Page 68 - CJNov_Dec24

Rehearsal Break
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arsal Br
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when they have fun. Sustaining students’ memory, mo- Stuart Hunt is in his fifty-fourth year conducting choirs
5
tivation, and attention is challenging, but having fun K-University in Washington State. His company, www.
can make all the difference. toolsforconductors.com, writes sight-reading and count-
ing books K-University, and online assessments for choir
• Memory—Dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter, (vocal), band, and elementary. Stuart@northernsound-
is released when having fun. Did you know that dopa- press.com
mine release leads to memory stimulation?

• Motivation—Games can motivate students to take NOTES
risks. Students who have fun are more motivated to en-
gage with teachings. 1 Ashley Yeager, “How String Quartets Stay Together,” Science
News, March 17, 2014, https://www.sciencenews.org/
• Attention—It’s easier to pay attention when students article/how-string-quartets-stay-together.
are having fun! Give them a reason to be present. 6 2 Alan M. Wing, Satoshi Endo, Adrian Bradbury, Dirk Vor-
berg, “Optimal feedback correction in string quartet
The trick is to be inventive and to make educational synchronization,” Journal of The Royal Society Interface,
work fun during rehearsal. If you are a little short of April 6, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2013.1125.
creativity one day, ask the choir to come up with an 3 Pamela Elrod Huffman, “Essential Building Blocks: The
idea. It’s likely they will create something interesting Rehearsal Techniques of Robert Shaw,” Southwestern
and see it as a “game”! Musician, February 2013. Accessed through robertshaw.
website/preparation-rehearsal
4 Carnegie Hall, “Robert Shaw: Preparing a Masterpiece,
Conclusion Volume 1—Part 1: Brahms “A German Requiem,”
Imagine solving the time challenge. How would YouTube video, 1:54:44, April 25, 2016, youtube.com/
training the ensemble’s internal timekeeping change watch?v=42diMGHG_Z0
your conducting? What would it feel like to experience 5 Jan L. Plass, Bruce D. Homes, Charles K. Kinzer, “Founda-
the freedom of expressively conducting as you have tions of Game-Based Learning, “Educational Psychologist
imagined? How would it change your ensemble’s per- 50, no. 4 (2015): 258-283.
formance? 6 For suggestions related to engagement activities, see: “Ask a
Keeping good time is a non-negotiable, but let’s Conductor Question 1,” ChorTeach Vol 14 no. 2 (Winter
make it a cooperative effort: the conductor sets time; 2022): 8-10.
the ensemble keeps time. This approach frees you to
artistically and expressively interpret great art. It em-
powers your choirs to embody that art. Your audiences
will recognize and applaud the outcome.

Excellence is never an accident. It is always
the result of high intention, sincere effort,
and intelligent execution; it represents the
wise choice of many alternatives—choice, not
chance, determines your destiny.

—Aristotle

66 CHORAL JOURNAL November/December 2024 Volume 65 Number 4