This document outlines the task analysis and priorities for the Normandale Lutheran Church Choir. It lists the musical elements that will be focused on in rehearsals from most important to least important. The top priority is accuracy and confidence in performance. Other important elements include expression, musical understanding, solfege, rhythm, diction, tuning, breath support, and posture. The summary explains that early rehearsals will focus on rebuilding technique and musicianship before moving on to more advanced elements like expression and interpretation. Mastering basic elements is necessary to allow the ensemble to reach its highest level of artistic performance.
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Task Analysis
This document outlines the task analysis and priorities for the Normandale Lutheran Church Choir. It lists the musical elements that will be focused on in rehearsals from most important to least important. The top priority is accuracy and confidence in performance. Other important elements include expression, musical understanding, solfege, rhythm, diction, tuning, breath support, and posture. The summary explains that early rehearsals will focus on rebuilding technique and musicianship before moving on to more advanced elements like expression and interpretation. Mastering basic elements is necessary to allow the ensemble to reach its highest level of artistic performance.
Developing Choral Excellence Through Teaching and Performance:
TASK ANALYSIS - musical (Use the back to list/graph: What is involved (musical elements and learning outcomes that we discussed in class) in what order, and what degree of IMPORTANCE?)
NAME_Kelsey Wessels___________________________________ CHOIR: (REAL OR IMAGINARY)_Normandale Lutheran Church Choir _____
________ 8 musical understanding and inclusive awareness
________ 7 solfege and note identification
________ 6 rhythm and counting
________ 5 vowel matching and diction
________ 4 harmonic function and tuning
________ 3 setting up the resonator and pitch matching/part confidence
________ 2 breathing
________ 1 body deconstruction and realignment
Music is a large part of the Normandale community.
Through the power of music, we share of ourselves, our gifts, and enhance our worship and the lives of others. The Normandale Choir is a mixed voice ensemble for post-high school singers. Choir members attend weekly rehearsals and participate in worship on a regular basis. Major choral/orchestral works are presented yearly. The ensemble is comprised of 40-50 members ranging in ability. Some members have finished collegiate studies in music, while others are members simply for the love of music and desire to share their gifts. Due to the ensemble being a church group weekly rehearsals are not mandatory but attendance at as many as possible is strongly encouraged. With that said however, many members of the ensemble are parents that have conflicts with their childrens schedule which in turn affects their schedule. Even so, there are normally a core group of singers that are able to come every week helping to create a more consistent sound. This variation in members present per week affects how rehearsal time is used. Normally a 60 minute rehearsal will consist of a warm-up and 3-4 15-20 minute sections to work on 3-4 different pieces (depending on what is coming up for the ensemble). Because time is valuable, the early weeks back at rehearsal (the last week in August and the first couple weeks of September) are used to reconnect the ensemble sound and to rebuild musicality that may have decayed in the summer months and starting right away with the music. In terms of task analysis, the ensemble will begin with working to deconstruct poor posture habits and tension that may have formed over during the time off and just from day to day activities. This will allow them to be in proper alignment for proper breathing and sound production. The ensemble will also work on moving from unconscious breathing to a conscious singers breath that can function more fully to suspend the breath and support phrasing. This is imperative because without proper alignment singers cannot take good breaths and will be unable to have supported sound production, detracting from the potential and skill of the ensemble. The next level of musicianship the ensemble will work on deals with vocalization and tuning. Here we begin with setting up the resonator and working on pitch matching. Harmonic function and vowel matching will contribute to tuning. This step is important to get right as it will influence the rest of the rehearsals and performances. If the time is not spent on tuning and working on pitch independence, ensemble members will not be able to move on to more complex pieces, nor will they be able to move past this to the next level of musicality. Following this the ensemble will begin to stress correct rhythms, counting, and note identification. These are all vital to musicality because they are the scaffolding for musical expression. Ensembles that are able to accurately do rhythms and are successful with note identification also have more success with sight reading, meaning that less time will need to be spend on learning music and more time can be spent on meaning and expression. Meaning and expression, along with inclusive awareness are the icing on the cake. They transform pieces from being notes on a page to being a story. This is where ensemble members are able to give personality to a piece moving away from the academic and into the social. The more expression in a performance the more interaction there will be with the director and the audience. All in all, every level is significant for different reasons, but without the basic building blocks being steady and firm, the upper level thinking will not be able to occur. This ensemble is capable of reaching the upper level of thinking through fast learning from new members and the core of returning members setting a clear example of the goal of the ensemble.