Cantare: For Good -please refer to this recording for practicing rhythms and parts (but not this singing style.)
Week of February 10, 2025
Cantare practice notes for Feb. 23 worship service at Grace and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church:
Review all the hymns and service music, paying close attention to the following:
-Soprano descant for Hymn 390 – Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
-Psalm 37 – everyone needs to get familiar with the text and practice chanting it on your own part (F is ‘Do’)
-Sanctus, S-128, C is ‘Do’
-Fraction Anthem, S-154, D is ‘Do’, Black note heads get one pulse, open note heads get two pulses.
-Practice reading text for all the hymns and then put it with the tune. We will sing all the hymns in unison. The tune is the top note of the treble staff.
Repertoire:
-O Taste and See – be sure to memorize this and carefully review you part for measures 34 – end.
-Love One Another – this is a new piece. We made great progress on it Monday night. Please review your part on solfege – D is ‘Do’. Put with text. Work toward memorizing. Here is a recording:
love one another, john bell, iona - Google Search – Listen to the clear consonants! 😊
-Sisi ni moja – review and secure memory. Carefully study the length of note values before rests.
-Baraka na wewe - review and secure memory.
Week of September 30, 2024
Use these notes to practice for next week!
Treble and Concert Choirs
Artza Alinu – Review mm. 5-52 – Practice speaking text in rhythm. At the beginning F is Do, practice your own part on solfege syllables (should have been writing those in during rehearsal). At m. 38 there is a key change and G becomes Do. Practice singing with text – pronunciations were given in rehearsal and will be reviewed at coming rehearsals. Concert Choir members should practice to become confident on part II
Tosca – pp. 85-88 - practice text pronunciations (give during last couple rehearsals) on “Children’s” line. Work on how to fit text with the rhythm. Practice counting number of beats between phrases. Review top choral line on pp. 139 – 144 – Te Deum text.
Mo Li Hua – review text by drilling each phrase several times (a good practice technique for all music as we work on memorization).
Song of Friends – memorize.
Other pieces to review: Allahu Akbar, Hashivenu and Three Dominican Songs, No. 1.
Cantare
We expect each singer in this group to make note of what they need to work on during the week.
We are currently focusing on the following pieces:
O Taste and See – learn notes on solfege syllables – E-flat is DO.
Tosca, pp. 85-86 and pp. 139 – 144 – Italian pronunciation and counting rests between phrases.
Baraka Na Wewe – please memorize
Mo Li Hua – Drill each phrase – begin memorizing.
Imagine – work on exact rhythms and memorize
Song of Friends – memorize
Sisi ni Moja – pitch accuracy and dynamics
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands (Pro Arte) – review entire piece
Fey O! (Cavalieri)
In addition to the hymns, we will perform the following on October 27:
O Taste and See
Baraka Na Wewe
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
Siyahamba (maybe)
Week of September 23, 2024
Treble and Concert Choirs
Artza Alinu – Review mm. 5-36 – Practice speaking text in rhythm. Knowing that F is Do, practice your own part on solfege syllables (should have been writing those in during rehearsal). Begin practicing with text as well – pronunciations were given in rehearsal and will be reviewed at coming rehearsals.
Tosca – pp. 85-88 - practice text pronunciations (give during last couple rehearsals) on “Children’s” line. Work on how to fit text with the rhythm. Review top choral line on pp. 139 – 144 – Te Deum text.
Mo Li Hua – review text by drilling each phrase several times (a good practice technique for all music as we work on memorization).
Song of Friends – memorize.
Other pieces to review: Allahu Akbar, Hashivenu and Three Dominican Songs, No. 1.
Cantare (combined Pro Arte and Cavalieri)
We expect each singer in this group to make note of what they need to work on during the week.
We are currently focusing on the following pieces:
Tosca, pp. 85-86 and pp. 139 – 144 – Italian pronunciation and counting rests between phrases.
Baraka Na Wewe – please memorize
Mo Li Hua – Drill each phrase – begin memorizing.
Imagine – work on exact rhythms
Song of Friends – memorize
Sisi ni Moja – pitch accuracy and dynamics
He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands (Pro Arte) – review through m. 41. Study to the end.
Fey O! (Cavalieri)
Week of November 27, 2023
Preparation for Dec. 15th concert:
The singers should listen with their scores to help secure parts and help with memory work. Please have fully memorized by next rehearsal.
Treble and Concert-
Consider Yourself the recording cuts off a little at the end but the main sections for study are here.
Pro Arte-
Week of November 13, 2023
Preparation for Let it Snow:
All choirs may prepare for Jesus Child by practicing with this recording.
Students may try to rehearse Sleigh Ride with this recording but most time should be spent on Jesus Child.
Week of March 13, 2023
Library Concert Practice Notes
Circle Chant
Be sure the text is correctly memorized. Practice tall vowels and avoiding strong ‘r’ sounds. Remember, we either pronounce ‘r’ as ‘uh’ or make a ‘d’ sound.
Give up the World
Review and secure memory.
Ukraine Anthem (Lament for Mariupol’)
Work on memorizing. Practice each phrase several times, then try saying each phrase without looking at text.
Practice pronunciation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSPQd-0n_V4. One word in the second line of text doesn’t match but this will help with general pronunciation.
This recording uses the same text and will help with learning the melody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzgViS4Rpf8
Šče ne vmerla Ukrajiny i slava, i volia. Still surviving Ukraine, its glory, and its freedom
Šče nam, brattia molodiji, usmichnet́sia dolia. Still for brothers all good fellows, luck on us is smiling.
Zhynut́ naši vorižeńky, jak rosa na sonci, Vanquish’d are our enemies as dew goes with the sunshine,
Zapanujem i my, brattia, u svojij storonci. We will live too, my dear brothers free in our own country.
Dušu j tilo my položym za našu svobodu, Souls and bodies dedicated to preserve our freedom,
I pokažem, ščo my, brattia, kozaćkoho rodu. We will prove that we are, brothers, made of cossack iron.
O Beautiful for Spacious Skies (Sing-along)
Memorize
Whistle a Happy Tune
Secure memory work. Here is a recording to help: https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&productID=11001619&type=audio
Practice whistling. Whistling tutorial: https://youtu.be/XKfTTHqbk-4 There are other tutorials on the internet that may be helpful.
Sally Gardens (Irish Tune)
Memorize
Read the text in rhythm several times in a row. Practice singing with these recordings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhGJWgDpQ1E (Youth choir)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esI-cZAgfkM (Women’s choir)
The Gardener’s Song
Memorize
The “road map” is tricky. When you reach the D.S. at the middle of p. 8, go back to m. 54 at the bottom of p. 5. Next, at the top of p. 7 we jump to the Coda (ending) which begins at the bottom of page 8, m. 90 and sing to the end.
Here is a recording: https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&productID=10759568&type=audio
More Love
Secure memory.
Siyahamba
Memorize
Keep practicing text pronunciation as we learned in rehearsal. Work on learning your assigned part.
Week of February 14 and 21, 2023
Concert and Treble Choristers Library Concert Practice Notes
Circle Chant Linda Hirschhorn (b. 1968) Be sure the text is correctly memorized. Practice tall vowels and avoiding strong ‘r’ sounds. Remember, we either pronounce ‘r’ as ‘uh’ or make a ‘d’ sound.
Give up the World Arr. Lena McLin (b. 1928) Review and secure memory.
Ukraine Anthem (Lament for Mariupol’) Arr. Andrew Lawrence-King (b. 1959) Practice pronunciation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSPQd-0n_V4. One word in the second line of text doesn’t match but this will help with general pronunciation. This recording uses the same text and will help with learning the melody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzgViS4Rpf8
Šče ne vmerla Ukrajiny i slava, i volia. Still surviving Ukraine, its glory, and its freedom Šče nam, brattia molodiji, usmichnet́sia dolia. Still for brothers all good fellows, luck on us is smiling.
Zhynut́ naši vorižeńky, jak rosa na sonci, Vanquish’d are our enemies as dew goes with the sunshine, Zapanujem i my, brattia, u svojij storonci. We will live too, my dear brothers free in our own country. Dušu j tilo my položym za našu svobodu, Souls and bodies dedicated to preserve our freedom, I pokažem, ščo my, brattia, kozaćkoho rodu. We will prove that we are, brothers, made of cossack iron.
O Beautiful for Spacious Skies (Sing-along) Samuel Augustus Ward (1848-1903) Work to memorize text.
Whistle a Happy Tune Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) Arr. John Leavitt (b. 1956) Work on memorizing. Here is a recording to help: https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/media-player.jsp?&productID=11001619&type=audio
Whistling tutorial: https://youtu.be/XKfTTHqbk-4 There are other tutorials on the internet that may be helpful.