Comments/Observations:
1) I thought it was interesting that the author talked about putting the responsibility of vocal health in the hands of the singers, not the conductor. I liked how it was discussed that often singers assume "vocal irresponsibility" while singing in choirs, and that it's important for the conductor to indicate during the warm-up that it's up to the singers to maintain the healthy habits that they are taught during warm-ups throughout the entire rehearsal.
2) A quote that I liked from the reading was "Poor warm-ups lead to poor rehearsals." I have seen this to be true as a member of several choirs, and there are several things that come to mind right off the top of my head that constitute a "poor warm-up." Firstly, I would consider any warm-up that is done repeatedly over and over and over again a poor warm-up. If the warm-up is boring, then choristers already enter into a certain state of "vocal irresponsibility" from the very beginning - they don't care about the warm-up because they've done it 100 times, and so they don't even bother to work on it. I would also consider any warm-up where the conductor doesn't explain what part of the voice/body is being warmed up a poor warm-up. How are singers supposed to know what to feel or what things to look for if they don't know what they're supposed to be warming up?
Questions:
1) Is it really "impossible" to have a successful choral rehearsal without a warm-up?
2) What does singing "on the breath" and "off the breath" mean? The author talks about these things like they're really important, but never explains what exactly that means. Maybe this is something that singers are familiar with, but as a pianist these are not terms that I have ever heard before.
The School Choral Program: Philosophy, Planning, Organizing and Teaching
Michele Holt and James Jordan
Chapter 9
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