Video transcript
Primary Proms 2021 - Full webinar

[jingle playing]

IAN JEFFERSON: Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to the 2021 Primary Proms, also known as Choral Stage 2, teachers' workshop. My name is Ian Jefferson. I'm the Student Music Programs Officer, K to 8, here at The Arts Unit. I'm here in Lewisham, along with David Todd, who's behind the camera, actually sitting over there, and Peter Hayward who is monitoring the chat and helping any of you experiencing technical issues.

Before I begin, I'd like to recognise the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The land from which I am speaking to you this afternoon, these lands were never ceded and remain important to the Gadigal people to this day. We respect the living culture spirit and country of all Aboriginal people, including the elders past, present, and emerging.

Let us know who you are and from where you're tuning in by using the chat function at the bottom or right-hand side of your screen. Make sure the dropdown next to 'to' is on 'to all panellists and attendees,' otherwise only Peter Hayward will be able to read your comment. I'd also like to give a shout-out to the Concerts team here at The Arts Unit. That's Jenny Birrell, Sue Hill, and Susan Sukkar.

This online webinar is in no way attempting to replace the in-person Teachers' Workshop we normally hold at the conservatorium, which obviously due to COVID couldn't happen this year. But hopefully some of the pre-recorded resources we're about to show you may prove useful, particularly for beginner choir teachers. These resources will become available and remain accessible on the new Arts Unit's website, which is almost ready to be launched, a few weeks maybe. I'm getting shrugs here. In the meantime, these same resources are available via my Google Drive to which you should have received a link I sent earlier today.

As educators, it's important to embrace these opportunities to improve our skills. So, I'd advise you to get stuck into this repertoire with your students, most of which is fairly easy unison stuff, as well as a few slightly trickier two-part songs. Rachel Kelly is the main presenter, and although she's unable to join us this afternoon, she'd like me to assure you, particularly the beginner teachers, not to become overwhelmed by the level of detail she explores in the videos we're about to share. Even if you only pick up on a couple of things, that's something. This introductory talking will only go for 5 minutes, and then we'll have a sing.

So, now I'll briefly explain the structure of this afternoon's workshop. We will present the 11 songs that appear in the 2021 Primary Proms Repertoire book, this yellow book that I very much hope that you have a copy of with you right now. This is an upside-down version. We had 106 specially made. We won't be going through the songs in book order, but I'll announce each song when we get to it. Two of the songs, 'The captain's tale' and 'Go for broke,' are also in the 2021 Festival of Choral Music Repertoire and were shown in Monday's webinar. The same video clips of these 2 pieces will be shown at the end of today's session, so those who've already seen them can nick off early.

For each piece, we'll sing through the song once using a prerecorded clip of me or Rachel Kelly or Peter Hayward conducting. The vocals will be provided by Rachel, but feel free to sing along if you want. This will be followed by a 6 to 8 minute video of Rachel going over some of the finer points of each song and giving her teaching tips. For the sing-through component, it's probably best you follow along using your copy of the music while listening to the audio rather than watching the video of the conductor, because the vision might appear ever so slightly out of time with the sound due to internet latency, maybe not.

But for the teaching tips component, you should definitely watch Rachel. The sheet music examples will pop up on the screen as she refers to them. Rachel moves along quite quickly, but these clips will be available afterwards for you to download and to rewatch so, you can rewind, fast-forward, or pause to take notes.

A little small note, if you're wearing headphones or have some fancy audio set-up, the left-right orientation of these clips is as if you're in the middle of the choir watching a conductor with sopranos to your right and altos to your left. Unison vocals are normally in the centre. This will match the vision of the clips we play today.

We'll be presenting the songs in brackets of 3, followed by a 4 minute interlude, where we will endeavour to answer any questions that come up on that chat. If Monday's workshop is anything to go by, most teachers watching are ready to jump in and give their view and answer your questions on any topic, really. And that's great. Don't feel intimidated. We're all here to help one another. So, without further ado, grab your yellow repertoire book and over to prerecorded Ian to introduce the first song. See you in half an hour.

Thanks. The first song tonight that we are looking at in our yellow book, I have the upside-down version, as you can see. We had 106 specially made incorrectly. The first song we're looking at is the song 'Baby mine,' from the musical or the movie 'Dumbo.' It's a lovely lullaby. It's in unison. And this was arranged by Rachel Kelly. And here's Rachel herself to conduct us.

[music - 'Baby mine']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Baby mine, don't you cry. Baby mine, dry your eye. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine. Little one, when you play, don't you mind what they say. Let those eyes sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine. If they knew sweet little you, they'd end up loving you too. All those same people who scold you, what they'd give just for the right to hold you. From your head to your toes, you're not much, goodness knows. But you're so precious to me, cute as can be, baby of mine.

(SPEAKING) This song is from the Disney movie, 'Dumbo.' It's in unison, so the sopranos and the altos always sing the same thing as each other. And it just has 3 verses and a contrasting middle section to learn. The time signature is a C with a line through it. Now, this means cut common time, which is exactly the same thing as 2-2. And it means we conduct 2 beats in every bar. And each represents a minim. So, we go like this down, up, down, up, 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) Baby mine, don't you cry.

(SPEAKING) In general in this song, we want beautiful smooth legato singing, with lovely open vowels. And we want to hold notes to their full value and then cut them off altogether. So, we'd go (SINGING) baby mine, don't you cry. (SPEAKING) So, you show the holding of the note with one hand, and then you can show the cut off. So, the next one is (SINGING) baby mine, dry your eye.

(SPEAKING) Now, there are 5 pure vowel sounds we use when we're singing. They're ah, eh, ih, aw, and oo. And we should always be thinking about which of these vowel sounds we're using at any time in a particular word. It's not always the same as the vowel in the spelling of the word. So, in this very first verse the words 'mine,' 'cry,' and 'I' all hold on using an ah vowel and then flip to an ih as we're finishing the word. Let me show you what I mean. (SINGING) Baby mine, don't you cry. Rather than, baby mine, don't you cry. (SPEAKING) And then next one, with 'dry your eye' (SINGING) baby mine, dry your eye.

(SPEAKING) Sometimes it can be useful to try singing parts of the song with only the vowel sounds. For example, 'rest your head' (SINGING) rest your head, would become, eh, aw, eh.

(SPEAKING) Now in this song, there are lots of times where the tempo slows down for just one bar, indicated either by the word 'rit' or by 'poco rit.' Now 'rit' stands for ritardando, which means to gradually get slower. And 'poco' means 'a little.' So, we sing the first phrase, conducting in 2 (SINGING) baby mine, don't you cry. (SPEAKING) And then just before the second phrase, we've got the term poco rit, which means to slow down a little. This happens again after the second phrase, and it happens a lot later in the song as well. It can be really effective in these poco rit bars to conduct in 4 rather than 2, and this gives you more control of the slowing down. So, instead of going 1, 2, and sliding down that way, we can go 1, 2, 3, 4. And we've got more control over the beats.

So, when we change our conducting pattern like this, it's called subdividing the beat. I'll show you how I would conduct verse one, subdividing every time I get to one of those poco rit bars. So, it's (SINGING) baby mine, don't you cry. 1, 2, 3, 4. Baby mine, dry your eye. 1, 2, 3, 4. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine.

(SPEAKING) So, we need to keep the phrase going until we come to a rest. And that's where we can take a break. So, there is a rest there after the word 'heart,' but not after 'part.' So, we need to sing it like this (SINGING) rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine. (SPEAKING) Now, if you don't remind them of this or you don't show it in your conducting, they'll probably break the phrase up and sing it more like this. (SINGING) Rest your head, close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine. (SPEAKING) Which is nowhere near as beautiful, and it's also not what the music is telling us to do.

So, in the next verse, at bar 19, we do all the same things. We're thinking about pure open vowel sounds, our connected phrases, our held notes and our cutoffs, and those tempo changes with our subdividing. And then at bar 33, we've got a contrasting middle section, which is faster. (SINGING) If they knew sweet little you. (SPEAKING) Now, we can show this increased urgency through our conducting and our body language.

So, this middle section slows down quite a lot towards the end. At bar 47, we've got a rit. And then at bar 48, it says 'molto rit,' 'molto' meaning 'a lot.' And then there's a pause on the last note before we take a little breath where that breath mark is to lead into our final verse. So, from bar 47, I would start conducting in 4, subdividing the beat, to help us with that slowing down. So, we'd go (SINGING) right to hold you. (SPEAKING) We'd pause on that note. Now, that cut-off leads into the upbeat where we take our breath. (SINGING) From your head.

(SPEAKING) So, the cut-off action you do needs to also be going upwards so they can see when to take a breath and when to be ready to sing again. So, I'll show you that again. (SINGING) Right to hold you. From your head. (SPEAKING) So, you might want to practise conducting those few bars just by yourself, just to get the patterns of it and the direction that your hands are going before you try doing it in front of the choir.

And then we're into our third and final verse from bar 49. It gets slower and softer towards the end, and our last note is held on for 2 bars and a pause. So, let me show you just the ending there. I'm going to go from bar 57. So, it would be (SINGING) But you're so precious to me, cute as can be, baby of mine.

IAN JEFFERSON: Beautiful. Thanks, Rachel. The next song we're looking at is on page 46. It is 'The inchworm' by Frank Loesser. And it's from the movie 'Hans Christian Andersen,' a movie that freaked me out a little bit when I was a kid. And I arranged this. It's in 2 parts, but mostly in unison. Take it away, Ian.

[music - 'The inchworm']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Two and two are four. Four and four are eight. Eight and eight are sixteen. sixteen. and sixteen are thirty two. Two and two are four. Four and four are eight. Eight and eight are sixteen. sixteen and sixteen are thirty two.

Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds, you and your arithmetic, you'll probably go far. Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds, seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful they are.

[interposing voices]

Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds, seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful they are. Seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful they are.

(SPEAKING) This song really only has 2 sections to learn, what I call the 'maths' section and the 'inchworm' section. These are nearly always sung in unison except for one part where the sopranos sing the 'maths' section while the altos sing the 'inchworm' part.

The time signature of the song is 3-4. That means we conduct 3 beats in every bar, and each beat is a crotchet. So, we go down, out, up, down, out, up. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. (SINGING) Two and two are four. Four and four are eight.

(SPEAKING) This is a great song for working on a beautiful, pure tone with your choir, with lovely rounded vowels and smooth, legato phrases. Just watch out especially for the wood 'two.' So, we want it to sound like this. (SINGING) Two and two, oo, rather than this, two and two.

(SPEAKING) Now, I know this melody sits up quite high, but it's actually in a great range for young voices. Just encourage good posture, good breath support, just to really help support that high sound and carry them through the longer phrases. Now, this first section is marked p, or soft. But within each little phrase, we can have a bit of a rise and a fall. So, we could go (SINGING) two and two are four. Four and four are eight.

(SPEAKING) You'll notice there's some words in the lyrics that are in bold there. The reason for that is we want to just slightly emphasise where the first beat of the bar is. So, (SINGING) two and two are four. (SPEAKING) When we'd normally say that phrase, we'd say, two and two are four. We'd emphasise the 'four.' But if we do it like that in the song, it's going to make it feel like that's where the first beat of the bar is, like this. (SINGING) Two and two are four. (SPEAKING) And we don't want that feel. So, we just give a little bit extra on the bold words.

So, after those first two short opening phrases, there's a much longer phrase from bar 9. So, they need to take a nice big breath here. So, it goes like this (SINGING) Eight and eight are sixteen. sixteen and sixteen are thirty two. (SPEAKING) And that 'two' cuts off right on the third beat of bar 13. So, (SINGING) eight are thirty two.

(SPEAKING) And then we repeat that maths section at bar 14. And then we're into the inchworm section, from bar 26. So, we can have some lovely phrasing here, which we can show in our conducting. Let me show you an example. You could go (SINGING) inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds, you and your arithmetic, you'll probably go far.

(SPEAKING) So, when we've got a low note, like that 'far,' we can use our left hand to show that we hold the note. And then we give a nice clear cut-off at the end of it. Now, if everyone's watching you and you're very clear with your cut-off, it doesn't really matter if you forget the exact beat that that cutoff is meant to happen. As long as we're all together, that's the main thing.

Those little commas that you see here and there above the music are breath marks to make it easy to get through some of those long phrases. So, from bar 35, we'd sing (SINGING) inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds, seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful they are.

(SPEAKING) Now, at bar 49, we combine the 2 parts. And they should be lovely and balanced here. The alto part shouldn't sound strong and rough just because it's low. It can be more of a challenge to sing in a pure and gentle tone on the lower notes. So, it should sound like this. (SINGING) Inchworm, inchworm, rather than, inchworm, inchworm.

Then at bar 58, the sopranos join the altos in unison for the rest of the 'inchworm' section. At bar 67, for the last phrase we're in a new slower tempo. And then it slows down even further in the next bar, indicated by the word 'rit,' which stands for ritardando, which means gradually get slower. You'll notice there's no breath mark this time after 'stop and see.' So, we sing (SINGING) seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful. (SPEAKING) And that's because we get to take a breath after 'beautiful.'

So, when we get to that 'ful' of 'beautiful,' there's a pause sign, so we'd hold that note on. And then we see these 2 diagonal parallel lines. This is called a caesura. Sometimes they're called 'tram tracks.' And this means we have a complete break in the sound. Even the piano has a caesura here. So, we go like this (SINGING) beautiful. (SPEAKING) We cut them off, and we freeze our hands in the air. Everyone's watching us with bated breath to see when they're going to come back in. And so when they see the next word, which is 'they,' it's on the 3rd beat of the bar, which is the upbeat. So, that's what we show (SINGING) they are (SPEAKING) and so on.

I just want to show you that one more time, because I want you to notice a small movement that I make just before I do that upbeat after the caesura. And this anticipates that upbeat. I also breathe with the choir there, and that just helps them come back in. So, I'll show you again. (SINGING) Beautiful they are (SPEAKING) and so on.

And then once we're on that final note, we've resumed our former tempo, but not for long, because in the 2nd last bar, there's a poco rit, which means to get a little slower. And then there's a pause on the last bar. So, there's no need to conduct the 3 beats through that final bar. You can just hold for that pause and then bring everybody off. They should have enough breath to get them through that final note. But if they are running out of air, they can always take a sneaky breath and come back in again. (SINGING) Are, are (SPEAKING) like that.

IAN JEFFERSON: 'Sneaky breath.' The next song we're going to do is 'The candy man' from the movie 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,' and that's on page 11. So, when you turn to page 11, please just have a look at bar 6, where it says 'flowing,' where the choir comes in. And you'll notice the vocals dynamic is marked at mp, mezzo piano, which means moderately soft. I forgot to change the dynamic thereafter. So, in theory, the whole song is moderately soft. But I don't want it that way. So, if you can just turn the page over to page 12. The very first bar, bar 10, where it says 'swung with a lilt,' just mark it 'mf,' and then it can be, which is moderately loud, it can stay at that for the rest of the song. Anyway, take it away, Ian.

[music - 'The candy man']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew, cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? The candy man. The candy man can. The candy man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.

Who can take a rainbow, wrap it in a sigh, soak it in the sun, and make a strawberry lemon pie? The candy man. The candy man can. The candy man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world tastes good. The candy man makes everything he bakes satisfying and delicious. Talk about your childhood wishes. You can even eat the dishes.

Who can take tomorrow, dip it in a dream, separate the sorrow, and collect up all the cream? The candy man. The candy man can. The candy man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good. And the world tastes good 'cause the candy man thinks it should.

(SPEAKING) This song, from the movie 'Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory' is all in unison. So, the sopranos and the altos always sing the same thing. The time signature is 4-4, which means we conduct 4 crotchet beats in each bar. So, we go down, across, out, up, down, across, out, up. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. (SINGING) Who can take a sunrise.

(SPEAKING) Now, this arrangement does quite a bit of swapping back and forth between a straight feel and a swung feel. So, straight quavers would go like this (SINGING) who can take a sunrise (SPEAKING) so they fit evenly into the beats, whereas swung quavers are like this, (SINGING) cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two.' (SPEAKING) So, they have a long-short, long-short pattern, like the first and the 3rd note of a triplet. Now, the crotchets are the same whether you're singing straight or swung. It's only the quavers that are affected.

So, the default in this arrangement is for the quavers to be straight. Now, by the way, quavers are the notes that are joined together by one beam. Or when they're by themselves, they've got that little tail. Now, they can also be called 8th notes. And that's why sometimes we see in this music the term 'straight 8ths.' It's just another way of reminding us that for that section the quavers should be straight and not swung.

So, as you progress through the song, it will switch around quite a bit. So, keep singing straight quavers or swung quavers as indicated, until it tells you to change again. So, from bar 6, it goes like this (SINGING) who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew (SPEAKING) being nice and clean with our cut-offs there.

So, from bar 10, we're a little bit faster, indicated by the term, 'piu mosso,' and the quavers are also swung. So, we go (SINGING) cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? The candy man 1, 2, 3, 4, the candy man can. The candy man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.

(SPEAKING) And then the piano jumps straight back into doing straight 8ths. And we also go back to the slower speed that we were at before, indicated by the term 'meno mosso.' So, bar 20, we're in straight quavers again, like this (SINGING) who can take a rainbow, (SPEAKING) and then we continue like verse one, switching to swing at bar 24 and also getting faster.

Then at bar 34, we've got a contrasting section. Now, be really clean with your cut-offs here, because they all involve S's, and it will sound really sloppy if everyone's not exactly together here. So, we go like this. (SINGING) The candy man makes everything he bakes satisfying and delicious. Talk about your childhood wishes. You can even eat the dishes. (SPEAKING) And notice how we changed to swing just for that last phrase.

Then at bar 42, we've got an instrumental section that involves some changes of time signature. So, we're going to need to change our conducting pattern here. The first 2 bars are still in 4-4, but then we have 2 bars of 6-8, then back to one bar of 4-4, and then a bar of 2-4, before the singing is back in in our usual 4-4 again. So, remember, when we're in 6-8, we conduct 2 beats in each bar, each of those beats representing a group of 3 quavers.

Now, I'm going to show you how to conduct this whole instrumental section with the changes. But I want you to watch how the 6-8 bars are different to the 2-4 bar, even though each of those bars has 2 beats. So, from bar 42, it would go [vocalising].

So, did you spot the difference? In the 6-8 bar, because each beat was representing 3 quavers rather than 2, it took a little bit longer to get there. So, it looked slower. Now, even though we're only conducting the crotchets, it's really important to have that subdivision of the quavers going inside your head, or at least be listening to it in the piano part so you get your beats in the right spot.

And we need a nice clean cue to bring the choir back in at bar 48 and give them a bit of warning that it's coming up, because remember, it's only a 2-4 bar just before they come in. And so it could take them by surprise. So, from bar 46, I'd go [vocalising]. (SINGING) Who can take tomorrow?

(SPEAKING) So, now we're into a new verse with new words. It does switch to swing halfway through like before, but it doesn't get faster this time, because we're actually still at the faster speed. And then at the end of this verse, at bar 61, we go into a slower tempo. And we pause on this piano chord on beat 3. And then we have to bring in the choir clearly on beat 4, which is our upbeat. So, that bar would go (SINGING) [vocalising], pause, and the world.

(SPEAKING) That at bar 63, we have a molto rit, which means we slow down a lot. And then we have these 2 parallel diagonal lines. This is called a caesura, sometimes known as tram tracks. And it means we have a complete break in the sound. Now, the last word that we are sing there is 'it' before the caesura. And I would actually show the cut-off on that word. I'll show you what I mean. (SINGING) Candy man thinks it (SPEAKING) so cutting off as we sing that word. (SINGING) Candy man thinks it, rather than, candy man thinks it.

(SPEAKING) Then we freeze our hands in the air for a moment of silence. And then we give an upbeat to bring everyone back in on the word 'should.' (SINGING) Should. (SPEAKING) So, this final note should sound lovely and pure in a beautiful head voice. We can hold them all with one hand and keep the beats going with the other one. Now, it's quite a long note, and there's no need for them to do it all in one breath if that's too difficult. We can do what's called staggered breathing. Sometimes it's called sneaky breathing. I've heard it called secret agent breathing.

And what it means is each member of the choir can choose where they want to take their sneaky breath without anybody else noticing. So, because they're all doing it at different times, the overall sound of the choir should stay the same. They just need to remember that after they've taken their breath, when they come back in, not to make it obvious, so to come in gently. And also don't pronounce the state of the word. So, you'd sing (SINGING) sho- -ould. (SPEAKING) Like that. So, as an exercise, I often get them just to sing that word, and I hold it for ages and ages and ages. And I try and catch them breathing. And they laugh, being secretive about it, and hiding that from me.

So, when we cut the choir off, their final note, it's also at that moment that the piano player plays their last chord. So, you can cue both things at the same time, the cut-off and the last piano chord. And then don't forget to cut off that final chord on the piano as well. And that way they know when to finish, and it gives a signal to the choir and the audience when your hands go down that the song has finished. And just insist to your choir that they remain frozen in place until the song ends.

IAN JEFFERSON: Ah, sorry. I was frozen. Welcome back. And I'd like to apologise for that bit of frozen before. Let it go.

Before I start answering questions, I'd like to say a big thank you to Rachel Kelly who spent a good part of the Christmas holidays writing and filming the teaching tips videos. She's running her first Arts Alive choir rehearsal tonight, so she's unable to join us. But Rachel wanted me to mention to you that although it's fantastic that you model the way your choir should sing, it is a bad habit as a conductor to constantly sing along with your choir at rehearsals. You need to shut up every now and then and listen to them sing. Perhaps you can silently mouth the lyrics to encourage the kids to match your open, relaxed mouth shape.

There hasn't been any questions regarding the repertoire, some occasional nice comments. However there has been, if you're looking at your chat, questions about the upside-down versions of this book. Devin Collins White wants to know if he can get some. People are asking, are they cheaper than the $20 normal version. In fact, we should auction them so that they'll be worth more than the $20.

I have to let you know that if anyone from Petersham Public School is watching, I'd already earmarked some of them to be sent to you free of charge saying thank you for housing the junior singers rehearsing under your collar, as we have been for the last few weeks. Anyway, before we go on to the next group of 3 songs, I want to let you know that the conducting videos, the ones where you saw me and Rachel conducting the songs, are also available for download. Now, I wouldn't use these clips at a choir rehearsal to replace you as the conductor, but if your students need some sort of visual stimulus to practise the pieces at home in addition to the MP3 teaching tracks of their part, you could share these videos with them if you thought it would help.

Some of my own conducting on the videos is a bit sus. I haven't had that much practise conducting along with a prerecording backing. It's usually the ends of songs where synchronising with the pre-recorded slowdowns and pauses that can be difficult. But if you practise these sections enough, you should be fine. There are 3 versions of the conducting video for each song. The conducting videos we're showing this afternoon are labelled 'Vocals with accompaniment.' The other versions of the same video clip are labelled 'Accompaniment only,' where the vocals are removed, and a final version, 'Reverse,' where the vision is reversed, in case you as the conductor want to practise mirror conducting to your computer screen, or as David Todd would call it, air conducting. Air conducting.

In this reverse version of the video, the stereo balance is swapped to give you the conductor's audio orientation, which is how the MP3 teaching tracks are panned as if you are facing the choir. So, sopranos are on your left, and altos are on your right. So, download the videos if you want and save them into your Google Drive and share them with your students from there. Please don't share the link to my Google Drive with your students, as there may be departmentally sensitive material on my drive. Anyway, these files will eventually be transferred to the new Arts Unit website once it's up and running. Right. On with the next set. I'll see you in 28 minutes and 5 seconds.

Our 2nd group of songs starts with 'Calico cat' by Andy Beck on page 17. Take it away, Ian.

[music - 'Calico cat']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Black as the midnight and white as the snow, gold as the sunshine, my cat of calico. Cute as a button yet tough as a nail. Oh, how I love her from head to fluffy tail. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that? She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that?

Calico cat. Calico cat. Calico cat. Calico cat. Calico cat

Light as a feather and sweet as a pie, proud as a peacock, the apple of my eye. Straight as an arrow and sharp as a tack. Sure as a shadow, she always has my back. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that? She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that? Calico cat. How about that?

Just like the colours that speckle her fur, colourful habits make her uniquely her. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that? She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that? She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that? She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that? Calico cat. Calico cat. Calico cat. Calico cat. How about that? How about that? Calico cat.

(SPEAKING) This gorgeous song by Andy Beck has some unison and some part singing. The time signature is a C with a line through it, which is cut common time. And it means exactly the same thing as 2-2. So, we conduct 2 beats in every bar, and each beat represents a minim, like this. Down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) Black as the midnight and white as the snow. (SPEAKING) Now, the reason we don't conduct the 4 crotchet beats in each bar is because it would be too fast. (SINGING) Black as the midnight and white as the snow. (SPEAKING) So, a nice workout perhaps, but not very effective conducting.

A good way to start teaching this song would be to teach the whole choir the first 2 verses from bar 13 to bar 28. So, you could sing small sections of the melody for them to copy, or you could play small sections from the teaching track for them to echo. As you're teaching it, insist on the correct phrasing so they're always singing it the right way. So, each verse consists of 2 phrases with one breath in between them. So, the first phrase goes like this. (SINGING) Black as the midnight and white as the snow. (SPEAKING) Then we take a breath. Then the 2nd phrase. (SINGING) Gold as the sunshine, my cat of calico.

(SPEAKING) So, make sure they're not breaking it up into smaller phrases and going, (SINGING) gold as the sunshine, my cat of calico. (SPEAKING) Any time there's a slightly longer note in the phrase, it's the vowel sound we want to hold onto. So, (SINGING) cute as a button yet tough as a nail. (SPEAKING) And keep those vowels lovely and pure and long shape. So, we sing (SINGING) oh, how I love her, not oh, how I love her.

(SPEAKING) Now, kids love it when you ask them to sing something the wrong way. So, you could say to them, let's all sing it like this. (SINGING) Oh, how (SPEAKING) so they all copy that and they laugh hysterically. And they go, ew, that was disgusting. And then you say, right, let's sing it like this. (SINGING) Oh, how (SPEAKING) and they sing it, and it's oh, so beautiful. And they find it hilarious that they were allowed to sing it the wrong way. And they also get to feel the difference that it makes.

And just note that the alto part at the end of the verse runs straight into the chorus without a break. So, from bar 25, it's (SINGING) oh, how I love her from head to fluffy tail. She's a calico cat. (SPEAKING) And then they stop. And once everybody knows the melody of those first 2 verses, then you can try performing it the way it is on the music, which is the sopranos singing verse one and then the altos singing verse 2.

Sometimes it can get a bit monotonous and predictable to always be learning a song in the order that it's written in. And it's not necessarily the most effective way to learn a song either. So, at this point, you could skip to some later verses, for example, the sopranos at bar 49, where they sing (SINGING) light as a feather and sweet as a pie, proud as a peacock, the apple of my eye. (SPEAKING) Then the altos take over the melody at bar 57, and they sing, (SINGING) straight as an arrow and sharp as a tack. Sure as a shadow, she always has my back. She's a calico cat.

(SPEAKING) Then there's one more verse that they all sing together in unison at bar 75. And this one's gone up a key. So, we have been in F major.

[piano playing]

And now we move up to G major. And we sing (SINGING) just like the colours that speckle her fur, colourful habits make her uniquely her. (SPEAKING) So, at this point, you could go back and teach some of the other sections of the song. At bar 29, we've got the chorus. I'd start with the altos here because the soprano part is more like an echo. So, we want to keep the consonants clear and crisp. Those little dots that are under the notes every time we sing 'cat' are staccatos, so we need to make those crisp and short without overemphasising them. So, the altos sing (SINGING) she's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. She's a calico cat. How about that?

(SPEAKING) And once the altos have learned their part, you could get them to sing it while you sing the soprano part. So, they get to hear how that fits in with the altos. Once you've got both parts singing together here, you'll need to cue their different entries. So, the altos should always be on your right, and the sopranos should be on your left. Now, because we're in 2-2, that word 'she's' that they start with comes in between the beats. (SINGING) She's a calico she's a calico. (SPEAKING) So, the best place to give the cue is actually on the crotchet rest just before they come in. So, watch what I mean. (SINGING) She's a calico, she's a calico, I'll show you again, she's a calico, she's a calico.

(SINGING) The chorus happens exactly the same way later on in the song. But at bar 72, we add a little bit onto the end of the chorus to take us into the key change. So, from bar 70, the altos sing (SINGING) she's a calico cat. How about that? Calico cat. How about that which takes us into, just like,

(SPEAKING) and then a bit further on at bar 83, we sing the chorus again, this time in the higher key. This chorus is repeated. And we know this because we have repeat signs in the music. So, we sing through the chorus, and then we see this sign at the end of bar 90. That tells us to go back to where we saw this sign at bar 83. So, we sing the chorus again. This time, when we get to bar 90, we skip that bar and go straight to 91. So, bar 90 has a bracket and a little number one over it. That's called the first time bar. We skip that one the 2nd time and go to the 2nd time bar at bar 91.

So, now they've learned the verses, the choruses, and that little linking part for the key change. The next section you might do is the interlude that happens at bar 41 starting with the altos. So, it goes (SINGING) calico cat. Calico cats. Then the sopranos calico cat. Calico cat. (SPEAKING) And the altos sing that part again underneath the sopranos' verse at bar 49, and they add on a little harmony part for 'apple of my eye.' So, the altos sing (SINGING) calico cat. Calico cat. Calico cat. The apple of my eye.

(SPEAKING) And just make sure it's 'thee apple' and not 'thuh apple.' And then the sopranos get to sing their little higher part over the altos verse at bar 57. So, they sing (SINGING) calico cat. Calico cat. Calico cat. She always has my back. (SPEAKING) And that just leaves the ending to learn from bar 91. Now, this is all similar to parts that they've already learned, but still go through each part separately here before you try them together.

Now, the sopranos have a different note to watch out for at the very end. So, they have been singing (SINGING) calico cat (SPEAKING) and going to the B. But at the very end, they go (SINGING) calico cat (SPEAKING) and finish on a G. This is also the same note that the altos finish on. So, your whole choir should all be singing the same note at the end.

IAN JEFFERSON: Thanks, Rachel. The next song is 'Where the mountains meet the sea' on page 34. And this is by Australian composer James Madsen. Take it away.

[music - 'Where the mountains meet the sea']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Summer is high as the bright blue sky. Sand is under my feet. The waves and wind play a symphony where the mountains meet the sea, where the mountains meet the sea. Away, oh. Away to be free. Away, oh. Where the mountains meet the sea. Where the mountains meet the sea.

[interposing voices]

Where the mountains meet the sea, where the mountains meet the sea. Let me escape from these city streets to smell the sweet summer breeze, to lie beneath the shade of the tree where the mountains meet the sea, where the mountains meet the sea

[interposing voices]

Where the mountains meet the sea, where the mountains meet the sea. The mountains bring me strength. Away, oh. Away, oh. The sea will bring me peace. Away. Away. Away, oh.

Now, the sun must fade in the summer sky, but I will keep my memories. My strength restored and my mind at peace where the mountains meet the sea, where the mountains meet the sea. Where friends and laughter and mountains meet the sea, where the mountains meet the sea.

(SPEAKING) This song is in 2 parts, soprano and alto. There is some unison singing and quite a bit of harmony. The time signature is 6-8, which means we conduct 2 beats in every bar like this, down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) Away, oh. Away to be free.

The first verse and the chorus are both in unison, so I'd start by teaching these. Just be careful in general of the pronunciation of the word 'mountain,' that it's not sounding like 'mountain.' And the best way to do this is to make a long mouth shape rather than a wide shape. So, 'mountain' rather than 'mountain.'

Even though we're conducting 2 beats in every bar, in the first verse you might find it easier to conduct the 2nd bar in 3. Let me show you what I mean. (SINGING) Summer is high as the bright blue sky. Sand is under my feet. (SPEAKING) So, we go 1, 2, 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 1. It just matches the words and might make it easier to keep in time.

If you want to know the technical term for what's happening in the rhythm there, it's called a horizontal hemiola, where we're swapping between dividing the bar into 2 and 3. So, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 1, 2, 3. But it only happens in that one spot.

Make sure your singers are only taking a breath when they get to a rest. So, the phrases are quite long. (SINGING) Summer is high as the bright blue sky. Sand is under my feet. The waves and wind play a symphony where the mountains meet the sea, where the mountains meet the sea. (SPEAKING) In the chorus, the 'away, oh' has a crescendo and a decrescendo sign. So, we swell on it and then get softer again. And we can show this is our conducting. You could do this. (SINGING) Away, oh, or this, away, oh.

(SPEAKING) At the end of the chorus, we repeat the last phrase, but it's softer the second time. So, we can show that contrast in our conducting. So, we go (SINGING) where the mountains meet the sea. Where the mountains meet the sea. (SPEAKING) The next section at bar 31 combines the 2 parts we've already learnt, with the altos singing the verse while the sopranos sing the chorus. This should be pretty easy to put together. Just watch out for the spot at bar 37 where they both sing the same words but with different notes. The sopranos sing, (SINGING) where the mountains meet the sea, while the altos sing where the mountains meet the sea. (SPEAKING) Just listen carefully and make sure that they're each singing the right pitch there.

At bar 45, we have verse 2, which is in unison. Just watch the rhythm here of 'city streets.' It's different to verse one. So, in verse one, we went (SINGING) summer is has as the bright blue sky. (SPEAKING) But in verse 2, we sing, (SINGING) let me escape from these city streets. City streets. (SPEAKING) And no need to conduct that hemiola, the 3 beats, because the rhythm is different here.

At bar 55, the altos sing verse 2 again while the sopranos sing the chorus. At bar 69, we have a contrasting middle section that has some parallel harmony. So, you'll want to learn each part separately and have them really confident before you put them together. There's some good dynamic contrast. Make sure the loud sections are nice and resonant and projected without being forced. So, it sound like (SINGING) the mountains bring me strength, not the mountains bring me strength.

(SPEAKING) At bar 90, there's a piano solo section, which you may want to conduct through, particularly if you have a real-life accompanist. So, you can show that hemiola again at bar 91 with the 3 beats there. Then in bar 92, it says 'molto ritard,' which just means slow down a lot. So, the way you conduct those 4 bars would be [vocalising]. At then at bar 94, it says 'meno mosso e rubato.' 'Meno mosso' means to go slower, and 'rubato' means there's a bit of give and take with the tempo. Then at bar 96, it says 'molto ritard' again, so we get even slower. And then there's a pause in the next bar. So, from 94, you could go, [vocalising].

Bringing the sopranos in at the end of bar 97 might be a little bit tricky. So, try and breathe with them as you give them the upbeat just before they come in. So, it's (SINGING) now, the sun. Now, the sun rather than now, the sun (SPEAKING) which doesn't give them any warning. So, the sopranos have a little breath mark after the world 'sky,' and then on the word 'memories,' they have a pause. The cut-off for this pause happens at the same time as the upbeat to bring in the altos. So, let me show you that. So, it's (SINGING) memories, my strength. (SPEAKING) I'll show you again (SINGING) memories, my strength.

(SPEAKING) So, then the altos pause on the word 'peace.' And again, the cut-off is the upbeat just before they come in together with 'where the mountains.' So, it's (SINGING) mind at peace, where the mou- peace, where the mou-

(SPEAKING) So, the final section at bar 108 is in parallel harmony. Practise each part separately for a while before you put them together. At the very end, we've got a final piano chord that comes straight after the singing finishes. So, it's fun to do something a bit theatrical with your conducting just to show you that finish. You might go (SINGING) mountains meet the sea (SPEAKING) or some kind of gesture that gives it a good button at the end.

IAN JEFFERSON: Thanks, Rachel. The next song, the last song in the bracket, is 'Those magnificent men in their flying machines' by Ron Goodwin on page 52. This one's in unison. Take it away.

[music - 'Those magnificent men in their flying machines']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Those magnificent men in their flying machines, they go up, diddly, up up. They go down, diddly-own down. They enchant all the ladies and steal all the scenes with their up, diddly, up up and their down, diddlee 'own down. Up, down, flying around, looping the loop and defying the ground. They're all frightfully keen, those magnificent men in their flying machines. They can fly upside down, with their feet in the air. They don't think of danger. They really don't care. Newton would think he had made a mistake to see those young men and the chances they take.

[instrumental piano]

They can fly upside down with their feet in the air. They don't think of danger. They really don't care. Newton would think he had made a mistake to see those young men and the chances they take. Those magnificent men in their flying machines, they go up, diddly, up up. They go down, diddlee 'own down. They enchant all the ladies and steal all the scenes with their up, diddly, up up and their down, diddlee 'own down. Up, down, flying around, looping the loop and defying the ground. They're all frightfully keen, those magnificent men, those magnificent men, those magnificent men in their flying machines.

(SPEAKING) This was the theme song from the 1965 comedy movie of the same name. It was set in 1910 in the early days of aviation. This arrangement is all in unison, which means the sopranos and the altos always sing the same thing. The time signature is a C with a line through it. This is called cut common time, and it's just another way of writing 2-2. So, we conduct 2 beats in every bar, and each of those beats is a minim. So, we go down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, (SINGING) those magnificent men in their flying machines.

(SPEAKING) So, the singing comes in halfway through bar 4 as we're conducting our upbeat. To give some extra help to the choir in coming in, we can use our left hand to cue them as well. So, from the very start, we could conduct it like this. [vocalising] (SINGING) Those magnificent men in their flying machines. (SPEAKING) So, throughout the song, we want to connect all the notes of the phrase and only breathe when we see a rest. So, the first verse would go like this. (SINGING) Those magnificent men in their flying machines, they go up, diddly, up up. They go down, diddlee 'own down. They enchant all the ladies and steal all the scenes with their up, diddly, up up and their down, diddlee 'own down.

(SPEAKING) Now, because of it's old-fashioned feel, we can be quite posh with this song with our pronunciation. Be careful of words like 'down.' so it's 'down,' not 'down,' and 'around,' not 'around.' So, there are a lot of octave jumps in this song. An octave is an interval of 8 notes. That means the distance between the 2 notes is 8 notes. And it's quite a big gap in singing. We have to place our voice carefully from one note to the next without sliding or scooping.

So, we had an octave leap in that first verse when we sang, (SINGING) down, diddlee 'own down. (SPEAKING) So, just be really careful to get that jump exact. We also have a few octave jumps in this next section, from bar 21. So, at bar 21, we've got a high C, and then in the next bar we sing a middle C, which is the distance of an octave. So, we sing (SINGING) up, down. (SPEAKING) Then at bar 29, we've got (SINGING) they're all. (SPEAKING) And then at bar 35 (SINGING) flying machines.

And they kind of opposite to that, we've got these chromatic notes. This is where we're singing the smallest possible distance between two notes. And this can be tricky, too. So, at bar 23, we've got (SINGING) flying a, D, C-sharp, D, (SPEAKING) it's an interval of a semitone. And then at bar 31, we've got (SINGING) frightfully. (SPEAKING) So, just make sure that we're seeing those tiny intervals accurately and not just kind of making it up.

So, in this section, those octave leaps are quite separated. And the little chromatic phrases are lovely and smooth and joined. Let me show you how that works. So, we go (SINGING) up, down, flying around, looping the loop and defying the ground. They're all frightfully keen, those magnificent men in their flying machines.

(SPEAKING) And then in this middle section from bar 37, we've got some more chromatic notes to be careful of. So, we go (SINGING) they can fly upside-down with their feet in the air. They don't think of danger. They really don't care. (SPEAKING) And so on.

Then the next section is a piano solo. You may want to add some exciting choralography here if that's your thing so that your choir isn't just standing there for the whole time. But don't worry if that's not you. You don't need to do it.

Then from bar 72, we repeat the middle section that we did earlier. But this time it's marked 'p,' which stands for piano, which means soft. Also, there's some little gaps that we add into the middle of the phrases. So, they're broken up into smaller parts. Earlier, we sang, (SINGING) they can fly upside down with their feet in the air. (SPEAKING) This time, we sing (SINGING) they can fly upside down with their feet in the air.

(SPEAKING) And look out for the word danger. Very excitedly we have a rest halfway through a word, which hardly ever happens in a song. So, we sing (SINGING) they don't think of dan-ger. They really don't care. (SPEAKING) So, much fun.

So, we've been all soft up until now. And then at bar 82, we see 'mf,' mezzo forte, which means moderately loud, followed by a crescendo sign building up to an 'f' for forte, which means loud. So, then we finish this section nice and strong. So, I'll just go from bar 81. So, we're singing, (SINGING) Newton would think he had made a mistake to see those young men and the chances they take.

(SPEAKING) Then we've got this dramatic piano interlude that slows down quite a lot. So, we'll slow out conducting pattern down here so it's, [vocalising]. Then when the singing comes back in at bar 92, we pause on each of these 2 words. (SINGING) Those mag- (SPEAKING) now, don't worry about which beat you're conducting here. Just show each of those pauses. And then we're back in, (SINGING) -nificent men (SPEAKING) with our normal 2 beat conducting at the old tempo.

And then it goes along with parts that we already know, and it doesn't do anything different until bar 122. At this point, instead of finishing off the phrase like we would expect, we repeat the last few words a few times before doing our slow big finish. So, it's always good to have some kind of warning signal that your choir knows about that you can use when there's something a little bit different coming up that they need to remember. So, for me, I just usually put a finger in the air like this. That means warning, pay attention. So, from bar 117, I'd go (SINGING) they're all frightfully keen, those magnificent men, those magnificent men, those magnificent men in their flying machines.

(SPEAKING) And we hold that last note on for 2 bars. And then we cut off exactly on the first beat of the next bar. Don't forget there's an extra piano chord at the very end, what we might call the button of the song. It's good to conduct that too, even if you're using the backing track, just for a nice theatrical finish. So, we go, (SINGING) -chines. (SPEAKING) Off. Last note.

IAN JEFFERSON: The songs in the 2021 repertoire are largely repeats. In fact, there are only 3 songs we haven't done before 'Calico cat,' 'Never polka with a porcupine,' and 'Chicken on a fencepost.' If you have taught any of the songs, any of them before, just be aware that I tend to make tiny alterations, improvements so, that the songs could be slightly different to the versions you already know. I should acknowledge the 14 members of the repertoire selection committee, which I did on Monday as well. But it's the same people. Thanks to Tess Doyle, Charissa Ferguson, Peter Hayward, Robyn Herbert, Jenny Lanyon, Sonia Milgate, Kurt Olofsson, Heidi Piper, Mary Ann Powles, Jacqui Shaw, Kiralee Strahle, Lisa van den Dolder and of course, Rachel Kelly.

Now, people haven't been writing in lots of questions, but that's fine. We'll just keep moving along. We'll probably finish a bit earlier today. And because we experienced a little bit of a blackout during 'Candy mam' before, pay attention, because all the video and audio clips are available for download song by song without that little interruption. Video clips can take a while to download due to their size. But the quality of playback at your end will improve. Maybe just focus on downloading a few at a time rather than trying to download the lot in one session, because that could take several hours.

This webinar will also be available on the Arts Unit's Vimeo channel. I'll send you a link as soon as it's ready. David will edit out the embarrassing bits. Onto the next bracket of songs. See you in a bit.

The first song in this next bracket is 'Chicken on a fencepost,' arranged by Greg Gilburn. It's on page 65 in our books. And I must confess that one reason I wanted to do this song was I was looking forward to the live teacher's workshop, because I wanted to hear what a group of teachers sounded like singing the opening part of this song. Sadly, I guess I'll never get to hear that. Anyway, you can just imagine being in the room doing it. Take it away.

[music - 'Chicken on a fencepost']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken.

Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. Josie can't dance. Josie can't dance. Josie can't dance. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh.

[interposing voices]

Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. Hold my mule while I dance Josie. Hold my mule while I dance. Hold my mule while I dance, Josie. Bigfoot Charlie can't dance.

Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken.

Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh.

[interposing voices]

Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. Hello, Susie. Chicken, chicken, chicken. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh.

(SPEAKING) This song is in 2 parts, soprano and alto, and it has very little singing in unison. The time signature is a C with a line through it, which is called cut common time. This is exactly the same as writing 2-2, and it means we conduct 2 beats in each bar. And each beat represents a minim. So we go, down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie.

(SPEAKING) Now, this song can seem a bit daunting with all the different parts for the sopranos and altos to learn. So, rather than go through with you each part of the song in the order it's written in, instead I'm going to suggest a plan of attack for how you could approach this song with your choir.

For a start, I wouldn't start by teaching them the first section. We can come to that later. I would jump straight in at bar 29. Now, this is the main melody that both the sopranos and the altos need to learn in this song. For now, I'd ignore the fact that the sopranos sing the first phrase here and the altos sing the second phrase and just teach them all the same tune. So, we go like this (SINGING) chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. (SPEAKING) Then it splits into harmony, with the soprano singing up high. (SINGING) Hello, Susie Brownie, oh, while the altos sing lower, hello, Susie Brownie, oh.

(SPEAKING) Now jump to bar 45 and get the altos to sing this. They know this part. (SINGING) Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. (SPEAKING) And at that point, you could get the sopranos to jump in with their high part at the end because they know that bit. (SINGING) Hello, Susie Brownie, oh.

(SPEAKING) Now skip over to bar 81, and it's exactly the same as the first part that we sang. And probably by now, we could try splitting the phrases the way it's written in the music. So, starting with the sopranos (SINGING) chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh.

(SPEAKING) And then at bar 89, which is the very next bit, the altos sing all of their part again. The altos could actually try their part as far as up to bar 100 here. So, from bar 93, they sing (SINGING) chicken on a fencepost, can't dance Josie. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. Hello Susie Brownie, oh. Hello, Susie (SPEAKING) then stop them there, because it's different. And notice how we got suddenly softer where it said 'subito mp.'

Next I'd go back to bar 37 and teach the sopranos their countermelody that they have here. Now, the altos never need to know this part, so just teach it to the sopranos. So, it goes (SINGING) Josie can't dance. Josie can't dance. Josie can't dance. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. (SPEAKING) And just watch there's one place where they take a breath, and that's halfway through that section.

Then you could try adding that soprano part in to the alto section that we've already done at bar 45 and see if both parts can hold their own melodies. And then you can jump to bar 89 because exactly the same thing happens there. And see if you can, again, get to bar 100 with those little changes towards the end of it with both parts this time.

And of course, this would all be taking place over the course of a few rehearsals. I wouldn't try teaching all of this song in one go. You'd want to consolidate what you've already learned each time and then try the next part. Next, let's teach them the middle section at bar 55. It's short and it's easy. The sopranos sing the first bit, the altos sing the next bit, then they both sing in unison. So, it goes (SINGING) hold my mule while I dance, Josie. Hold my mule while I dance. Hold my mule while I dance, Josie. Bigfoot Charlie can't dance.

(SPEAKING) And now we get to go back to the beginning and learn the opening section, which may look a bit long and complicated, but it's actually just these 4 bar patterns that are repeated. So, the soprano pattern goes like this. (SINGING) Chicken, chicken, chicken. Chicken, chicken, chicken. (SPEAKING) And they do that 4 times in a row. Let's really emphasise the consonants in this section. So, we want to make more of the 'ch' and the 'ck' and make them nice and percussive.

And when the sopranos get to their third pattern, that's when the altos come in. And the alto pattern goes like this. (SINGING) Chicken, chicken. Chicken, chick. Chicken, chicken. Chicken, chick. (SPEAKING) And they only do their pattern twice.

And then if we jump across to 65, we'll see that this section is the same as what we've just done at the opening. The only slight difference is it's marked 'mp' rather than 'p.' So, it's just a tiny bit louder on it. So, the only bit they still need to learn is the last 4 bars of the song. Now, this is just the first half of the 'chicken' pattern followed by the 'Hello Susie Brownie, oh' part. Now, watch out for the dynamics here. At bar 101, we're suddenly soft, indicated by 'subito p.' And then for the last 2 bars, we're 'forte,' or loud.

And you probably don't need to worry about conducting that final piano button after the singing because it's so fast and it could feel a bit awkward, like this. (SINGING) Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. Boom. (SPEAKING) So, I'll show you from bar 97 to the end, singing the soprano part. So, they go (SINGING) Hello, Susie Brownie, oh. Hello, Susie, chicken, chicken, chicken. Hello, Susie Brownie, oh.

IAN JEFFERSON: Thanks, Rachel. I'm sure that song will be a winner. The next song in the bracket is the song prior to 'Chicken on a fencepost' in the book. It's called 'Never polka with a porcupine.' It's on page 60. And here to conduct it for you today is Peter Hayward.

[music - 'Never polka with a porcupine']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Never polka with a porcupine. Dancing isn't part of his design. You can schottisch with a sheep or swing dance with a swine. But never, never, ouch, never, ouch, ouch, ouch, never polka with a porcupine.

Never polka with a porcupine. Good dance partners aren't that hard to find. You can salsa with a slug. Just watch out for the slime. But never, never, ouch, never, ouch, ouch, ouch, never polka with a porcupine.

He's not too fond of dancing or other fancy prancing. He'd rather show off his tree climbing skills. Be careful how you treat him the next time that you meet him, because he's covered head to toe with quills. Never polka with a porcupine. That's the point where you must draw the line. You can cha-cha with a chimp that swings from vine to vine. But never, never, ouch, never, ouch, ouch, ouch, never polka with a porcupine. Ouch.

(SPEAKING) This song is in 2 parts, soprano and alto. But quite a lot of it is actually in unison with only the occasional harmony and sometimes taking it in turns to sing. The time signature is 2-4. This means we conduct 2 beats in every bar, and each of those beats represents a crotchet. So, we go down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) Never polka with a porcupine.

(SPEAKING) So, a polka is a lively dance from Bohemia. It is occasionally pronounced without the 'L' in American English. But the standard English pronunciation is polka, not po-ka, even though in Australia we do say 'po-ka dots.'

Now, this opening melody is all in unison up to bar 12, and it has some syncopation. Syncopation is when we accent notes that aren't on the beat. So, in bar seven, the 'por' of 'porcupine' is syncopated. (SINGING) Porcupine. (SPEAKING) And in bar 11, the word 'his' is syncopated. (SINGING) His design.

(SPEAKING) Now, it might be your instinct to conduct that syncopated note like this, (SINGING) never polka with a porcupine. (SPEAKING) But it's actually best not to do that here but instead to give a strong beat just before the syncopated note. So, we'd go (SINGING) never polka with a porcupine. Dancing isn't part of his design.

(SPEAKING) Then at bar 13, for the second half of the verse, we split into 2 parts. So, the sopranos have the melody, and they sing, (SINGING) you can schottisch with a sheep or swing dance with a swine. (SPEAKING) And the altos have a lower harmony part. They sing, (SINGING) you can schottisch with a sheep or swing dance with a swine.

(SPEAKING) So, the note that both parts finished on in bar 12 before this section was a G. (SINGING) G. (SPEAKING) So, the soprano starting note for their split is one note higher, up on A. So, it's (SINGING) A, you. (SPEAKING) And the alto note is one note lower, from (SINGING) G to F. You.

(SPEAKING) So, if you look carefully at the patterns that each part has in this section, you'll see that they're not exactly the same. So, the alto part has more repeated notes, and the soprano part moves more often by step. Then for the last part of this verse, I would drill the soprano part until they're incredibly sure of it first. So it goes (SINGING) but never, never, never, never polka with a porcupine. (SPEAKING) And then once they know that really well, then you can slot the alto part in. And be careful at bar 19 of the lower alto part. (SINGING) Polka with a porcupine.

(SPEAKING) You'll notice that the notes about the word 'ouch' here have crosses instead of circles. This means that we speak these notes instead of sing them. Now, it always sounds better and carries better if we say these words in a higher register of our voice with some energy behind it. So like this, ouch, ouch ouch ouch! Rather than, ouch. Or not too high either, so we don't want, ouch!

And then at the end of bar 20, we see a repeat sign. This means we go back to where the earlier repeat sign is, which is bar 5. And this time we sing the words for verse 2. But when we get to the end of verse 2, we skip over bar 20 because that's for the first time only. It's called the first time bar. And we jump from bar 19 to bar 21, which is the 2nd time bar.

Now, at bar 22, we have a new section which is pretty straightforward. The sopranos sing a line first, (SINGING) He's not too fond of dancing, followed by the altos, or other fancy prancing, and then together, he'd rather show up his tree climbing skills.

(SPEAKING) Now, that word, 'skills,' is the longest note we've had in the song so far. It's a minim, which means it goes for 2 beats, which is a whole bar in this song. So, we cut off that word on the first beat of the next bar. So, it goes like this (SINGING) skills. (SPEAKING) And we want to make sure that zz sound is exactly together, so be nice and clear. And exactly the same thing happens at bar 36 with the word quills.

Now, we want to make sure with both these words that it's the vowel sound we're holding, not the L sound. So, we want (SINGING) skih, not skill-ll.

(SPEAKING) And then at bar 38, we have the final verse, which is like the earlier ones with different words. Now, each of the verses in this song start with the same words. They all go (SINGING) never polka with a porcupine. (SPEAKING) So, your choir may need some prompting about which word comes next so they sing the right verse at the right time. So, in verse one, the next word is 'dancing.' In verse 2, it's 'good.' and in verse 3, it's 'that's.'

And the other part where they might get mixed up with the lyrics is the phrase that starts with 'you can.' So, in verse one, it's (SINGING) you can schottisch. (SPEAKING) In verse 2, it's (SINGING) you can salsa. (SPEAKING) And in verse 3, it's (SINGING) you can cha-cha. (SPEAKING) So, you could come up with something to help them know what comes next each time. It could be a little signal you do that they understand. You could mouth what the next word is, although there's not a lot of time for that. Or you could tell them some kind of story that helps them remember the order in their head, like a Scottish person eats some salsa, which makes them do the cha-cha.

And then at the very end, both parts do a final 'ouch' together. Now, this comes on beat 2. And if we're just conducting away in our 2 pattern, it actually comes on the upbeat, which doesn't look very finished at all. I'll show you what I mean. (SINGING) Polka with a porcupine. Ouch. (SPEAKING) So, we really need to do another kind of gesture on that last 'ouch.' I'd probably do some kind of elaborate cutting off gesture to show that it's finished. So, something like this (SINGING) polka with a porcupine. Ouch.

IAN JEFFERSON: Ouch! The final song for this bracket is 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' by the Sherman Brothers, obviously from the movie 'Mary Poppins.' You can simplify this song by calling it 'Supercal.' It's on page 79, and it only has a little split between the sopranos and the altos right near the end. But mostly it's in unison. Take it away, Ian.

[music - 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay.

Because I was afraid to speak when I was just a lad, me father gave me nose a tweak and told me I was bad. But then one day I learned a word that saved me achin' nose, the biggest word you ever heard, and this is how it goes. Oh, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay.

I travelled all around the world, and everywhere I went, I'd use me word, and all would say, there goes a clever gent. When dukes and maharajahs pass the time of day with me, I'd say me special word, and then they'd ask me out to tea. Oh, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay.

So, when the cat has got your tongue, there's no need for dismay. Just summon up this word, and then you've got a lot to say. But better use it carefully, or it could change your life. One night I said it to me girl, and now me girl's me wife. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious. Supercalifragilistic, supercalifragilistic, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

(SPEAKING) This well known song from the musical 'Mary Poppins' is mostly in unison except for a little split between the sopranos and altos near the end. Now, don't get too hung up on the tempo marking at the beginning with that long strange word. I'm sure if you stare at it for long enough, you will understand Ian Jefferson's hilarious joke there.

The time signature is a C with a line through it, which is cut common time. And it means exactly the same thing as 2-2, which is 2 beats in every bar. And each beat represents a minim. So, we conduct like this, down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. (SPEAKING) And the reason we don't conduct the 4 crotchets in each bar is because it would be way too fast. We'd have to go like this, (SINGING) supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (SPEAKING) which would be crazy.

Something to listen out for right from the outset is sliding, especially at the end of this phrase. So, (SINGING) expialidocious. (SPEAKING) We really want to put a stop to that straightaway. Try not to let it happen at all. It's really hard to fix it once a choir starts to do that. One method which you can try to fix it is to put a little gap in between the 2 notes they're sliding between. So, you go, (SINGING) expialidocious. (SPEAKING) And then after a while of having that gap there, you try joining it up again and see if it's fixed.

Watch out for the chromatic notes at bar 19. So, it's (SINGING) supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Expialidocious, (SPEAKING) those small intervals can be really hard to sing at a fast speed, so you might want to practise that bit in slow motion for a while until they get the hang of it.

We sing the 'um-diddle' part twice in a row at bar 21. But the 2nd time it's marked 'mp,' which means mezzo piano, which means moderately soft. So, we can remind them to do this with our conducting. We can make our conducting smaller. So, we go (SINGING) um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. (SPEAKING) Also, we go straight into the next verse there without a breath. So, it's, (SINGING) um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Because I was afraid to speak when I was just a lad, (SPEAKING) which isn't as hard as it seems because the tempo is so fast.

When we go back into the chorus after the verse at bar 40, 41, this is another place to watch out for sliding. So, (SINGING) this is how it goes, oh, super (SPEAKING) no, that is not how it goes. So, it should sound like this. (SINGING) This is how it goes. Oh, super.

(SPEAKING) And because there are so many words in this song and it goes so fast, you'll see it's really hard to enunciate clearly and use their mouth and their teeth and their lips and their tongue. So, you may want to do some warm-ups that focus on these things or that focus on consonants or some tongue-twisters before you tackle this song.

And then at bar 61, we're instructed to be posh, because we're singing about being very clever and meeting lots of important people. So, we have to be very clear here. (SINGING) I travelled all around the world, and everywhere I went. (SPEAKING) Then at bar 77, we're extra smooth for this chorus, indicated by the word 'legato,' which means smooth and connected. So, we sing (SINGING) supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, (SPEAKING) with no sliding. And you could get them to imagine that the word is a big piece of chewing gum that they're stretching out of their mouth. (SINGING) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

(SPEAKING) And then at bar 97, we've got some extra 'um-diddles' as we go up a key. So, from bar 93, we sing (SINGING) um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. Um-diddle-iddle-iddle, um-diddle-ay. So, when the cat has got your tongue.

(SPEAKING) There's a 'molto rit' at bar 114 where it pulls back a lot. Molto rit means slow down a lot. And then at bar 117, there's a big piano chord that gets louder. Then at 118, we're back in 2 for the faster tempo. And then we bring the choir in at 119. So, I'll show you from 112 how you could conduct that. So, it's (SINGING) one night I said it to me girl, and now me girl's me wife. Piano. 1, 2. Supercalifragilistic.

(SPEAKING) At bar 127, we get faster little by little, which is what 'accel poco a poco' means. Just make sure everyone's watching you here and you're very clear with your speeding up, otherwise it could become a runaway train. At bar 131, this is where it splits between the sopranos and the altos. So, we cue the sopranos first. They should always be on your left. So, you go (SINGING) supercalifragilistic. (SPEAKING) Then you turn to the altos, who should always be on your right. (SINGING) Supercalifragilistic. (SPEAKING) Then they're together, which is what 'tutti' means. And this is augmented in the rhythm here, so it's twice as slow and matches the beats of your conducting. (SINGING) Supercalifragilistic.

(SPEAKING) look carefully at where the rests come in this section, because that's where you take a breath. So, it goes (SINGING) Supercalifragilistic, expialidocious. (SPEAKING) And for the final 'docious,' right at the end, as they sing that last word and the piano plays the last chord, you can do a theatrical cut-off, something like this. (SINGING) Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

IAN JEFFERSON: The boys and I in the studio were just talking about 'Supercalifragilistic' when we first did it many years ago. And my co-conspirator, George Tobei, when I put an accellerando, which means to speed up, at the end, he told me to take it out because he thought the runaway train was going to happen and it would be an absolute disaster. So, he's no longer in, I'm going to say, he's no longer with us. But he's alive. He isn't here to stop me. So, that's why I put the accelerando in that last part. And I think if it does speed up, good, it'll be hysterical.

Verity B. has a question. I should read it before I actually just say it. Do you supply your choir students with lyrics or teach them by ear? I give them the music, Verity, as a standard rule. So, if they have the music, you may say, but my kids can't read music. They can only read the lyrics anyway. But seeing the lyrics on the page of the booklet, you should have it, they will see the notes above it, and you can refer to those notes. And they'll soon learn about crotchet rests or short notes, staccatos, that kind of thing, by looking at the sheet music.

And the lyrics can be useful too. And the lyrics are available also on the link that I've sent. And on the website, I think they're all as Word documents when that website is launched. And it's sometimes nice to see the lyrics written down for the long songs in particular, because you see the structure of the song the way the lyrics might rhyme. And you also see the shape of the music. And it does make it easier to memorise sometimes if you can see them in poetry form.

Someone was asking about what warm-ups may exist. Rachel has done a whole series on warm-ups which are available, I think, David, correct me if I'm wrong, on the Vimeo site. But I think it's a course that you have to sort of answer questions. But we've taken those very same warm-up videos, and we're putting them on the new web no, on the Google site that I'm creating. It's not published yet, but it's all sitting there ready to go. I would guess it will be probably another 3 or 4 weeks before that is ready for you to access. But there's lots of ideas about warming up the voice and how to warm up physically and all that kind of stuff. It's all there on the website.

I think it was Wendie Neil, because of the spelling of the word Wendie, asked if the bloopers version of any of our videos is available. And I can assure you, no. The adults only version of the videos have been deleted, or they're probably on my computer somewhere in the trash. We don't want to see it. I can just assure you that I might seem happy and quite friendly to the camera, but I'm absolutely nerve wracked, and I swear quite a lot. So, you don't want to see those.

The last 2 songs are 'The captain's tale' and my own song, 'Go for broke,' which are also in the Festival of Choral Music repertoire. If you were with us on Monday for the other webinar, you might want to head off early. So, cheerio to those slackers. To the rest of you, thanks for staying with me. You're lovely. See you again in about 18 minutes.

Two songs to go. So, the first song is going to be 'The captain's tale' by Australian composer, Paul Jarman, which is on page 28 in this book. You may have the Primary Choral book, and it's on a different page in that book. But it's the same song. And it's mostly in unison, but it swaps between the sopranos singing and the altos singing, just to sort of split up the verses. Anyway, take it away.

[music - 'The captain's tale']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) Here ye, boys, what'll it be? Come gather round, have a drink on me. Tales to tell and tales to hear at the bottom of the sea. All above, come down below. Hear the captain's tale.

Here ye, boys, join our song. Sink your ship, and it won't be long. Plenty of room for a sailor done wrong at the bottom of the sea. All above, come down below. Hear the captain's tale.

Here ye, boys, a little advice. If you fight the swirl, it will take your life. Died like a man, they'll tell your wife, at the bottom of the sea. All above, come down below. Hear the captain's tale.

Hear ye, boys, the years pass by. So, we stay where the sea dogs lie, drinking all the oceans dry at the bottom of the sea. All above, come down below. Hear the captain's tale. Here ye, boys, what'll it be? Come gather round. Have a drink on me. Tales to tell and tales to hear, and you guessed it, plenty of beer, all of you are welcome here, at the bottom of the sea. All above, come down below. Hear the captain's tale. Hear now the captain's tale. Listen to the captain's wail. All above, come down below. Hear the captain's tale.

(SPEAKING) This song is mostly in unison, and the vocal parts are written all on one line. But sometimes only the sopranos or only the altos sing. So, when everyone sings in unison, it's marked 'tutti.' Otherwise it says 'altos' or 'sopranos.' For the very last phrase, the 2 parts sing in parallel harmony one octave apart. The time signature is 2-4, so we conduct 2 beats in every bar like this down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) Here ye, boys, what'll it be? Come gather round. Have a drink on me.

(SPEAKING) The rhythms in this piece will be easier to understand if you remember that a crotchet is divided into 4 semiquavers, like this 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Tikka-tikka, tikka-tikka, tikka-tikka, tikka-tikka. Sometimes we see this rhythm with 2 semiquavers and a quaver like this, tikka-ti. Like in bar 11 on 'what'll it.' (SINGING) What'll it. Here ye, boys. What'll it be?

(SPEAKING) Sometimes we have this rhythm a dotted quaver with a semiquaver. Think of this as the first and the fourth of the group of 4 semiquavers. Dah-duh. Dah-duh. Dah-duh. Tinka, tinka. We get this in bar 14 on 'tales to tell.' (SINGING) Tales to tell. Tales to tell. Tales to tell.

(SPEAKING) Sometimes we have this rhythm a quaver and 2 semiquavers, like this. Tee-tikka. When we see it in bar 12, it happens twice in a row. (SINGING) Come gather round. Have a. Tee-tikka. Tee-tikka. At bar 15, it's got a more syncopated feel because we hold the last one. (SINGING) Tales to hear. (SPEAKING) And finally there's one with a semiquaver followed by a dotted quaver, like in bar 16 on the word 'bottom.' (SINGING) Bottom of the. Bottom of the.

(SPEAKING) You could practise clapping these rhythms with your choir and even have your singers find more examples of them throughout the song. Every time we sing 'here ye, boys,' the word 'boys' joins on to the next word, like this (SINGING) here ye, boys, what'll it be? Or here ye, boys, join our song. Or maybe, here ye, boys, the years pass by. (SPEAKING) So, there's no gap after 'boys' like this (SINGING) here ye, boys. What'll it be?

(SPEAKING) And we only take a breath when we come to a rest in the music. So, I'm going to sing you the first section. And I want you to notice how some of the phrases might be a bit longer than you would expect. (SINGING) Here ye, boys, what'll it be? Come, gather round, have a drink on me. Tales to tell and tales to hear at the bottom of the sea. All above, come down below. Hear the captain's tale.

(SPEAKING) That last word, 'tale,' cuts off exactly on beat 2, like this (SINGING) hear the captain's tale. (SPEAKING) Off. So, you probably heard singing teachers and choir conductors talking about diphthongs. This is when we have a world where we make 2 vowel sounds on one syllable. So, the word 'cat' doesn't have a diphthong because 'ah' is just one vowel sound. But 'boys,' for example, has 2 sounds in the vowel, aw and ee, aw-ee. So, this is a diphthong.

Now remember, it's about the sound of the word when we say it and not necessarily about the spelling of it. So, diphthongs can be problematic when you're singing because they can sound really awful. For example, if you went, (SINGING) here ye, boys. (SPEAKING) So, the trick is to hang on to the first part of those 2 vowel sounds for longer, and then just change to the second one as you're finishing the word. So, (SINGING) boys. (SPEAKING) So, you'd sing, (SINGING) here ye, boys, what'll it be?

(SPEAKING) I know that might all sound a bit technical, but if you model it the right way for your singers, I know they'll easily get the hang of it. There are a lot of diphthongs in this song. For example, 'here,' 'tale,' 'down,' 'join.' You could go on a diphthong hunt. In general, this song shouldn't take too long to learn because the melodies repeat quite a lot. Just watch out for the different melody at bar 86 near the end, which goes, (SINGING) hear now the captain's tale. Listen to the captain's wail.

(SPEAKING) There's a breath mark at the end of 91 just before the last phrase. This is so we can have a clean attack there, especially for the sopranos, who have that high F. (SINGING) Hear the captain's tale. We want that note to sound effortless, like they're looking down on it from above rather than reaching up to it. So, instead of (SINGING) hear the captain's tale, we want, hear the captain's tale.

IAN JEFFERSON: Our final song is 'Go for broke,' which is on page 2. And it's written by me. I wrote this song as a celebratory graduation song for year 6 kids. And it should be full of drive and energy. Here I go.

[music - 'Go for broke']

RACHEL KELLY: (SINGING) The tough talk is over. We've heard it all before. You've given us the key to fly up and out the door. What more to do? Check out the view. Remember when we started another life away, so many hills before us, but here we are today. What more to do? Give you a clue. Stand back. Look out below. Hit the road, Jack, get on with the show. We'll hit the ground running, and soon will be stunning the crowd. Let's go for broke. We'll make you proud.

[interposing voices]

What more to do? Give you a clue. Stand back. Look out below. Hit the road, Jack. Get on with the show. We'll hit the ground running, and soon we'll be stunning the crowd. Let's go for broke. We'll make you proud.

Stand back. Look out below. Hit the road, Jack. Get on with the show. We'll hit the ground running, and soon we'll be stunning the crowd. Let's go for broke. We'll make you proud. Let's go for broke. Well make you proud.

(SPEAKING) This song by Australian composer Ian Jefferson is written for 2 parts, soprano and alto. But most of the song is actually in unison. The time signature is 6-8, which means there are 6 quaver pulses in each bar. But we group them into 2 dotted crotchet beats. So, we conduct 2 beats in each bar like this, down, up, down, up. 1, 2, 1, 2. (SINGING) The time for talk is over. We've heard it all before.

(SPEAKING) Now, the rhythms in this song give it a driving pop feel. When we notate these rhythms, they can look a bit complicated. So, if you're not used to reading these sorts of rhythms, then you might want to listen to the teaching track a lot and just get the feel of it that way. Also, if you're using an accompanist rather than the backing track, just be aware that some accompanists may also find these rhythms a little bit tricky to read.

So, the singers come in just before bar 5, with what's called an anacrusis, or a pick-up. Now, we want a real feeling of forward energy here through these opening phrases, even though it's marked 'moderately soft.' So, from bar 4, it goes like this. [vocalising] (SINGING) The time for talk is over. We've heard it all before. You've given us the key to fly up and out the door.

(SPEAKING) And then our next phrase at bar 9 feels more expansive. (SINGING) What more to do? (SPEAKING) And that 'do' gets a full bar and cuts off on the first beat of the next bar. It feels like a long time. But then the word 'view' is only one beat. So, watch that whole bitl. (SINGING) What more to do? Check out the view.

(SPEAKING) Then at bar 13, we've got new words, same melody as the opening. But we're building the momentum here. So, (SINGING) remember when we started, another life away, so many hills before us, but here we are today, like before, what more to do, different words, give you a clue.

(SPEAKING) And then we're into the chorus at bar 21. Now, the word 'back' here is short, but make sure it's not overemphasised. So, we're loud here, but we don't want it to sound ugly. So, rather than singing (SINGING) stand back, we want it to be stand back, look out below. (SPEAKING) And watch that rhythm there of 'look out below.' It's all over and done with in that first beat. (SINGING) Look out below. Look out below.

(SPEAKING) And then the word 'Jack' needs to be like 'back.' So, (SINGING) hit the road, Jack. Get on with the show. (SPEAKING) Now, in the next phrase, there's a place where your choir may sing the wrong note if you don't teach it really carefully. And I wonder if you can figure out which note I'm talking about. Let me sing that phrase for you. So, it goes (SINGING) we'll hit the ground running, and soon we'll be stunning the crowd. (SPEAKING) Do you think you know what it is? It's actually the word 'and.' It's just a little one, but it's really important. So, it goes, (SINGING) we'll hit the ground running and, and soon, running and soon.

(SPEAKING) It's an F. Now, I suspect they might be tempted to sing an E there. (SINGING) We'll hit the ground running and soon, 'and soon' instead of 'and soon.' (SPEAKING) So, maybe teach that little part of the melody nice and slowly and deliberately so, that you're not fixing that up once it's wrong. And the word 'crowd' at the end of that phrase goes for the whole bar and cuts off on the first beat of the next bar. So, it's (SINGING) stunning the crowd. (SPEAKING) And make sure you sing that vowel as a lovely open ah vowel in crowd, so it doesn't sound like 'crowd.' And the same thing for 'proud' at the end of the next part. So, it goes (SINGING) let's go for broke. We'll make you proud. (SPEAKING) And that's just off after one beat.

And then the piano leads us into a key change, and we split into our 2 parts at bar 35. So, the altos sing the same words they did at the beginning, but we're now in the new key of D-flat major. So, they sing (SINGING) the time for talk is over. We've heard it all before. You've given us the key to fly up and out the door. (SPEAKING) And then they instantly go up another key to D major and sing the verse 2 words. (SINGING) Remember when we started, another life away, so many hills before us, but here we are today.

(SPEAKING) And while the altos are doing this, the sopranos have a completely new part, which is like this soaring descant over the top. And they need to sing it in a beautiful high head voice. So, they sing (SINGING) I'll shoulder my bag and run away. I'll see you again some other day. (SPEAKING) And notice how connected those notes are. There's only one spot where the sopranos breathe, and that's just before bar 39. Everything else has to join on and be connected.

And then at bar 43, they're going to unison again for 'what more to do, give you a clue.' And then they sing the chorus, which is just like before but we're in a new key. Then at bar 57, we have this dramatic instrumental section. Now, through here, the choir should just stand tall and proud, arms by sides, stay nice and still, as we go into another key change for our new chorus at bar 65.

So, this is the final chorus of the song, and it has what we sometimes refer to as a turnaround chord, which is when it goes to an unfinished sounding chord before we then go on and do the real ending of the song. So, this happens at bar 75 where we sing (SINGING) we'll make you proud. Let's go for broke. We'll make you proud. (SPEAKING) so we hold that last note with a lovely ah vowel, and we're holding it for 2 full bars, cutting off on the downbeat of the next bar, which is also when the piano does the final chord. So, we go (SINGING) proud.

IAN JEFFERSON: Well, that's all the songs. I'm going to read now, because some people have been putting their questions through or leaving it till the last second. First of all, I'm going to go to Kate, who asked about how do you know there are no gaps between the words? So, this is a good music question. Basically the default is you don't leave gaps. You always join music together, one note after the other, unless there's a rest in the music or a breath mark or something like that.

So, you might think, well, there's only a crotchet there, which means one beat. So, I just go, one. But if you think of a bar starting with beat one, beat one goes till there. Beat 2 goes from there to there. Beat 3 goes to there. And beat 4 goes to there. Yeah, so you go, 1, 2, 3, 4. So, each beat isn't just a blah. It has length, and it goes until the next note is written. Now, sometimes when people sing they put in little gaps to rearticulate words. But generally speaking, you always join notes together unless it's notated that you don't do that.

Another question is from Michael regarding how to access backing tracks for the kids. Well, the link in the email I sent today, where it says '2001 Choral Resources,' there's a link. At the moment it goes to my Google site.

PETER HAYWARD: 2021.

IAN JEFFERSON: Oh, what did I say?

PETER HAYWARD: 2001.

IAN JEFFERSON: Oh, 2001. Sorry. Oh, back in the old days. No, it's OK. 2021. Sorry, Michael. You go there, and you'll see it says, 'backing tracks' or 'MP3s' or something like that. And that's where the audio files are. And they're split into songs, where each song is listed alphabetically, and then within each song you'll either have the piano with both the soprano and the alto parts. That's called the performance track. Or you'll have the piano by itself. That's called the accompaniment track. And then you have the version that's the sopranos and the version that's the altos.

I think also in there, in my Google Drive, it has all the alto tracks of the songs together, and all the soprano tracks together. The only difference this year to previous years, apart from not handing out CDs, is that the songs are available in alphabetical order. In the old days, they were always in show order, like the order that the book is. But because it's easier for us, we've just done every song in alphabetical order. So, hopefully that makes sense. Those backing tracks will be moved to the Arts Unit website when that happens. That's not that far away. But for now, click on the link, and it will take you to my Google Drive.

Tara asks, can the repertoire in this year's repertoire book still be performed in future years? The answer is yes. If you have this book, there's nothing to stop you from using this book as a resource forever. I don't know why you would, but as long as the cardboard and paper holds together, you can use the repertoire. The copyright issues are about making copies of these books. You're not allowed to do that. But in terms of performing it, yes, you can, for as long as you like.

Now, Emma's question about, has The Arts Unit got some sort of come together choir event happening, all I can say at this stage, without being too mysterious, is The Arts Unit is aware of the COVID restrictions at the moment. We're keeping our options open, and there's discussions going on about what could we do if this happens and what can we do if that happens. But as you know, large-scale singing can't happen right at the moment. And so we're looking at other alternatives. That's as much as I can say without promising anything. Sorry if that seems a bit weak, but that's the way it is.

Now, speaking of these books, remember to speak to your principal if you're hoping to order further copies of the repertoire books. The deadline for online orders is next Friday, the 12th of March. That way we'll get a mass order, and we can send off to the printers and order those books. And they'll get sent to you, I think, directly from the printer. After that point of Friday the 12th, you'll have to contact Jenny Birrell and do a paper-based order. We'll let you know how to do that after the 12th. And we'll just see what kind of books we have left over, because we always have a few spares.

The Arts Unit will be sending out an evaluation of this webinar in the next couple of weeks. In fact, it could possibly happen by the end of this week. I haven't written the evaluation yet, but it's on my to-do list. Now, as I mentioned on Monday, my 4 top tips for running your choir, or this repertoire in particular, is, one, get to know the songs really well before you start to teach them. Two, I had to just check my thing because Sandra had a question which I'll come to. Two, only teach short sections of the song at a time and have a plan and be realistic how much time you have in a rehearsal.

So, I'm just going to pause after number 2. There's 4 points, but I'll stop after number 2, just for now. Sandra asked, is there a specific order that I would suggest the songs be taught? Should you teach from easiest to hardest? Definitely don't leave the hardest songs till the end. I would suggest you choose songs that you are feeling comfortable about early on so that you get into the rhythm. But mix that up with something difficult. Definitely don't just go with songs that are in your consciousness.

Like, for example, you might already know 'The candy man' because you've seen the 'Willy Wonka' film. You might think, oh, I know that song. I'll teach that. Oh, I know 'Those magnificent men,' I'll teach that. I don't know 'Chicken on a fence,' just because I've never heard of that till today. That's the trap you fall into, is you only go to the familiar. So, I would listen to the resources, the backing tracks, that's the performance version of the tracks which we played today and get to know the song so that they become like old friends of yours. And then it makes it much more comfortable then teaching it.

I'll get back to my little list. So, 3, think of your conducting as a way to help your choir's confidence and accuracy, rather than focusing on things like beat patterns. It's good to do that, but it's more helping your children. And remember to stay energetic and enthusiastic while you do that. The last point is, listen to the sound of your choir. Singing a song needs to feel enjoyable and sound enjoyable, but it also needs to sound nice, not just in tune and in time, but also have a beautiful, warm, unified, energised tone.

Thanks for tuning in this evening. Time to go now and relax with a glass of something. Thanks, again, to my team, to Rachel, and to the fellows here with me, David and Pete. And good night.