the opportunity to develop or to put forth their individual interpretations of the music. On the other hand, if you don't have enough control, the ensemble is left confused, and not knowing when to play. I think this is very important for us to realize as music educators because we need to give our students room to express themselves through the music, while still maintaining a clear, concise execution of the sound. I guess my one question after watching this TEDTalk would be how do you find a good balance between giving the ensemble too much or not enough information/guidance as a conductor? 

Welcome!

Hi Everyone! The purpose of this blog is to interact with my Education 2520 (Voice and Choral Methods) classmates by sharing ideas and information. It is also a place where I can track my journey to becoming an educator (a bit of an unexpected adventure for me)!