Pro Arte Practice Instructions
Music for December 9th concert:
O Music
Folk Songs of the Four Seasons:
*These will definitely be included in the program
*p. 59 – review letters F through end of piece. Work out ending, letter R to the end.
*p. 65 – review entire piece, especially descants.
p. 70 – Concert choir sings Soprano I, Pro Arte sopranos sing Soprano II. Work out solfege through the bottom of p. 74 (up to the fermata).
p. 78 – review through rehearsal letter E. work on text for the entire piece. Sopranos, learn descant at the end of the piece.
Da Pacem:
Review your part for this entire piece. Work especially on counting sustained notes. Memorize.
S I: Dominique and Matilde
S II: Molly and Lily
AI: Kamirra and Lauren
AII: Siara and Katherine
African Noel – review and begin memorizing
A New Year Carol – review solfege and text for all stanzas.
Review Folk Songs we have already performed.
Concert Choir Practice Instructions
The following pieces are for the November 20th Thanksgiving Service at Grace and Holy Trinity:
Psalm – study text.
Hymn packet
Jubilate! – check rhythm, especially half notes at the end of phrases. Practice C naturals in the beginning of the melody.
Hine Ma Tov - accurately learn the two part sections. Memorize. Make sure everyone keeps singing in head (floating) voice throughout this piece. Try to not over sing/force your sound.
Bread of Love, Cup of Grace – be sure this is memorized. Study the “road map” – repeated sections, when the descant is sung, etc. I am sending a recording with this. Even though it is not the best quality, it should help you learn the music. https://www.sjmp.com/files/audio/bread-of-love.mp3
The following are for our December 9th concert:
Sing You Now - review
Folk Songs of the Four Seasons:
p. 59 – review soprano and alto parts through letter J. All Concert Choir members please learn the alto line (the melody) from letter K through letter N.
p. 65 – work out solfege through letter C. G is ‘Do.’ The first two pitches of the melody are Sol and Do. Once you learn this first section, you will have learned your notes for the entire piece. When this piece divides into two parts, Concert Choir sings the bottom “Full Chorus” part.
Review pieces we sang on our last concert.
African Noel – review your part on solfege syllables for the entire piece. Study where the repeats occur in the music.
A New Year Carol – review solfege. Practice text for entire piece.
Regarding the key signatures and how the solfege syllables relate, it can be helpful to sing the scale that matches the key signature on the syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) before working on the piece. If you do not have a piano, download a free pitch pipe app to be certain you are learning your music on the correct pitch. Refer to the scale sheet I handed out. Remember, music making is a process and learning music takes time. These instructions are a guide. Do the best you can! The more regularly you practice, the more rewarding our rehearsals and performances will be.
