One of the advantages of offering workshops is the opportunity for me as a teacher to give informations to many students at once, instead of taking a little bit of time from everyone's lessons. Workshops also allow us to explore more depth of the topic than I would probably take in a single lesson.
This year I will be offering 5 workshops:
- MMTA Theory and Voice Exam Prep (Fall session)
- MMTA Theory and Voice Exam Prep (January session)
- Memorization Strategies
- Dealing with Performance Anxiety
- Tai Chi and Singing
MMTA Theory and Voice Exam Prep
Last year was my first year really preparing students for MMTA Theory Exams. I had a student take the exam the year before, but he had had extensive piano training, so we hardly had to review at all. Last year, 3 students chose to take the theory exams, and this year, I have a few more that are interested. I've changed my approach to warm-ups and skills work in lessons for all students so that they are getting a little exposure, and I've asked students who want to take the exams to sign up for longer lessons or extra lessons to make sure we have time to work through everything.
I'm adding two 90 minutes theory workshops to help students review the material in a group setting. I'll have different activities and games to help reinforce concepts in a fun way. Students will pay a small fee for this workshop.
I'm one of those people that is continually revising, but as it stand right now, this is what the structure of the workshop will look like:
I'm one of those people that is continually revising, but as it stand right now, this is what the structure of the workshop will look like:
- Part I: Review and Instruction
- Prior to the first workshop, all of the students will have had at least a short introduction to each of these terms or concepts. Many of my students have already learned these things from choir class or other music lessons.
- Rhythm tree (whole note=two half notes, half note=two quarters, etc.)
- time signature, bar lines, measure
- Sharp, flat, natural
- bass and treble clef
- repeat signs
- tempo, dynamics, articulation (Specific terms for this test)
- intervals--visual and aural identification--use interval songs. (Only the intervals that the exams cover.)
- Part II: Individual Work and Tutor Stations
- Students work in their Theory workbooks. Worksheets will be provided for students that are taking the voice exam instead of the theory exam.
- If needed, during this time students may move to a station where one of my advanced students can answer questions. I will also float during this time, checking student progress and answering questions.
- Part III: Reinforce With Games
- Speed drills with flashcards, reviewing note names, terms, and intervals. The team that gets the most correct in a certain amount of time wins.
- Bingo
- Basketball. Every correct answer earns one shot.
Memorization Strategies
I've presented this full workshop 5 times now, and I've also incorporated chunks of it into studio classes when I didn't have a full session of singers. Memorization skills are essential for singers. Until you can get out of the music and really focus on what you are communicating, you can't really make music. I am a firm believer that everyone can memorize, we just need to find the right strategies and not wait until the last minute to start the memorization process.
Most young singers still think that the best way to memorize is just to sing the song over and over with the music in front of you just in case you forget. My workshop explores multiple methods of memorization, employing aural, visual, kinesthetic, and analytical approaches to make memorization faster and more secure. Several of these options actually work well in a group. We will also take a little time for individual work with a few of the strategies. By the end of the session, students will be fairly secure on a song that most of them see for the first time at the beginning of the workshop. (Yes, it is a very simple folk song, but still, learning and memorizing that quickly is an accomplishment to be proud of.)
Dealing With Performance Anxiety
Because anxiety has been an issue for me, I've done a lot of reading and exploration on this topic. Pieces of this workshop have found their way into lessons, but I haven't presented the full workshop in a few years, so it's definitely time to do it again. One of my favorite parts of this workshop it talking about how feeling fear/anxiety and feeling excited actually cause many of the same physiological responses in the body. We can transform our fear into energy that helps us perform well. I also cover several techniques for calming the body and mind. And of course, I emphasize that being well prepared goes a long way towards making a performance a more enjoyable experience.
Tai Chi and Singing
This is my newest workshop. Although I've been bringing tai chi and qigong into voice lessons for a couple years now, I've only given one workshop on incorporating the two, and that was for the last MMTA convention. This will be a slight variation on that, teaching students more of the depth of the movements and body alignment. Tai chi and qigong exercises will be done as we might do them in a tai chi class, and then repeated while singing to reinforce breath and phrase shaping.
For this year, the memorization, anxiety, and tai chi workshops will be free to all of my students. In future years, I will offer them for a small fee and I will invite other teachers and students to attend. All 3 workshops have enough material and depth that students could attend multiple times and still be learning new things.
If you are interested in having me present any of these workshops to your students or your teacher group, please contact me for more information about rates and scheduling.
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