The Collaborative Choral Rehearsal

This excellent DVD stresses the importance of involving choir members in the rehearsal process and the reasons behind the director's musical choices, as opposed to the choir merely following the director's instructions. It features multi-sensory, student-centered rehearsal techniques that encourage the development of critical thinking and musical problem-solving skills. Incorporating a combination of kinesthetic, cognitive, and affective approaches, students make musical decisions about topics including choral tone, musical phrasing, thematic balance, dramatic intent, and poetic meaning. Using a variety of learning modalities results in more fully engaged students and also produces stronger, more creative musicians who will be better prepared if their goal is to become tomorrow's conductors and teachers. Topics include: The Big Picture; Color and Character; Motivic and Textual Structure; Pulse and Meter; Telling the Story; Phrase Length and Shape and Formal Hierarchy and Macroshape. This DVD is not just a lecture, but an interactive experience with the teacher and her students, giving you the feeling that you have been personally invited into the choral rehearsal in progress with the Western Washington University Concert Choir.