Practice Challenge week 5

This week, I'm on my own.  No one turned in a practice journal for this week.

Session #1

I have laryngitis today due to possible reflux and an a massive asthma related coughing fit last night.  I did enough warming up to know that silence is a better option for today.  Luckily, I'm not teaching much today so I can get some vocal rest.  

Today's practice is mostly listening as I do other work.  

I listened again twice to Milada Subrtova (5:40), and then listed to this recording by Kate Royal (6:25). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUxnffqM4b0

I also listened to the recitation and diction lesson on my CD twice each for about 20 minutes.  

Total time on this song today:  38 minutes

I also said I'd record O Holy Night in French to help the student of another teacher.  Unfortunately I can't sing, but I did download the IPA and review.  

Practice Challenge Week 3

Session #1

Last week I was sick and didn't get to do a full focused practice session for the last day, so that's where we're starting today.

The goal was 45 minutes working in sections, singing notes and words together.

I'm continuing my work on Im Abendrot and trying to fit in practice between lessons.  10 minutes done.
15 more minutes between lessons got me to the end of this song, working in chunks and working memorize (study then sing).
7 more minutes working the same way on Frühling.  Then I took a short singing break to play through the accompaniment.  I like to do this, even though I have to play it way under tempo because it helps me get familiar with the harmonic structure and how my notes fit into that.  Plus, this one is just fun to play.  13 minutes.

5 more minutes working words and notes together on Beim Schlafengehn

Total--50 minutes, and it was good practice, but I still didn't get the 45 minutes I wanted on just singing words and notes together.  I'll try again tomorrow.


Session #2

Decided to try again for the 45 minute session tomorrow and use today to start the practicing based on this week's winner.

As the year progresses, I'm getting fewer practice journals turned in.  Ellen Hahn was surprised to learn that she was the winner for this week because she had had a busy week and only got one day of practicing in.  The good news is that it was quality practice.

Ellen's Goal:  Fake confidence on both songs.   (I love this.  It's directly related to what we talked about in her lesson.)

Ellen's Strategies:  Her practice included warm-ups and sight-reading practice in addition to working on her two songs. (One in English and one in a foreign language).

• Foreign language song--Focused on keeping one section of the song lighter and more open.  
• English Song--sang through twice focusing on space and vowels.  

Ellen's Time:  25 minutes

I started with working on "What Would I Give?"  This is a great song and not super difficult, but it does have several places where the melody jumps down a 5th, 6th, or 7th.  Keeping the vowels lined up and smoothing out those lines is a real challenge.  I sang through it once with accompaniment thinking about the space and vowels.  Then I isolated some of the trouble spots for more focused attention.  When I sang through it the second time, I did it without accompaniment.  This helps me to really listen and feel what is happening with the space and vowels.  It also quickly exposes tuning issues or notes that aren't as solid as you thought they were.  7 minute.  

Then I switched focus to Beim Schlafengehn working from letter E to letter G, since this is the high section where finding that exact resonance and breath connection makes a big difference.  I also found that at F, I have to make sure that I'm very loose, even though it is  closed vowel.  Speaking of big jumps, this one has a 9th going down to an ah vowel.  I'll be doing a little drill on that too.  I have to keep Zauber lifted at the beginning of the phrase to help the last note of the phrase (the low one) stay lined up.  10 minutes

Went back to the top of 19 where I'm still not solid on notes and words and worked that a little.  I'm focusing mostly on notes, but that idea of lifted vowels is also something I am working on here.  Lining up the vowels is going to be essential here to use the breath in the most efficient way so I can get through this longer phrase.  I'm almost there.  8 minutes.  

Going back now to play through the song (see notes for yesterday's practice for why I like this.) 5 minutes.  

Today's Total:  30 minutes.

Session #3

Sang though Frühling twice with a few stops to work.  Played through once.

Today's Total: 10 minutes

Session #4
Singing words and notes together.  45 minutes is the goal to meet Bella's day 3 from last week.  

Started with a few exercises with straws for warm-ups, followed by straws on the high sections and long phrases of Frühling.  With the straw and water bottle, I can get through the last phrase.  That means it's possible for me to actually sing that.  I just need to build up my stamina.  10 minutes.  

Yay!  My low notes are coming back.  The C in the first line feels and sounds much better today.  
Did 5 minutes singing and then 5 more just playing to give my voice a little rest.  The tessitura of this song makes it very tiring for my voice when I'm just singing straight through.  It is getting easier though, so working in chunks and resting when needed is definitely the right strategy for now.  

I admit defeat.  I'm not going to get 45 minutes of singing the words and notes together on these Strauss songs.  It's just physically too difficult.  

Switch to my English songs by Vicki Tucker Courtney for a little more sing through time.  Using my CDs for accompaniment support.  The CD for "What Would I Give?" is just a little fast for me.  
Today I am loving "I Am the Wind"  although I still don't have a definite choice for the meaning and story of the song.  So much potential in this one.  35 minutes.  

Total practice time today:  55 minutes.  

Practice Challenge week 2

This week's winner is Isabella Huerta.

Practice Session #1

Bella had a great first practice for the week spending 60 minutes learning the melody to her new song.  One of the things I'm discovering is that my students like to sing on loo, but it's actually one of my harder vowels to work with.  For compromise, I'm doing some singing on ee and working on improving the resonance of my oo even while I'm learning notes.  Also, Song to the Moon is not as new to me as Bella's song is for her, so I'll be doing some other things in this session as well, such as memorizing notes and rhythms and working memorized.  Also singing on solfege.  It's harder to memorize without words, but my visual memorization (remembering what the notes and rhythms look like) is getting better.  I also alternated playing and singing the melody.  Also compared similar sections checking rhythm and note changes.  Also listened to Renee Fleming once.  Then I worked notes for the last couple of lines of September, mostly playing and then buzzing.  Also some singing on solfege to solidify the tricky intervals.  Did a lot of buzzing to help the breath in the last phrase.  Solfege drill for notes top of 14 through page 15.  Also drilled on buzz (while playing the melody) on 14 to see how much I can get in one breath.  Also played the piano part a lot and drill my part against block chords to feel how it all goes to gather.

60 minutes.  Done.  Sometimes it's nice when students don't show up.

Practice session #2

Listening to the Gundula Janowitz recordings of September and Bein Schlafengehn on Spotify as I did other work.  11 minutes.

Bella's goal:  listen and pronounce worlds on rhythm
Bella's time:  36 minutes
Bells'a strategies:  clapping, speaking in rhythm

I'm working September today.  In addition to speaking the words in rhythm, I'm checking my IPA and translation so I'm getting the pronunciation exact and I'm memorizing the meaning as I work on the words.  I'm also working one section at a time and trying to memorize.  I also mixed in playing the melody while speaking.  This word drill stuff is great for when you can't make a lot of noise singing.
20 minutes took me up to  letter E., 2 more minutes between students working the first  measures after E, then played piano part from beginning for 5 more minutes.

20 more minutes working to letter B in Beim Schlafengehn focusing on words and rhythm.  Then a sing through of Im Abendrot, stopping to drill a few spots.  5 minutes

Today's total focused practice: 52
Total with listening: 62

I love these songs and I don't want to stop practicing, but life and stamina sometimes demand that.  I feel like I've made a lot of progress with these songs in this week's practice.  Even though I haven't done a lot of work on the breathing, being more certain on the notes, rhythms, and words has helped a lot and phrases I wasn't getting through last week are working this week.

A few days off  

Practicing was going great this week and then I didn't feel well and didn't do much of anything for a few days.  The good news is that the songs have still been going through my head, so I'm not totally ignoring them.

Practice session #3

Bella's goal:  sing words and notes together
Bella's time:  45 minutes
Bella's strategies:  working in sections

Because I went home sick on Wednesday, I didn't remember to grab any of the materials I needed for my practicing.  Consequently, I'm doing a modified version of this practice session and will repeat Bella's goals, times, and strategies for this session as my first day of practice for the next week.

Step 1: I did have my IPA and translations saved on the computer and I had access to multiple recordings both on CD and from online sources.  The first chunk of today's practice will be writing out the words to Im Abendrot as I listen.  That took about 6 minutes.
Step 2: Listen to the one section at a time (multiple times), trying to remember what the music looks like and working on memorizing the words.  Did a little bit of marking, but no full singing.  Worked on solidifying the memorization of the first two stanzas, letting the meanings of the words help me.  30 minutes.
Step 3: Just listening to this song over and over (different singer each time) as I do prep work for tomorrow's lessons.  40 minutes.

Total minutes for today:  76 (Only 36 minutes focused practice, but as I said, I'll get the rest done on the first day next week.)

Practice Challenge Week 1

I kept thinking that I'd get back to this and make it look more organized and polished, but it didn't happen.  So here is the quickly typed version of my practicing based on Ellen Hahn's practice journal for the week.

Yay! A few students are actually turning in practice journals.

As promised, here is the report for week 1 of me using the winner's goals, practice strategies and times.

I'm also adding 3-5 minutes of warm-ups (which most of them are recording, but I hope they're including.

Session #1
Winner's Goals, time, and strategies
G: work on words, learn melody
T:15
S: speak, then sing.  Work melody on loo.

My tools:
IPA and word-by-word translation of Beim Schlafengehn

1.  speak the words
2.  speak the words while playing the notes (to check rhythm and pitch).
3.  sing

I did 20 minutes and got through to letter B in a song I haven't worked before.  I was surprised at how fast it came together.  I know I shouldn't be, but I was.

Session #2
G: B section of Song 2 and review Song
T:20
S: chunks to learn melody


Review Im Abendrot
read translation and IPA (a chunk at a time then sing)--working memorized (study then sing without looking) running out of time so I only worked up to letter E that way, just say through the rest once.

Beim Schlafengehn
focused just on the notes and rhythms B to C, played the melody, played accompaniment, sang with no piano

25 minutes total
It's hard to stop once you get started.  Im Abendrot is closer to memorized than I thought, and it's definitely at the stage where I need to be working memorized.  The long phrases are much easier when I'm not looking at the music.
Beim Sclafengehn has some weird intervals when you just look at the melody, (they are gorgeous and make sense with the accompaniment), but I seem to be picking them up faster than I did with the other songs.  It might also be easier because I have done a lot more listening before learning this song.  Excited for the next practice session when I should be able to get to my favorite part of the song.

Session #3
G: difficult sections
T:20
S:  sang through several times, worked sections, worked on sustaining dynamics

Doing this is in small chunks today between lessons, etc.
I'm having drainage and breathing problems again, and the songs I'm working are beastly difficult, so I won't be singing through several times on the new rep.
Buzzing through "Repetition"--which I think is perfect for repetitive practice.  Quick warm-up and 3 times of this song 2 buzzing and one singing) during my 10 minute break.
What Would I Give?  Read a little more about Rossetti and explored more about what the poem might mean in terms of both the depression she dealt with and her religious life.  Digging into the meaning definitely helps with dynamics and phrase shaping.  I still don't have any definitive answers, but I love the song more each time I sing it.  Today I buzzed twice and sang twice.  Including the reading, I spent about 15 minutes on this song.

I'm learning that my ADD definitely figures into my practice.  I have a hard time getting going sometimes, but then I don't want to stop.  All my times this week have exceeded those that the student did because I just wanted to do more.

Worked letter D to E in September since this is one of the most difficult places for me for the breath.  Plus, I'm still not 100% on the notes for sterbenden.  5 minutes.

Total practice time today:30 minutes.

Oops.  Thought I was done practicing, but then I read through the notes from the session before and remembered that I wanted to do the fun part of Beim Sclafengehn, so I'm back again.
Started out playing my notes, then the accompaniment, one phrase at a time.  Worked up to the last page.  Just sang the last page for fun a few times because I like it.  10 more minutes for a total of 40 minutes today when I didn't think I had much time.

More…I just listened to 17 minutes of professional recordings of the Strauss songs while I reconciled lessons and emailed lesson notes.  That tells me two things.  Number 1, I can make contact with my music while doing other things, and two, it takes too long to reconcile.

Practice Challenge 2014-2015

Because I'm slightly crazy, but mostly because I'm trying to help my students practice more and practice better, I'm running a challenge program this year.  I'm hoping that it will also make my own practicing and blogging more frequent and meaningful.  You can read the details below.

Practice Challenge 2014-2015

Jeannine Robinett

Objective:  Increase the frequency, efficiency, and effectiveness of practice for students and teacher. 

Dates:  This program will run September 2, 2014 through May 29, 2015 for students.  (June 5 for teacher.)  

Who can participate?:  Any student currently studying in the Robinett Studio. 

How does it work?:

1. Students who want to participate use the Robinett Studio Practice Journal (available in the File Area of the website)to organize and record their practice. Write on the back or use additional paper as needed.   
2. At each lesson, participating students turn in a Practice Journal for the previous week.  
3. After my last lesson of the week, I review all the Practice Journals and select the one with the highest number of qualifying minutes of practice.  
4. The following week, I match the number of minutes and the practice strategies the student used as I do my own practicing.  I will also blog about my practicing, probably one blog for the week, but it may be more.   You can read the blogs at http://jmrvoicenotes.blogspot.com
5. The person with the highest number of winner weeks for the year will receive a certificate of recognition and a prize.  The prize will most likely be a book about music or a Groth Music Gift Card.  

Requirements:

1. To count a day’s practice toward this challenge, all columns of the Practice Journal must be filled in for that day.  
2. Approved practice strategies include any listed in your lesson notes from me, or in the handouts in the File Area of the website.  Exceptions are listed  below.  
3. If you did not fill in all columns when you used approved practice strategies, or if you used strategies from the exception list or came up with your own ideas, please count those minutes in the “Other” category for your totals. 

Exceptions and other details:  

1. If a student has longer than a week between lessons, I will use their top 7 days in determining the winner for that week.  
2. The upper limit for practice time to be counted for this challenge is 90 minutes per day.  There are two reasons for this.  First, I can’t commit to more than 90 minutes every day.  Second, young voices don’t need to be practicing more than that, and excessive practicing can tire out the voice and actually slow progress.  
3. Listening to, or reading about music can count as up to 10 minutes of approved practice per day, IF your listening/reading comes from the listening list and suggested reading list found in the File Area or is approved at the lesson prior.  Any links I include in your lesson notes related to songs you are currently working on will count as approved listening and reading without the time limit listed above. 
4. Although these may sometimes be helpful, the following practice strategies DO NOT count towards your total number of minutes for this challenge:  singing in the car, singing in the shower, singing in choir or rehearsals for a show, singing while doing chores.
5. When we have a full calendar week off school, I will most likely skip that week for this program.  For example, I will use the winner from the week of December 15-19 to structure my practice for the week starting January 5.

The Practice Journal looks like this, but is set up as a table.  Evidently that formatting doesn't copy/paste into blogger. 

Robinett Studio Practice Journal

Student Name:       

Include name in blog & other recognition:  YES  NO

Lesson date:

Assignments or goals for the week (These can include technique, song study, reading, listening, etc):

1.

2.

3.

Date	Goal (s) for this practice session	What did you work on and which strategies did you use?	How long did you practice?   (approved/other)	How did you feel about what you did?  What did you learn today?  How did you improve?

Total # number of minutes from the approved strategies:

      Total number of other minutes related to your music: 

GRAND TOTAL:
Are there any questions or concerns that arose in your practicing that you need discuss with your teacher at your next lesson?