Banquet Preparations!

Note: this exercise will work best with a women’s choir or soprano/alto sectional.
Banquet is tonight, and you need to get ready! You bend down to rummage through your drawer for the nail polish that matches your dress. You found it. Stand up and sigh. You quickly open the bottle and paint your nails. Blow on them to dry them with deep, long breaths. Close the nail polish and put it away. Now you go to the closet and reach up to the top to bring down the shoe box for your banquet shoes. The box is empty. “Oh no!” You breathe quickly using your diaphragm as you begin to panic. “Where could they be?” You crouch and look under your bed. Not there. You walk across the room and open your dresser drawers from the top down. Not there either. Next you decide to look under your roommate’s bed. Yuck there’s green fuzzy stuff under there! “Eeewwwww” Sigh, “It’s only a scarf.” But you still have no shoes. Just then you remember, you used those shoes as bookends because you couldn’t find any at Walmart. You jump up and reach high to grab the shoes from the shelf. Bend down to put them on, and you’re almost ready to go!

Cosmic!

You and your friends are having an adventure tonight. ("ADVENTURE!" you call...) You are at the bowling alley! You slip on your bowling shoes and tie them. Then you stand up and walk over to select your ball. First, you try a 15-lb ball- it weighs you down. "Too heavy!" Then you try a 12 lb ball. "Just right!" you exclaim, holding up your ball joyously. You walk towards your lane- only to see that a lazy worker has left a cardboard stock box in your path. "Oh no! A box!" You cry. You kick the box out of your way. At your lane, you set down your ball and shake out your arms and turn from side to side to get ready. You pick up your ball and roll it down the lane! Unfortunately, you are not warmed up yet, and your ball goes in the gutter. "Oh no!" You sigh. You imitate the machine that picks up the pins. "VVVV"- stretch down, hold- "VVVVVV" stand back up. You pick up your ball and try again- this time you get them all! (imitate the pins getting hit) You raise your arms. "Hooray!" you cry. "I'm getting better!" You do a little happy dance and sit down until your next turn.

Graduation day!!

It is finally time to graduate!! You are al decked out in your slightly uncomfortable graduation gown, and you are ready to walk down the aisle and recieve your diploma. You take a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves. You ben down and tie your shoes and make sure that they will not slip off while you are infront of everyone. You look slowly to your left, and then to your right, and you have a sudden realization that you may not see many of these people ever again. You sigh deeply, quite sad at the thought. But the moment quickly passes and you are once again excited. you hop up and down, barely able to hold all of the joy in. Your name is called! "Oh no" you wisper, and carefully walk to the podium to recieve your diploma. To your relief you do not trip. You are so exited, you call "Hooray!" in front of everyone, and you laugh quite loudly. As the ceremony comes to an end, you begin to hug the friends around you. As you are leaving, you lift your head and hands to heaven and say, "Thank you God for all that You have done!" It is indeed a bitter-sweet thing to be done with school.

Cranky Old Bull

Imagine you are a cow happily grazing in a pasture. You are chewing your cud for a 3rd time, when you here someone scream in the distance. You swallow your cud (again) and slowly turn your head to the right, and slowly to the left. Seeing that the noise was only the farmer's daughter being chased by her brother, you decide to trudge away from your spot to get some shade from the sun. Under the tree, there is another cow named Bessie. You decide to say hello to her. "Hello, Bessie!" She doesn't seem to hear you, so you say it louder. "Hello, Bessie!" When the cow turns its head, you realize that it is not Bessie at all, but the cranky old bull of the herd! "Oh no!" you yell, and the cranky bull starts to chase you away fromt his tree. Once a safe distance from the tree and the bull, you conclude that it is time for dinner, and lower your head into the fresh grass for a meal.

The befriended bloom

You are gently swaying, the tip of a branch on a savory pear tree...You have been cold and barren all winter (Brrr...), but at last the brilliant sun has broken through the wintry clouds and melted away the last remnants of their snow (Sigh!) All of the moisture from the wintry melt along with the rays from the glowing sun provides you with the means to bloom... as a tiny bud you peak forth and take a deep breath of the calm, clear air, and sigh for joy. Food from the earth and the sky provides you with much needed sustenance, and very soon you begin to stretch upwards into the warm air, as gentle white petals, swaying comfortably in the springy breeze. A friendly bumbelbee buzzez along (buzzzz), tickling you dutifully, causing you to burst out with iresistable laughter! Your striped little friend has now provided you with the pollen needed to transform you into a succulant, juicy pear! (mmmmm)

A Trip to D.C.

It is Saturday morning and you have just arrived in Washington D.C. for a weekend getaway. You get out of the van and stretch because you have been sitting for a long time. You reach down to your toes and then up to the sky. You shake out your jitters and let out a huge sigh. "At last! We're here!" you cry. You immediately set out for your journey of sight-seeing and experience a variety of things during the day. You come to a pool of water by the World War II Memorial and squat down to feel the water. It is cold and you say, "Brrrr..." Next you visit the Washington Monument and put your hands up in the air, pretending to hold the monument up for a picture. You continue walking, for what seems like hours, until you come to a gate in front of the white house. You wave and call out "Hello Mr. President," because this is the closest you've ever been to his house. You spot a nearby tree and climb it to try and see better. By this time, you have been walking for a majority of the day, so you jump down from the tree, stretch again, and sit down for a rest, anticipating the many things yet to see.

Puppy meets Kitty

Today puppy is going to explore the great outdoors
Imagine yourself a puppy taking in the outdoor
wonder. You sniff the air smelling a mixture of the surrounding greenery. You sniff the ground smelling the dirt. Hmm... what's this? The ground smells strange, you follow the smell with great curiosity. It leads you to some bushes, you bend low and peer in the bushes and see two yellow eyes and hear a strange "hisssss" (like a cat). Then a frightened furry ball flashes past you, you spring after it in excitement thinking "oh! A new toy!". After chasing the cat in a few circles it then runs up a tree. You likewise attempt to climb the tree standing as high as you can and scratching at the tree..but alas to no avail. So you bark at the kitty trying to tell it to me down. At that moment a whiff of bacon comes to you from the kitchen window.. You suddenly forget the cat and trot back to the house to get a snack..
The End

A Day In The Life of a Band Member

You are all very good singers. Today we are going to imagine you are all excellent instrumentalists as well! You are going to audition to be in the marching band. To relax yourself, you take a deep breath, long and slow. Then you exhale just as slowly so you feel calm. You band instructor points to the drums. You hold your drumsticks at waist height and tap out a perfect rhythm using your wrists and arms. It is important that you be able to march while you play, so you start marching and continue throughout the rest of your audition. Next you take the huge cymbols and crash them together several times. Now the band director points to the wind section. You pick up a piccilo, expand your lungs, and blow out just enough air to play the perfect pitch for your director. (Don't stop marching!) You go to the brass section and find a trombone. You take a deep breath again and let out all your air by buzzing your lips on the mouthpiece. You move the slide out as far as it will go and then back in again several times to play different pitches. Finally, your band director says you are done. Your audition is over so you touch your toes to stretch out your legs from all that marching. You stand up slowly because you are a little hesitant to hear what your band director says. As you stand, you are given the thumbs up sign! You throw your hands in the air, cry "Oh Yes!" and then sigh in relief. Your audition is over, and you are happy!

What a mess!!

Imagine that you are laying in your bed at 8 o’clock one morning sleeping, when the phone rings. (IMITATE THE PHONE) "Who could that be?" you ask. Your room mate, who is awakened as well, answers the phone and tells you that it is Dr. Kauffman asking for you. You take the phone and say, "Hello?" You hear him respond saying, "Do you know you have a class with me right now?" Bewildered by this realization, you exclaim, "OH NO! I will be right there." You hang up the phone and scurry around the room to get ready. You raise your arms to see if you need to shower. (SNIFF EACH ARMPIT) You decide that you are good for today, and get dressed, putting on a pair of pants, a shirt and shoes. You then look around your room and realize that it is a mess that, if not altered, will result in a point from your RA. In a desperate attempt to order the room, you gather up large quantities of clothing and other various artifacts in your arms and stuff them inside of your closet. You run and get the vacuum cleaner to cleanse your floor of the filth that had long lain beneath your belongings. (IMITATE THE VACUUM CLEANER WITH A "VVVV" SOUND) You decide that it is clean enough, and you grab your things as you bolt out the door and on to class.

Let's go fly a kite!

You wake up from a good night's rest (nice and late in the morning), sit up, stretch, and yawn. You open your window and discover that all the snow has melted. You stick your head out, and feel a warm spring wind. "It's lovely out!" you call. You close your window, jump down from your bunk bed, and slip on your shoes. You decide you will fly a kite today! You open your closet door, lean over and stretch into the back corner of your messy pile, and pull out your kite. You put it under your arm and run outside. Outside, you take a deep breath and smell the new flowers sprouting up. Exhale on a sigh. You trudge up to the top of a hill behind your house. When you finally reach the top, you raise your arms in victory- you have conquered the slope! "Hooray!" You shake out your hands and arms in preparation. You hold the reel on your kite, let out a length of string, and run to get your kite flying. The wind is fairly strong now, and a good blow takes your kite high into the sky- you let out more string and hold on to the reel as the whind takes your kite faaaar to the right, then faaaaar to the left. Suddenly, an unexpected, strong gust sweeps your kite- and your reel- right out of your hands! Your kite is now stuck in a tree! "Oh no!" You cry. You jog over to the tree and climb up, limb by limb, to find that your kite now has a hole ripped in it. You sit in a limb and shrug. "Oh well!" You say. You untangle your wounded kite and jump down from the tree to make your way back home where brunch is waiting for you. (Mmmm.)

Rain, rain, go away!

Imagine that you are a drop of rain that is falling from the sky! Stretch as high as you can (standing on your tippy toes and wiggling your fingers!!) and make a siren sound, making sure your sound is well placed in the mask! As your body is falling very slowly into a sqwatting, you allow your sound to fall as well, going all the way down to a low voice-frying sound. As you join the other drops in the stream on the ground, you stand up slowly, and spread your arms and legs as far apart from each other as possible. You sigh, because it feels so good to stretch and flow with the water. You bring your arms and legs bck together again, and allow your head to fall gently to the right side, and then roll it getnly to the left side. You take a deep breath and hold it deep inside of you. You make a bubbly noise (bu bu bu bu) to relax your face and lips. You sigh again, as you trickle down the side walk. You look around just in time to see a young boy come and jump in the stream! (Jump up and down!) "OH NO!" you cry, and shake your entire body as the boy has caused many ripples in the water. You then laugh a deep laugh (being sure to engage your diaphragm) because you have brought a little joy to this boy.

I suppose the rain can stay for a while!

Hot chocolate and the 4th of July

It is cold snowy day in July, and you have just finished digging out your car. You take the last bit of snow you have on your shovel and hurl it as far as you can. You stretch your arms and sigh, for that was hard work. You walk back inside your house, take off your boots and coat, and put on your slippers. It is very cold outside, so you decide to make some hot chocolate. The mugs are on the top shelf, so you stretch as high as you can to reach one. "Oh no!" you say, "they are missing!" Thinking hard about where the mugs could be, you remember that you put them on the bottom shelf instead. So you squat down, and retrieve a mug. While the hot chocolate is warming up, you realize that you would like to read the paper while enjoying your beverage. The paper is outside at the end of your driveway, so you make a quick run for it, still in your slippers. You get back inside the house and shiver. "Brrrrrrr" you say. Your hot chocolate is now finished, so you settle in your most comfortable chair and read about what is going on this weekend for the 4th of July celebrations.

Tuesday Morning

It is the day after a snowstorm and you know you need to go to work. You bend down to put on your winter boots and tie them tightly. Then you put on your heavy winter coat and zip it snugly. You put on your toasty gloves and walk out the door. Maintenance has thoughtfully provided a shovel, which you grab as you walk down the road to your car. As you get to your car you have to step quite high because there is a foot and a half of snow on the ground. “Yay for winter boots!” you say because your feet stay dry. You take the shovel and clear a path in back of your car. Three, two, one more shovelful should do it. Now you get in the car to start it. “Oh no!” you say, you can’t see out the windows! You grab your trusty snow brush and go outside. You reach up high to brush the snow off the top of the windshield down. Then you walk to the other side of the car and use your other arm to wipe off the other side of the windshield. You sigh, now you, and your car, are ready for work.

Fire! Or Not...

It is nighttime and you are snuggled up in your warm bed. You're very relaxed, your whole body feeling limp. You can feel your stomach rising and falling as you take slow, deep breaths. You gradually drift into a deep sleep when suddenly the fire alarm goes off! You jump out of bed and exclaim, "Oh no!" You frantically feel around for your shoes (it is very dark) until you locate both of them. You put them on and run out of your room. Remembering that all doors and windows must be shut, you run back to your room, quickly shut your window (which was slightly open because yesterday an extension cord was running into it from the softball game), shut your door, and then head for the outside. You forgot your coat, so you shiver as you walk outside and say, "Brrrrr....." You are concerned that your dorm is going to burn down until you see a mighty handsome security guard approaching. You call to him, "Help us!" He comes nearer, checks the dorm, and then announces that there is no fire. Someone had just burnt some toast. You throw your hands up in the air and exclaim, "Not again!" You head back inside, take your shoes off, and get back in bed. You yawn, let out a sigh, and once again drift back into a deep sleep.

Puppy in new home

Today you are a puppy who has just been adopted into a new home. You have just awoken from your nap and you stretch your front paws and your back paws and give a great big yawn. Then you smell something yummy “sniff sniff, sniff sniff sniff”. It is time to explore and find out where this smell is coming from, so you trot out the nearest room and sniff “sniff sniff sniff”, but to your dismay it is the laundry room and you get a nose full of the smell of dirty clothes. You give a disgusted sneeze. Then you trot off once again in search of food. Finally you find your way into the kitchen where the cook is cooking bacon on the stove. You lift your nose up and take deep breaths. Then you try to look like a very good dog, (chin up, good posture, attentive and caring eyes). But the cook pays you no heed, so... you let out some pitiful whimpers. ...Still no response. Finally you stand up as tall as you can, front paws in the air and whimper and maybe even jump a little if you don't loose your balance. This time she sees you and has compassion tossing you a piece of bacon which you gladly catch before it hits the ground. You think “I think this puppy is going to like it's new home...”
The End.

A New Creation

Imagine that you are a long, wriggly caterpiller. You wiggle happily along, munching bits of leaf. When you exhaust one leaf, you stretch out your front legs to make your way to the next one. "Mmmm, tasty..." You start feeling sleepy, so you slip into your homemade cocoon, relax, and sigh contentedly. You hang your head and fall asleep. After some time (you don't know how long), you wake up to the bright sun. You raise your arms and head out to feel the warmth, and realize- oh my!- that you are now equipped with a beautiful pair of colorful wings! You roll your shoulders backwards and forwards a few times to get a sense of your new wings. You tentatively hold them out, floating at your sides, and with a bold step, you begin to flap! You soar now, not from leaf to leaf, but from flower to flower. A caterpillar on a nearby leaf calls to you, "Don't you miss being one of us?" You call back, "Oh no! I most certainly do not!" You happily fly on, knowing that you are a new creation.

Rock Climbing!

It is a beautiful day outside, and you have decided to go rock climbing to exert some of your energy! You get to the face of the clift you are going to climb, and you stretch your torso from side to side. You then stretch your neck slowly, because the last thing you want is to get a cramp 50 feet in the air! You reach down and take your harness out of your bag. You put it on, pulling your legs up high and putting them through the leg holes. You tighten the harness around your waist, and you shake out your hands. You are now ready to climb! You reach as high as you can with your right arm. You then reach as high as you can with your left arm. "That feels so good!" You call and laugh heartily, feeling your diaphragm working hard. You climb for a while, and finally you reach the top. You get up and over the ledge. As you do, you realize you had so much fun that you call to the mountains "Oh No! I am addicted!" You lift your face to the sky, stretch your arms out wide, take a deep breath of mountain fresh air, and sigh a very happy, very energized sigh.

Unwind

Imagine you are a business man just getting home from work. You open the door to your house and call out “Hi honey! I’m home!” Then you take off your tie and toss it away. You roll your neck and sign. Then you pad into the kitchen and take a big whiff of dinner. MMMMMMMmmmmmmm. You walk into the living room and bend down to pick up the newspaper off the floor and stick it under your arm. Then you look to the left and the right. “Honey, where’s the remote?” She answers that it is in the kitchen. You walk back to the kitchen and, unable to resist, open the oven just to see what is for dinner. “MMMMMeatloaf. MMMMMy favorite!” Then you walk back into the living room, turn on the TV and settle into your favorite recliner (Have students imagine as they stand) open the paper and promptly fall asleep. ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Longing for sleep and a short post

Is is late at night and you are exhausted, you yawn...you suddenly remember that you must blog for your class! "Oh No!" you say, conscious of the core vowel, the drossless, golden "ah"... You lament, heaping over in your chair as if you saw a hole in the floor leading to a peaceful land over Jordan. But, you don't see any hole in the floor, you are just tired, and you must pound out a short post so you gently and raise your torso and then your head, unwilling to tax your rest-ready muscles. You stretch, and sigh, then stick out your tongue because the coolness of the air in your room is a relief to the hot stickiness within your tired mouth.
You quickly pound out a short post, saunter into the bathroom, brush your teeth, then return to your room and climb into bed to sleep all night. Ahhh...
goodnight!

It is a very busy Thursday on campus and you have just rushed into your room after a long day of classes. You have an hour or so before work tonight, so you flop into your chair at your desk in a slouched position. Your roommate, who has already been done with classes for 3 hours, says "That is not very good posture." You are too tired to argue so you raise yourself to where your back is straight and your diaphragm is not being crunched. You open up your itunes and start listening to your favorite band. You raise your arms in the air, for you are very excited to be finished with classes. "Alleluia!" you yell. Putting your arms down, you take a deep breath in to begin singing along with your band, and your roommate says "Don't you dare." Disappointed, you let out your breath with a hiss. You realize then that you are very tired, sighing and putting your head down on your desk. An hour later you are awakened by your roommate. "Don't you have to be at work?" she asks. "O no!" you yell, and you pull on your shoes and run out of the door.

Fishy!!

Imagine you are a fish in the Lackawanna State Park lake. Today is a sunny day, so you swim to the top of water to warm yourself up. Once you reach the top of the water, you kick your tail fins to make a few splashes. The sun is so warm and relaxing that you to close your eyes and just float for a few moments. You sway in the current as the water moves around you. A motor-boat splutters by interrupting your peace and quiet. You mimic the motor boat sound with your lips. The motor boat stops and you hear a plop in the water. You look and see a wiggly worm near where you are swimming. You wiggle like the worm and then think maybe you could eat it! You make your signature fishy lips at that thought and swim towards the worm! Still with your fish lips read to go, you drop your jaw to take a big bite! But just before you chomp down, you realize something is not right! This worm is attached to a string and a hook! "Oh No!" You cry in your fishy voice and you start to swim away. You are a little disappointed not to have a snack. But you feel the warm sun again and sigh because you are relaxed, and safe!

Easter Egg Hunt

It is Easter morning and you are an excited child because you get to go on an Easter Egg Hunt with your brother and sisters! This has been a long-standing tradition in your family and a competition of who can get the most eggs. You know that the eggs have already been hidden, so you open your window, stick your head out, first to the right, and then to the left, frantically searching for any that may be in plain view that you can get before your brother beats you to it. Unfortunately, your mom is a clever Easter Egg hider, and you do not see any eggs. You sigh and close the window. Just then your mom calls from downstairs, "Time to hunt for eggs!" You run down the stairs, grab your easter basket and stare your brother and 2 sisters down. You slip your shoes on and bend down to tie them because you don't want anything to slow you down. You stretch, reaching high to the sky and then down to your toes, getting ready for the intense race. After everyone is ready, your mom says, "Good Luck!" and gives you the signal to begin. You bolt out the door and run toward the doghouse where you are sure an egg has to be hiding. You squat down once you reach the doghouse to peer inside. "Ah Ha!" you say as you reach in and pull out a blue and pink-striped egg. You put the egg in your basket as you spot another egg in a nearby tree. You skip over to it, stand on your tip-toes, and reach high for the egg, being just tall enough to grab it with your fingers. You put that one in your basket too and continue running around the yard, searching for more precious eggs. After 45 minutes, you can find no more eggs, so you run inside, in fearful anticipation as to how many eggs your siblings found. You are panting as you begin counting their eggs. You have 9 and the most they have is...8! You throw your hands up in the air and exclaim, "Oh Yes! I won!" What a grand victory for you on this year's Easter Egg Hunt!

Pillow Fight!

You are getting ready for a movie night with your friends. You put on your warm sweatshirt and your flannel pajama pants. You slide your fuzzy slippers onto your feet. Ahhhh...you feel so warm and comfortable. You friends call from the other room "Come on! Hurry up!" You reach up to your bunk bed and grab two of your softest pillows to take to the movie. You carry your pillows into the lounge. As you near your group of friends you get hit with a pillow! You throw your hands up in alarm and then get ready to do battle! You hold one pillow in each hand. You're getting attacked with pillows from every side! You throw your arms open wide and spin around in a circle, thrashing everyone who gets too close. A pillow comes hurtling through the air and lands on your head. You take your pillows one at a time and throw them at your friends. Just then you realize that throwing your pillow means you have no pillows left! You cry,"Oh no!" Then you realize that you just feel so comfortable and relaxed in your warm pajamas and fuzzy slippers that you don't want to pillow fight anymore. You sigh, Ahhhh. Getting hit with another pillow you throw up your hands and call to everyone, "I surrender!" Besides it is time to start the movie. You pick up your pillows and sit down to enjoy the show!
draft

Stop Monkeying Around... (haha!)

Today, you are a monkey in the zoo. You bend and bounce at the knees, letting your arms hang loosely. You swing from side to side as you bounce and let you head hang down, feeling very relaxed. You stretch up high above you to grab hold of a branch in your cage. You pull yourself up and swing energetically from branch to branch. You land next to a friend in your tree, and you comb through his/her back to see if you can find any good munchies, giving your fellow monkey a little bit of a back scratch while you're at it. "Oh no!" You sigh. There are no good munchies. But there is hope for your hungry tummy! You see the zookeeper coming with food, and you excitedly make little monkey noises! (Oo-oo-oo! with flexes) You jump down from your tree to get near the bearer of yummy eats. He places the bowl on the ground in front of you, and you reach down to scoop out handfuls and eagerly chew big mouthfuls of your scrumptious lunch. When it's all gone, you stretch down, pick up the bowl, and lick out the inside. Now you are sleepy from such an active day, and you stretch, sigh, and take a lovely afternoon nap.

Family Time!

Imagine you are at home and your extended family has come to visit. They pull in the driveway. You quickly run outside to wave. "Hello! It is good to see you!" Being the helpful person you are, you bend over to pick up some things from their car and bring them inside. After opening the door, you yell when you get in the house "Mom, Dad, they're here!" Set down your load and sigh. Your parents hurry downstairs to leave with your Aunt and Uncle. "Goodbye!" you say.
Your six year old cousin is very excited to be with you, but he is a handful! You decide to run upstairs and shut your bedroom door so nothing important gets broken. You sigh in relief because you got there before he did! Then you hear a crash downstairs. You carefully walk down the stairs, no use falling you know. "Oh no!" You see one of the glasses on the floor in pieces. You bend over to pick up the larger pieces and throw them away. Then you sweep up the rest. Your cousin is now jumping on the couch in the living room. "Don't be a monkey!" You say. He laughs and sits down. You open the door to the closet and reach up high for those kid movies your mom never got rid of and choose one. "Would you like to watch a movie?" you ask. Your cousin giggles. You mimic his high pitched HEHEHE. Then you squat down and put in the video. While you're squatting, you let out a sigh of relief, at least he'll be sitting for a while. Then you stand up and walk into the other room. All your mother's picture frames on the chest high cabinet are knocked over. You straighten them. "How did he..." you trail off. "Nevermind, I don't want to know." You look in the living room and notice that he's asleep. Then you go upstairs and sit in the comfortable chair and breathe a sigh of relief. Ahh.... Peace and quiet!

April fools!!

Find a seat. Sit down, lean back, and relax. Take several deep breaths. Now, pretend that you are just waking up from a long and peaceful night's sleep. You slowly sit up, and you reach your hands above your head and stretch as far as you can. Not wanting to get up quite yet, you lean foward and lean your elbows on your knees and let your head fall slowly. Take several slow and relaxing breaths, feeling the muscles of your back expand with each breath. You stand up slowly, and you turn your torso gently from side to side, stretching far, but not hurting yourself. You take a deep breath and you sigh deeply. You go to the window and open the curtains, spreading your arms out wide. To your great surprise (GASP!!) it has snowed!! God must be playing a late April Fool's joke!! You decide it would be best to warm your car up before you start getting ready for the day. You lean down and put on your slippers, and you step outside. It is FREEZING!! You throw your arms around yourself and shiver, taking a few very fast breaths! You get to your car, and you hear a hissing noise (make the hissing noise as intensely as you can). You squat down next to your tire and listen, taking deep breaths (notice where you feel the air going). Your tire is making the hissing noise and you realize it is very flat. You stand up slowly and cry "OH NO! How will I get to work?" You ponder this predicament for a moment, and then you give up. You decide to call work and let them know that you will not be in today. You sigh a deep sigh of contentment, and you go back to your warm bed to sleep a few more hours.

Forest fire!

Imagine you are a dragon. You are walking through the woods, and since you are a big creature, your walk demands that your feet are lifted higher, and come down hard onto the soft earth. You approach a tree that is in front of you and seems to be in your way. Instead of walking around the tree, you muster up all the air you have, and blow on the tree to knock it over. However, you have forgotten that you are a fire breathing dragon, and have just started a fire! "O no! A forest fire!" you yell. You quickly stomp on the flames to extinguish the fire and cover up your mistake. Continuing on your walk, you come across a creature you have never seen before. You squat down slowly to ask what it is, but it yells and runs away from you. You are a curious dragon, and take off running after it. Before too long, you are out of breath, because you are out of shape. "O well," you say, and take a few long, deep breaths. You look around you, and see that there is a very tall apple tree next to you. You look all the way up to the top, shielding your eyes from the sun. You realize that you are hungry after your run. The apples are very high up, so you have to stretch to reach them. You take a big bite out of the apple you have just plucked, for the apples seem to be giant dragon sized apples. After eating the delicious apple, you decide to take a nap. You sigh and stretch, curling up for some peace and quiet.

The wonder-filled world of Mullet...

You are a louse, roaming freely atop the head of your Mullet sporting host... You have, for quite some time now, lived primarily in the town of Middlehead in the land of Mullet, and you are bored, you sigh, allowing your appendages to hang loosely at your sides, making gentle pendulum-like swings with them. You resolve to explore this head of hair in it's entirety, and in the spirit of this resolve, you raise up your hands and call adventurously, "I will explore the unknown!" You set out, creeping boldly to the south, finding, after some length of time, that the southern inhabitants are quite a bit different than those in Middlehead...they are party animals (Oh My!)! they live wildly, loosely, (wiggle loosely) on the edge, in a region where to head south (bend down as you wiggle, like crawling down an incline) means to wander into the unpredictable, where wavy strands of hair end abruptly, without consistency or warning, and to head north (slowly stretch upward, as if climbing) means an ever upward climb, exhausting and long (pant... sigh) Such a precarious station in life has driven them mad! (Oh No!) They shimmy the days away in endless reverie! After shuffling around for a short time, you quickly become tired of the party life, and climb up the long strands (pant), then hop across the flat midlands, waving to Middlehead as you pass (hello!). You soon find however, that the trek northward was quite a bit shorter than the one southward, and that the inhabitants if the north are much the opposite of the south, all business amongst the predictable evenness of the short north hairs (stand stiffly, like strict buisenessman). "Too stiff for me!" you exclaim, and hop on back to Middlehead, where you feel content to never again recall the stupefying lands to the north and south (sigh) "It is good to be home!".

Successful Fishing Day

It was a beautiful warm day at your cabin in Minnesota. You have come here on a whim to get away from the piling homework and stresses of school. You arise from your cozy bed and sigh "AHhhh! What a beautiful day!" and decide "I think I will go fishing". So you bend down and pick up your pole and tackle box, open the door and step out on your porch. After baiting the hook you cast the line into the water. Almost immediately a great big Rainbow Trout snatches your bait. This fish is much bigger than you expected nearly pulls you in. You pull your hands up holding the pole tightly to re-balance yourself. After regaining your balance the fish madly pulls you far to your right and then switches its course and pulls you to your far left. You are not a quitter though and you stubbornly clinging tightly to the pole, and eventually it pays off and you win reeling your prize catch in. You then lift the fish up using both hands and say "mmmm! Breakfast!" and trot in side happily with your catch in hand.

You may live this life exercise....

Imagine that it is almost time for choir to begin, except you are the instructor, not the student! You walk over to your old school chalk board and take a piece of chalk in one hand and your eraser in the other. You begin to draw a beautiful landscape for your students to see when they enter your classroom. You step back and say "Hmmmm." You decide you don't like your picture, so you erase the whole thing with the eraser in your other hand. You take a deep breath and then blow all the chalk dust off the board. "Hmmm" you say again as you ponder what to draw. Just then you notice that some chalk dust has floated onto the arms of your black shirt, (ad. lib "Oh No!") so you take another deep breath and puff away the specks of chalk. "Ahhh" you smile and sigh with satisfaction. Your relaxing smile and sigh has inspired you to draw a picture on the chalkboard you are sure your students will love. You take two colors of chalk, one in each hand and begin to draw on the board. By the time the bell rings and your students come in you have a beatiful relaxing scene for them to imagine thier selves in for a relaxing life exercise!

SLOW DOWN!

Imagine with me that you are walking to Jackson Hall to go to class. You approach the front door, open it, walk through and start heading up the stairs. Once you reach the top, you realize that you have dropped your pencil out of your hand, and you exclaim, "Oh no! I have dropped my pencil!" So, you reach down and pick it up. You have decided to put it in your backpack so that it doesn’t fall again, so you reach back to the left and realize that your bag is not on that side. You then reach back to the right, unzip your bag, put the pencil in and zip it back up. You then continue walking to class. As you’re walking down the hall, all of a sudden, a freshman guy bumps into you as he runs past. You stop and call to him, "SLOW DOWN!" Because of the exquisite reverberancy of Jackson Hall, you hear an echo back that is quieter but just as intense. You hear, "SLOW DOWN." He continues running, but you, entranced by what you hear, continue to speak. You say, "HELLO!" and it echos back, "HELLO." You continue by saying, "ECHO!" and you hear, "ECHO." By this time, you realize that you are getting very strange looks from everyone who is passing by, and you decide to stop what you are doing and go to class.

Springtime

Spring is in the air, and what’s even better, it’s Saturday! You leisurely get up from bed and stretch. You go over to the window and reach up to tug on the string for the blinds. Then you reach down to pull up the window. You take a big whiff of the spring air to enjoy the spring smell and sigh. Now it is time to wake up your roommate. You stand near the window and call: “Wake Up! It is Saturday!” Your roommate looks at you and says: “Aren’t you supposed to be meeting for your group project?” You look at your watch and say “Oh No!” You hurriedly walk to the door and open it. You walk down the stairs in your dorm, and quickly dash to Buckingham. You open the large wooden doors and clamber up the stairs. You take a few deep, calming breaths before you walk into the MRC. When you walk in, you notice a note on the table; your meeting has been canceled. You sigh in relief.

I am Very Thirsty

It is the beginning of springtime at Baptist Bible College, and it is so beautiful out! You raise your arms high to the warm sun and say joyously, "Praise God for springtime!" You have just made your way to Buckingham Palace to practice on this fine sunny afternoon. You open the big heavy wooden doors, march up the stairs, and enter through the second set of doors. Just then, you realize that you have left your favorite Nalgene water bottle all the way back at your dorm! Throwing up your hands in exasperation, you cry "Oh No!" Since you are very thirsty today, and since you want to avoid the inconvenience of always having to trek from your practice room to the water fountain, and since it is so lovely out you wouldn't mind the walk anyway, you decide that you simply must rescue the stray water bottle from the loneliness of your dorm room.You turn, bound back through the glass doors, run hastily down the stairs, and head out the back door. You see Mr. McGroove on his way to retrieve coffee from the underground cafe. "ah, hello!" you say, waving at him as you run past. He says, "Where are you running to?" But you don't answer- you are intent on your goal. You are finally able to make it to your dorm and to successfully obtain the much desired Nalgene. On your way back, you are much more distractable. You see a motercycle put-put past you, and you decide to imitate it (lip flutter). As you continue to walk, you see a little squirrel on the sidewalk. You hop along like you see him doing. However, he sees you next to him and he freezes in a stiff position. You imitate this as well. However, as it is creating tension in your neck and shoulders, you decide to instead imitate one of the geese you see flying north overhead. your flap your arms and pretend like you're soaring through the blue skies. Sigh. You have made it back to the land of Buckingham palace by now, and you return through the back door, up the stairs, and through the glass doors. You collapse in a chair and sigh contentedly, knowing that now you have your precious Nalgene by your side while you practice.

A Trees Life

Imagine that you are an acorn seed which has been buried in the soft soil by a river. Settle yourself down as close to the ground as possible (squatting position), your arms tucked into your chest and your head bowed. Now as you are nurtured by the rain and clear streams of Living Water you begin to grow. Slowly allow yourself to stand lifting the head and arms last. Stretch the arms out and up growing yourself into a healthy strong tree. Wiggle your fingers and feel warm sun beaming on you and wiggle your toes and feel the soft earth below you, allow the breeze to sway you back and forth (sigh).
Now imagine the coming of fall, your leaves are turning colors and beginning to fall. Shake the leaves from your branches, (allow your head to move back and forth and sideways gently, roll your shoulders, shake each arm and each leg). Once the leaves are gone winter arrives causing you to become stiff with cold "brrrrrrrrrrrrr", stiffen every muscle like you are one big frozen hard block of wood. Then spring comes with its strange mixture of summer warmth and winters cold. Relax your outstretched limbs and let them sway in the warmth a bit, then stiffen them like winter, and repeat (relax, stiffen, relax, stiffen). Until finally the warm summer once again arrives and you can freely stretch yourself and reach once again to the welcoming sun (sigh). The End.

A Lesson From Children

Let us pretend that you are a child that has been eagerly anticipating the spring time. You walk outside in your jacket and realize it is much too warm for it. "I do not need this!" You call excitedly, as you remove your jacket stretch! You see a few of your freinds coming out of the house next to yours, and you call to them, "Hello! Would you like to play?" You run to meet him/her, and decide that today, you will be playing cowboys and indians. You are the indian. You make an "Ooooo" sound and tap your hand over your mouth, making the sound and indian would make. As you are "fighting" with your friend the cowboy, you reach behind your back, and grab an imaginary arrow. You put the arrow in your iinvisible bow and pull it back as far as you can. You shoot!! "Oh no!" You say. You missed your friend! Your friend comes toward you with his imaginary gun and you raise your hands in surrender. Stretch to the sky! You are tired of this game, and decide it would be best to go for a swim. You and your friend run to the creek behind your house, and jump in, clothes and all. The water is not very deep, so there is no real danger for you, but it is very cold! You shiver! You decide to have a contest to determine who can blow the most bubbles. You blow as hard and as fast as you can in the water. You take a few deep breaths to calm your body down, and you stretch one more time, saying "I love being outside! The sun feels so good!" You quickly run out of the water and back to your house, where you mother is not very happy that you have gone swimming. She shakes her head back and forth slowly, and then smiles and quickly gets you a towel. You dry yourself off as best as you can, and you give your mother a very big hug.


THE END

The Wonderful World of Wetness

It is a warm, wet day, and you walk outside with your hands held high in the air exclaiming, “I love the rain because that means spring is near!” You walk very carefully to dinner, tiptoeing in the streams that are pouring down the sidewalk. You realize that your shoe is untied, so you reach down and tie it so that it doesn’t get all wet. You continue walking and see your friend up ahead of you. You shout to her to wait. “Hello! Wait for me!” You pick up your pace and begin swinging your arms as you walk. The water is splashing on you now, but you say, “Who cares!” because you love the rain and can’t wait to get to dinner. You look up to the sky and hold out your tongue, trying to catch the large rain drops as they fall from the sky. You finally catch up to your friend right as she enters the doors of the student center. You walk inside, shake off to try to get dry, and then let out a happy sigh because you finally get to go to dinner after a long day of classes!

Wake Up!

Imagine with me that it is the early morning and you are up and ready for a short jog. You first stretch and sigh because you are still quite sleepy. Then you open the door and go outside, but the air is much colder than you expected, so you shiver and say “Brrrrr (rolled R).” The wind is howling (crescendo and decrescendo on “ooh”), so you start to jog to stay warm. As you are going along, you hear an ambulance in the distance (woo-woo-woo). It gets closer and closer and louder and louder and then fades away after it whizzes by you. You exclaim “Oh no” because someone must be hurt! You keep jogging, but become tired very quickly because you are out of shape. So you stop to rest, let out another sigh and stretch. You decide that just getting out of bed was an accomplishment for you, so you head back to your dorm, refreshed and feeling good.

A walk in the woods

It's a beautiful, warm day at BBC, so you decide to take a refreshing walk through the woods. You bend over and tie your shoes, and step outside. The air is crisp, a little chillier than you expected so you shiver, and quickly run inside and put on your coat. Again you step foot outside, this time taking a deep breath of the spring (yay!) air. You are now walking through the woods, brushing the branches out of the way of your face with sweeping motions. Suddenly, a fire breathing dragon appears in your path! You yell "O no! A dragon!" You quietly run away from the dragon, who is luckily out of shape and you easily outrun him. You breath a sigh of relief. Finally, you come to a clearing in the woods. You have walked and ran a long way, and are tired, so you stretch and sigh again. In the middle of the clearing is a big tree, a perfect tree to sit in. So you climb the tree, and settle in to read a book for the afternoon.

Quiz Twelve Scores "soop!"

AM19 - 17/17
daddyzlittleangel - 17/17
dreams - 17/17
Flossy - 17/17
Jillian - 17/17
maviecestmusique - 17/17
patato splat - 17/17
Shoedeedoodoo - 17/17
Thedairyqueen - 17/17

Yah knah, wah'll goh ahp [up] thah rohd and visit Marco! God bless him, yah knahw [know]! He's had a tahgh [tough] two or tree days, yah knahw! He needs tah drink some hahmade soop!

Quiz [Open Book] Chapter 15

1. What does IPA stand for? [106]
International Phonetic Alphabet

2. [T or F] IPA exists in order to speak and sing English correctly, and to find one’s way into foreign languages. [106]

3-4. If the conductor is able to teach his choir clean diction, he has already solved one of the biggest problems in choral singing: blending the sound. [106]

5. [T or F] A pure vowel is a vowel sound that remains unchanged throughout its duration. [108]

6. [T or F] From our experience, the best help for amateurs in singing a dipthong is to instruct the singers to sing only the first vowel and not even to think the second one. [108].

7. When vowels are sung, it is sometimes necessary to change them in order for them to blend and sound correct to the listener. That is called vowel modification. [110]

8-12. Write out the five basic pure vowels the way in which they were spelled in the text. [110]
oo, oh, ah, eh, ee

9-12. Match the IPA symbols with their appropriate “key word.” [106-107]

9. father [a]
10. remember [see text]
11. she [i]
12. it [I]
13. paw [see text]

14. The tongue should feel like a ___ _____ lying on the floor the mouth:A. a slinky B. a wet towel C. a wooden board D. a wet sponge [110]

15. What consonant is substituted for the flipped “r”? A. “t” B. “d” C. “p” D. a growled back throated “r” [111]

16. [T or F] The “L” should be articulated so that the middle of the tongue is arched pronouncing the sound in the mid-mouth. [112]

17. [T or F] Teaching the schwa for singing requires teaching a variation of different sounds in order to achieve the proper choral blend. [113]

Packing and posture

The end of the semester has finally arrived. You are almost finished packing up your dorm room. You walk up the steps into your dorm and open the door to your room. You step up onto a chair to reach the books on your highest bookshelf. It has been quite a while since the last white glove, so a layer of dust covers your books. You throw up your hands and cry "O no!" You then blow away the layer of dust. You gather your books in your arms and step back down off the chair. You decide to test your posture since you have a book so handy. With both hands, you place the book on top of your head and stand as straight as you can. But the book slides right off your head onto the floor. You drop your head and sigh with some disappointment at your bad posture. You lean down to pick up the book and stand up very slowly to ensure your back is straight and relaxed. Once you are in a correct upright position, you place the book back on your head and to your satisfaction, it remains in place! You sigh very contentedly. Just then your roomate walks in and sees you with a book on your head. Your roomate gives you a funny look and sighs. You say in your head voice, "What do you expect? I am a music major after all!" You then finish packing, call "Goodbye!" to all your friends, and head out for your summer vacation!

Snowed in...

It has been blusterously snowing all day, so much so that classes for the rest of the day have been cancelled (raise high your arms toward heaven, saying "thank you! thank you! thank you!") and you have bounded through the fresh, white blanket of fluffy flakes to take refuge within the familiar walls of buckingham palace (sigh) to consume a piping hot bowl of chicken noodle soup (you blow on it to cool it...) with your closest friends in the entire world (sigh). Though most of the professers have abandoned their posts, Doc remained entrenched for a time, but now he must leave... He saunters in and asks "does anyone happen to have an ice scraper?" being well prepared for the snow you certainly do have one, so the two of you proceed, with ice scraper in hand, down the well worn stone steps to the rather hefty wooden doors that now stand between you and the outside world. Taking a deep breath, you push, with the ferver of all your weighty strength on the wind pressed doors (imitating that wind as you push...). As soon as you take your first step outside, the frigid air hits you so hard that you instantly clasp yourself tight, shivering (brrrrrr...). You then realize that in your frigid fevor you dropped the precious ice scraper in the snow "O no!" (you bend down and retrieve it). Desperate to return to the warmth of good company and hot soop within the palace, you dash over to the golden blazer, wiping and scraping in great haste...thrusting the frozen flakes off the hood first, then the winshield, scraping the ice to reveal the transparent glass encrusted beneath... you are done! "g-g-good b-b-bye d-d-doc!" you exclaim and hastily bound in through the great doors, up the stairs and in to the MRC, casting aside the cold ice scraper, in exchange for the tender warmth of your close friends, you collapse contentedly on the toasty couch with a sigh!

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette March 15

Clamoring up the bank opposite the bucolic Blue Ridge mountain cabin you're vacationing in, you notice your white Bichon [now mountain mud brown] Luciano frolicking in the slimy muck on the edge of the stream bank. You reach down for him. He squirms out of your hands. As Luciano runs up the bank, you reach up the bank and grab him. The wily canine scoots away from you racing up the bank again. You call, "Luciano come back" and preceed running up the edge of the mountain for him. You lift your arms up to the air calling, "O No!" You notice that Luciano is running to some climbers above you. You call to them, "Can you catch my canine?" You run to the climbers, take luciano from the twenty-something cool looking couple who grabbed him. You lift up your little brown friend [was he white?] into the air. You exclaim, "You are a bad dog. Come with me!"

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette March 13

To cross the stream behind your cabin without getting wet, there is a small suspension bridge made of wood planks with heavy wire side holds for your hands to balance your body. Stepping on to the bridge your body feels the gentle sway of wood and wire. Your feet swing – your hands sway up and down with the wire. You say, “It’s so hot! It would be fun to let go and get wet.” Taking your hands off of the wire you crouch down and flip over into the refreshing stream. As you immerse yourself [a Baptist relaxation vignette], your body feels like a glass of cold, icy southern sweet tea. You turn around in the water, stretch high and sigh! You reach for the bank opposite your cabin. You crawl out of the stream and begin climbing up with your hands and feet verdant green mountain known as Mt. Edwards. You chose the vacation spot, in part, because you love the name. You see movement ahead. You call, “O No!”

March 12 - Integrating Life Into Your Art!

AM 19 - Present
daddyzlittleangel - Present
dreams - Present
Flossy - Present
Jillian - Absent
maviecestmusique - Present
patato splat - Present
Shoedeedoodoo - Present
Thedairyqueen - Present

OK! So we're all learning from Frauke's little collapsible horse. Strange little toy isn't it? She invites us to sing. Integrating life into her art. The trampoline. the laser beam, the train ch ch ch, the old woman, the shoulder-back solider, the apple with your neck as the stem, the crystal vase you don't want to break. She thoroughly integrates life into her art. That is the big idea from watching her. Integrate life into your art.

Quiz Eleven Scores

AM19 - 8/10
daddyzlittleangel - Absent
dreams - Absent
Flossy - 8/10
Jillian - 10/10
maviecestmusique - 9/10
patato splat - 11/10
shoedeedoodoo - 11/10
Thedairyqueen - 8/10

The big idea [in two parts] last Thursday was: Leaps require intensified support and a lowered jaw. What in the the world does intensified support mean? It simply means that flexible diaphragmatic pushes result in a pressurized breath flow [your text refers to this as the greater speed of the air or intensified air]. Will you sing the upper voice without a pressurized exhalative breath flow? No, it just won't happen.

Dropping the jaw is something that studio trained singers don't have to worry with to the same degree as the amateur choral singer. Why? Because the studio trained singer can create the needed space [opening] inside the mouth; however amateurs will need to think of space in a greater way in terms of dropping the jaw. Remember, failure to do this will result in a pushed sound or an out of tune sound. Mark your choral scores [p. 94] with circles, depending on the kind of jaw needed for the various vowels in the score. You can see as the range climbs, the circles are larger. Good class. See you this afternoon upstairs.

Quiz Chapter Thirteen

1. [T or F] The technique involved with leap performance is often assumed to be understood by the choir members. [93]

2-4. Many times leaps cross register breaks or move into registers which require more:

Support [93]
Maintenance of consistency between registers [93]
Vowel Modification [93]

5-6. Which are the two major steps for executing leaps.

Support [93]
Drop the jaw [94]

7. [T of F] For an upward leap, the choir must be taught to decrease their airflow to perform the leap. [93]

8. [T or F] The larger the interval leap that is sung, the greater the speed or the intensity of the air must be in order to sing that leap. [93]

9. [T or F] The larger the leap, the lower and wider the support must become. [94]

10. What is the quality of sound [could be one of two things] that results when the jaw is not opened on a leap. [94]
pushed sound
frequently out of tune sound

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette March 9

Up you come out of the stream, shaking water off your body and grabbing a towel on the clothes line and drying yourself with it. You remember your spouse reminded you to hang the remainder of the laundry on the line. You pick the clothes basket off of the ground and place it on the picnic table directly behind the cabin. You place a large blanket on the clothes line. You smell the clean fragrance of fresh linen and bring the blanket close to your face. Hearing an automobile nearby, you imitate its sound. It’s your spouse. They say, “Honey, I’m back!” You say, “I’m hanging clothes on the line!” You clothespin a pair of pants on the line so they will know that you have been working. As your spouse walks to the back of the cabin, you run to them giving them a hug with an adoring sigh.

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette March 8

You are vacationing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. You’re standing in the middle of a gently racing stream in back of the log cabin you’ve rented for the week. Your arms rest easily on top of the stream, buoyed up by the running current. You breathe in the fragrance of the honeysuckle flowers blooming on the stream’s shore. Hearing the lazy sound of a bee, you imitate its sound. You move your arms back and forth, feeling the mountain sun above warming your face and chest, and the swirling mountain water below refrigerating your legs and hands. You stretch to the green-treed mountains above you, take a deep breath and plunge straight down into the water. Up you come with your arms above your head, blowing water out of your mouth. Shaking the water off of your upper body you call, “Life is beautiful!”

Quiz Ten Scores

Am19 - Absent
daddyzlittleangel - 12/11
dreams - 10/11
Flossy - 7/11
Jillian - 11/11
maviecestmusique - 12/11
patato splat - 11/11
shoedeedoodoo - 9/11
Thedairyqueen - Absent

The big idea: Your singers throats will respond to conductor's hands. Yes, lower conducting when the students are singing higher is very good; however if your hands are tense as a conductor, the choral sound will reflect the tension seen in the hands. Instrumentalists conducting choral, in my opinion, need to be careful of this. I think that is why a baton does not communicate like the hands can for choral singing.

Stephanie,

Good imagination. Invite us with your body and voice. Teach by way of sending an invitation for those to participate in something that is beautifully compelling. Notice how Frauke does that as she teaches her groups vocal technique. You guys are doing great work. It's a fun class!

Quiz Chapter Twelve

1. [T or F] The higher one sings, the higher correspondingly one breathes. [89]

2. Low tones are: A. unnatural B. natural C. supernatural D. Sensual [89]

3. Therefore: A. do B. do not C. always D. never push out to much breath. [89] [B or D]

4. Start the tone as one starts the tone on a: A. Kazoo B. Cello C. Violin D. Mandolin E. The postmodern deconstructive language approach – “Any of these! Sure, they all work!” [89]

5-6. Circle the two exercises not mentioned in the list for developing high range in singers:

a. Stepwise runs
b. Broken ascending triadic chords
c. Sing slowly
d. As the singers t0 make a physical motion contrary to the direction in which they are singing
e. Producing pitches without awareness of how high they are singing
f. Change the vowel to “ee” in the upper voice [90]

7. For every jump, ask the singer to imagine: A. faster air B. slower air C. stagnant halitosis air D. Holding air [90]

8. What vowel should one change to when working the upper voice in range extension high? A. oo B. ee C. ah D. eh [90]

9. For downward range extension, the conductor should ask for: A. fishmouth B. rabbit teeth C. fishmouth and rabbit teeth D. big mouth and buck teeth [91]

10. For downward range extension, the conductor should use what stepwise exercise? A. 3 note B. 4 note C. 5 note D. sticky note [91]

11. [T or F] The conductor should always minimize the feeling of singing high by conducting low. [91]

Bonus: The big idea for Thursday was captured with the sound of a[n]:
A. Owl B. Dog C. Cow D. Hum E. Call

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette March 1

A great snow hill has been pushed up against the front of the BBC student center. With hats, gloves, and oversized winter coats, the Dreyer children run out of Fletcher Dorm. calling up the sidewalk to their friends, “Let’s go sliding!” Running to the hill’s base, they quickly climb to the top, and slide down on their back ends, calling, “Wow, that was fun and fast.” Reaching down and throwing a snowball at their friends, they soon frolic in the snow. They enjoy one last scramble up the wintry hill gliding down gleefully on their derrières. Throwing up their hands with glee to the heavens, they sigh with pleasure.

Quiz Nine Scores

Hoot like a you know what!

AM19 - 13/12
daddyzlittleangel - 13/12

dreams - 13/12

Flossy - 12/12

Jillian - Absent

maviecestmusique - 13/12

potato splat - 9/12

Shoedeedoodoo - 12/12

Thedairyqueen - 11/12

Alicia, good work! planted, secure in your vignette, and got us working the body. Running in place is a good idea. Good eye contact. I would say that you can use your voice even more effectively by calling past us. There was good head resonance in the speaking voice. I just thought I like for you to speak beyond us [not look beyond us] a bit more. Next time I'd like you to sing and have us imitate you based on your singing voice. Keep the vignettes short. Remember, we only have 5 to 6 minutes for the warm-up.

The big idea -- well whoood want to really say!

Quiz Chapter 11

1. My question was confusing. You all got credit for it. My point is that we all use far too much chest resonance in our speaking voices. In other words, we speak lower than we should. The ideal is to mix head voice into the speaking voice.

2-3. You must equalize the registers by a correct and varied use of the Head Tones, and by diligent practice of Solfeggio. [82]

Voice Calling
Repertoire
Turkey Calling
Solfeggio
Upper Voice
Scales
Head Tones
Vocalises
Falsetto Tone
Placement Exercises

4. Which register[s] are more frequently used and therefore more frequently abused.
A. Upper
B. Middle
C. Lower
D. A and C
E. B and C
F. None of These [83]

5-8. Circle the examples [mentioned in your text on p. 84] of vocal abuse in young singers.

Cheerleading
Oversinging while learning a new worship song
Children asked to sing in low keys
Poor posture when playing an instrument
Young baritones who want to sing soprano arias
Boys who want to feel “macho” using excess chest voice
Imitating radio and television recordings of popular music
Singing Show Music
Singing Operatic roles too soon [84]

9. [T or F] A voice that is cultivated from the bottom up will be unlikely to develop large breaks. [85]

10. Many times amateur singers attempt to carry the chest voice higher and higher until they reach the point at which they can say:
A. Nothing due to severe hoarseness
B. “It hurts. I’m hoarse. I hope I don’t have to speak to my voice teacher after the rehearsal.
C. “Wow! I can sing high”
D. “I can’t sing that high”
E. “God reigns on high!” [85]

11. The point of transition can be referred to as the:
A. The place where “it hurts” B. The yodel C. The break D. The change [85]

12. [T or F] As the pitch comes down, the singing generally should be lighter and softer. [86]

Bonus 1: What is the best question a vocal pedagogue can ask his student?
How did that feel?
Bonus 2: What is the best question a student can ask a vocal pedagogue?
How did that sound?

Quiz Eight Scores

AM19 - 13/11
daddzylittleangel - 12/11
dreams - 12/11
Flossy - 11/11
Jillian - 11/11
maviecestmusique - Absent
potato splat - 12/11
shoedeedoodoo - 14/11
Thedairyqueen - Absent

David, good work with your life-activity exercise. Fine contextualization to a physically active time of day for students of BBC. The echo created from Jackon Hall was a nice touch. Yes, very clear and, as I think Melody mentioned, asking for an intense piano was helpful. My only suggestion is to stay planted. Perhaps uncomfortable for you; however very confidence-inspiring for the student who is watching you.

The two big ideas today:

1. Dynamic levels will be relative to the size of the instrument that is producing them. Remember that a forte for Concert Choir is different from the forte of Chamber Singers.

2. The best question for the vocal pedagogue to ask his sudent is: "How did that feel?"
The best question for the student to ask the vocal pedagogue is: "How did that sound?" The implications concerning these questions are enormous. We're on very important ground here.

Our prayer today [Happiness] taught us that the pleasures of God are meant for our pleasure. "Teach me that if I do not live a life that satisfies thee, I shall not live a life that will satisfy myself."

It was a lively class! Good work.

Quiz Chapter Nine

1. [T or F] No dynamic levels are relative to the size of the instrument that is producing them. [72]

2. [T or F] Beginners should always remember to “let themselves go” while singing. [72]

3. [T or F] The body feels the same for piano singing as it does for piu forte. [75]

4. [T or F] The lower you sing the lighter you sing. [75]

5. [T or F] Alternation of forte and piano singing at fast tempi should teach constant diaphragm and breathing activity between the two extremes. [75]

6. Forte and piano dynamics should be taught so that the body should feel exactly the same. What is the only difference? A. Quality of sound B. Amount of sound C. Placement of sound D. Vowel difference of sound [75]

7. [T or F] The choir should be taught how to produce a correct piano first in order to learn how to produce a correct forte sound. [75]

8. Which is the better question for the vocal pedagogue to ask their student?
A. “How did that feel?” B. “How did that sound?” C. “How ‘bout them Steelers?” [74]

9. Which is the best approach for teaching dynamics? A. Extended periods of pianissimo singing on vowels that will cultivate head tone, especially the “oo” vowel. B. Piu Forte vocalization C. The two in combination D. Neither of the two [74]

10. [T or F] Always sing the full forte so that there is no room for crescendo. [72]

11. Did you read chapter 9 completely for today? Y or N

Bonus: Steps to consider concerning vowel placement: from my blog comments 02/19/07

1. There must be a scale where pure vowels can be heard and sung.
2. There must be an overarching core vowel that builds homogeneity into the scale.
3. There must be a location where pure vowels can be placed

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette February 20

Entering your warm and cozy dorm room and taking off your coat and hanging it up in your closet, you warm your hands by blowing on them. You stomp the remaining snow off your shoes and kick them off accidentally on your roommate’s top bunk. Reaching up to your roommate’s bunk, you take them off the bunk and bending over place them neatly on the floor beside your bunk. Reaching to the top of your book shelf, you take down a large black book you regularly enjoy reading. Reading, you recognize with an affirmative hum that these are sweet words. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” You nod in recognition. You put the book on your desk. You hum affirmatively with your hands cupped on your face. You point straight upward saying, “Yes, to Him be the glory!”

Quiz Seven Scores

AM19 - 10/10
daddyzlittle angel - 12/10
dreams - 7/10
Flossy - 9/10
Jillian - 13/10
maviecestmusique - 10/10
potato splat - 10/10
Shoedeedoodoo - 10/10
Thedairyqueen - 8/10

Wow! Vocal placement is critical! Remember that it's something I'm passionate about, commonly, because I didn't understand it as an undergraduate student. I heard the pure vowel from some of the great opera singers I sang with; however I swallowed the pure vowel.

3 steps to consider:

1. There must be a scale where the pure vowels can be heard and sung.
solfeggio
2. There must be an overarching core vowel that builds homogeneity into the scale
as in "sought" [do, fa, sol, la]
3. There must be a location where the pure vowels can be placed
the higher palate, unswallowed, closed-mouthed hum.

Quiz Chapter Eight

1. “The term ‘voice placing’ is a misnomer. ‘Voice-_______’ is a more appropriate expression.” A. Fixing B. Placing C. Resonance D. Calling E. Finding [64]

2. “What can prevent the focus of tone?” A. compressed inhaled air B. non-compressed inhaled air C. Failing to inhale air and fainting D. Failing to sing the worship song, “This is the air I breathe!” [64]

3-6. Circle the 4 animal sounds/mouth positions your text associates with “creating a core sound” and placement. [67-69]

Hamster chattering
Fishmouth
Cow mooing
Bumblebee flying
Shark biting
Crows calling
Cats scratching
Elephant trumpeting
Dog sniffing
Chimpanzee belching
Feline yawning
Owl blinking
Camel Spitting
Rabbit teeth

7. [T or F] The sound should be in the nose, but the nose resonance should not be in the sound. [67]

8. [T or F] After the initial concepts of placement have been established, by and large, the refinement of placement rests in the domain of the solo singer. [69]

9.”Ultimate success in the development of proper resonance and placement culminates in a beautiful, blended choral sound, and is directly related to the choir’s grasp of the concept of ____ ____.” A. Vocal sighing B. Head voice C. Voice placing D. Focused tone [70]

10. [T or F] By allowing the voice to sing freely with a relaxed and open tone, the amateur voice will find its proper placement. [69]

Extra Credit: “The beauty of the gospel is that, although we are the means by which God is pleased to diffuse His glory, He is the end. If we are the beam, He is the sun. If we are the echo, He is the shout. If we are the appetizer, He is the meal.”

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette February 13

The world is under the vast white blanket snow and transparent ice. You’re standing [clothed with a big coat, gloves, and warm cap] in a cornfield of snow untouched by any imprint other than the delicate hoof markings of deer that have wandered across this white sea. Lifting your arms up and down anticipating the angel that you’ll make in the snow, you slowly go to the ground making a snow angel with your hands and feet. Making sure that your angel looks angelic, you make the angel-like motion three times. Slowly getting back into a sitting position, you shiver and stand stretching high to the sky like an angel ascending. You sigh anticipating glorification. You encourage yourself by speaking, “Though my sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

Quiz Six Scores

AM19 - Absent
daddyzlittleangel - 11/11
dreams - 11/11
Flossy - 9/11
Jillian - 9/11
maviecestmusique - 11/11
patatosplat - 12/11
shoedeedoodoo - 11/11
Thedairyqueen - 11/11

Yes, be careful with those non-voiced consonant exercises. Warning: Unfortunate combinations can occur.

The big idea of today's class was: The support sensation consists of flexible diaphragmatic pushes. There were 19 life-activity exercises to teach you the flexible diaphragmatic activity; however connecting those pushes with your instrument [without locking your body] is absolute essential.

Wasn't Frauke wonderful? Remember what we observed:

1. Her intensity was large than the room's.
2. Her interaction is generous with the choir.
3. Her flexibility [changing the grab the coffee - towel fell off - put on your pants and shirt - go back and get your coffee] and spontaneity were enjoyable.

Remember, don't lose your choir. Enjoy the laughter that comes from doing the life-activity exercises; however when the laughter peaks, top it with more intensity. The dance of work and play, play and work - This dance is hard to learn.

Abigail, good work! Good head voice with creative contextualization at BBC. The refreshing water and luscious smelling rose outside the Underground Cafe saved us from the anxiety of the smelly giant. A couple of things:

1. Intensify your head voice away from us. Remember, your voice has to "effectually" call us to attention.
2. Try, perhaps, walking the 18 steps [was it?] while we are hissing on exhalation.
3. With a longer vignette, keep the life-activities moving, especially the transitions. The seams in the garment ["No seam in His garment / All else rags to hide"] can easily tear.

Great class! I enjoyed it. Melody, we missed you! I hope all is well.

Doc
"It's amazing, the Church can sing without PowerPoint! Soli Deo Gloria!"

Quiz Chapter Six

1. Only the bright human beings breathe through their A. toes B. heels C. knees D. nose The less intelligent breathe through their throats. [48]

2. [T or F] Finish the tone but not the expiration. [49]

3-10. Underline the life activities or objects mentioned as enhancing diaphragmatic activity:

1. Vigorous Running
2. Canine breathing
3. Feline meowing
4. Hobbit gibberish
5. Honey-tasting
6. Fast breathing from watching 24
7. Exhalation-hissing
8. Canine Barking
9. “Gospelicious” Bible Reading
10. Chapel-snoring [invigorates deep breathing and palate stimulating – also enhances multi-tasking skills]
11. Candle-smelling [preferably a Yankee Sweet Strawberry Tart]
12. Fat man and witchlike laughing
13. Window-puffing
14. Feather-playing
15. Balloon-filling
16. Soup-Cooling

These answers [8 correct] come from the 19 suggested diaphragm activity excercises [pp. 51-54]

11. Did you read chapter six in full for today’s class. "Will it be yes or no?" :/

Extra Credit [2 points]

On my blog comments for February 5, I mentioned “Two big ideas that dominated the atmosphere of the class. Which two:

1. Heavy Jaw
2. Tongue Relaxation
3. What to do with the vignette [jump out or stay in]
4. Diaphragm-pushing
5. Lip-relaxing
6. Head voice calling
7. Soft Palate Massaging

Chamber Singers Relaxation Exercise Vignette February 6

Perambulating in a pine forest near your log cabin, you happen upon the perfect Christmas tree. Overwhelmed with the intoxicating scent of a pine grove and hearing the snow crunch beneath your feet, you approach the tree. With an axe you’ve brought, you cut it down near the roots. You pick up the tree, walk it back to your red Jeep Cherokee, strapping it to the top of your mean red machine. [Now imagine] that you are in your living room of wood walls and red couches. You're looking at your tree. It's lighted now and ornamented; however it's missing one thing. It's missing its star. Reaching high to the tree’s top, you place the lighted angel on the top of the tree. As you feel the warmth of your home, the smell of the pine mingled with the fragrance of a Yankee candle sweet strawberry tart, you sigh with a feeling of domestic tranquility.