Brian Buechele

MUS 410
Dr. Talbot
3 December 2020
Teach and Conducting Choral Ensembles Observations

Essential Question: ​How can creating an environment that fosters comfortability and
confidence help achieve quicker learning of music?

Observation 1
Title: ​Shaping Musical Phrasing
● Age Group: ​Middle School Girls/upper voice choir
● Length: ​15 minutes
● Content: ​Shaping musical phrasing and supported singing
● Synopsis: ​The video starts off with one of the students asking if girls are worse at singing
than boys. The teacher then tells the student that the girls have not fully changed yet and
they will move when they are in High school. It is easy to see/hear the boys change
because their voices drop. The teacher then makes the students lip trill the song to create
a good supported sound and so that is not breathy. The teacher then says that the song
they are singing is a Israeli pop song similar to how Justin Beiber is here in the states.
The teacher has fun with the students and jokes around with the students and creates a fun
environment that is still music oriented. The teacher uses humor and hyperbole to help
the students learn the style and articulation. The teacher has student leaders, either
assigned or not, sing out in difficult areas and help the other students. The teacher has the
students sing the song, Bashana Haba’ah, with help from the piano to solidify the pitch.
The teacher works on phrasing with dynamics and it is clear in her gestures as a
conductor. The teacher has had the class watch performances of this song and uses this as
reference. The teacher recorded the choir singing and asked them to critically listen to
themselves, while the recording is playing the teacher is giving some instruction and what
to listen for. Starts off with “what was beautiful about it?” and then what to work on.
Student says the sound was wide and the beginning was a beautiful sound but could
always use taller vowels. The teacher plays the recording but having the students listen
for the good in it.

Observation 2
Title: ​Using Solfege for Correct Intonation
● Age Group: ​High School Choir - semi auditioned
● Length: ​15 minutes
● Content: ​teacher using modeling, verbal, and non-verbal feedback to teach a French song
and students using solfege and hand signs to practice correct vowel placement, pitches
and intonation.
 ● Synopsis: ​The video starts off with the students singing the piece with solfege hand signs
and syllables. The teacher is conducting and snapping to keep everyone together. I do not
know if the teacher started with audiation. The teacher models (with a beautiful voice
especially in the upper register) and asks if what the teacher sang is correct. The teacher
models the sound in which they are looking for, with resonance and space. Everyone in
the choir is looking down at their music, including the teacher while they are singing. The
teacher isolates certain parts of the piece to work on creating a resonant tone. The teacher
works with vowel shapes even on the solfege. The teacher seems to get irritated at the
altos when they do not sing the Di sharp enough. I think that this whole situation would
be avoided if the teacher used la based minor and did not make the students think of this
note as di but instead as la. The teacher uses physical gestures to help the students get
used to the idea of the Di being sharper and higher than the Do. The teacher seems to get
upset and really focuses on the alto section. The Teacher wrote in their write up that there
are student leaders in each section and for the French language and diction there is a
student ESL leader that will lead the class in learning the diction. The altos having
trouble with their part was not a part of their plan, so the teacher had to change their
lesson so that the pitches were accurate because it is much harder to fix incorrect pitches.
The teacher was also building this choir program up in a new school (School open for 6
years choir program only up for 3) so he has to establish culture in the class and a style
of teaching. The teacher also says that he needs to model posture better.

Observation 3
Title: ​Assessing Sight-Singing Through Self-Assessments to Develop Independence
● Age Group: ​8th Grade mixed chorus
● Length: ​15 minutes
● Content: ​Auditioned with students part of the district, others being brought in from other
school districts through the gifted and talented program. The Students are diverse
ethnically and cognitively.
● Synopsis: ​the class starts with the teacher talking about the piece of music and asking
questions. She starts of really condescending like that this is very obvious and that you
are stupid if you do not see or understand it. I think that this is really demeaning and does
not create a classroom environment that promotes mistakes/learning from them. The
teacher has the students chant the solfege without pitch. The teacher gives instruction
between sections. The teacher has the students chant only for the rhythm at first which
can be useful. I cannot get over the fact that she is so condescending through the
rehearsal. When pitch is put to the solfege, the singing into the key only had the students
sing do mi sol. The teacher and the students have the idea of always singing even if
confused which is good for development. The class is on a very time regimented
schedule. The students finished singing and the teacher said let's work on what you got
wrong and then gave feedback about how they did well and bad. Sets a negative tone that
 may not promote learning. Students are a part of the feedback process. This is a sight
singing exercise and the teacher is practicing this. The teacher wants the students to sing
with expression and good tone even when sight reading which is a high standard, but
achievable that can help the students set a high bar for themselves. After they finish the
teacher always has the students evaluate themselves. Socratic Questioning! The students
answered the questions with some interesting answers. Overconfidence, not enough
confidence, remembering patterns right and wrong, etc.

Observation 4
Title: ​Introducing a Complex Song with Expression and Harmony
● Age Group: ​5th Grade Chorus
● Length: ​14 minutes
● Content: ​32 students come from mixed backgrounds with 5 students with IEPs, range of
musical ability and experienced, this is a required class.
● Synopsis: ​Has the students stand up and breathe in after giving instruction on what to do
with the music that was handed out. Diaphragm breath! Warm ups with breathing and
sighs. Teacher models what they want for the warmup while giving instruction. I think it
is “oooo weee really ugly” working on hitting every pitch and a supported sound with
resonance at the top of the range. Has the students take a seat and look at the music that
they will be working on. Has the students think about what they are singing by having
them “sing to the stars like what the lyrics say”, may lift the students' heads. Asks the
students for ideas of where to put the sforzando based on the lyrics and tries it. Sings on
pitch while giving instruction. The students are really looking for support from their
teacher in the form of conducting. But the teacher cannot help while she is playing the
accompaniment. The teacher starts singing with the students to support them and does a
good job modelling what she wants. The vowels were not quite the best when she was
modelling but maybe that’s what she wants. Teacher asks questions a lot. The students
seem really comfortable in this classroom environment. The teacher does not talk to the
students like they are below her. The teacher “disciplines” smoothly without you really
realizing it, in the middle of talking. The teacher takes ideas from the students and tries
them out and keeps them. At the end, the teacher had the students sing through the piece.

Observation 5
Title: ​Improving Musicality Through Proper Dynamics and Breathing
● Age Group: ​10-12 graders
● Length:​ 11 minutes
● Content:​ 32 students in a select choir with a diverse skill set and level. Some students
have outside music lessons and some struggle with learning music. Some students have
IEPs and are on the spectrum but still have perfect pitch. Auditioned.
● Synopsis: ​The song choice is interesting, “the dumb will speak” yikes. The teacher gives
instruction in the rests to help. The class seems very supportive and the bass section is
strong. Mary, did you know; interesting. The teacher uses physical gestures to help and
the students pick this up. The teacher should work on vowel shape and intonation. Calls it
gorgeous, but was it? The teacher could not control the students but instead of yelling the
teacher uses this energy to have them act out the piece, which I think is very cool. This
allows the students to be comfortable and have fun with the music. This will help the
students visualize and be more expressive. This allows this to be a fun musical
experience. The teacher has more trouble stopping the chatter. When the students started
singing they became more engaged and focused. The sound became better and with better
tone and somewhat better vowels. Also, Hoberman Sphere!
 Synopsis

Throughout all of these videos the teachers interact with their students, but in different

ways. Throughout each video it is clear what kind of classroom environment they created and

what the culture is in that class. There were examples of teachers creating a more hostile

environment and other classrooms that were less restrictive. In both classrooms there was an

emphasis on learning and creating and promoting quick music learning and building the skills in

which do so. Almost every group used solfege and had sheet music to follow. All had students

they were engaged and asking questions and seemed that they enjoyed singing and the process

that fosters this. Some classrooms, such as seen in observations 2 and 3, the classroom was set up

for more advanced choirs and were more cut throat. This could be because competitions were

close or that the students were expected to know the music already and the ways in which to

learn the music. These classes were more regimented and were usually some sort of audition

based. These classes focused less on expression and focused on sight singing and more on tone

and correct intonation. The other classes, observed in observations 4 and 5, had classes that were

not optional and also an auditioned choir. There was diversity in all of the videos and all wanted

the students to succeed but the teachers had different ways of creating success in the classroom.

The classrooms that were more regimented and focused, during their time, on solfege and

sight-singing, had some really good results from their choir producing some good sound as a

result. I feel that the teacher in these classes has created this as the norm in the classroom and

that the students are used to it and are now a bit more comfortable. The teacher in observation 3

seemed like they were condescending, which I feel is a way to alienate students who are

struggling with grasping these concepts. This is an auditioned group so it is probably expected
that they know all of this, but I believe that this makes music seem elitist and not for everyone. I

believe that you are able to teach a concept and ask questions not as condescending to be more

open of a teacher. The students however, were able to produce a very good sound while sight

singing and they were able to focus on expression instead of intonation for the most part. Some

of the students felt comfortable asking questions and giving feedback, while some were timid.

The students were able to accomplish a lot in the regimented schedule they had (the same for a

festival competition). The students obviously had done this a lot and it made learning music

easier and quicker while focusing on the expression and intonation instead. However, this can be

discouraging to other students that do not have any experience and makes the choir somewhat

elitist.

The classes that fostered student talking and ideas was able to make the class more

student centered. In both of these classes, the teacher took ideas from their students and

implemented them into the classes. This had the students take ownership over the music that they

were making and were a part of the process. In these classes, the teacher did not talk to the

students “like a teacher” but rather as a co-contributor that is there to help guide the students'

thoughts. The students however, did not have great tone or intonation. I do not know how they

learn music.

There are ups and downs to each of the classroom environments for learning music.

These are snippets of the classroom so I do not know the specifics of each class. The classrooms

are based off of the different philosophies of the different teachers, I believe that it would be

helpful to have the classroom be more inclusive while also holding your students to a high

musical standard. One classroom, you will be able to get more done and the other you give

students ownership over their own learning experience.