I stopped rehearsal last week to ask an important question.
“I just said to make that AH vowel taller. But was I talking to everyone?”
No, probably not. So I followed up with, “Who here has taller than average vowels in the group?”
About a third of the group raised their hands, some confidently, some hesitantly. I confirmed a few by name. And then I reminded them that we’re all of us different people with different backgrounds and experiences. When I say something to the group as a whole, I might not be talking to you. It’s up to you to know yourself well enough to know whether I am talking to you.
It’s a bad idea to make your vowels taller and taller because the person next to you has a strong Michigan accent. You can learn bad habits and create vocal problems down the road. It takes critical thinking to know whether to apply something the director says, or to think, “I’ve already got that.”
We empower students to think critically in rehearsal by making these kinds of questions explicit, so they can all learn to ask them.