ChorTeach

Practical Teaching Ideas for Today’s Music Educator -Terry Barham, Editor

Welcome to ACDA’s online magazine for choral director/music educators who are searching for answers and need fresh ideas or techniques to meet practical needs. The articles below have been gleaned from state ACDA newsletters around the United States.

ChorTeach, our name, is derived from the German word for chorus, chor. It is pronounced, as most of you know, like the word, core. I hope ChorTeach’s articles will be a breath of fresh air for you, provide you with a few ideas or techniques that give you a lift and help your singers reach the goals you and they have set. ChorTeach is designed for those of you who work with amateur singers at all levels.

Do you have a favorite article from a previous state newsletter you would like to share with colleagues from around the world? Scan it. Email it to me—Word format only. I’ll look it over. Be sure to include the following information: state newsletter title, volume and issue number, year, title of the article, author of the article, your name and email address. Articles chosen for inclusion in ChorTeach can be reprinted only with permission of the parent state newsletter.

Terry Barham, Editor.

Contact Terry Barham here.

Click on the title of an issue to view/download the entire issue. Click on an article's title to view/download just that article.

Vol. 4, Issue 3 - Spring 2012

1. Adolescent Identity Formation and the Singing Voice by Nana Wolfe
2. How About a 5-5-5 Plan? Five Songs, Five Weeks, Five Concerts! by Deborah Fristad
3. Spatial Disorders and Dyslexia in the Choral Classroom by Jeffrey Kitson
4. Who’s Afraid of Renaissance Music? No-Fear Solutions for Middle and Senior High Choirs
   by Michael Zemek
5. Church Choir Directors/Organists: Conducting Gesture and Active Listening in Rehearsals and Worship by Jason Thoms

Vol. 4, Issue 2 - Winter 2012

1. The Edition You Choose Matters by Lee G. Barrow
2. A Thematic Approach to Planning Choral Programs by Shereé Stoppel
3. Perhaps Wishing Will Make it So by Barbara Retzko
4. Questions from the Choral Conscience by Steven Zopfi
5. Humor in Choral Rehearsals by Steven Sieck

Vol. 4, Issue 1 - Fall 2011

1. 
   Preparing High School Musicals - A Beginning by Jacob Narverud
2. Educating Contemporary Audiences - Times Have Changed by Scott Buchanan
3. Preparing High School Singers for College/University Auditions by MB Krueger
4. 
   Using Tuning Forks to Empower Your Church Choir - Excellence at the Basics by Julie Ford
   
5. To Jazz or Not to Jazz by James McCullough

Vol. 3, Issue 4 - Summer 2011

1. Recruiting Singers With No Feeder Program? Yes, You Can by Dana Alexander
2. Extraordinary Elementary Singing on a Shoestring Budget by Christy Elsner
3. 
   Working with Honor/Festival Choirs: One Conductor's Perspective by Terry J. Barham
4. Community Choirs−Mission Impossible? by Rick Bjella
5. Transformative Collaborations with Other Choirs by Thomas Lloyd

Vol. 3, Issue 3 - Spring 2011

1. Using Social Media and Technology to Strengthen Your Choral Program
   Gibbon's The Silver Swan in the 21st Century by Barbara Retzko
2. Singing Avant-Garde Compositions with Youth Choirs? Yes! by Nancy Curry
3. Ten Positive Things to Do for Yourself by Jo Anne Stoddard
4. Male Chorus: Recruit, Maintain, and Develop by Mark Cotter
5. Choral Pedagogy in the 21st Century: Shared Control in College
   and University Choirs by Micah Dalbey

Vol. 3, Issue 2 - Winter 2011

1. Helping Corey Match Pitch by Catharine Melhorn

2. 
   Church Musicians and Inclusive Language: A Beginning by Andy Call
3. First Thing First in Early Choir Rehearsals: Classroom Procedures that Get Results
   by Jason Sickel
4. What Do You Teach?... I Teach Kids! by Katherine Kouns
5. A Broader View of Today's Choral Curriculum in Today's World by Alan J. Gumm

Vol. 3, Issue 1 - Fall 2010

1. Facebook, Email and Twitter: How Tweet It Is! by Joelle Norris
2. Oakdale Prison Community Choir: A Person is a Person Through Other People
   by Mary Cohen
3. Dynamic (and Effective) Teaching with Junior High/Middle School Singers by Karen Sims
4. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Reflection and Personal Growth by Phil Hesterman
5. A Systematic Approach to the Placement of Singers in Large Choirs by Brian Lanier

Vol. 2, Issue 4 - Summer 2010

1. Success and Youthful Choral Directors - Ten Suggestions by Scott Buchanan
2. Two Basics: Intonation and Reading Skills for Children's Choirs by Sandra Mathias
3. The Aging Voice: An Interview with Six Conductors by Mark Lawley
4. May I Suggest a Better Blend? by Donna Spicer
5. Vocal Health - My Journey by Cathy Reitz

Vol. 2, Issue 3 - Spring 2010

1. Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride! by Roberta Q. Jackson
2. Creating and Sustaining Choral Programs in Today's Churches by Greg Zielke
3. Sing, Sing, Sing With a Swing - Jazzing Up Community Choirs by Stephanie Austin Leston
4. Music In-Between the Notes and from Other Cultures by David V. Montoya
5. Lifelong Learning and Shades of Gray by William Dabback

Vol. 2, Issue 2 - Winter 2010

1. A New/Old Look at Discipline and Classroom Mangement for Teachers by Glen T. Miller
2. An Ear for an Eye - Learning from a Blind Conducting Student by Ian Loeppky
3. Part Singing in Middle School - It Can be Done! by Rachel Green
4. Taming the Text by Randel Wagner
5. The "Call" - Teaching Singers to Project Healthy Tone by Franklin Green

Vol. 2, Issue 1 - Fall 2009

1. A Cognitive Crescendo - How Music Affects the Brain by Angela Hampton
2. Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing by Jeff Anderson
3. Where Have All the Altos Gone? by Amy Allibon
4. Programming for Choirs is an Art by Ken Abrams
5. A Choral Director's First Task by Charles Chapman

Vol. 1, Issue 4 - Summer 2009

1. Cultural Awakening - an opportunity for Healing and Harmonizing by Martha Coventry Graver
2. It is Time for Sowing! Planting and Growing Your Musical Garden by Bryan Taylor
3. Inclusion of Special Needs Students in Choirs by Vicki Baker
4. Using the National Standards for Choral Teaching by James Fronczek
5. Serenity for the Middle School Choir Director by Kathy Lollar

Vol. 1, Issue 3 - Spring 2009

1. You Might Not be the Only One Suffering from a Voice Problem - Music Teachers and Vocal Health by Mary Lynn Morrissey Doherty
2. Rhythmic Integrity in the Choral Rehearsal: A Bag of Tricks and More by Thomas Wine
3. Beyond the "Bass-ics" in Junior High/Middle School Music Programs by Sarah Marohl
4. Warm-Up's, Repertoire, and Resources for Male Choirs by Amy Hughley

Vol. 1, Issue 2 - Winter 2009

1. Mix It Up - you Won't Believe What Will Happen! by Danny Detrick
2. "Choir Lite" - Less Time, Just as Fulfilling by Lee G. Barrow
3. The Best Things in Life are Free - Especially Choral Music by James A. John
4. New Bridges to Cross: Ideas to Motivate and Stimulate Multicultural Emphasis in the Choral Classroom by Sarah Ross.

Vol. 1, Issue 1 - Fall 2008

1. Repertoire Search Strategies by James D. Niblock
2. The Vocal Edge by Leanne Freeman-Miller
3. Where the Wild Thinks Are - Teaching Middle School Boys' Choirs by Mary Jane Phillips
4. The Collaborative Rehearsal by Jason Heald