Music 313: Choral Music in the Secondary School

Fall, 2005 Classroom: MB 116

Instructor: Benjamin Kornelis Office: MB 113

Phone: x-6203 e-mail: benk@dordt.edu

Course Description:

Music 313 is designed to prepare the student to teach choral music at the secondary level. The course covers teaching techniques and materials for the prospective vocal music educator.

Units:

Philosophy of Music Education

Building Tone (Choral Technique)
Rehearsal Planning & Techniques
The Score
Performance (Repertoire & Programming)
Administration & Assessment
Classroom Management
Developing Conducting Skill
Style in Choral Singing
Special Events and Ensembles
The Choral Profession

Required Texts:

John B. Hylton. Comprehensive Choral Music Education. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995.
Sandra Willetts. Beyond the Downbeat: Choral Rehearsal Skills and Techniques. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000.
Choral Journal. Monthly scholarly journal of the American Choral Directors' Association. Lawton, OK. (Student membership in ACDA includes monthly journal.)
Provided supplemental materials: articles from Choral Journal, Sounding Board, Melisma, Music Educator’s Journal and others.

Course Requirements:

Attendance at all classes.
Complete assigned readings prior to class for which they are assigned.
Participation in class discussions.
Complete assignments by dates due.

Methods of Instruction:

Group discussion of assigned readings.
Student demonstrations.

Written responses to readings and ensemble observations.

Final Exam.

Course Goals (TEP Standards in parenthsis refer to “secondary” goals):

The student will be able to:	TEP Standards	Evaluation
1. articulate a personal, Biblical philosophy of music education in the secondary school, and the "comprehensive" place of choral music within that philosophy.	I2	"Mr. Jones Letter"; Initial & Final Philosophy "Credo" Statements
2. demonstrate an understanding of the historical development of choral music education in America, as well as the various "schools" and styles.	(I1)	Hylton Ch. 9 ("Comprehensive Choral Music Education") responses #1-9
3. demonstrate an awareness of the vocal mechanism; demonstrate an understanding of the changing voice.	(B1, C2)	Hylton Ch.1 ("Building Tone") responses 1-9; Hylton Ch. 2 ("Rehearsal Planning and Techniques") responses 10-13
4. demonstrate the ability to create and employ appropriate choral warmups.	(D2)	Classroom presentation of student-designed warmups (Hylton Ch.1 ["Building Tone"], #10)
5. demonstrate an understanding of the pre-rehearsal planning necessary for a successful choral program; demonstrate an understanding of effective choral rehearsal techniques.	A1, D1, D2	Hylton Ch. 2 ("Rehearsal Planning and Techniques") responses 2-5; Hylton Ch. 2 ("Rehearsal Planning and Techniques") responses 6-9; Rehearsal observation responses (2); Concert programs (Hylton Ch. 4, #8-9) and Unit Plan (Multi-week plan toward performance) *
6. demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively, using verbalization, demonstration, and conducting gestures.	(H1, H2)	Hylton Ch. 2 ("Rehearsal Planning and Techniques") responses 6-9; Classroom presentation of student-designed rehearsal modules; Hylton Ch.3 ("Developing Conducting Skill") responses 1-8
7. demonstrate familiarity with choral literature appropriate to the abilities of the Junior/Senior High School age singer, and which represents a variety of historical periods, genres, and cultural/national origins.	A1	Repertoire Lists; Hylton Ch. 5 ("The Score") responses 1-5
8. demonstrate an understanding of the administration of a choral program, including: public relations, recruiting, budgeting, fund-raising, scheduling, the choral library, apparel, and parents’ organizations.	(J4)	Hylton Ch. 7 ("Administration of the Choral Music Education Program") responses 1-11
9. demonstrate an understanding and commitment to professionalism and collegiality, and an awareness of professional organizations and resources.	(J4)	Hylton Ch. 10 ("The Choral Profession") responses 1-10; Choral Journal article summaries; Scavenger Hunt
10. demonstrate an understanding of effective classroom management in the choral rehearsal, of various styles, and of practices emerging from a Christian worldview.	(G1, G2, G3)	Collins (“Discipline Is a Discipline”) summary/response
11. demonstrate an awareness of the complexity of grading in the choral classroom, and of ways to include meaningful objective means of assessment; demonstrates awareness of MENC (Music Educators’ National Conference) National Standards for grades 5-8 and 9-12.	(E1)	Choral Journal article ("No More Excuses: Grading in the Choral Classroom")/MENC standards response

* Note: Successful completion of the unit plan fulfills portfolio requirements for Standard D. The unit plan will be included in your Professional Portfolio, and must therefore be accompanied by a Reflection Paper (Education Majors only).

Evaluation:

Daily Assignments and Quizzes.................. 20%
Repertoire Lists......................................... 20%
Concert Programs .................................... 15%
Multi-week Unit Plan* .............................. 15%
Rehearsal observations (2 @ 5%)............... 10%
Final Exam................................................ 15%
Attendance/Participation.............................. 5%

Grading Scale:

100-92.......................................................... A
91-83............................................................ B
82-74............................................................ C
73-65............................................................ D
64-0............................................................... F

DAILY SCHEDULE:

W: Dec 7 – “Concert Roundtable” **

Note: The daily schedule is an outline, and some variance may occur. Any changes to assignment due dates will be clearly specified.

Regarding “repertoire items”: This is to enable you to begin a personal library/database of usable choral works for junior/senior high choirs. Scour though Dordt's holdings, call up your old high school director for favorites, use the Pepper or Malecki catalog, go on-line (we'll talk about how and where), perhaps even use some we've done here earlier or are working on now (check out the Chorale folders for ideas), look at schools’ printed programs, get ideas from recordings, etc. Include: Title, Composer/Arranger, Voicing, Accompaniment, Publisher and Ordering Number, level of difficulty, and pertinent comments (“good for teaching triplet figures and syncopation”, “requires low basses”, “good introduction to 20th century techniques”, “excellent text for Advent/Christmas”, etc.) How practical this assignment is to you depends on the relevance and completeness of your information. Each assignment should be in printed database format, with sufficient copies provided for all in the class.

Note also: December 7 – “Concert Roundtable” – as a project for this class, you are to plan two full-length (~60-minute) concert programs. Consider the philosophical implications of your repertoire selections as well as the following: historical periods covered, foreign languages used, pacing of slow vs. fast works, accompanied vs. a cappella, whether to include both sacred and secular, a unifying “theme”, total length of the concert, placement of intermission/offering (if any). Identify clearly who the choir(s) is/are (even if fictional) and provide a neatly printed program that includes pertinent information (Title, Composer, Dates, Program Notes, Translations). Again, sufficient copies must be provided for all in the class.

Unit Plan: One of the two concert programs should be used to construct your “unit plan,” a comprehensive, daily plan of rehearsals leading from the introduction of the music to the final performance in a six- to seven-week period (for those who are not education majors, this assignment may be based on the assumption of a church choir rehearsing two hours per week for 13 weeks, leading to a seasonally-appropriate one-hour performance).