A Report on Lifeline for Children’s Choir Directors Essay -- Choir Cho

Mrs. Bartle employs a little bit of four of each of the methods shared in (the vocal pedagogy) class. She uses a lot of the Westminister method but borrows from the others. The others she borrows from are Christiansen, Fred Warning and Wilson/Klein. Much of what she writes, is from her own life’s career experiences as a choral director. The first subject she deals with is the director’s attitude. A director should have a positive attitude. (p. 3, Bartle) In chapter two she discusses the development of a child’s voice in a mechanistic way. She wants the ’flutety’ sound of a child’s voice developed, between the ages 6-8. (ps. 7-9) This reminds me of the Westminister method. She tells how to help a child that has problems sing on ’center’. (ps. 13-15.) She tells how to help children pronounce their vowels when they sing. She does this by demonstrating the position of the jaw with a rubber band. She also teaches children how to form vowels and diphthongs with their mouths. (ps. 19-21) She gives some mechanistic methods on how to develop good diction with nonsense word drills and by exaggerating consonants as they whisper words. (ps. 22-3) This reminds me of the Fred Warning emphasis on good pronunciation. She gives some reasons why a children’s choir may sing flat or sharp, and then gives some mechanistic ways to fix them. (p. 27) A choir director must fix his own hearing, before they can get to ’first base’, with their choir members. They can do this by listening to some Bach chorales, then leave them for a week, come back and play them several times, then write them down on a manuscript. (p. 27) She discusses the many ways of teaching children rhythm, but she also advises, †let us not disregard the old†. (ps. 28-9) She a... ...aguar the loyalty of a Dog the charm of a Kitten and the appearance of a Sea It would also be helpful if he has: a bag full of tricks a head full of Tools a lifetime of Ideas a background of a few failures as well as success and a heart full of hope and faith in people.† (ps. 155-6) At the very end of the book, she has a bibliography of twenty-six sources, and six commentators of note such as Sir David Willcocks. (ps.157-9) I enjoyed reading this book. This book would be a handy aid in assisting any Children’s Choir Director. I like the way she borrows from a lot of methodologies to develop her own. By burrowing she has developed a very good way to direct choirs. Work Cited. Bartle, Jean Ashworth Lifeline for Children’s Choir Directors. Published by Gordon V. Thompson Music, a Division of Canada Publishing Corporation. Toronto, Canada. 1988.