Distance Learning Instructions Period 2 – Women’s Chorus

Week 6 – May 11th - 15th

By now, you should have the routine pretty well figured out. If you still haven’t been able to get into the swing of this crazy distance learning thing, please try to follow these steps:

1. Start from the first week of distance learning packets and move forward. Late work is accepted, so don’t confuse yourself by skipping a week of work and not understanding what you missed.

2. READ the packet. Mrs. Shanker is not able to hold Zoom classes to teach the lesson or the tech support, but she did write this wonderful step by step guide to help you. Yes, it’s long, but that’s because she has taken the feedback of students asking the same questions every week and addressed the common issues right here for everyone to see.

3. Try – Ask a Peer – Ask Shanker. Try to complete the work as instructed in the packet. When something goes wrong, ask a friend/peer from your class or another of Shanker’s classes that may be able to clarify or help you. If that doesn’t work, reach out to Mrs. Shanker, but be kind and be specific. When you send a message to Mrs. Shanker, be specific about the week #, the assignment title, what seems to be the problem, and please sign your full name. Mrs. Shanker has an average of ten minutes per student per week to teach, help, trouble shoot, and grade your work. (according to the hours teachers are supposed to work and that’s IF baby Zoe cooperates). This is a very stressful time for us all and we must remember to be kind, patient, and always assume the best intentions from each other.

4. Speak Up. If your situation is not allowing you to meet the expectations of your teachers, please let us know. We are human, too! We understand and we just want to know that you are making it through this tough time so that at some point we can see each other face to face and move forward with our lives again. Ghosting us makes us lose sleep thinking the absolute worst thoughts.

Composer Worksheet: This week you will learn about Samuel Barber.

- Turn In: The best way to answer the questions is to go to the new website and type your answers directly into the google form.

o https://sites.google.com/view/hhschoir-vocalmusic - There are also videos on the new website of Barber’s most famous works. Listen and enjoy!

o “Sure On This Shining Night” o “ Adagio for Strings”

Practice Log:

§ Like Week 5, this week is free form. I’d still like 30 minutes of practice time per week, but now I’m opening up what you are practicing.

§ If you want to practice something as a solo piece for next year’s showcases or you want to start an a cappella group with your friends, or you want to learn a barbershop tag off of YouTube, whatever it is, I’m excited for you! I want you to have the joy of music in your life during this really hard time. Keep singing!

§ Write in whatever the song is into your log along with how many minutes you practiced and on which days. Then tell me about how it went at the bottom. These are reflection questions to help you think critically about what stage you are at now and what you need to do to improve.

§ SENIORS: You should be learning “There Will Be Rest” for the Senior Song which we are planning to record everyone individually on Sound Trap and then compile into a virtual ensemble with the band for your graduation ceremony. The learning tracks and sheet music are in the google drive in the “Senior Song 2020” folder which I have already shared with you.

Notation Unit 3: Lesson 5 – Flats & Sharps

- First, a few things to keep in mind: o Note names should always be written in capital letters. o When we say a note has an accidental in our sentence structure it is: C sharp, but in

music notation the sharp sign comes before the note as you are reading the music left to right so you will see the note written as: #C (where the letter C is actually the note on the staff). So make sure you have the symbol on the left in the staff but on the right in text.

o Sharp and Flat symbols both have a center that is open. In the sharp symbol (#) there is a box in the middle that is white. In a flat symbol (b) there is a half heart or circle shape that is open.

§ When you place a flat or sharp on a line of the staff, you should see the open center with the line running straight through it. (Just like a note head on a line)

§ When you place a flat or sharp on a space of the staff, you should see the open center with nothing in it. (Just like a note head on a space.)

§ Sharps & Flats are part of a grouping of symbols called “Accidentals”. These symbols only affect a note for the duration of the measure in which they are placed. So if you see F# on beat 2 in a measure and then you see another note on an F line/space in the same measure, that F will also be an F#. After the measure is completed (at the bar line), the accidental is reset to it’s original. So if you see an F in the next measure it is now just regular F (also known as: F Natural).

- There are several instructional videos on the new website. Please watch them and read through the lesson pages and take notes. If you get stuck, please reach out for help. Here are the video links if you want to type it:

o Piano Keys and Sharp & Flat Names: https://youtu.be/zvuNlN9WBYc o Sharps & Flats: https://youtu.be/5r-qoY9iBDs

- You will need to complete page 39 and 40 as well as Quiz 28 by physically writing on the page. Then take a picture or scan to turn in and upload them into your personal google drive turn in folder “P2 – Your Name”.

Sound Trap: - I hope this app wasn’t too much of a burden on you during distance learning. I chose to use it

for a couple reasons: o You should develop your critical ear to hearing your voice and matching what you sang

with what you hear in the learning track. Can you hear differences? Were you breathing in the right places? Did you add an extra note or sing a rhythm wrong? It’s so important to be able to hear our own mistakes. If we can’t hear them, how will we fix them?

o The Seniors are going to record their Senior Song using Sound Trap very soon. We’ve been using low pressure assignment to allow you all to figure out how to record, how to get your personal tech to work and record a clear sound, and how to record in small chunks to allow a better overall product. (Senior Song – traditionally, our seniors in band, choir, orchestra, and drum line have the opportunity to choose a song and collaborate to create or commission an arrangement of a popular song to be performed during the graduation ceremony.)

o And if I have time after school is out, I might be able to take our recordings of Will the Circle and mash them into a virtual choir track. It’s not the same as singing side by side in a choir, but it is a fun digital representation of our unified voices raised up strong. So make sure your recording is synced up in it’s timing and has correct notes, words, and rhythms! A million small errors layered together would sound terrible.

o Hopefully, some of you became more interested in recording technology and you may consider taking Mr. Carreon’s ROP Digital Recording class or his Music Theory & Technology class in the future. These classes are excellent steps to broadening your understanding of sound engineering software, recording equipment, sound mixing boards, and songwriting. I highly recommend them! I know some of you created some fun side projects and I do invite you to share your finished personal projects with me by exporting your song as a mp3 and dropping it into the google drive turn in folder. You might even get extra credit!

- I would like to offer you one final project. I’m going to send out a Tag Assignment. It is a barbershop tag that you can sing all four parts in and then mute the learning tracks to hear yourself sing in harmony with . . . yourself! This one is due at the end of Week 8. You have time to learn each part and record them. It’s a short tag so it won’t take long. Sheet music will be posted on the new website and in the google drive class folder by Wednesday. Mrs. Shanker has recorded the learning tracks into Sound Trap as a guide for you.

o This assignment will be posted in Sound Trap by Wednesday. o Record the Lead (melody) first. Always make sure you have selected the correct track

to record on. If you record over a learning track, click the undo button and try selecting the track that is empty before you hit record again.

o Make sure you use the solo/mute buttons so you hear one track to guide you as you record. Also, wear headphones when recording!

o Clicking save is all you need to do to allow Mrs. Shanker to check in on your progress. You can also use the collaborator chat window in your project to send Shanker a quick message asking for help.

o If your recordings didn’t sync right (delayed recording compared to the learning track), try the following:

§ Use Google Chrome web browser on a desktop computer. (not safari, firefox, etc)

§ Each track has three dots for more options/settings, click the “Freeze Track” option on all the learning tracks to give you more data flowing band width.

§ If you are on a phone, completely quit all the applications that are running in the background. Put the phone on airplane mode then turn the wifi back on.

Turn In Checklist: (All work is due on the following Monday, May 18th.)

- Create a “Week 6” folder within your turn in google drive folder “P2 – Name” and make sure your work is sorted into the correct folder so Mrs. Shanker can find it and grade it easily.

o Please name your files with the name of the assignment and your name. - Composer: Barber Worksheet – Type Answers on Google Form on New Website - Practice Log with at least 30 minutes of practice done. – Put in Google Drive folder. - Notation Unit 3 Lesson 5 page 39 & 40 and Quiz 28– Put in Google Drive folder. - Sound Trap: Start your Tag Assignment (due Week 8)

Contact Mrs. Shanker with:

- REMIND - E-MAIL – Best email is: Shankerchoir@gmail.com

o Always include your name first and last and which class you are in.

ALL assignments for each week are due on the following Monday. Week 6 Work is Due Monday, May 18th

Meet the Composers – Samuel Barber Questions Please answer these questions online by visiting the new choir website at:

www.sites.google.com/view/hhschoir-vocalmusic

1. Samuel Barber was born and raised in (city, state, country)

______________________, ______________________, __________

2. When Barber was ___________ years old, his mother began teaching him

to play the _____________________.

3. When Barber was a teenager, the __________________________________

Church paid him as a professional to play the ________________________.

4. Barber was in the first class of students to attend what school?

________________________________________________________

5. Who was Barber’s college friend who also became a well-known composer?

________________________________________________________

6. Samuel Barber didn’t worry about committing to composing music that was always in one genre or style. Instead, he composed music that was from his

_________________.

7. In 1942, Barber joined which branch of the military? __________________

8. Name Barber’s two greatest compositions:

______________________________________

______________________________________

9. Contemporary composers like Barber would sometimes take an older style of music and adapt it with new ideas. Barber’s style was sometimes called

_______-____________________.

Name:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday FridaySong Title: May 11th May 12th May 13th May 14th May 15th

There Will Be Rest (Seniors)

Seniors should be working on "There Will Be Rest" for the Senior Song. We will be recording towards the end of the school year. All others may continue to practice this year's repertoire or may write in what they have been singing this week. Options will be clarified in the distance learning instructions for the week. Please maintain a 30 minute per week log of singing activity. Singing should bring you joy in this difficult time.

Week 6

What did you sing and why?

What were your goals in your rehearsal?

What are your goals for your next rehearsal?

Date of Practice:

Parent/Guardian signature that the practice log is honest and accurate: