FOCUS!
What tone do you imagine when you hear that one word sentence? I hear sternness. I hear control. I hear discipline.
Too often, we associate deep focus with negative or authoritative emotions. It’s what your teacher says when you are distracted, or what you say to your kids when you want them to finish their homework and get to bed.
We do require focus in choral music – particularly in performance of multiple works back to back. A 20 or 30 minute performance can severely tax our ability to stay focused.
But when a conductor reminds her choir to stay focused, what too often happens is that with the singers’ focus comes a scowl. The joy is sapped from the music.
There can be a joy to focus. Think of a time when a joyful hour passed in a heartbeat. You were in a deep state of focus, but chances are that you weren’t scowling.
Can you guide your students to a joyful focus in their music-making?