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 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.

Week of January 30, 2023

Cantare Practice Notes for

Concert at Bon Air Presbyterian Church

February 12

The following is a list of music we aim to sing for our next concert.  The asterisked pieces are those that need the most work – especially Ibo Landing.  Please make a point on working on them every day. For the other pieces, please review them once or twice per week.  Please work to be familiar enough with all this music that you do not need to rely heavily on your score. 

Circle Chant – keep securing memory work – First sopranos need to be more secure on part I. This will be sung from memory.

O Lord, Most Merciful – Pro Arte should work to have this *memorized

Be Still – Continue to practice note accuracy on individual parts and continue to secure memory work.

*Caritas et Amor – Work hard to accurately learn your individual part on pp. 6-end

*Dona nobis pacem – continue learning your individual part on solfege (Ab is ‘Do’) then text. Also, practice with this recording (different that the recommended recording because it more accurately matches the score we are using)

*Ukraine Anthem – Continue to learn melody (top line) only on solfege.  Practice pronunciation with this video as a guide:

O Beautiful for Spacious Skies – work on/review singing your own part. 

*Elijah Rock – Pro Arte should work most on pp. 4 (bottom) – 8.  Altos should especially remember how the part is different at the bottom of page 4.  Practice with this recording.

Joshua – Cavalieri – Practice with this recording.

**Ibo Landing – Practice especially pp. 9-end.  Work the hardest on mm. 121-135 for rhythmic accuracy. Use the markings that were sent via email on February 1.  Be sure to transfer those markings to your own score. They indicate exactly where the beats fall in relation to the rhythm. Please refer to these marked rhythms as you practice Ibo Landing

More Love – Memorize. Tenors need to learn their part more accurately.  Everyone should review the “road map” and dynamics.

Siyahamba – Review/Learn your part. Memorize in all languages.

 

 

 

November 23, 2022

Practice Notes for Upcoming Performances. And some thoughts about practicing can be found here.

Cantare at U of R Basketball game (December 10):

Please secure and memorize your part for the National Anthem. Complete memory is expected by December 5. This arrangement is somewhat challenging. Study it every day.

All choirs for Caroling in the Park (December 11):

In booklet with “White Christmas” on the front:

Rudolph – This should be fully memorized by the week of December 5th

In thick caroling booklet:

The First Nowell and O Little Town of Bethlehem – Cantare should study parts on these carols. Treble and Concert choirs will sing the melody in unison. All Pro Arte sopranos (I and II) should learn the descant for the refrain - the Treble and Concert choirs can carry the melody.

We Wish You a Joyful Holiday – This should be fully memorized by December 5th. Please secure your assigned parts.

Joy to the World – everyone in unison.