Show Choir Premiere Concert

The Kennedy High School Show Choir Premiere Concert took place this week, and it was a very big event. Show Choir is a very popular activity in my school and in schools around the area, so it is quite competitive. At the premiere concert the show choirs do exactly what the name suggests; they perform their full shows for the first time for an audience.

There are three show choirs at my school: Chaunteurs, Protege, and Happiness. Chaunteurs is the freshmen-only show choir, so no older participants are members of that choir. In preparation for the year, middle schools hold auditions for this show choir as a chance for current eighth graders to seize a spot and begin rehearsing over the summer. Directors from Kennedy go to each of the feeder middle schools and have auditions. The auditions generally have two parts: a singing portion and a dancing portion. If the prospect eighth grader demonstrates the required skill level, he or she is awarded a spot in Chaunteurs. Many students audition, but not everyone makes the cut. The directors have to choose their choir using students from multiple middle schools, so the chances are slimmer. 

Protege is the second show choir at my school. This group mainly consists of sophomores, but there are a few juniors sprinkled in the mix as well. I have never heard of a senior being in Protege, but that does not mean it is not impossible. Again, freshmen in Chaunteurs have to audition for the following year in order to secure a spot in Protege. Just because you made it into Chaunteurs does not guarantee you a spot in Protege for next year. In addition to the sophomores, the directors have to account for some juniors in the group as well. The auditions run basically the same as they did the previous year and students are selected for the middle show choir group. 

Happiness is the top show choir at Kennedy. Every incoming freshmen dreams of becoming a member of this group some day. This choir consists of juniors and seniors. Very rarely, there is an outstanding sophomore who is placed in this group as well. Happiness has been ranked the number one show choir in the nation multiple times and consistently achieves great success. Members of this show choir are easily recognizable by their famous yellow jackets. Happiness members wear their gaudy bright jackets whenever they have a performance later that night or a competition on the weekend.

All three show choirs began rehearsing in the summer and they have been learning and perfecting their show for many months now. The premiere concert was the first time all three groups performed their whole show for an audience. Competition season is right around the corner, so that will be the next set of performances the groups will be gearing up for!

Christmas Music

Perhaps the most famous holiday of the year, Christmas, is only a little over a month and a half away. You know what that means; it is time for Christmas music. Many people absolutely despise Christmas music and they find it extremely annoying. I do not share this opinion, but I do not love it with all my heart, either. I think Christmas music is very happy and it is intended to put people into the holiday spirit, but I do agree that it gets a little boring after listening to it for almost two months.

Every year it seems like the malls and grocery stores and the radio stations start playing the Christmas music earlier and earlier. This year, the biggest complaint I have heard is when people say, "It is not even Thanksgiving yet!". It is a bit outrageous when you think about it, but this has been going on for years now. Some holidays are so close together that stores feel the need to start advertising for a later one before the earlier even finishes. For example, Valentine's Day is only two months after New Years' Eve. This may seem like a long time, but in past years I remember stores have started to set out Valentine's Day decorations and chocolate before Christmas even came! I understand that occurrences like this do not please many people, but they have become social norms. In situations like this where it is impossible to change everything, it is easiest to simply rest your case and try to accept what is going on around you.

Christmas music is often very popular and easily recognizable by almost everyone. The songs are catchy and often end up driving people crazy when they get stuck in their heads. The music associated with this holiday might be one of the reasons Christmas is one of, if not the most, popular holidays in the United States. Other holidays have some music associated with them, but none to the extent that Christmas does. Music is a way of bringing people together, so it makes sense that everyone is very family oriented around Christmas time. Studies have also shown that using songs and music helps you remember things better. This is why teachers often use songs in order to teach young children topics in school. Perhaps the presence of so much music around Christmas time helps make the holiday that much more memorable in people's minds.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, fun-filled Christmas this year! :)

Music Therapy

Music Therapy is an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. After assessing the strengths and needs of each client, the qualified music therapist provides the indicated treatment including creating, singing, moving to, and/or listening to music. Through musical involvement in the therapeutic context, clients' abilities are strengthened and transferred to other areas of their lives. Music therapy also provides avenues for communication that can be helpful to those who find it difficult to express themselves in words. Research in music therapy supports its effectiveness in many areas such as: overall physical rehabilitation and facilitating movement, increasing people's motivation to become engaged in their treatment, providing emotional support for clients and their families, and providing an outlet for expression of feelings.

The idea of music as a healing influence which could affect health and behavior is as least as old as the writings of Aristotle and Plato. The 20th century profession formally began after World War I and World War II when community musicians of all types, both amateur and professional, went to Veterans hospitals around the country to play for the thousands of veterans suffering both physical and emotional trauma from the wars. The patients' notable physical and emotional responses to music led the doctors and nurses to request the hiring of musicians by the hospitals. It was soon evident that the hospital musicians needed some prior training before entering the facility and so the demand grew for a college curriculum. Many colleges today offer music therapy programs that show students how to assess the needs of patients and how to design a program of music therapy that meets those needs. 

Pep Band

Pep band is something that almost every high school musician will have to go through, even if they do not want to. While some people enjoy playing the popular tunes to pump up the student section and the sports teams, most students find pep band extremely boring and do not like it at all.

During marching season, the band is usually required to perform their halftime show at all the home football games. In addition to playing at halftime, the band is also required to sit in a designated area that is blocked off. Here, they perform short tunes that are intended to energize the student section and the football players. The songs range from around thirty seconds to a little over one minute. The referees do not allow the bands to play while the game is going on, so usually these songs are only played during timeouts, in between quarters, or if a touchdown is scored. At my school, we play the school fight song every time our football team scores a touchdown.

Pep band can be fun for those who enjoy watching the game and hanging out with their friends in band. However, this is usually not the case. Many students do not like watching football or do not care about it. Even if they did not mind it, most people would prefer to sit with the student section because it is more entertaining. I personally do not mind playing in pep band because I like sitting and hanging out with my band friends, but I certainly understand why others would not be pleased. Some nights it is very cold or very hot and it is simply miserable sitting outside for a long period of time. It is also difficult to watch the game if your team is losing and getting pounded pretty badly. The pep band tunes are meant to help encourage them to keep on playing hard and give them spirit, but sometimes this just does not work.

Overall, it does not matter if you like pep band or not. You will have to participate in it either way in order to receive a good grade for band. In these cases all you can do is try to make the best of the situation and have as much fun as you can. :)

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" Music Review

Halloween was this past weekend, so I thought it would be fitting to discuss some music commonly associated with the holiday. Perhaps one of the most popular Halloween movies is "The Nightmare Before Christmas" produced by Tim Burton. It follows the story of Jack Skellington, the leader of Halloween Town, known as 'The Pumpkin King'. After accidentally discovering a door leading to Christmas Town, Jack formulates a plan to kidnap Santa Claus and take over his job as the leader of Christmas Town.

The music in this soundtrack was written by Danny Elfman, a famous composer who also provided the singing voice for Jack. The score was extremely well written. For our Christmas concert this year, my band will be performing selections from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" soundtrack. I am very excited because this is one of my all time favorite movies and I enjoy the music very much. The selections we will be performing in our arrangement are "Overture", "What's This?", "Christmas Eve Montage",  "Sally's Song", and "This Is Halloween".

What's This?
In this upbeat, exciting tune, Jack enters Christmas Town by accident after discovering doors deep in the forest leading to many different holiday towns. During this song, Jack discovers many odd and new things he has never seen before, such as Christmas trees and lights, stockings, and Santa Claus (who he believes to be Sandy Claws). Each phrase starts out with the intense melody and slows down and becomes more sincere towards the end as Jack reflects upon how nice all of these Christmas time things are. Then, the melody comes back once he discovers something new and exciting again and his attention is drawn elsewhere. This song is where Jack's fascination with Christmas Town begins. Later on, this fascination becomes an obsession, which is the beginning stage of the rising action of the plot line.

Sally's Song
This song illustrates Sally's conflict with herself regarding Jack. She is in love with him and she cares about him very much, but she worries he does not feel the same way about her. Sally had a vision that Jack's plan to kidnap Christmas will go disastrously wrong and she is scared for him. In this song she is concerned about what she should do because she wants to stay by Jack's side and support him, but she does not want anything to happen to him so she does not want him to follow through with his plans. The more she thinks about it the more she fears Jack does not feel the same way about her and that makes her very sad. This soft tune is very beautiful but also heart-wrenching at the same time. The music is slow and expressive as Sally describes her love for Jack, and it is also filled with dissonance and tension as she expresses her fears that he is not in love with her and that he will get hurt. By the end of the song, Sally is convinced that she is not the right girl for Jack and she will let him move on to find someone else.

This Is Halloween
This song is perhaps the most well known song from "The Nightmare Before Christmas". It takes place at the very beginning of the movie and serves as the introduction to Halloween Town. Throughout the piece, many ghosts and ghouls take turns singing about Halloween Town and what it is all about. During the song many the viewers catch a first glimpse of some of the main characters, such as Sally, the Mayor, and eventually Jack Skellington at the end. Jack is introduced at the end as 'The Pumpkin King' because he is the leader of Halloween Town and all the monsters adore him. This song is very dark and mysterious, yet it is fast-paced. This is not a common pairing of musical elements. Usually dark, mysterious music is slow and eerie, and fast-paced music is often bright and happy. Using this combination helps depict Halloween Town as spooky and creepy yet intense and crazy at the same time. This tune is a perfect introduction to the movie because it grabs the audiences' attention right away and keeps them wanting to find out more about Jack and Halloween Town.

The music in this movie is phenomenal and adds lots of substance to the plot. I highly recommend both this film and the music in it to everyone. If you have not seen "The Nightmare Before Christmas", you should watch it sometime very soon!

"Hello" by Adele

"Hello" is Adele's latest hit single and it is everywhere. You can not go any place without turning on the radio and hearing this song somewhere along the way on your trip. It is a good song with gorgeous music and deep, meaningful lyrics. However, this tune is wayyyy too overplayed. I do not know about everyone else, but I am certainly burned out with this song for a while. Keep in mind, it has only been out on YouTube and the radio for a few weeks! I understand that it is very popular and people like it, but radio stations need to start controlling how much "Hello" is played because I think it is getting a bit outrageous. That is all. Thanks for reading this mini-rant blog. :p

Rehearsal Behavior

Recently, a very highly-respected and professional conductor from around the area came to work with my band because our director had to be absent. All the underclassmen were terrified because the older students told them frightening tales about this director and how cruel he can be. For privacy purposes I will just reference to him by his first name, Steve. Steve is an extremely talented musician and an even better conductor, but sometimes he can be a little intimidating. Sometimes he can even be a little mean. He has never been overly mean to my band any time he has come to work with us, but everyone still knows the stories in which he is quite snippy with other bands. Thanks to the upperclassmen, all the younger students were terrified out of their minds. However, the rehearsal went very smoothly and Steve was very nice and calm. The next day when our director returned, he was very pleased with us. He said Steve was impressed with the rehearsal etiquette we displayed while he was working with us. This may not seem like much, but it is a big compliment. Many high school bands are untrained and disrespectful during rehearsal. This surprises guest conductors when they come in to work with bands because they expected better behavior out of the students. Thanks to our director, my band has been trained well and we know how to behave when it is time to get serious and work.

The first and probably most noticeable thing a band can do is look interested in what they are doing. Before we started the rehearsal with Steve, everyone was reminding each other to make sure they do not yawn, check the clock or a phone, or look bored any time during the rehearsal. Any of these things suggest a lack of interest, which creates a poor environment for learning and improving. If the students do not care about the rehearsal, why should the director? On the other hand, looking interested and being focused sends positive messages to the director and also causes a ripple effect. Students rub off on each other, so if a few people are presenting a great attitude then it will spread to others. It is important that the group as a whole in actively engaged so they are prepared to give the rehearsal their best effort.

Another thing to do is to always give your very best effort no matter where you are or what you are doing. You can not simply decide when you are going to play well, you have to always play well. You should always put the same effort forth for warming up, tuning, to playing actual songs and everything in between. Practice does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. Similarly, practice makes permanent. If you always practice with little effort, you will perform exactly like that. This is why you should always put your best effort into any rehearsal.