So tomorrow is contest for my choirs. Usually this is in March for me but that date didn't work out this year. We are going out of district this year to Bowling Green. I'm anxious because I've never been to this district for contest. It is definitely out of my comfort zone. I'm not anxious about our performance. I'm anxious about not knowing where I'm going and not knowing anyone.
Our contest is more of a festival. We receive judges comments and ratings. Distinguished, Proficient and so on. This year the scores aren't that important to me. I'm not on my A game this year. I'm really trying to recover this year from last year. And I don't think I'm a good contest teacher. It really goes against my teaching philosophy.
I'm not a strong technical teacher. Every choir teacher in my district is better than me. Probably every one in the state. And I'm not saying that to pull compliments. It's not my strength. My strength is musicality. I know how to pull tone out of kids and shape musical phrases. I'm good at making music come to life in a kids heart and having them pour it out. So that is what I focus on. I do a lot of music. More than most. Some folks really focus on technique and do less music. Their choirs are wonderful. I know technique, don't get me wrong. And I do teach technical aspects of music. But I focus more on the style. I also enjoy doing a lot of different music. I love exposing my students to all different types of music. I love how much music they perform. It's not right or wrong. It's just a style of teaching.
However, this does not fit into contest. Contest is prepared music to be judged but it is also sight reading. I'm terrible at sight reading. I have studied different ways of teaching it. I have even tried a few times. I'm think I was good at teaching it to 7th and 8th graders, one line sight reading. I'm terrible at high school. Plus, I just haven't put the time into it. This year I decided to do more music and not even touch sight reading. It was my call and I will take the blame for it. I'm really proud of the work we have done on our prepared pieces. And I'll be very proud of the concert we put out there next Thursday. My kids will be singing 3 additional songs added to the 2 contest pieces. This was my choice this year. So I told the kids that what happened in the sight reading room was on me and not them. I hope that they aren't too disappointed in me. I hope they don't feel cheated that I didn't prepare them for sight reading. I hope they are happy that they learned so much music. I hope they feel the music in their soul and don't wish they had another teacher.
I told all my groups that the goal for me tomorrow was for them to have an incredible music experience. A day full of musical moments. And that if they did their very best and gave it their all then they would have an incredible music experience. And then the judges would as well. They have worked so hard for this. I want them to remember singing these wonderful songs on a beautiful stage.
That is my teaching philosophy. Embrace each moment you can make music. Put your heart and soul into each note and make a memory.
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