Musical attention

I spent an hour watching Jordan's choir rehearse yesterday; it's easy to slip in the back. When I got there they were discussing a situation the choir director (Ben) had observed, which is that when they practice together with the Intermediate Choir (one level below them), they get bored and don't sing well. Naturally, the music they sing together is at the lower level, since it has to be accessible to the other choir, so there is a temptation to be bored. But still, even with easy songs there is the opportunity to make beautiful music. Ben said that he expected them to show leadership in this situation, and invited conversation about how they might improve things. They agreed that it was a problem, and that it was their responsibility to make it better, and were quite engaged in proposing solutions. One suggestion was for intermediate choir to learn the songs more before the combined rehearsal, so that it's less repetitive for the advanced choir. Another suggestion was that they should mix in with the intermediate choir, instead of being all together in the back. "If we had an intermediate guy on each side we could help them out and that would remind me to show leadership," said one boy. Ben liked these ideas and plans to implement them.

A different problem one boy voiced was that too much of the music is religious. On that one, Ben basically said tough luck; the choral music literature is overwhelmingly religious, and while they do what they can do balance it, it's just the way it is.

They went on to practice a song for which they have mastered the pitches and rhythm and words, and are working on making it more musically expressive. (Here's James Taylor singing it.) Ben showed them that currently they are singing it correctly, but a little robotically, and that it's boring that way. He worked with them on swells and ebbs on the long slow notes. Then, on the line, "Oh love is handsome, and love is fine; the sweetest flower when it is new," he asked them: What is the most important word in this line? There were various proposals. Ben voted for "handsome": he said, the line is about how great the love is, so that is probably the most important word, but he would go for "sweetest flower" almost as much. Later in the song, the singer leans his back against an oak, and is surprised when it sways. Ben quizzed the boys about the meaning of this; he got them to recognize that an oak should be sturdy, like the singer thought his love would be, and it turns out to be false and fading. Now remember, he's talking to boys aged 8-11; this is not really an area of their life experience! Once he got some giggles, but when he inquired, "Can we be mature about this?" they instantly zipped it. He said, "A singer is an actor. You are being a character, and that will inform your music." They sang it again, and it was far better this time.

On the way home, Jordan and I talked about the things he is learning in choir. One thing he volunteered was, "Mommy I can really tell when I go on autopilot. I can feel it. And it's really hard to get out of autopilot even though I am trying to. I just keep getting back into it. It's a lot of work to concentrate my attention." How awesome is that, that he knows what it feels like to have slipped out of engaging with his current task, and can practice getting back into the moment? Especially for a kid with attention issues.