but wait...there's more!

Hello everyone,

Congratulations, salutations, felicitations, and whoop-ilations to Chamber Singers for a wonderful Farewell Concert on May 16! You did yourselves proud, indeed.

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Our last group gig - Baccalaureate Mass - approaches. With rehearsals now at two plenary sessions per week, it is important for everyone to be extremely focused in all contexts: group work AND private practice.

Reviewing Music.
What does "reviewing the music" mean?

I like to think of this process as "re-learning," rather than "reviewing." For me, "reviewing" has different connotations. As a solo pianist, I formed the habit of retiring to a quiet place with the musical score after I'd played a concert, mentally re-playing the program with dispassionate care, essentially clearing my mind of things I did that I would rather not have done (and vice versa!). A "wash," you might say. With everything cleaned up, I felt free to then put that program away and go on to other things.

Re-learning is different and requires different mental set.
I most recently experienced re-learning a couple of years ago, bringing a few things "back" for a solo recital. I found it useful to work with two copies of the score: the original copy (with my notations, etc.) and a clean copy. I would go over the piece in sections, working with the clean copy - checking my physical reactions. Some sections called up physical sensations that seemed to "clash" with learned muscle habits. Why? I would mark these sections in the clean copy for later perusal.
After doing this, I'd go back to the original copy and play again, using that score. If muscle "clashes" persisted, I'd analyze them and see if I could find a better, more efficient way to work out the difficulties.

The success of re-learning is largely dependent upon the success of the initial learning, which lays down neural tracks that become one's "default setting" when playing/singing the piece.

THIS IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO AVOID FORMING BAD HABITS THE FIRST TIME AROUND. THIS IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO BE MENTALLY FOCUSED, ENGAGED, AND PRECISE THE FIRST TIME AROUND!

I have had to drop pieces from my performing repertoire because bad habits developed in the First Learning were too solidly ingrained to warrant the amount of time it would take to correct them the second time around. The 'clash' between bad muscle habits formed years ago and good muscle habits developed since "then" was simply too great. Sometimes it really IS easier to simply learn a new piece!

What does all of this have to do with Baccalaureate music?
Well!
If you've sung Bacc before, you have laid down neural tracks - and when you "review" your music, you must be very careful to PAY ATTENTION when practicing. If you feel a "tug" between what you're doing now and something that you did before, STOP - LOOK - LISTEN - ANALYZE - PLAN CORRECTION - and then repeat the corrected version many, many, many, MANY times. It is easier to correct if you work from an unmarked, clean score. (No transferred associations from markings!)
If you're a Bacc newbie, your job might, paradoxically, be a bit easier! Just do what you are supposed to do - many times! - stay focused - stay engaged.

Baccalaureate Mass is the biggest engagement of the year - we sing for 37 minutes (thanks, Doc! for crunching the numbers - egads, that's A LOT OF SINGING!) - before a group that exceeds the COMBINED attendance at our paying concerts.

At Baccalaureate, we are the choros - the chorus (as in ancient Greek drama). Through the art of music, we bring chronos (everyday time) and kairos (sacred time) together, making them as one. We express the Voice of the People and interpret the Voice of the Transcendent.

People who attend Baccalaureate Mass come from a variety of contexts. Some will consider themselves congregants, participating in a beloved and familiar religious ritual. Others attend as an audience, who may or may not practice any faith tradition. For two hours on Saturday, June 11 - all of these people are gathered for a single purpose - a purpose it is our privilege and responsibility to communicate and to celebrate.

Let's do OUR work well, so that the Work will be well.

End of sermon! - See you Tuesday next.