2015 Reading Session Picks

2015 Reading Session Picks

We had a great time at Lake Junaluska a few weeks ago for Music and Worship Arts Week! One of my favorite things about this conference is all the music we get to hear, read, and sing through, from choir performances to reading sessions to combing the pop-up music store.

Like last year, I thought it might be fun (and helpful!) to share a few of my favorite new finds from this year's reading sessions. Some of these are new titles, others are just new to me, but regardless, if you haven't heard these pieces, you're in for a real treat! SD and I are pretty careful with what we choose to keep and leave behind, and these are our favorites of the stack we brought home with us.

Enjoy!

12 Favorite Supplemental Piano Books for Elementary Students

12 Favorite Supplemental Piano Books for Elementary Students

I love choosing supplemental repertoire for my students - even those who are still pretty new to reading and playing. I make recommendations to parents based on the student's interests and try to find supplemental books that complement the other music they are learning.

It can be challenging sometimes to find repertoire that is appealing, musical, and still at an accessible level, but I've found a few great collections that I go back to again and again.

Grab a cup of coffee and your favorite notebook - here are a few of my favorite supplemental books for elementary students:

1. Celebrated Lyrical Solos, Book 1 (Vandall)
2. Celebrated Piano Solos, Book 1 (Vandall)
3. Piano Etudes - Preparatory (Snell)

Best-Kept Secrets of Choral Voicing

Best-Kept Secrets of Choral Voicing

Choral voicing is a technique with long-standing history used by choral directors to seat singers based on characteristics of the voice - color, tone, timbre, placement, and vibrato. Contrary to popular belief, this technique is not just for college and professional choirs. Try it at home with your church choir, community choir, and even children's choirs! It will be well worth your time.

Each voice has a unique series of overtones, which contributes to timbre (source). The ideal choral sound is based on overtone series that complement each other rather than clashing. Having singers with like, complementary voices stand next to each other creates a natural "blend" that does not require singers to compromise their vocal technique. Did I mention it fosters the best intonation? It's a win-win, really.

Here are some of the best-kept secrets of choral voicing:

,

How to Make Your Next Presentation The Best Ever

,
How to Make Your Next Presentation The Best Ever

We've all given presentations at one time or another. From classes to conferences, workshops to concert settings, presentations are a proven method for sharing information, knowledge, and resources in a succinct, interesting, and engaging way. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking about that time you sat through a presentation that was so boring, you thought your head might explode. Really? Presentations are interesting and engaging?

Hear me out. Presentations don't have to be stale or boring or by the book - mix it up! Make your presentation style unique and engaging by adding in your own personality and by thinking about it from your audience's perspective. Here are 10 stellar strategies for making your next presentation the best ever:

5 Ways to Make Memorizing a Choir Anthem Fun

5 Ways to Make Memorizing a Choir Anthem Fun

For most of us, memorizing is not a "fun" task. It can be tedious, repetitive, and sometimes, just plain boring. However, we all know that memorizing music is an important part of singing in a choir and making music, in general. Rather than just singing through a piece over and over again, here are a few hands-on, engaging activities that are so fun, your choir won't even know they're memorizing their music! (Bonus points if you try any of these with your adult choir!)

1. Fill in the Blank

This is a quick, easy way to scaffold memorizing at the beginning. See how much of the text the children remember by speaking the first few words of each line and having them finish.

No-Fuss, Instant Anthems for the Small Church Choir

No-Fuss, Instant Anthems for the Small Church Choir

If you work with a small church choir, you know the challenges of having an anthem (or two!) ready every Sunday. Sometimes, you check the sign-out calendar and realize you won't have any Altos next week.

Sometimes, service plans change at the last minute.

And sometimes, you just need a no-fuss, simple solution for the Sunday anthem slot.

Perfect for Sundays when you haven't had a rehearsal, or times when you have a slimmer crowd (think holiday weekends or during the summer), here are a few quick ways to create no-fuss, instant anthems for your choir:

Hymns

Your hymnal is a great resource! Choose a crowd favorite, one with 4-part writing and singable lines, and experiment with ways to sing each verse:

- unison women or men
- additive by phrase (S, SA, SAT, SATB or S, ST, SAT, SATB)
- 4-part
- Sopranos singing the Tenor line as a descant, everyone else in unison on the melody
- one section singing the melody on text while the others sing the harmony parts on "ooh"
- Tenors singing the melody (Sopranos singing the Tenor part up an octave)

Why You Should Have Consultations with Prospective Students

Why You Should Have Consultations with Prospective Students

Last year, I received an email from a piano teacher asking about initial consultations and interviews. What do you do? What questions do you ask? How long should it be? What materials do you give them? Great questions! Here are some of the reasons I offer consultations to prospective families (and why you should, too!):

Why Are Consultations Important?

1. They give you an opportunity to meet prospective students (and their parents) face-to-face before either of you commit to lessons.

2. For students who are transferring from another teacher, it's important to see what music they're currently working on, assess what they know, and determine where you want to begin in your first lesson.

50 Awesome Choral Warm-Ups for Church Choirs

50 Awesome Choral Warm-Ups for Church Choirs

Vocal warm-ups are an important part of singing, but they offer many other benefits in a choral setting. Choral warm-ups are an important and powerful tool to get your group singing together with a good tone, resonance, and proper breath support (source). Plus, there are many ways to include pedagogy and teaching in these first few minutes of the rehearsal that will save you time later.

Warm-ups are often an after-thought in rehearsal planning and many choirs tend to do the same batch of exercises every week. There's nothing wrong with this, per se, but if you spend just a few minutes thoughtfully planning warm-ups that prepare concepts from the repertoire, warm-ups become a valuable teaching tool. There are several benefits to this approach:

Your choir will be more engaged. By mixing up the warm-up exercises each week, you offer your choir a new challenge every time they come to rehearsal. They will likely pay more attention and be more engaged while singing.

You will spend less time introducing new pieces. By preparing new concepts in the warm-ups (e.g. triple meter or vowel placement or a melodic phrase), your choir will be practicing a challenging spot from a new piece without even realizing it!

,

The Business of Music: 18 Helpful Resources

,
The Business of Music: 18 Helpful Resources

As any professional musician will tell you, a career in music is more than just artistry and performance; the business side of music is a crucial component of a successful career in the arts.

The business side of things may include managing gig contracts, paying estimated taxes, sending studio invoices, setting rates, sending emails, professional networking, and attending conferences.

Many professional musicians do more than one thing - performing, teaching, gigging, writing, etc. You are your own small business and tending to the things that keep your business running is an important part of building a successful career. You don't need a degree in business to manage everything I outlined above, but you should take steps to be informed.

There are lots of helpful books, articles, and blogs out there to help get you started. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

My Go-To Plan for First Piano Lessons

My Go-To Plan for First Piano Lessons

Where should we begin?

It's the age-old question we ask ourselves when we sit down with a new (beginning) student for the first time. What should we talk about first? Hand position? Finger numbers? Letter names? Where's Middle C?

I like to get the student playing as quickly as possible. We explore high sounds and low sounds and sounds in the middle, black keys and white keys and the patterns they make, and rhythm patterns based on our heartbeat. We imitate, improvise, and create.

The first lesson is all about experimenting with the instrument and exploring sound. Here is my go-to lesson plan:

    Follow along with my creative work and daily adventures: @ashleydanyew

    Let’s be honest, this month (year?!) has been hard. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s this: As an independent, self-employed musician and small business owner, you’re resilient. You don’t give up when s
    Halloween 2024… …The Lion King 🦁 Swipe to see the outtakes, including lion-wrangling and the 20th photo we took before we realized Rafiki had his mask on upside-down. 😂
    The October Musician & Co. Book Club pick is… 📘 Hidden Genius: The Secret Ways of Thinking That Power the World’s Most Successful People This book is a collection of stories, insights, and lessons learned from top performers, entr