Rehearsal Technique #1 – Visual clues to the musical structure

Most Orthodox choir directors do not have the luxury of working with highly trained, and skilled musicians. Most work with folks who enjoy singing and desire to serve their church community through the singing ministry, but have varying levels of sight-singing skills and vocal technique, and most likely have no idea how to decipher music on the printed page, in terms of structure, form and shape.

One technique I like to use in rehearsal is the “look at the music and tell me what you can see, visually” technique. This is a technique I use to boost musical understanding and can help the singers focus on particular aspects of music begin rehearsed. I would begin trying this with a piece of music that they know fairly well. When first using this technique you can help guide them through what you are actually asking them to see by asking leading questions:

1. Which part has the melody? How can you tell? What visual clues are there? 

2. Which parts sing with the melody in a duet? How do you know? What visual clues are there?

3. Does only one part sing in duet or does it move around? How do you know? What visual clues are there?

4. What else can you tell about the music, just by looking? Dynamics, tempo, key?

5. What can you tell about the rhythm or meter of the piece?

Singers who have more knowledge can help others begin to see things that they didn’t previously see. There is often a smart aleck who will go way too deep by describing the harmonic structure or the way the piece ends on a half, instead of full cadence. At these moments help redirect back to the basics. Remember we are looking at what we can tell just by looking. The guiding questions that you can ask are as varied as the music. Once you have asked singers to do this a few times you won’t have to ask as many questions or your questions may become more specific:

1. What do you notice happening in the tenor part on the third system?

2.  How does the the bass part change in the cadential (ending) phrase?

3. Where do the tenors take the melody away from the sopranos, who gets the melody after the tenors?

4. And many more questions!

Let’s look at a specific example. Consider the Greek Chant, Tone 1 setting of the 1^st and 2^nd Antiphons. (Attached are a couple of images, the entire piece can be found in the SVS Divine Liturgy Book – the infamous “Green Book”)

1. Where is the melody? 

The melody alternates between the Soprano and Bass. Now you can have the choir sing the melody, just the Soprano and Bass, alternating back and forth so that you attain a balance in volume, flow, and phrasing of the melodic line.

2. Which part sings the “duet” with the melody?

The tenor part alternates singing a melodic duet with the sopranos and basses. Now add the tenor to the sop and bass, maintaining the balance and flow established between the bass and soprano. Note: this is often when the bass and soprano revert to their “old” way of singing the melody without balance and flow, so it may take a reminder to get them back on track.

3. So what is happening in the other parts, which aren’t a part of this melodic duet? What is their function? 

This is usually when I remind the singers the difference in how we approach singing “harmonic” lines differently than “melodic” lines. You might try having the singers sing the “harmony parts” no melody, no tenor duet. This reveals solid key of “F”. Work on how they can sing the text in order to keep the pulse moving along. Not every word is created or sung equally. Harmonic / rhythmic parts usually need to be sung lighter and cleaner, with less weight in the tone.

4. Now you can put that together with the melodic piece and most likely you and the choir will begin to hear the melody more beautifully and the pulse of the harmonic parts will be cleaner and less invasive on the melodic line. And guess what, something you didn’t even work on will shine through better – the TEXT!

5. Finally, have the choir look at the cadential phrase of the 2^nd Antiphon. How does it change from the above structure? Who has the melody? The duet? What does that mean? How do we sing it? Why might the arranger have made that particular choice? 

So at your next rehearsal pick one of your regular pieces of music, perhaps a Cherubikon, and take it apart with your choir structurally. See what layers you can find. Discover what differences can be found in the structure and how they work together to create the whole.

Why spend time getting organized and planning ahead? Part 2

I decided I needed to do a little follow-on from my last blog and include some samples. I just have to begin by saying that preparing for this Sunday was a classic “Thank God, I look ahead” moment! This Sunday is Forgiveness Sunday and also, for those of us on Old Calendar, the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord. That means combining normal Sunday stuff with the Triodion and Festal requirements. What struck me at rehearsal this week was that even with loads of planning, order of service printouts and a clear picture of what each of the four services would look like. (See sample of this Sunday’s printout, click to enlarge.) Everything took three or four times the normal explanation. Imagine if I had just shown up to rehearsal without that clear picture of the liturgical complexities that we would encounter?

So back to the follow-up … we have our liturgy music in one 2.5-inch D-ring binder. All pages are printed double-sided to minimize the number of pages and all pages and tabs are clearly labeled. Each tab is numbered and designates a specific section of liturgy – Great Litany, 1^st antiphon, Little Litany, 2^nd antiphon, Only-Begotten Son, etc. Within each tab, options are designated with letters and then have page numbers. Now you might wonder why we did it this way. The answer is quite simple. My husband, Ron – the engineer, said, “Numbers imply chronology and moving forward, letters are used to delineate choice.” It was hard to argue with that kind of logic. (See a sample page of our Liturgy Table of Contents, at top of blog.) So the Great Litany is #1, the First Antiphon is #2 and so forth. Within each tab the choices are labeled A, B, C, etc. So to answer my friend Denise’s question, yes it does all fit in one book, but it is a big book. Remember also, that we put Divine Liturgy music for Nativity/Theophany, Holy Week and Pascha in separate books. Our singers clip the pages to the tab before the service in order to expedite turning to the correct page during liturgy.

So the organization is clear and enables us to, literally, be “on the same page.” Once services are planned, then comes the fun part, planning rehearsals. With the beginning of Lent upon us, I have begun the process of planning my weekly rehearsals. Looking ahead at the entire season enables us to have adequate time to rehearse everything necessary for the Lenten, Holy Week and Paschal Services. Since we usually have a few extra singers for Paschal Matins and Liturgy, we designate particular rehearsals, in advance, that are for specific services or specific service music. BTW, yes we rehearse weekly, every Wednesday, from 7:45 pm (after Vespers) to 9:30 pm. During Lent or other intense Festal seasons we will often rehearse until 10 pm. We also have additional rehearsals on Lazarus Saturday and Holy Saturday. The culture of rehearsals and rehearsal attendance will no doubt be the subject of multiple blogs! My point here is that rehearsals also need structure and planning and looking ahead too ensure adequate time to rehearse.

Why do we bother with all these and many more nuts and bolts? To enable, calm and peace on the kliros and a beautiful offering of ourselves, and the worship to God.

(BTW, I apologize that I couldn't get the images in a logical place. However, if you click on them you can see the detail more easily.)

Why spend time getting organized and planning ahead?

This is actually a multi-level question that can be addressed from a variety of different directions. Interestingly, my daughter -- who now lives on the other side of the country -- and I had a similar idea today about why we plan ahead. In fact, I laughed out loud when I looked at her Facebook status this evening, since earlier in the day I had the almost identical thought:

“The truth about my constant state of preparedness and anti-procrastination is that it stems from true laziness. By taking the time to prepare ahead, then when it comes time I can do ’it‘ (whatever that may be) so much faster and thus sleep later, or leave earlier, or whatever it is I am attempting to be lazy about!”

Juliana is right! I am organized and plan ahead because of a strange sort of laziness. If I plan in advance, I can go into an almost automatic pilot when the time comes to do whatever the task is, with less worry that it will come off well. This has considerable implications for the work I do in church music.

On this wacky liturgical day, the Sunday after Theophany and the beginning of the Triodion, I decided to look ahead and plan the music for the Sundays between now and the end of Lent – the order of service for the next eight Sundays. For me that means creating a WORD doc that will be printed up and copied for each of the music stands. Each week at rehearsal the singers will take that sheet and “clip” their books in the order for Sunday. Assuming I have done my preparation well and made no mistakes, little or nothing will change for those weeks from the work that I did today. Then, on the Sunday itself, the singers will literally be on the same page. Transitions between liturgical actions and music will for the most part be fairly seamless and a certain peace and calm will be present on the kliros and in the nave. OK, I am exaggerating a bit – things do occasionally come up – but the possibility for peace and calm on the kliros is real and tangible.

Short history, for background purposes: Years ago when Anne and I first began working together as a team, we had to spend a ridiculous amount of time sorting and filing music. We have always had a choir of 25 – 40 singers and that means having 8-12 books ready to go for Sunday morning, including our personal conducting copies. We finally realized that it was big pain to take that amount of time each week prepping books and filing music. There had to be a better way!

Thus begun our 25-year journey to the perfect choir book organization!

At St. Lawrence Church in Felton we have several volumes of choir books –for each volume we have one for each music stand and director, each sectionalized with numbered tabs for each section, and choices within sections indicated with letters. We have books for: Divine Liturgy, Vespers, Matins, Nativity/Theophany, Pascha, Weddings, Funerals, Holy Week, Presanctified Liturgies. Perhaps I have forgotten one? Our system has grown and been improved over the years, but the basic system we put into place so many years ago is still intact.

Our Divine Liturgy book, lovingly call “The Big Black Book,” contains all the music for the year, except for the Nativity, Theophany and Paschal seasons. This most-used book has EVERYTHING for Sunday Liturgies for the year, except menaia commemorations that fall irregularly on Sundays. Yes, I mean everything – all troparia and kontakia, all prokeimena, all koinonika, all festal music, including antiphons. By having the sections organized by number and letter our Sunday schedule might say: Great Litany-1B, 1^st Antiphon 2C … Trop of Res 9-D, Trop for Feast 10G … Choir members are responsible and able to be on the correct page at the right time, no ambiguity. OK, honestly there are some choir singers who are better at “clipping the books” and turning the pages than others. But in a pinch almost any of them could do it.

So back to my premise about laziness …

Creating the system of organization did take time … hours, days, months, years of time … but now that it is in place, liturgy and prayer is MUCH easier. It is easier to prep, and more peaceful to enact. Rehearsals can also go more smoothly. The singers can easily turn to Cherubikon 17H, page 5. And I can make a schedule for music for 8 weeks in advance and print it up for the choir, knowing that nothing will need to change and it will be understood.

Beautiful singing and worship of the Triune God can happen calmly and peacefully, with the possibility of hearing the angels join us.

Why is respect so important?

OK, I know this isn’t one of the questions on the list from my first blog, but it is one that impacts so many of those questions. I decided it was a good place to begin my musings.

When we look at the preparation, and rendering of the divine services, respect needs to be present in every moment. From determining the correct order of service and service texts, to rehearsal and then finally the actual singing of the service, each step must been done with care and respect.

As liturgical musicians we don’t have the luxury of being able to just pick anything to sing. We are constrained by multiple levels of tradition. We have to respect the tradition of the Church in terms of what service we are singing, what the traditions and norms of our jurisdiction are, and by the local practice of our diocese and parish. We also have to look realistically at our resources. What are the skills and abilities of our singers and clergy? Being honest about the capabilities of our singers is an important aspect of respect. If we either over- or under-estimate these capabilities we are disrespecting our singers. It is critical that the music we put in front of our singers is within their reach, within given the rehearsal constraints. Perhaps we will be able to use music we love, but more often we need to choose music that will work.

We also have to consider the ethos of the parish. We must be sensitive about not jolting their communal prayer with music that does fit the flow and sensibilities of the larger community. Communities get attached to certain settings and hymns. That doesn’t mean never changing music, but it does mean not changing it on the whims of the director without considering and respecting the various groups of people who it affects: choir, clergy, parishioners. If you are new to leading music in a community (especially, if you new to the community) take time to understand what the parish is used to. Be patient and make changes slowly over time. Be respectful of the community’s musical heritage. Then be willing to let go of it, even if you love it, if it doesn’t work in the parish.

Speaking of the music we put in front of our singers … this is another BIG respect issue for me. It is important to have the music well-organized and readable! I will never understand directors who shuffle music during the service (on a regular basis). It is much easier and calmer, for everyone, to have the music in order for the singers, in advance! Yes, it might take extra preparation time but we are talking about leading prayer. It is hard enough for the director and singers to enter into the corporate prayer because of the necessity to lead. Why make it more difficult by shuffling papers and whispering instructions to the singers during a service? This is distracting and disrespectful of the singers and the parishioners at large; who are often fully aware of the distracting insanity at the kliros. (Disclaimer: yes, I know occasionally this is necessary, I am talking about directors who do this every Sunday and for EVERY service.) It is important to have a system for organizing the music that the singers can use with calm and understanding. At our parish, we have a highly developed system, but there are many ways to do this. What is critical is to have a functional way to handle the variables that is respectful of the people using it and allows for smooth and calm transitions, so that it does not distract from the liturgical moment.

Finally, with respect to rehearsals – OK, I realize this is a topic that will take it own multiple bloggings to cover fully, so simply, as regards this topic – don’t waste your singers’ time. Plan your rehearsals. So many directors complain that they can’t get singers to come to regular rehearsals. One of my dear college professors once said, “You must make sure that at every rehearsal you make beauty. If you are making beauty, singers will come back.” My dear friends, making beauty takes work, but the rewards are many. Good rehearsals begin by respecting your singers’ time and capabilities. They require work and love. Love for your singers, the music, the process and ... Don’t just sing through the notes. Get to the heart of the matter. Sing the text. Make music! Praise God!

Respect has a way of breeding respect. If you respect, in time others will respect. Respect is a way of life. It is a way of love.

Questions, questions, questions ... answers?

Last Sunday morning, the first of the New Year, I woke up with my head buzzing with questions. But these weren't questions for which I wanted answers, but questions that others have asked or might ask me about why I do what I do with my time and energy. So, as I pondered these questions this week, and continued to create a lengthy list, I decided perhaps the best way to deal with them was to create a blog with each entry answering one of these questions. It is curious to me that all of the questions can be answered quite simply by two overarching reasons, but that for each question these were quickly followed by details of greater and more unrelated specificity. In other words, although the basic premise of each answer is same, the minutia of each answer has its own detail or path.

So here are the list of questions:

• Why do I spend hours typesetting clean, readable editions of old favorites?
• Why am I so fussy about how a text is set to the melody?
• Why must the accents of the text follow the accents of the melody?
• Why do I spend hours in rehearsal preparing for a feast, when I know many other parishes don’t?
• Why is it important to strive for beautiful singing and rendering of the liturgical text, motion, moment?
• Why does it matter, so much to me, that the church calendar line-up with the civil calendar?
• Why do I think that the creation of new compositions of liturgical music is as important as preserving the old favorites?
• Why do I insist that the English we use in church be elevated but understandable?
• Why does it drive me crazy when the rhythm/pitch/tempo of the choir/chanter is out of sync with the clergy who are serving?
• Why don't I care if there are 4, 16 or 40 singers, so long as they have rehearsed?
• Why have I spent hours copying, organizing and creating choir books?
• Why do I "kill trees", in order to copy the order of service for each music stand, for each and every service?
• Why do I bother to work on vocal technique, sightsinging and other "musician things" with amateur singers?
• Why do I bother to create recordings of what we do in the parish?
• OK, really folks the list goes on and on ... but this is enough for now.

The simple two-part answer to ALL of the above:

In whatever I do, whether it be in church or out of church, I strive to do my best for the glory of God. Secondly, it is because I want to help bring children, teens and young adults from the ugliness, and sadness of this world, to the light of Christ and to the historic church.

I realize the the above are simplistic and without detail, context or back-up, but it is my starting point and the starting point for this blog. I promise to post more details about various questions, in no particular order, over the next days, weeks and months. Read if you like; otherwise, feel free to find another blog that might suit your fancy more.