Reflection by Melanie

One thing that I will take away from this class is thinking not as an instrumentalist but as a vocalist. A lot of what I have had to in a sense unlearn are habits I have picked up from playing piano. Learning how to project my voice and be confident when I sing. I've never had confidence to sing in front of people so that is one thing that I have overcome through the class. Another thing that I will take away from this course is the benefits of picking out appropriate warm ups and why some are more beneficial than others. I've learned that you do not just pick out random warm ups. You have to look at the music you are working on with your choir and see what will help them grow as singers.

Reflection 200-500 words Tom Bassett

The largest concept I will take away from this course is thinking vocally.  This includes standing correctly, having my mouth in a singing position as I lead, singing preps for the class to come in instead of speaking them, and using hand gestures that promote healthy singing; essentially everything I do should be done in a way that will suggest good vocal technique.  Other important items in the class were learning technical terms and physical characteristics about that voice that I don't believe I would have learned otherwise.  The greatest lesson that I learned as an instrumentalist in the vocal world is to speak the music.  I used to do this when I was young until a conductor at a summer music camp told me that I need to start using my singing voice.  Ever since then I've had no idea what to do in order to sing and this class has helped me largely in having a foundation to fall on.  I believe having the book and cards are a valuable resource in my music career even if I never end up directing a choir.  The course has helped me in the area of composition in that I now begin to understand what makes a piece a high school piece, or a professional piece and can adjust my writing accordingly.  It has also helped in the technical aspect of writing; what makes sense vocally and what does not.    I believe this class was a valuable and necessary experience towards a music education major.