Winter 2012, Volume 31, issue 2 Contents From Your President . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Bill Zurkey In This Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Tim Cloeter Building Identity in Your Women’s Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Richard Schnipke Review and Application of Rhythmic Literacy in the Choral Rehearsal: Using Takadimi with the Sound Connections Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Corey Fowler Whence I Came . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Robert J. Ward Less Talk, More Do . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Eric Kauffman Upcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Summer Conference flyer . . . . . 17 Summer Conference Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Leadership Roster . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Advertisers Bob Rogers Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CMS Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Miami Univ. Dept. of Music . . . . 6 Musical Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Soundwaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 From Your President HappY NeW YeaR, OCDa membeRS! I know what you are thinking: not again, not another New Year greeting. Although we may tire of hearing this annual greeting, it is significant in the con- notation of new beginnings. I love the opportunity for new beginnings. New beginnings are exciting—they let you start over, but with more wisdom and intelligence. You get a chance to spread your life out on a table and take a good look at what is working and what to discard. New beginnings can be a new year, a birthday, a new semester, a new day, new administration, new concert music, new OCDA board, new OCDA Summer Conference, anything. Make your new beginnings meaningful. Here are some quotes that are meaningful to me. Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. —HeNRY WaRD beeCHeR Life is not a dress rehearsal. Stop practicing what you’re going to do and just go do it. In one bold stroke you can transform today. —maRilYN GReY In my new beginning OCDA president’s column last fall, I was remiss in not acknowledging and thanking the past board, under Ben Ayling’s leader- ship, for their incredible dedication and exemplary service to our fine or- ganization. ank you for a job well done. To both the old and new board, you make me proud to be in this organization. e upcoming OMEA Professional Conference, on February 16–18, is an excellent opportunity for our members to share their enthusiasm for our organization. We sponsor three popular OCDA Reading Sessions for high school/university, junior high/middle school, and elementary teachers with packets loaded with nearly $30 of complimentary music (taking the high school/university packet as an example). Plan to attend these sessions, pick up an OCDA sticker for your name tag, and invite someone to attend the OCDA Summer Conference this June 18–20. I will have stickers and so will Dara Gillis, Ben Ayling, Loren Veigel, and Doug Jones. Studies have shown that no matter how much publicity is given an organization, the most effec- tive method of gaining new members is a personal welcome (or putting a sticker on their name tag ). OCDA President Bill Zurkey
Transcript
winter 2012, Volume 31, issue 2
ContentsFrom Your President . . . . . . . . . . . 1
From Your PresidentHappy New year, OCDa members! I know whatyou are thinking: not again, not another NewYear greeting. Although we may tire of hearingthis annual greeting, it is significant in the con-notation of new beginnings.
I love the opportunity for new beginnings.New beginnings are exciting—they let you startover, but with more wisdom and intelligence.You get a chance to spread your life out on a table and take a good look atwhat is working and what to discard. New beginnings can be a new year, abirthday, a new semester, a new day, new administration, new concertmusic, new OCDA board, new OCDA Summer Conference, anything.
Make your new beginnings meaningful. Here are some quotes that aremeaningful to me.
Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. —HeNry warD beeCHer
Life is not a dress rehearsal. Stop practicing what you’re going to do and just go do it. In one bold stroke you can transform today. —marilyN Grey
In my new beginning OCDA president’s column last fall, I was remiss innot acknowledging and thanking the past board, under Ben Ayling’s leader-ship, for their incredible dedication and exemplary service to our fine or-ganization. ank you for a job well done. To both the old and new board,you make me proud to be in this organization.
e upcoming OMEA Professional Conference, on February 16–18, isan excellent opportunity for our members to share their enthusiasm for ourorganization. We sponsor three popular OCDA Reading Sessions for highschool/university, junior high/middle school, and elementary teachers withpackets loaded with nearly $30 of complimentary music (taking the highschool/university packet as an example). Plan to attend these sessions, pickup an OCDA sticker for your name tag, and invite someone to attend theOCDA Summer Conference this June 18–20. I will have stickers and so willDara Gillis, Ben Ayling, Loren Veigel, and Doug Jones. Studies have shownthat no matter how much publicity is given an organization, the most effec-tive method of gaining new members is a personal welcome (or putting asticker on their name tag ).
OCDA President Bill Zurkey
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In the second year of ourOMEA/OCDA Agreement,OCDA now sponsors choral clini-cians for the OMEA Conference.Please support these clinicians andlook for our large poster and addi-tional flyers at each session.OCDA sponsored clinics are:Frank Bianchi, e Keys to Creat-ing Successful and Artistic ChoralPerformances are E.P.I.C.; ChrisVenesile, Vocal Jazz and OtherContemporary Styles Pedagogy:New Perspectives rough Researchand Technology; and Matthew Gar-rett, Vocal Pedagogy for AdolescentSingers: e ABCs of HealthyChoral Singing.
Please support our performinggroups at the OMEA conference.We have three board memberswhose choirs will be performing:Avon Lake Chorale, yours truly;e Ohio State University Men’sGlee Club, Bob Ward; and Witten-berg University Choir, Adam Con.I’m sure that you will get an OCDApromotion at these concerts. Alsoperforming will be longtime mem-ber Hank Dahlman’s Wright StateUniversity Collegiate Chorale andSally Schnieder’s Firestone HSVocal Jazz Ensemble. Also, DanMonek, former OCDA conferencechair, will present a session entitledMaking a Move: Gestures andMovements for Better ChoralSinging. Other OCDA memberspresenting clinics but not necessar-ily sponsored by OCDA are: MikeLisi, Hae-Jong Lee, Scott MacPher-son, and Eva Floyd. You can sup-port our members with your atten-dance at these events.
Another perk to the OMEA/OCDA Agreement is a registration
form that allows our OCDA mem-bers to attend the OMEA Profes-sional Conference without joiningOMEA. Your only cost is confer-ence registration. is is perfect forcommunity choir members, chil-dren’s choir members, high schoolcommunity choirs, and certainlychurch choir directors who maywant to attend the conferencewithout joining OMEA.
All OCDA members are alsowelcome to attend the ACDA Cen-tral Division Conference in FortWayne, IN. e dates for this out-standing conference are March7–10, 2012. Choirs from Ohio per-forming at this conference includeMichael Martin’s Hilliard DarbyHS Symphonic Choir and AmyJohnston Blosser’s Bexley HS VocalEnsemble. Ann Usher and EarlRivers will be conducting sessions,and Hilary Apfelstadt, forever anOhioan, will guest conduct the
Women’s Honor Choir.Looking ahead to summer, we
have a tremendous slate of clini-cians. e next President’s columnwill have more information onSummer Conference. However, thefollowing amazingly talentedchoral musicians will be headlin-ers: Grammy-Award-winningCharles Bruffy of the Phoenix BachChorale and Kansas City Chorale;Paul Oakley, featuring sacredmusic with a comedic touch; Re-becca Reames, representing youngchoirs from middle school to fresh-men in high school; and our ownFrank Bianchi, well respectedamong choral directors in Ohio.Rollo Dilworth will be the guestconductor of the children’s chorus.Sound good? You bet!
Make a new beginning and planto attend one of these great confer-ences. See you in Columbus andFort Wayne. d
Ben Ayling, Bill Zurkey, and Dara Gillis at the OCDA Winter Meeting.
i Offer tHaNks to my fellow boardmembers for heeding the call tocreate a newsletter that builds con-nection, makes our leaders accessi-ble, and facilitates the flow of ideas.We aim to inform, inspire, and in-volve you, and this edition of theNews works on all of those levels!
Articles by Eric Kauffman andCorey Fowler deal with teachingstrategies and introduce two usefulbooks; Rich Schnipke offers ideasfor building identity in yourwomen’s chorus with an emphasison repertoire selection; RobertWard reminds us that teachers of
music at every educational level areall members of the same team; andBill Zurkey urges us to attend up-coming conferences and supportthe many valuable initiatives ofOCDA at those conferences. (Un-fortunately, the Elementary ChoirFestival organized by Suzanne Wal-ters had to be postponed due to in-clement weather, so look for her re-flections on the rescheduled eventin the next issue.)
is is another outstandingissue to share with your colleagues—forwarding the News by e-mailtakes only a moment, but will go a
long way to-ward attractingnew members.And don’t forget to forward theNews to your high school or col-lege students who are interested inour profession.
Lastly, I remind you that I wel-come contributions to the Newsfrom all OCDA members. If youhave an idea for an article you’dlike to write (or you’d like someoneelse to write), send it my way. Simi-larly, I would be happy to includeyour concert and event announce-ments in the News. d
iN maNy CHOral prOGrams, at boththe high school and collegiate lev-els, women’s choruses can struggleto find a sense of identity. is maybe caused by a variety of factors:the premiere ensemble of the or-ganization is the select mixedchoir, the men’s chorus has astronger tradition and following,the women’s chorus is made up ofthe overflow of female singers whowere not selected for the mixed en-sembles, etc. With this in mind, itis incredibly important that wework to help our women’s choirsbuild and establish positive identi-ties. Following are several ideasthat may help, starting with one ofthe most important: repertoire se-lection.
Choose Great Women’s ChorusRepertoireOften we spend a great deal of timeselecting repertoire for our pre-miere mixed ensemble, while de-voting less of our thought and en-ergy to selecting our women’s cho-rus (or other secondary choir)repertoire. We must rememberthat all of our choirs (and singers)deserve to sing the best quality,most engaging and rewarding liter-ature possible. Consider these es-pecially important ideas when se-lecting music for women’s choir:
Select music originally written forwomen’s chorus. While it may betempting to choose SSA or SSAAarrangements of standard, popular,
or favorite mixed choir pieces, bet-ter options for women’s chorususually exist. “Re-voicings,” evenwhen prepared by the composer,are generally lacking in comparisonto the original and often timescome full of problems with range,tessitura, and voice-crossing whichcan lead to choral issues includingintonation, balance, and vocal fa-tigue. Original music for treblevoices is available from all musicalstyle periods and countless con-temporary composers are produc-ing pieces written specifically withthe female voice and chorus inmind.
Select music with great texts. Inprevious eras, many texts set forwomen’s choruses were less thanchallenging or thought provoking(themes of flowers, butterflies, lostlove, etc.). In recent years, moreand more wonderful texts includ-ing great poetry, contemporary set-tings of traditional sacred Latintexts, and multicultural folk textsare being set for female voices.Find texts that expose your stu-dents/singers to poets and cul-tures, give them historical perspec-tive, and challenge them to think innew ways.
Select music of a variety of styles.While we (and our singers) all havepreferences for certain styles ofmusic, it is important to program avariety of musical styles withineach academic year or concert sea-son. As mentioned above, we
would do well to program pieceswritten for women’s chorus fromthe various musical style periodsalong with great contemporary se-lections, world music, folk songs,and spirituals. Challenge yourselfand your singers to move outsideof your comfort zone and exploreall the wonderful styles of musicavailable to present-day women’schoruses.
Select music by female composers.Numerous contemporary femalecomposers, including GwynethWalker, Ruth Watson Henderson,and Jennifer Higdon, write master-fully for the female choir. Whileearlier female composers may bemore difficult to find, they do exist.Francesca Caccini, FannyMendelssohn, and others havewritten beautiful music representa-tive of the earlier style periods ofthe western art music tradition thatcan be performed successfully bywomen’s choirs of varying skill lev-els. Women’s choirs performingand promoting music by womencomposers is a wonderful pairingthat can help build group identityand provide tangible examples forthe budding composers in your en-semble and audiences.
Selecting high-quality, engag-ing, challenging, and varied reper-toire for your women’s chorus willenable your ensemble to be confi-dent, successful, and rewarded inperformance, and will thereby lay afoundation for its musical identity.
Building Identity in Your Women’s ChorusRichard Schnipke, Women’s Chorus R&S Chair
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Provide the Group with Goals, Projects, and Special PerformancesWhile we all have regularly scheduled concerts towork toward, providing your women’s choruswith events or projects that are geared specificallytoward them can really help them form an iden-tity. Even relatively simple things, like holding aretreat, participating in an OMEA adjudicatedevent, or attending a women’s-chorus festival, cangive the group a common goal to work toward;and larger projects, like recording a CD or plan-ning a short trip or concert tour, can be definingexperiences.
Electing an officer team that establishes andpromotes annual goals within the group is alsoempowering. Goals can be musical, and may in-clude concepts like improving group tone quality,diction, intonation, and memorization; or theycan be non-musical, pertaining to recruitment,retention, group camaraderie, increased concertattendance, etc. Accomplishing these goals canprovide a group with a sense of empowermentand community, which in turn can also help to es-tablish an identity for the ensemble.
Establish Group TraditionsIt is important for each ensemble in your choralorganization to establish traditions they can calltheir own. Whether it be a special annual concert,a traditional opening or closing musical selection,a specific process for welcoming new members tothe group, or an annual event or fundraiser pro-duced by the group, people enjoy tradition. Estab-lishing and maintaining some tradition is not onlyimportant for the current membership of thegroup, but also for encouraging alumni contactand involvement. In most cases, a strong sense oftradition goes hand in hand with a strong identity.
With all of the wonderful women’s chorusrepertoire and resources available to us, we haveall the necessary tools to make our women’schoirs vibrant components of our public-school,university, and community choral programs. Ihope that you find some of these ideas useful andthat they challenge you to think about working tobuild the identity of your women’s chorus! d
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Announcing the Appointment ofJeremy D. Jones to the Music Faculty
Dr. Jeremy Jones joins Dr. William Bausano on the choral and music education faculty at Miami University. Dr. Jones is the conductor of the 100-voice Men’s Glee Club and the Collegiate Chorale and teaches courses in music education. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (D.M.A.), with addition-al degrees from East Carolina University and Middle Tennessee State University.
Voice and Accompanist Faculty:Alison Acord, voice and vocal pedagogyAudrey Luna, voiceMari Opatz-Muni, voice and operaBen Smolder, voice and opera workshopBrad Caldwell, coach/accompanistHeather MacPhail, accompanist
Degrees O�ered:Bachelor of Music degrees
in music education and music performance
Master of Music degrees in music education and music performance
Bachelor of Arts degree in music
Miami UniversityDepartment of Music109 Presser HallOxford, Ohio [email protected]/music arts.muohio.edu/yearofthearts
wHeN a stuDeNt starts studyingpiano, one of the first conceptstaught is rhythmic notation: notes,rests, bar lines. A quarter note isshown and demonstrated by theteacher and students start to readfrom musical notation during thefirst few weeks. Similarly, beginninginstrumental students purchase arequired method book and after asound can be produced, learn toplay through musical notation. iswas my experience growing up as Iwas introduced to notation firstduring my piano and trumpet les-sons, a symbol-before-sound ap-proach. As I started my teachingcareer, I frustratingly tried to teachmy students to read rhythm fromsymbols first, even though I wastaught the history, techniques, andbenefits of sound-before-symbolphilosophies during college. Iquickly realized that it was notworking and that I needed to find asolution. During my search, I foundthe relatively new “Takadimi” sys-tem of rhythm reading and an evenmore recent book, Sound Connec-tions: A Comprehensive Approachto Teaching Music Literacy, by DonP. Ester, which exclusively uses theTakadimi system. As I read morefrom Sound Connections, I appreci-ated Dr. Ester’s thoughtful researchand how much of a difference itsimplications could make in mychoral classroom. I decided to re-
search the Takadimi system furtherand find the best way to incorpo-rate it in my classroom. To thor-oughly understand the Takadimisystem and the Sound Connectionsapproach, an awareness of the cur-rent state of rhythmic literacy and areview of current literacy strategiesis necessary.
e State of Music LiteracyAccording to Hoffman, Pelto, andWhite in their 1996 article,“Takadimi: A Beat-Oriented Sys-tem of Rhythm Pedagogy,” studentsentering college are not preparedin many of the fundamentals ofmusic, including rhythm. is canbe attributed to “reductions inpublic school music education, ashift away from music making as aleisure activity, and changing musi-cal values.”1 is lack of skillsmakes it especially hard for stu-dents who wish to study music incollege. e authors contend that“teachers need pedagogic tech-niques that address elementaryskills and complex rhythmic con-cepts in order to provide a strongfoundation for musicians who willpractice their art well into thetwenty-first century.”2 Providing el-ementary, middle, and high schoolstudents with a foundation inmusic literacy—particularly inreading rhythm—through a stan-dardized approach can lead to an
improvement in the music literacyissues we encounter today, espe-cially in the choral classroom.
Current Rhythm-PedagogicalTechniquesere are many different rhythm-literacy systems that general, in-strumental and choral music edu-cators use today. e variety ofrhythm instruction methods andthe inconsistency of their instruc-tion often confuse and frustratestudents. An elementary teachermight use Kodály (ta--ti-ti) or Orff-Schulwerk (“watermelon,” “apple”)while the high school ensemble di-rector in the same district usescounting (1-e-&-a). is leads tostudents having to learn multiplesystems, oftentimes with no rela-tion between them. Many systemshave distinct advantages, whileothers procure more problemsthan solutions to effective music-literacy instruction.3
Many rhythm systems fall intotwo categories. e first categorycontains systems that emphasizecounting within a measure ormeter, such as counting (1-e-&-a)or the McHose and Tibbs (1-ta-te-ta, 2-ta-te-ta); the second containssystems that emphasize beat orpattern, such as Kodály or Orff-Schulwerk.4 Kodály’s system uti-lizes syllables that are assigned tocertain notes and rhythmic pat-
Review and Application of Rhythmic Literacy in theChoral Rehearsal: Using Takadimi with the Sound Connections ApproachCor Fowler, NE Region Chair
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terns. e system is taught throughrepetitive syllable patterns and issupposed to be introduced with asound-before-symbol approach,but it is paradoxically notation-based because certain note valuesare assigned certain syllables (“ta”for q, “ti-ti” for iq, and “toe” for w).5e Kodály system is also limitedto the most common meters andsimple rhythm patterns, a reason ithas been used extensively in the el-ementary curriculum. is simplic-ity prevents it from being used as atool in secondary ensembles andcollegiate classrooms, where morecomplex meters and rhythmsexist.6 e quarter note is always“ta” regardless of its length in dif-ferent meters (one beat in 2/4 andtwo-thirds of a beat in 6/8). Also,“Ta,” “ti,” “tam,” and “too,” are all
syllables that can be chanted on thebeat depending on the notatedmeter. In order to make the systemmore beat-based, many educatorshave changed the syllable for a halfnote to “ta-a” instead of “too.” isresults in students chanting twosounds (the initial “ta” and then the“-a”) for a note that only has onesound, which can confuse studentswhen a half note is presented inperformance literature or tonalsight-reading.7 e Kodály system’sconnection to notation seems logi-cal, but very young students whocannot read text do not understandmusic notation.8
Counting systems (which areusually the only systems used in in-strumental ensembles) are highlynotation-based, so students mustbe taught meter and must know
how measures are formed to un-derstand the theory of a countingsystem.9 In order to correctly per-form the rhythms, students mustalways be looking at notation be-cause the meter and bar lines mustbe used to determine the numbersfor each beat.10 Also, the syllablesdo not transition to compoundmeter well. e syllables (1 & a 2 &a) remain the same for ijq ijq insimple meter and iiq iiq in com-pound meter, confusing studentswho consistently have to switch be-tween the meters. My own per-sonal experience with trying toteach counting to my middleschool choirs includes long theo-retical lectures about bar lines andmeter. is resulted in wasted re-hearsal time and frustration amongstudents. Of course, students who
already have a strong education innotation can benefit from a count-ing system because of its focus onlocation of rhythms and the beatwithin a measure.
Takadimie rhythm-solfège system called“Takadimi” was invented in themid 1990s by three music theorists:Richard Hoffman, William Pelto,and John W. White. eir systemwas a result of much research intothe advantages and disadvantagesof previous systems, includingKodály’s, counting, and otherlesser-known systems.11 (Seewww.takadimi.net for more infor-mation and examples.) ey agreedthat the system had to be “simpleenough for the pre-notationalstages of first-year courses butcomprehensive enough to addressthe complexities of recent musicalstyles including polyrhythm, poly-meter, and asymetric divisions.”12
e resulting system is child-friendly and can also efficiently beused in the secondary or college
classroom/rehearsal. e Takadimisyllables are assigned to subdivi-sions within a beat, regardless ofmeter or notational value, andevery attack on the beat is always“ta.” Halfway through the beat is al-ways pronounced “di,” and furthersubdivisions are called “ka” and“mi,” resulting in “ta-ka-di-mi.” Fur-ther subdivisions are “va”, “di,” and“ma,” resulting in the sextuplet “ta-va-ki-di-da-ma” seen in compoundmeters. (Notice that “di” is still themidpoint of the beat.)13 Figure 1shows how the syllables are distrib-uted in many different meters. No-tice that the subdivisions alwayshave the same syllables regardlessof notes or meter, and that eachsubdivision has its own syllable.Takadimi emphasizes patterns andbeat much like Kodály’s syllablesattempt to do. In fact, many Kodályexperts today have stated that“Takadimi” is a favorable replace-ment for the current syllables be-cause of Kodály’s theory of sound-before-symbol, thus reducing thestress on notation.14
e system encourages specificunderstanding of metric position—exactly where in the beat a noteis—without having to know any-thing about notation. For example,during syncopation, the stressmoves to the upbeat. In Takadimi,this would be chanted as “di.” Sincestudents would know (after somenon-syncopated experience withTakadimi) that “ta” is always on thebeat and “di” is always half waythrough (or the upbeat), they couldlisten to syncopated rhythm anddetermine that “di” is being usedinstead of “ta” because of its rela-tion to the beat.
After students learn several pat-terns of Takadimi syllables, theycan immediately start dictation ex-ercises. Using the sound-before-symbol approach, students learnand verbalize a rhythm with sylla-bles before knowing the meter.After instruction in notation (ex-plained later), students can nownotate the rhythm in any meter,much like melodic examples can benotated in different keys using
pitch solfège.15 When instructionin notation leads to meters, meas-ures, and bar lines, Takadimi canactually be combined with othersystems that help with reinforcingmeter, such as counting. For exam-ple, since “ta” is always on the beat,it can be replaced with a number(1-ka-di-mi, 2 - di -, 3-ka-di-mi, 4,etc.) to show location in the meas-ure. e goal of Takadimi is toteach and/or improve music liter-acy through syllable patterns thatcreate rhythmically accurate per-formances of instrumental andchoral music. is system can startor complement any rhythm-literacywork in your choral rehearsal.
Takadimi in the Choral RehearsalUsing Takadimi in the choral re-hearsal promotes the music literacygoals noted in the National Con-tent Standard Number 5 (readingand notating music) of the Na-tional Association for Music Edu-cation (NAfME, formerly MENC)by relating easily learned patternsto notation and allowing for nu-merous opportunities to write no-tation based on dictation or com-position exercises. Ball State Uni-versity professor Don P. Ester’sbook, Sound Connections: A Com-prehensive Approach to TeachingMusic Literacy (available as a PDFbook at http://www.educational exclusives.com/collections/don-ester) provides a heavily re-searched-based method of intro-ducing and reinforcing tonal andrhythmic concepts through a strictsound-before- symbol approach,distinctively using Takadimi as therhythmic component.
Aural KnowledgeWhen introducing Takadimi to achoral ensemble, there is no needto announce it to the students.First, start with what Dr. Ester calls“neutral echoing.” is involvesproducing simple rhythmic pat-terns on the syllable “pa” and ask-ing the students to echo on “pa”.16
Doing this helps establish thestructure of further echoing exer-cises and reinforces the steadybeat. If students are having diffi-culty with a steady beat (as someyounger students may exhibit),kinesthetic activities incorporatingthe steady beat may be used (e.g.Dalcroze activities). It is importantto note that accurate modelingmust be used. For example, fourquarter notes must be verbalizedfor the duration of each note andnot as four separated eighth notes(since quarter notes encounteredin repertoire are usually not sungseparated.) Also, even though it issuitable for warm-up and focusingexercises, body percussion (includ-ing clapping) should not be over-used: e sounds produced arevery short in duration and wouldnot match any notation you wouldbe verbalizing for echoing.17 Dr.
Ester recommends the followingprocedure to establish the beat andmeter: e teacher says (in simplemeter), “beat, beat, e-cho me” andthen presents the rhythm to beechoed.18 Compound meter is pre-sented as, “beat, beat, e-cho menow.” Simple two-hand gesturescommunicate whose turn it is tospeak. e teacher’s two hands arepointed to him/herself when vocal-izing the rhythm, and the twohands move out to a welcominggesture when the students are toecho.19 Basic patterns should beused first, such as short combina-tions of quarter-and-two-eighth-note groupings in simple meterand dotted-quarter-notes andthree-eighth-note groupings incompound meter. Further exam-ples are available in Ester’s SoundConnections.
After students master the neu-tral echoing (which, excluding veryyoung students, should not takelong) the teacher can move to “syl-lable echoing” by presenting thesame rhythmic patterns introducedwith “pa” with Takadimi syllablesand the students echoing.20 Figure2 shows an example that is appro-priate to begin echoing with a neu-
tral syllable and then the Takadimisyllables. It is important to remem-ber that everything the teacher ispresenting is only aural. Studentsare only hearing and repeating therhythm that is being verbalized tothem; no notation has been pre-sented. e teacher should changethe tempo and meter (simple andcompound) frequently so studentsdo not become adapted to onetempo or meter.21 e last stage Dr.Ester prescribes is “echo transla-tion,” in which the students listento a rhythm verbalized by theteacher on “pa” and then translatethe rhythm into Takadimi sylla-bles.22 Instead of counting off with“e-cho me,” the teacher says, “e-chotrans-late.”23 In my own experience,this step is the most difficult forstudents, but it is important for im-proving their audiation and dicta-tion skills, especially when notatingis introduced. Each new rhythmpattern should be introducedthrough all stages. For example,after students have mastered quar-ter notes and eighth notes in sim-ple time, it is appropriate to teach asixteenth-note pattern (ta-ka-di-mi). e teacher should begin byverbalizing the pattern and stu-dents echoing on “pa” (neutralechoing), then on syllables (syllableechoing), and then by workingecho translation.
Even though notation has notbeen encountered yet, Takadimican be used while rehearsing per-formance literature. e teachercan chant the words from a songthat includes the learned rhythmpatterns and ask the students todecide which syllables wouldmatch the chanted rhythm. Other
activities such as call-and-responsegames and opportunities for im-provisation allow different ways forstudents to master the aural con-cepts of Takadimi.24
Visual KnowledgeWhen students master neutral andsyllable echoing then echo-transla-tion, it is appropriate to introducenotation, but only after the preced-ing stages have been mastered. Dr.Ester promotes the flash card asthe best way to introduce therhythm patterns visually.25 e stu-dents should only see one rhythmpattern at a time to ensure they seepatterns rather than individualnotes.26 I can project the patterns(made in Sibelius) with PowerPointslides and this seems to work bestbecause slides can be changedquickly (especially with a remote,which allows the teacher to walkaround the room) and the rhythmis in large print. If a teacher doesnot have a projector, the flash cardsare still the best option. Timeshould not be taken to writerhythms on the board becauseerasing and re-writing is extremelytime consuming.27 As patterns areverbalized by the teacher andechoed by the students, a flash cardwith the rhythm pattern (andmeter signature, 2/4 or 6/8) isshown. en, just the flash card isshown and the students areprompted with “beat, beat, rea-dyread” using the same rhythm as“beat, beat, e-cho me” (“beat, beat,rea-dy and read” for compoundmeters). It is important to note thatthe words “quarter note,” “halfnote,” “simple meter,” etc., shouldnot be used because students are
only associating the picture of thepattern with the aural pattern theyhave already learned. If a questionarises about the meter signature,the teacher should tell the studentthat it will be covered at a latertime.28 e teacher should mix upnew and learned rhythms as stu-dents progress, but only showthem one pattern at a time (onlytwo or three beats of rhythm) inboth simple and compound me-ters.29
Having read the patterns suc-cessfully on their own, studentscan be taught the duration notenames (quarter note, sixteenthnote, etc.) and read patterns put to-gether. is can be accomplishedby lining flashcards horizontallyacross a whiteboard tray and allow-ing the students to read the com-pleted rhythm. At this point stu-dents can also be introduced to barlines, which invariably leads to adiscussion about the meter (ortime) signature. Rests can betaught by showing the relationshipbetween the two symbols (q = Q)and instructing students that therest receives “ta” but is silent; “ta”should be audiated.30 Ties shouldbe taught by using a simple pattern,drawing the tie in, and then havingstudents echo and then read it. Ashort discussion about ties is all thestudents will need. Tuplets (incompound meter) and triplets (insimple meter) can easily be taughtbecause students have been famil-iar with both meters. Students areinformed that they are “borrowing”other rhythm patterns from a dif-ferent meter.31 All of these con-cepts can be introduced and/or re-inforced through listening, dictat-
ing, reading, notating, improvising,and composing activities, ensuringthat students have a thorough ex-perience with rhythmic patternsand notation.
Here is where the Sound Con-nections approach reveals its intel-ligence. Students have already mas-tered the patterns and can echo,translate, improvise, compose, andread them (covering many nationaland state music standards). ismakes teaching about bar lines,meter signatures, and other nota-tionally strong concepts much eas-ier than if they were introduced atthe beginning of music literacy in-struction. Teaching with this ap-proach has led many of my stu-dents to find answers to their nota-tion questions on their own.Knowing how the different
Takadimi syllables are distributedwithin the beat allows them to de-duce how measures are formed andwhy certain numbers are used intime signatures without having tolisten to drawn-out teacher-ledtheory lectures.
Many choral directors workwith high school, collegiate,church, or community/professionalchoirs. Progression through the in-troductory phases of Takadimi inthese ensembles can move very fast(sometimes within one rehearsal)and will allow the aural knowledgeof Takadimi to develop easily into avisual, or notational knowledge.Students who are already familiarwith notation can benefit fromTakadimi as well to accelerate andimprove rhythm precision and ac-curacy. e most common ways to
use Takadimi during the rehearsalinclude during warm-up and focusactivities, designated music literacyinstruction, and perhaps the mostimportant, amid preparation ofperformance literature. Don P.Ester, John W. Scheib, and Kim-berly J. Inks state the following intheir 2006 Music Educators Journalarticle: “In the choral setting,singers often come to their first en-semble experience with limitedmusic-reading skills and multiplerhythm-syllable vocabularies. edirector intent on providing a re-warding performance experiencemust choose between two poor op-tions: spending inordinate amountsof time teaching difficult literatureby rote or preparing less-challeng-ing repertoire while dedicating sig-nificant time to rudimentary
music-literacy instruction. epedagogical continuity that effec-tive elementary instruction usingthe Takadimi syllables provides cansignificantly improve this situation.Even given no baseline abilities,secondary students can achieverapid growth in both rhythm andrhythm-reading and -notatingskills when a sound-first pedagogyis applied.” (Ester, Scheib, and Inks2006, 64.)
With the demands of upcomingperformances, directors can beovercome with repertoire prepara-tion and lose sight of the impor-tance of music literacy instruction.However, accomplishing both goalsis quite simple with Takadimi.When music is being introduced,Takadimi can be used to work diffi-cult rhythmic passages and allowstudents to keep their eyes on thenotation and not the text. Aftermastering the rhythm, students canmove to pitch sight reading andthen finally the text. When an en-semble is having trouble with therhythm in a certain section or pas-sage, students can always referback to the Takadimi syllables tohelp them. Takadimi can also beused as an assessment tool. Stu-dents can be informally assessedusing call-and-response and im-provisation activities where theteacher can acquire a better under-standing of his/her students’knowledge. Also, formal perform-ance assessments can be adminis-tered in which students are askedto individually perform notatedrhythms using Takadimi syllablesand then are graded using a rubric.Performance assessments such asthese provide students with pro-
gressive feedback to improve theirliteracy skills.
e implementation of a rhythmic-literacy program in achoral ensemble promotes im-provement not only in music read-ing but also in performance.Rhythm is the foundation of goodperformance, as Robert Shaw said.Takadimi provides an excellent toolto polish rhythm (much like Shaw’scount-singing) and fills a need toimprove our students’ life-longmusic literacy. Dr. Ester’s SoundConnections approach uses re-search-based techniques that haveworked wonderfully in my class-room and will surely help countlessdirectors searching for a solutionto rhythm-literacy problems. Istrongly recommend obtaining hisbook to read further on his ap-proach. My hope is that all my stu-dents, regardless of their career orlife goals, can firmly say, “I readmusic.” Isn’t that what all music ed-ucators strive for?
BibliographyEster, Don P. Sound Connections: A
Comprehensive Approach to Teach-ing Music Literacy. Don P. Ester,2010.
Ester, Don P., John W. Scheib, andKimberly J. Inks, “Takadimi: ARhythm System for All Ages,” MusicEducators Journal November, 93,issue 2 (November 2006): 60–65.
Hoffman, Richard, and William Pelto,John W. White, “Takadimi: A Beat-Oriented System of Rhythm Peda-gogy,” Journal of Music eory Peda-gogy, 10 (1996): 7–30.
Notes1 Richard Hoffman, William Pelto,
John W. White, “Takadimi: A Beat-Oriented System of Rhythm Peda-
gogy,” Journal of Music eory Peda-gogy, vol 10 (1996): 7.
2 Ibid. 3 Even though Kodály and Counting
seem to be the most popular, musiceducators still cannot agree on acommon rhythm system. In a surveyadministered by the author, 57 per-cent of elementary and secondaryteachers prefer the counting system,but 58 percent use Kodály andcounting. Middle and high schoolonly teachers prefer counting (71percent). See Don P. Ester, John W.Scheib, and Kimberly J. Inks,“Takadimi: A Rhythm System for AllAges,” Music Educators Journal No-vember vol 93, issue 2 (2006): 60.
4 Hoffman, Pelto, and White: 8–9.5 Don P. Ester, Sound Connections: A
Comprehensive Approach to Teach-ing Music Literacy (Don P. Ester,2010), 55.
reCeNtly i HaD an opportunity tovisit with a teacher I had in highschool. After a few minutes of con-versation she reminded me of whatshe told me on graduation day. atwas, “never forget where you camefrom.” Shortly after, I had a chanceencounter with a friend whom Ihad not seen since we graduatedfrom college in 1979. She men-tioned how impressed she was thatI hold a faculty position at OhioState University. When I inquiredabout her teaching she remarked,“My career has not been glamorouslike yours. I am still teachingkindergarten at the school where Ibegan 33 years ago.” I instantlyreplied that my career was no moreimpressive than hers. “We are bothcareer teachers,” I said, “and we areboth public school teachers. eonly thing that separates us is thebuilding in which we teach.”
As a teacher at OSU I dependon quality instruction at the highschool level. ose teachers de-pend on the junior high teachers,who depend on the middle schoolteachers, who depend on the ele-mentary school teachers, who de-pend on the kindergarten teachers,
who depend on the preschoolteachers. One level is not morevaluable than the other, each pres-ents unique challenges, and eachhas its own rewards and liabilities.I believe it was Zoltán Kodály whosaid “the best teachers belong withthe youngest students.” If we acceptthat as true then it is my friendwho teaches kindergarten who hasthe more impressive career. But toargue the point is a waste of time.e truth is we all play a role onthe same team.
In May 2011 I had the privilegeto speak at the memorial servicefor Dr. Linda Busarow. For overtwo decades Linda taught in theFairborn, Ohio, school system. Sheended her teaching career at XavierUniversity in Cincinnati. I firstcame to know Linda in 2004 whenshe enrolled as a doctoral studentat Ohio State University. While adoctoral student, Linda served as arole model to many master’s candi-dates and undergraduates. eyquickly came to know that she pos-sessed wisdom by virtue of timeserved. Linda let younger studentsknow that she too was a studentand that the only thing that sepa-
rated her from them was chronol-ogy and degree plan. She would getfrustrated at OSU students if theyacted in a manner incongruentwith their station. One of my fa-vorite memories is when she wentafter a new master’s candidate fornot helping set the stage for a re-hearsal. e student looked bewil-dered and asked, “why do I have toset chairs?” Linda quickly re-sponded, “when you see somebodywho already has a doctoral degreestacking chairs you should proba-bly be stacking chairs too. Get withthe program and think like ateacher!” Linda Busarow never for-got whence she came, she knew aswell as anyone that we are all onthe same team, and that a “unitedwe stand” attitude is the best wayto ensure success in the teachingprofession and in life.
We hold faculty positions be-cause of our study and the teacherswho chose to share their knowl-edge and experiences. Now we arethe teachers and we are all neededto make the system work. We canbest serve our students, our profes-sion, and ourselves by never forget-ting where we came from. d
Whence I CameRobert J. Ward, Men’s Chorus R&S Chair
less talk, mOre DO is the title of anupcoming choral handbook writtenby Professor Emeritus RichardMathey of Bowling Green State
University. ose of us who spentany time with Professor Matheywill remember many, if not all, ofhis axioms. But how many of us are
truly incorporating them into ourdaily rehearsals? Remember, RD al-ways said “Having a standard of ex-cellence is a responsibility.” It’s
Less Talk, More DoEric Kauffman, High School R&S Chair
wiNter 2012 table of contents 15
striving for excellence in each re-hearsal that begets great results ina performance. Will you acceptthat responsibility?
Lately, as Professor Matheytravels around giving choral clinicsand directing honor choirs, or asdirector of the Women’s Chorus atOhio Northern University, he hasbecome accustomed to saying “it’sin the book.” Let’s analyze and eval-uate exactly what is containedwithin this choral handbook, themagic designed to enhance yourdaily rehearsal techniques. eoutline of the book corresponds tothe normal sequence of a rehearsal.We start with an explanation of belcanto singing in the choral setting.Remember the little “critter” RDwould draw on the board to betterillustrate where and how a soundwas being produced? Rememberhim holding up his hand with hislong narrow fingers shaping theback of the throat with his indexfinger representing the uvula whilehis thumb represented the tongue?ese illustrations were pedagogi-cally sound and simultaneously en-tertaining, and thus memorable(although nothing was as clear, ormemorable, as hearing RD’s goldentones model the sound he was de-scribing). . . . “It’s in the book!”
Remember when RD wouldfreeze a chord and then “operate”on it? He would always say, whenyou go to see the doctor, before hecan evaluate the severity of yourailment and administer any medi-cine, he must first isolate the prob-lem. He would jokingly remark ofhaving a little black bag as he makeshis house calls. His elixirs werenever intended to be a cure-all. He
would go through the process ofmodifying the vowel, a staccatti oo,the shake technique, and often as alast resort he would pull out the“ming” technique. All of these tech-niques were aimed at fixing a tun-ing issue through a better vocaltechnique. How many of us are dili-gently using these techniques stilltoday? Do you need a refreshercourse?. . . “It’s in the book!”
Do the letters CIP mean any-thing to you? If I told you they werean acronym would you rememberwhat they stood for? Are theyposted in your classroom or officesomewhere? Do you approach eachrehearsal with Consistency, Insis-tency, and Persistency? Do youneed to hear the motivationalspeech from RD one more timeabout the importance of a greatwork ethic? . . . “It’s in the book!”
Quickly list the items found onthe right and left side of the board.Surely you remember the technicaland musical sides of the board. egreat Chef Boy RD certainly has hisrecipe for making great choralmusic and it all starts with know-ing which ingredients to use, howmuch of said ingredients, and why.A little anacrusis here, a pinch ofrubato there, a dash of bubble, fol-lowed by a sprinkle of couplet.Warning: “bubble” is a secret andspecial ingredient that can’t befound in just any old music dic-tionary! If you have found yourselfusing way too much “leave it alone”lately, then you guessed it . . . “it’s inthe book!”
Body motion! e chest and rib-cage in a firm, confident position.Physical presence through rhyth-mical precision. Remember the fa-
mous “it looks like this from be-hind” as RD would turn aroundand demonstrate a particular musi-cal phrase while the only thing thatmoved on his body was the littletuft of hair just below his cowlick,the only patch of hair not matteddown with sweat. Or who couldforget his annual tribute to physicalfreedom the Native Americansshowed in their tribal dances? Ormy personal favorite, the story ofKing Richard, which was an enter-taining depiction of how finessecan trump force every time. If youfind yourself forgetting too many ofthe details to explain these conceptsto your kids . . . “it’s in the book!”
If you’re like me, then you al-ways marveled at RD’s ability tonot just read well but read thespots off of anything. He oftencommented after a first readthrough that “the score just domi-nated you and you must work tohumble the score.” Was that hisway of suggesting we take a look atthe score before rehearsal again to-morrow or just a motivational toolto inspire us to become better sightreaders? Either way, his recom-mended process for melodic andrhythmic reading techniques aswell as his suggestions for how toincorporate them into your dailyrehearsal are “in the book!”
“Make it instant and make itdramatic” he would always say tothe prospective music educators inthe room. His rehearsal served as amusic education laboratory for allwho wanted to ascribe to his de-manding yet simple system. Re-member he always said “I onlyknow five things!” From the impor-tance of the literature selection to
wiNter 2012 table of contents 16
Upcoming Events
February 2012elementary Choir festivalSunday, February 12, 2:00–5:15 PM
Jackson Center for the Performing Arts7600 Fulton Drive NW, Massilon, OH
Call Suzanne Walters for more information: (330) 830-8056, ext. 2223.
Omea professional Development ConferenceFebruary 16–18, Columbus, OH
March 2012Central Division aCDa ConferenceMarch 7–10, Fort Wayne, IN
bGsu men’s Chorus tour performances in OhioSaturday, March 3, 7:30 PM
Macedonia United Methodist Church1280 E. Aurora Road, Macedonia, OH; 330-467-3169Saturday, March 10, 7:00 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church315 S. College Drive, Bowling Green, OH; 419-372-8288
bGsu Collegiate ChoraleSaturday, March 31, 7:30 PM
Firelands Presbyterian Church2626 E. Harbor Road, Port Clinton, OH
Adults $15; students free. www.firelandschurch.org/Link%20Pages/musical%20arts.htm. Program features Bach’sEaster cantata “Christ lag in Todesbanden,” BWV 4.
April 2012bGsu Collegiate ChoraleSaturday, April 7, 8:00 PM
Kobacker Hall in the Moore Musical Arts CenterRidge Street and Willard Street, Bowling Green, OH419-372-8288
Program features Bach’s Easter cantata “Christ lag inTodesbanden,” BWV 4.
May 2012e west shore Chorale and Orchestra, conductedby John Drotleff, present bach’s: B Minor MassSunday, May 6, 7:30 PM
Magnificat Center for the Performing ArtsHilliard and Wagar, Rocky River, OH
Soloists include Mitzi Westra, Phoebe Jevtovic, Tyler Skidmore, and omas Scurich. Adults $15; students free.
June 2012OCDa ConferenceJune 18–20, Columbus, OH
National symposium on american Choral music (co-sponsored by ACDA and the Library of Congress)June 29–30, Washington, D.C.
July 2012world Choir GamesJuly 4–14, Cincinnati, OH
the pace of a rehearsal, to the con-ducting style and gestures appro-priate for you as a conductor or thepiece you were conducting, if youwere working to become a choralmusic education graduate fromBowling Green State University,you learned it from RD Mathey. If,
after reading this, you would like totake a brisk walk down memorylane . . . it’s in the book! If you arereading this and have no idea whatI’m talking about . . . it’s in the book!If you would simply like to learnfrom one of the choral giants ofACDA/OCDA right here in your
own backyard, then fortunately,“it’s in the book!”
Less Talk, More Do: A Handbook ofChoral Rehearsal Techniques byRichard Mathey will be availablethis June at the OCDA SummerConference. d
SW Region Chairsara potts990 SpringbrookCincinnati, OH [email protected]: 513-532-4785 Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
SC Region Chairmike martin8921 Mitchell Dewitt RdPlain City, OH 43064O: 614-921-7300C: [email protected] Darby H.S.4200 Leppert RoadHilliard, OH 43026
NE Region ChairCorey fowler2894 Hilda Dr. SEWarren OH [email protected]: 330-766-3553O: 440-437-6260Grand Valley Local Schools111 Grand Valley Ave.Orwell OH 44410
EC Region Chairkristen snyder2061 Jones RdGranville, OH 43023
[email protected]@gmail.comH: 614-444-5767O: 740-587-8104 x4037C: 614-806-5747Granville M.S.210 New Burg StGranville, OH 43023
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