My Personal Lesson Plan for Training Probationers
Here is the entire set of lesson plans I use for training our Probationers.
Taka… What?
Kids love this!
The Power of Good Music
Please, please don’t ever underestimate the power of good music to touch hearts in either the work of evangelization or catechesis.
Solfege
I feel that solfege is the fastest and most secure route to establishing the scale and the way its notes function within that scale in the minds of singers.
The Art of Breathing
If there are only two concepts you are able to instill in a child in the early stages regarding breathing, they would be 1) fill and empty the stomach with air just like a balloon (don’t use the chest) and 2) keep the shoulders down and relaxed.
Teaching New Singers
I like to cover (or re-cover) all of the basics with the boys and girls.
Another Job For Your Children
Simply dive in and do it. Remember how quickly your children grew up and left home? That is all the longer it takes.
One Man I Would Give My Right Arm To Meet In Person
“This honest, magnanimous and public statement made my struggle totally worthwhile.” —Colin Mawby
A Must Have For The Choir Director’s Shelf
This book is invaluable for the church musician.
A Few More Thoughts on the Chorister Audition
At the end of the audition, most of the students experience a great sense of accomplishment and really consider it an honor to be accepted into the choir!
Should Children Have To Audition?
There is a proper balance between an impossibly hard formal audition and the usual “any child can join” policy that exists in the typical parish children’s choir.
A Must Have Resource for Catholic Schools
Pastors and music directors, this is for you!
Surprised By Beauty
It had been over a decade since I had set foot in St. John Cantius—enough time to forget that one never can tell what beautiful surprise awaits unsuspecting visitors.
A Musical Diet
I realize what I propose seems like moving forward at a snail’s pace, but considering how long the average parishioner has been in the liturgical and musical desert, anything more would cause the musical equivalent of refeeding syndrome.
Musical Green Eggs and Ham
Considering the great gift Mother Teresa had been to the world, I had to wonder why her sisters chose something as dubious as “Shepherd Me, O God” to be sung at her funeral?