Alisha Reeve MUSE 356 - Choral Methods Citation 6: Structuring a Musical Choral Rehearsal Steven M.

Demorest January 1996 Discussion Structuring a choral rehearsal can often be difficult. According to Demorest this can be made easier by taking advantage of natural breaks in the music. In this way sections of music can be rehearsed if needed without pieces feeling unfinished. It is also important to use proper sequencing. If improperly sequenced it can leave the rehearsal feeling boring and unenergized, proper sequencing will keep students engaged and ready to sing. You should also be sure to provide aesthetic experiences. If the choirs do not ever get to have their experiences then they are missing out on a lot. Knowing pieces structurally will be very important in determining how they might be divided in lessons. This articles information is useful, but also somewhat obvious to me. I find that the information on using the structure of pieces to dictate rehearsals glaringly obvious. I would never cut my choir off in the middle of a phrase and call it quits for the day. That seems almost laughable to me. He also gives examples of the structuring of several different pieces. It is nice to see the way he does it, but also not entirely necessary. Perhaps because I have experienced choirs structured in this way I feel that this information is second nature where others with different experiences might find it extremely useful.