“I don’t like this music!”
Posted by: Mrs. Pernezny in Chorus, Handbells, News and Views, tags: performance, song
“Why are we doing this piece?” “Do we HAVE to sing this song?” “Ugh!”
Sometimes I wonder if you think I choose music specifically to torture you! I really don’t. There are reasons behind every piece of music we do in chorus, handbells, and even general music. I thought you might be interested in why I make the musical choices I do.
My first concern is, “what can we learn by studying this piece of music?” I take into account the class, its level of experience, and the difficulty of the music. I try to find music that will present new challenges, but not be so difficult that you will be frustrated trying to learn it. On the other hand, if the piece is too easy, you aren’t likely to learn anything.
Next, I try to look for music that contrasts with the other pieces we are learning. If everything is slow and legato, it’s going to be boring. I try to mix up styles, tempos, meters, and basically include a wide variety of music. This also helps when I’m putting together a program for a performance, because we want to perform a variety of music to keep our audience’s interest.
Finally, I ask myself if I like the music. I probably spend twice as much time with a piece as you do. I study the score, singing and playing through parts, planning how to teach it, anticipating problems, etc. If I don’t like it, we won’t do it. However, I won’t drop a song until I’ve been through it a minimum of six times.
So that’s the process of how I choose music for our classes. But I’m always open to suggestions. How would you do it, if you were in my place?
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November 16th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
We should do some music from the show Glee! I <3 Glee!
November 17th, 2010 at 8:06 am
we have to do chorus music but, maybe some more like old dan tucker and rythem of life. those were big hits. gloria is just boring the way we see it and we do like eliha hu hanavi(i dont know how to spell). we all liked pretty much everything from binks. maybe that will help.
November 17th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Maybe some people would like songs that are humorus ( like Not So Boring minuet ) or fast songs ( like Kindeled By The Flame) but i think your choice is as good as ours!!!
November 17th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
i think all the songs are good. gloria is confusing! but fast upbeat songs are what we need:) ones we could dance too:P
November 17th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Yea i like fast and up tempo songs,slow songs i just hate it is kinda boring.But if u think the slow song with fast song macth up in a concert would keep the audiecnce(how ever u spell that word)then we should do it cause i rather they like our songs and we hate it then us loving it and them sleeping while we do it.
And about how would i do it is exactly how u would but i would pick varites of songs and let the morjority(cant spell that one ethier)of the class choice the ones.
But like Alexandra R. said your choice is good as ours.:0
November 21st, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I still dont like the not so boring minuet
November 23rd, 2010 at 10:59 am
truly a excellent post. I will surely be reading this blog more.
December 8th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
There has been times when i don’t like songs at all and i really don’t want to sing them but if i give it time i start to like them. i didn’t like elyahu hana vi (sorry for bad spelling) but i really like it now.
December 10th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
I really liked Rhythm Of Life! That was my absolute favorite so far! It was fun, we learned a lot, it was a favorite with the audience and with us! I like Gloria and Elyahu Hanavi (also bad spelling!) because we learned a lot from those songs. The way you choose the songs is great and I have no suggestions for you!
December 14th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I know most of us don’t like The Mending Song because it is has a very slow tempo, but we did like (well most of us) Winter Walk which does have a kind of slow tempo but I think it’s because of the lyrics that most people liked it.
December 15th, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I know you try not to torture us. I love you Mrs. Pernezny, you’re my favorite teacher!!!! <3 =)
January 3rd, 2011 at 8:49 pm
*handells rock*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 14th, 2011 at 7:01 pm
i have liked every song so far there has been a good variety (i dont think i spelled that right) of song tempo and rhythem. i cant wait to see what song is next!!! ;D