Conducting Review: Christine Jordanoff

Movement in the Middle School Choir Rehearsal

Ms. Jordanoff begins the video speaking at a conference of music teachers on the concepts of movement in sound, and the physical and scientific aspects to producing vocal sound. She discusses the study of eurhythmics and her early experiences learning it (referring parenthetically to the components of folk dancing this course required).

Movement takes many forms: large and gross, small and fine, or even internal movements unseen by the audience but apparent to the singer. They are perceived in levels, and the connection of sound and music is ma by this awareness of movement. Singers are wind instruments; we create sound on a column of air. Singing is an intangible art as well as a learned behavior. She disagrees with those who say that anyone can learn to sing: "Anyone can make sounds, but singing is a learned behavior."

We learn by doing; we form perceptions of what we are doing through aural, visual, and kinesthetic experiences; and finally, symbols will indicate the kinds of sounds we are to make. She observes that most schools have inadvertently conditioned students to be passive and inert. Most of the time the students are seated receiving lectures, with an occasional health or physical education class. Their bodies seem to be trained to be lax. Proper body training for singing is an athletic activity.

"Movement helps the singers to internalize the musicŠ unless the music is inside the singer, it doesn't belong to them. They don't own it." This concept builds a sense of ownership and partnership if communicated to the students properly. Teaching rhythm and internalizing the feeling of the beat helps connect the students to the conducting gestures. Pitch level, phrasing, forms, dynamics and style are reinforced when the student is connected physically to the music.

All rehearsals begin with body conditioning, from top to bottom. This focuses the students from the beginning with their instrument, just as physical contact with the instrument helps band and orchestra players. As they perform the repetitions of the exercises, they are made to count­thus involving the breath and voice in the physical conditioning. Early on in training, the students are placed on the floor to properly align the body and feel the use of the diaphragm. Using "lip trills" is indicative of a moving breath. More refined (and more difficult) are pitched and un-pitched lip trills.

She makes reference to the tendency of one's conducting from the piano having negative impact on the style of conducting; returning to the eurhythmics, being a picture of the fluidity of sound, will maintain a smooth choral sound. She performs no cut-offs, which she says are superfluous if the rhythm is properly felt by the choir.

Use of 6/8 time can be dangerous, as the body can easily by lulled into poor posture if not allowed to feel the "natural" rocking motion intrinsic to the meter. Exercises with Kodály hand symbols also help keep the singer cognizant of the breath energy (or at least link the importance of maintained breath energy to the meter). Arm motions that resemble a train engine can help keep the pulse active and in pitch. Light taps with one hand onto the back of the other helps keep the music in time.

It is important to choose music for concerts that will help vocal development and is artistic, not just fun and familiar (which are usually not particularly good for vocal development). Her demonstration choir performs the jazz piece "Basin Street Blues," a style quite foreign to these young students.

This video was quite useful (if brief), concise but not exhaustive. It is a good starting place for music teachers needing a primer of sorts in teaching and relating information to this age group, and would be more helpful if drawn out a bit more.