I’m in love with the mental challenge of working on two versions of the same song.
Currently, the Aces are learning a TTBB version of the Star Spangled Banner, while each of them is learning an SATB version in their curricular choir.
It’s hard. It’s especially hard if you’re singing harmony parts in both versions, but they are different. Different parts, slightly different harmonies.
But I love what it does for my students’ brains to do it. By working on the two versions at once, they are learning:
- How one song can have multiple interpretations.
- How to file similar information in different brain spaces.
- How to be intentional in your performance, rather than relying on rote memory.
It takes active thinking and attention to sing the piece accurately now, wherever they are singing it. And I think it pays dividends in whatever singing we do together.