Like she said, 13-year-old brass players can be annoying --- funny, but very annoying!
My 12-year-old granddaughter Abby went with me to an orchestra Christmas Concert the other night. She had not been to any live concerts to hear more accomplished instrumentalists play, so this was a first. Abby is learning to play the flute in her Middle School beginning band. She was very interested in watching the players and how they used their instruments and how they interacted with one another and the conductor. She also enjoyed how well they played and how enjoyable the music was to listen to. While we were chatting during the intermission, Abby told me about what it is like to be in her Middle School band. She says that it is one of her favorite classes, besides art, and she is learning a lot. But, she is in a class with a lot of 12-13 year olds. She says that she is starting to understand the personalities of the players and how that corresponds to the instruments they chose to play. For example, she says that the flutes are usually quiet and well behaved. But the trumpets are loud and annoying -- just like their instrument! (Okay, I did mention that Abby plays flute and has just the personality she described --- quiet and well-behaved.) Abby went on to tell the story of how the first chair trumpet player is the most loud and annoying of all, but he is also the guy that helps the others solve problems in their section. One time one of the trumpet guys was trying to get his stuck mouthpiece off his instrument. After a lot of tugging, he succeeded in getting it free only to drop it into the bell at the other end of the trumpet. Then, the mouthpiece was stuck again. The first chair guy said, "Hey man, that happens to me all the time. Here, give it to me." Then he grabbed the trumpet, turned it upside down and spanked it with his hand really hard. Out popped the mouthpiece. Although Abby was impressed that the guy knew how to help, she still thought the entire incident was loud and annoying. Apparently, most of the brass instruments and their players are loud and annoying --- trombones, saxophones, baritones, and even tuba. But the percussion players are the most annoying. She says that if you put sticks into a 12 year old's hands, they can't help but bang on anything and everything. Then I asked her about the clarinet players. "Oh, they are the nicest people in the world." Well, isn't that just like a clarinet? It can blend into any sound level in the band (provided that the player has a good reed and has learned not to squeak too much). One day in class the teacher was trying to explain how to execute a staccato. As usual, the brass players were not giving the teacher their full attention. A saxophone player behind Abby had really not been paying attention, and when they went to start to play, he blurted out, ''Uh...what's a st...st...st...taco?"
Like she said, 13-year-old brass players can be annoying --- funny, but very annoying!
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This Title I middle school had lost its Band, Chorus and Orchestra teacher in the middle of last year. The program had been suffering. In fact the students felt like they had been abandoned and were convinced that they were not good kids and that no one liked them. My daughter applied for the job last Spring. During her sample lesson as part of the interview process, some of the kids told her that "nobody likes us because we are bad kids." Once she was offered the position, Cami told me that her main goals were to help those kids feel good about themselves and to convince them that they were just as "average" as anybody else, that everyone has both bad and good days, and that they can succeed by putting in an honest effort. This fall, she began rebuilding the program from the ground up. Nearly all of these students were beginners. Many did not have any exposure to participating in a band, orchestra or chorus program previously. Many have very little support from parents or family at home. Yesterday was their first concert of the year. She had 70+ combined chorus students from three classes singing four 2-part songs. The 30+ orchestra students played 2 songs, and the 100+ combined band students from two classes played "Jingle Bells" for the finale. The main goals were to keep the rhythm together, attempt to play and sing the right notes, and display proper concert etiquette. My daughter was not even sure anyone would come to the concert -- performers or audience (parents, grandparents or friends.) The student body population of the school is made up of mainly low-income families (whose parents have to work odd schedules), and students of all ethnic backgrounds including refugees who speak other languages and are just beginning to learn English. Language and cultural differences can be big communication barriers. I admire my daughter for having the stamina to work within these constraints as well as try to convince these 12-14 year-olds that they can learn fingering, embrouchure, breathing, rhythm, musical notation, tone quality, and concert etiquette fast enough to put on a concert. That is a tall order for any teacher, but multiply it by 200+ to give each student individual attention, and you have a job of epic proportions! And she is expecting her first baby to be born in just a couple of weeks! Fortunately, the student performers showed up and also a good crowd of parents and other supporters. I even heard a lot of parents comment about how impressed they were by how many students were participating in the performance and how well they did. I even heard some of the kids mention how surprised they were by how "cool" and "fun" giving a performance was. I am so proud of my little girl who grew up to be such an amazing teacher! Variety is the key to programming a successful concert. I have been to so many Christmas Concerts where the selections were beautiful individually, but because so many were the same style, tempo, color, and message, the concert put me to sleep. I love the example of Haydn in his "Surprise Symphony" -- do something every so often to keep the audience awake. So, I know the selections I have chosen for my Church Service Mission Choir. We have two numbers that are lively and two numbers that are slower and more lyrical. I chose them weeks ago before I knew what else would be on the program. Come to find out, a family of performers has been asked to join us in the concert. Their numbers are three lullabies (two chorals sung in parts and a violin duet) and "O Holy Night" sung as a solo power ballad. How to arrange these pieces for optimum impact? Fortunately, the colors of sound will be very different from a 25 voice choir compared to a 10 voice family ensemble that includes some children. Our choir will have two soloists and a cellist. The family will have a vocal soloist as well as two violins. So, even when the pieces have similar tempo and style, the colors will be very different. I'll just have to put one of our lively pieces in the middle of the program to change the pace. Narration can be useful, too. Skillful use of key scriptures and quotes can provide needed punch and bridge gaps to cover set up time between numbers. It can also break the tonality enough in case some of the pieces are in unrelated keys. But every good concert needs a slam bang finish. After the final remarks, I decided to do a version of "Joy to the World" that can feature all of our groups and instrumentalists and bring in the congregation on the last verse. There, that should do it. Mission accomplished. Another Christmas Concert programmed. The other day I attended a Music Reading Workshop. The attendees were each given a packet of titles that we would look at and sing through. As I perused these pieces, I was hopeful to find something new and interesting for my Church Service Missionary Choir to sing for Christmas. At first glance, I saw a few Christmas titles. So I was anxious to get to them in the sing-through. But as we began singing, I grew concerned about these new songs and arrangements. I knew the ranges and limitations of my current and former choir members. These new pieces demanded some very strange requirements of the singers. The Altos would be very happy because they regularly got to sing low G's and F's below Middle C and rarely jumped up towards Treble C. However, the Basses often had to jump from singing down on the lowest notes of the Bass staff to suddenly sing up on Middle D or E with no preparation, even. (You try jumping the interval of a 13th and nail it every time!) The Tenors jumped all over the place to sing as low as the basses and high as the Altos. Then I was blown away when the Sopranos were to sing with the Altos below Middle C on low F's and G's and in the next verse sing up in the stratosphere above the Treble staff. (Sopranos don't like singing below Middle C, ever, but then in the next song jump up to High C above the Treble staff? Crazy!) Hadn't these composers taken any classes in part writing for choral singers? Generally, common writing practices allow for each choral part to span no more than one octave and a fourth, with rare exceptions. These songs at the Workshop required the singers to have virtuoso comfort ranges of more than 2 octaves each (with the exception of the Altos who rarely sang a span of more than one octave). And the songs were mostly contemporary sacred popular tunes -- not even in sacred style where the trained singer could show off their classical chops!
Suffice it to say that I would never consider any of these pieces for my choir. My Basses complain at having to sing anywhere near the top of the Bass staff. My Tenors don't like to sing low notes. Neither do my Sopranos. Okay, my Altos would have been delighted to actually see written low F's in their music, but they are happy to sing any notes between low G and Treble C. Guess I will continue to look around for good Christmas songs for my group. In the meantime, I have some great tried and true songs we can learn. "Hear the Angels Singing" SATB by Lloyd Larson is upbeat and fun. So is "Good Christians All Rejoice" 2-Part by Beryl Red. These pieces maintain decent ranges for all of the voice parts. And I just love the piano accompaniments for both pieces. They come highly recommended! Musicians appreciate musicianship. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to conduct the congregational singing at Church. I was a last minute substitute for my friend who had suddenly gotten very sick. So, I reported early for Church, put the hymn numbers up on the board, spoke briefly to the organist to discuss tempo and conducting matters, then looked in the program and noticed that the first talk and the musical number were unchanged from two weeks before. I next spoke to the Bishop about maybe changing the musical number to an intermediate hymn by the congregation and adding a very short closing hymn. (I also mentioned that the kid who was listed in th program as the first speaker might need an explanation and a reprieve.) From there, the meeting proceeded as I would have thought was routine and appropriate. After the meeting, I got many interesting comments from passers-by in the halls. One famous and celebrated vocalist who happens to be a member of our congregation forcefully grabbed my hand in his and said, "You directed phrases with feeling! It was remarkable! Your tempos were perfect." Another fine flautist in our midst caught up with me to say that he enjoyed watching because I indicated breathing and cut-off's. Another singer said, "It was so enjoyable to follow you through the many fermatas, because we could!" An alto friend said, "It was wonderful to watch you conduct because I knew your every move had a purpose." The organist found me later and said that he had a new title for me, "You are the Tempo Queen." He explained that he could very easily follow me through these hymns that were long, had contrasting sections and many fermatas, and that the tempos we felt together were spot on. Other people also gave me the normal compliments such as, "Oh, you had such lovely hand movements" or "Your smile made me want to sing." (But these comments were not from musicians, just nice people in the congregation.) Later in the day, I conducted a newly formed choir of young Church Service Missionaries. We were gathered at a Devotional meeting where a famous artist who specializes in painting scenes from Christ's Life and Mission would be the Guest Speaker. Our "choir" which was very small, just nine people, was making its debut performance. (I decided to stack the deck a bit by asking my son and daughter and her husband to help fill in our ranks. So, we actually had 12 singers for the performance.) We sang "Come We that Love the Lord" as the Opening Hymn and "Lead Kindly Light" just before the talk. I had arranged these hymns so that they could be sung in just 2-parts or more parts depending on the numbers and abilities of our participants (who I had not met until the few rehearsals prior to the performance). Once again, I got some interesting comments. One young new Church Service Missionary ran up to me as I was gathering the choir folders after the meeting. He said, "This choir is not going to sing again unless you let me be in it!" (I actually knew him, and we laughed and I said that of course I really needed him to sing with us.) Another young Sister Missionary also begged me for information on how she could join the choir. Other comments were from people who said how much they enjoyed the choir's singing or how beautiful the songs were. But the musicians' comments were much more specific. "I could tell you had to do pretty simple music with this group, but you made it sound elegant!" "I knew that you must be singing along because you had fewer females than males, but I could only hear a blended sound." "I think the choir members felt your confidence in them because I never saw you actually look down at the music. You drew the performance out of them." "Boy, I wish our choir director could be as clear with phrasing and cut-off's as you were! Here you took these few kids that had never sung together before and had them looking and sounding so professional. Well done!" Clearly, paying attention to phrasing and precise cut-off's make a huge difference in the sound and confidence of the group. I confess, it was validating to get such compliments from my peers! Choosing music for Stake Conference has always been a spiritual experience for me. I start by requesting the theme from the Stake Presidency. They have many ideas, usually, but not one solidified by the time I need to order the music for rehearsals. I then start my own preparation. Through prayer and a lot of looking and studying, I find music (or at least titles) and make multiple suggestions to the Stake President. After a few days, I hear back that a few of my choices will be fine, but could we do them in a different order? Or maybe use one as a choral number but include the Congregation on the final verse? Sure, that will be fine, I say. But then, I have to make good. I actually need to find arrangements for the ones they chose -- of course they chose the hymns I just suggested titles and assumed there would be a fantastic arrangement already in existence. The search really begins in earnest at this point. It's my fault that I just assume that there will always be an arrangement out there to suit our needs. And that's when I get let down. After searching and searching, I regularly DON'T find an arrangement that will work for our group and situation. (sigh) "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" seems like a hymn that would have multiple arrangements for SATB Choir, Organ and Congregation. And there were many, many versions - SAB, SA, Unison, straight out of the Hymnbook with piano accompaniment, piano solos, even one with Guitar tablature. But I was looking for something very special for my last Stake Conference with my YSA youth. So, because I had so little time, I reworked my own duet arrangement that I had already done years ago that already had organ accompaniment. We rehearsed and rehearsed and sounded quite good. They really sang their testimonies of the Savior. The youth have wonderful voices and good sight-singing skills. We were prepared for Stake Conference, but not for what actually happened. The weekend of Conference, my husband died. I was not able to be there to direct them in performance. Fortunately, one of the young men was primed to take over for me. I will miss them so much! Those wonderful youth sent me such touching love notes: Sister Bailey, While you are not here physically, we feel your powerful presence in the arrangements shared today. This is a very trying time for you and your family. Heavenly Father knows you and is aware of all of them. His work will continue on and you will continue to feel His love through all of it. We love and support you and your family.
I have been thinking of you and trying to channel your love for music and for the Savior today as we sing. Thank you for sharing your talents. We’re praying for you and your family. Sister Bailey, Thank you for leading us, and for picking such inspiring and beautiful music. These songs have allowed many to feel the Spirit and God’s love very strongly. Thank you so much for your example of love and faith in the Savior. You bring the Spirit for others to feel. God will bless you! As I was scrolling through Facebook today, I came across a post asking Ward Choir Directors what songs they would be singing in the next few months. As a composer, I am always interested in what songs directors choose in different seasons. I am also curious about how many rehearsals they plan for the choir to learn them. Christmas season is pretty predictable. They choose mostly Christmas carols and arrangements and start preparing in October for the Christmas program. Easter changes dates each year, so the preparation time really varies. Patriotic services and Pioneer Day observances happen, but are not nearly as regularly planned. Other than those seasonal celebrations, the themes for songs mostly center around Christ, as well they should. So, as I was reading, I was caught off guard by a director who posted that her choir was learning "Forget Me Not, O Lord," and she had seed packets for the choir members to help them create a memory with the song. What a wonderful idea! Such a "spring" thing to do! It was such a thrilling experience to create this song. I was asked to take the words from then President Uchtdorf's talk (newly delivered at the Women's Broadcast in September 2011) and create a piece to be included in the birthday gift basket from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in November (just a few weeks away). When the song was finished, we gathered some 27 singers from the choir to record it. I felt that the song needed three verses. The first, sung by the sopranos, would be from the perspective of the tiny flower. The second, sung by the altos, would be from the perspective of a woman. And the third, sung by the men, would be from the perspective of our loving Heavenly Father. At the end, all of the individual parts would be sung together. The wonderful singers from the MoTab were so skilled at sight-singing and blending! We spent just a few minutes learning the song, and then recorded it. Oh, that every choir I directed had such beautiful and talented singers! I am so pleased that "Forget Me Not, O Lord" will be performed next month. President Uchtdorf was so pleased when he heard it on the CD that he asked me and my husband to come visit with him so that he could thank me in person. He hoped that the song would be sung throughout the Church for many years to come. That message was so very special to him. I hoped so, too. Like the little flower, you think you are alone, So lost and insignificant and slight. Our Father knows your needs, each child is loved and known. His precious children are the source of His delight. You are known. You are loved. Though you at times may feel so small, He'll ease your pains. He'll dry your tears And give you power to fill the measure of your being. Many of you have had varied and interesting experiences conducting choirs for church meetings. Well, yesterday's adventure hit a new level for me. Stake Conference for our BYU Young Single Adult Stake was held in the student center ballroom. I was in charge of arranging for the music, so I made my requests for an organ, piano, choir risers and microphones as early as I could. I just never heard back whether we would have a an organ or just a piano or both. When I got there, I found my pianist having lots of fun figuring out sounds and stops on the organ. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to play the organ for this meeting. Then I looked around to see where they had set up the choir risers. This Ballroom is very big and the stage crew had set up the risers on the opposite side of the hall! It seemed like a football field away from where they had set-up the organ! My heart sank as I wondered how we would communicate and keep the tempo together from such a distance. My pianist was more confident, though. He thought we could make it work just fine. After all, hadn't I written the closing choir arrangement for the choir and organ? The other issue pending was that I really had no idea how many kids would show up to sing in the choir. Would it be 12, or 20 or 50? I had had two rehearsals previous to our performance day, but each rehearsal had a few regulars, but mostly other singers showed up. I had chosen music that I thought would be accessible in two rehearsals, but I had the feeling that we might get a few people who had never come to any rehearsals. However, I knew that we had many talented singers in our Stake who sing with the most accomplished choirs on campus. So, I extended an invitation for those good sight-singers to come join us as long as they would do some homework. I sent out a link to my web site for any who would at least listen to the arrangements beforehand. This "warm-up" rehearsal was to run through the songs and add the flute, oboe and string bass into the equation -- as well as learning to arrange ourselves pleasingly on the risers and do a mic check. We only had about 20 minutes to do all that. Our first piece was "I Stand All Amazed." We began the run-through with the piano, flute and oboe and about 18 singers. By the end of singing, the choir grew to about 35 singers. The congregation was also starting to fill the hall. I was anxious to try our second piece. "How Firm a Foundation" was to be the closing hymn. This would be our challenge piece. The pianist ran the gauntlet to get to the organ quickly through all of the masses of people and chairs. The string bass player got set and more singers filled in on the risers. There were some other technical details about this piece: We were going to sing just four of the seven verses -- and we would sing the seventh verse before ending with the 3rd verse. I would turn to conduct the congregation to join us on this third verse as the sopranos sang a descant. We would even elongate the ending and have the choir finish out singing a grand "Amen" ending. Oh, did I mention that we also had a young man providing ASL signing? So many details to keep together! But it worked! I stood as tall as I could and waved my hands high to give the cues to the distant organist. Fortunately, he is an excellent musician, and we could feel the tempos and dynamics together even across that vast expanse of time and space! Even the choir expanded to fill the risers -- about fifty singers in all! They did a fantastic job and we were all edified together! But if there is a next time, I would really prefer the organ to be closer to the other musicians! Last Saturday I attended the funeral for the mother of my first real friend in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Kristin Gerdy's mother had been a music teacher her entire life and was also a true fan of the Choir. Kristen asked some of her Choir friends to come sing for the funeral. As another friend Eric Huntsman put it, "This is another part of our calling to serve in the Choir. We are FAMILY and we give support wherever we can." Going to sing for funerals and other occasions special to current (and even former choir members) is how we reach out and help each other." Kristin chose Ryan Murphy's arrangement of "The Pilgrim's Song" because it is beautiful and her mother loved it, but also because she knew that all of the choir members had it memorized and could sing it without much rehearsal. The message of this song was perfect for the funeral. It speaks of how we endure our journey through life and when the time comes, we are called back home to the glory of our Savior. When Kristin and I first joined the choir in 2010, Ryan Murphy was newly appointed as Associate Conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Our Chorale Group was his first to train. "The Pilgrim"s Song" was one of the pieces we debuted on his first Chorale concert. Because of this, that song has held deep significance for both me and Kristin. Our group got to introduce and help teach that song to the "big" choir. Now it holds a special place in the repertoire of the Choir. Since retiring from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 2016, I have been privileged to still be included in some very special events. The funeral was a doubly special opportunity because Kristin asked me to conduct our twenty Choir friends in singing "The Pilgrim's Song." So glad to be part of special moments with my MoTab Family. My very talented daughter Cami is in her first year of teaching music at a charter school. She teaches orchestra, band, choir and guitar. I went to the first concert of the year, to support her and was delighted by the events of the evening. This school caters to many students who have not had their needs met by traditional junior high schools in the area. That, said, I was surprised at how well the students did their jobs helping set up for the concert (chairs, instruments, stands, mics, etc.) and also taking roll, handing out programs, and managing themselves and their Halloween costumes. All was not according to intent, though. The microphones were not working. Instead of panic, Cami came up with Plan B. She noticed that the two body mics w/ packs she had for the acoustic guitar players were working. So, she simply used one of them to make announcements and allow her soloists to sing amplified. The choir did very well. Then, she went over to the band. This is a small school and the band was not made up of the typical ensemble. She had 6 or 7 percussion players, 4-5 guitars and bass players, 4 clarinets, and one each of trumpet, baritone, flute, oboe, and piano players. Somehow Cami made it all work. They played movie score pieces that the kids really liked. Though not as good as they are abound to get by the end of the year, they pulled off an enjoyable concert. And then they systematically joined together to put everything away. I was so proud! Good work all! But then, Cami surprised us by coming to visit for the weekend . She then proceeded to take apart a small violin. (She wanted access to her dad's tools.) For her birthday, she got luthier tools and clamps for repairing violins, and by golly, she intended to use them! This little violin had a crack on the front. Cami disassembled the parts and pieces, glued on some "band-aid" strips of thin wood along the underside of the crack, then glued the top back onto violin body. Amazing! Who knew that my "Tubateer" girl would grow up to also be a luthier (the fancy name for a violin maker and repairer)? She says that she is expert at breaking instruments, so she thought she had better get some skills at fixing them. |
AuthorMy name is Betsy Lee Bailey. I enjoy singing and writing all kinds of music. I have performed and directed or taught music all of my life. This blog is dedicated to all of the people who have been encouraging me to write about my experiences. |