Madison Gilleland

Dr. van der Vat-Chromy

MUED 376

16 December 2023

Warm-up Summary

Warm-ups are such an important and crucial part of any rehearsal, and yet oftentimes, can

get overlooked. This assignment has given me a new perspective and understanding of what a

good warmup looks like for an ensemble. Many of my mentors and teachers throughout my life

and musical journey have emphasised the importance of warm-ups. However, there is a process

and thoughtfulness that should go into planning a warmup that this assignment helped me to

further understand. One of my favorite takeaways is the sequence and format provided in the

handouts. Specifically, the descending pattern. I learned that it’s best not to start singing on an

ascending pattern. This is something I had never considered or knew about before. This is such a

gentle and effective way to begin singing. I may have unintentially done this throughout my life,

but I’ve learned that being intentional with the warm-up plan is important to prepare the students

effectively. Another thing I found insightful was the section on repertoire based warm-ups.

Basing parts of the warm-up to align with the repertoire and class plan is something I want to

strive to do more often and thoughtfully when planning wamr-ups. I appreciate how it broke

down the process of how to do this – pre-teaching skills or musical patterns that are used in new

material, transfering the skills to the repertoire itself, and using them as transitions between

activities. This is something I want to focus on as I begin teaching and writing my own lesson

plans.
 Overall, warm-ups are incredibly helpful and an important tool in choral methods.

As I reflect on the different warm-ups I’ve experienced and taught throughout my life, I can

remember experiencing many of the practices listed on these handouts. This type of attention to

detail is an important quality that should feed into all aspects of instruction, including the

warmup. I will certainly be referring back to these handouts and utilizing the warm-up sequence

in my own lessons moving forward.