I remember wanting to learn to mark scores more effectively, and being told by someone, “there’s lots of different ways to mark score. However you do it is fine, just pick a method.” I remember mostly being utterly unsatisfied with that suggestion – what I wanted was a specific tool that I could learn. I am happy to then adapt and adjust the tool to my needs – but I need a specific place to start. I needed less freedom at first – more structure to define a jumping-off point.
I’ve been struggling to convince some of my students to physically engage in the music they’re singing – especially outside of the classical repertoire, where movement is more accepted and even encouraged. The physicality is engaging during performance, but it also gives singers a rhythmic foundation that is crucial in the rhythmically intricate music I often conduct – a cappella pop and vocal jazz.
My solution, then, is to give my students the structure I wanted from in my score-marking study. Even though I definitely do not want my ensembles to step touch outside of specifically choreographed moments, a step touch is what is needed to establish the physicality. Later, we can reevaluate to offer more freedom to my students. But starting with structure may well be what’s needed to set them up for success.