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.