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Monday, August 25	6:30 pm	Parent Meeting and Registration	MCA
	7:00 pm	New Member and 6th Grade Auditions	MCA
Monday, September 1		No Rehearsal
Monday, September 8	5:45 - 7:00 pm	Treble Choir Rehearsal	MCA
	7:15 - 8:30 pm	Concert Choir Rehearsal	MCA
Monday, December 8	5:45 - 7:00 pm	Treble Choir Rehearsal	1ST PRES
	7:15 - 8:30 pm	Concert Choir Rehearsal	1ST PRES
Monday, December 15	6:15 pm Call 7:00 pm Performance	WRYC PERFORMANCE (all choirs)	1ST PRES
Monday, December 22		No Rehearsal
Monday, December 29		No Rehearsal
Monday, January 5		Rehearsal Resumes
Saturday, February 22		WRYC PERFORMANCE (concert choir)  Details to be announced.	Indianapolis
Monday, May 3	5:45 - 7:15 pm	Treble Choir Rehearsal	1ST PRES
	6:45 - 8:30 pm	Concert Choir Rehearsal	1ST PRES
Monday, May 10	6:15 pm Call 7:00 pm Performance	WRYC PERFORMANCE (all choirs)	1ST PRES

*Additional performances may be added.  Theses will be announced as soon as possible.

February 2004	March 2004	April 2003

 
 
  
 
 
 

 


 

 

 


 


 

The Value of Singing

Singing Familiar Songs is Found to Use Spatial Abilities

Singing appears to be much more than just a fun thing to do; it seemingly uses a person's spatial intelligence. Researchers in the United States and New Zealand report in [a 1997] issue [vol. 24, No. 2] of the English scientific journal "The Psychology of Music" that the simple act of singing changes the way the brain "thinks" about music. These findings come on the heels of recent reports showing that piano playing increases the spatial ability of children. Now it seems that singing uses the same mental skills.

Spatial intelligence is that aspect of our intelligence that allows us to make judgments about the three-dimensional world in which we live.  A football player catching a pass relies on spatial intelligence to judge the trajectory of the ball. An architect uses it to visualize what a building will look like when it is completed. We all use it every time we
drive a car and have to judge the distance to the car in front of us.  Advanced math courses require good spatial intelligence.

The report tells of a fairly complex experiment that was conducted to determine how the human brain thinks about music while singing. The experiment counted on the brain's natural desire to group things together. For example, if a person goes to the grocery store but forgets his or her list, he or she will to try to remember what was on the list. The most common way would be to remember the items according to some logical groups; say dairy products, meat products, and cleaning products.  Another way would be to remember by menu; if they were having hot dogs for lunch they would remember hot dogs, buns, baked beans, mustard and ketchup and then go on to the next meal that is planned.  If you watched this person in the grocery store you could tell how they had things grouped in their head by the paths they took around the store. This same logic was used with the singing experiment.

Drs. Robert Cutietta from the University of Arizona and Gregory Booth from the University of Auckland taught college students to sing many melodies by hearing and singing them over and over for five  weeks. The melodies were deliberately written to be very similar to each another. It soon became obvious that the students were grouping the
songs in order to remember them. [However, the students] grouped them according to a very abstract aspect of music - the shape of the melody - even though there were many other more obvious ways they could have been grouped. Melodies with similar patterns of notes going up and down were grouped together by the students. This happened even though they had never seen the music for the songs and did not know they were
supposed to group them.  

Thus, the students were converting the sounds into an image in their heads. This image was actually a picture of what the melody would look like if it were somehow projected on a piece of paper. Interestingly, trained musicians and non-musicians did it exactly the same way showing that it is probably a basic way the brain works, not something
that is learned.

These findings help answer a fundamental question about music.  Researchers have long wondered why a person can recognize a song when it is played in different keys. For example, if "Happy Birthday" is played in two different keys, the two versions could have no actual notes in common. Yet almost everyone, regardless of musical training, will
recognize it as the same song. It has long been suspected that the brain remembers music by the "shape". This research supports that idea.  These findings also add support to music programs for children in elementary school.  Music classes, filled with singing, are often considered fluff by many school administrators. Now it seems this fun activity is actually developing a child's spatial ability: an ability important in everything from driving a car to advanced math.

Reference: Robert Cutietta & Gregory Booth. The Influence of Metre, Mode, Interval Type, and Contour in Repeated Melodic Free-Recall.  

The Psychology of Music, vol. 24, No 2. Pages: 222-236.

Source: http://faculty.washington.edu/demorest/News13-1.html
 

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Don Ester, associate professor and  area coordinator of music education, joined the Ball State University School of Music faculty in the Autumn of 1992.  A 1980 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, he holds a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University, where he studied choral conducting with Lloyd Pfautsch,  and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Dr. Ester has taught in the public schools as well as at the University level, and has served as a full-time church musician.  He was previously the Director of Choral Activities in the Bloomington, Illinois, Public Schools; Instructor of Music Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Director of Music Ministries at the Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, Illinois.

Dr. Ester is a frequent guest conductor and clinician for concert and jazz choirs of all ages.  He has conducted the Indiana All-State Children's Honor Choir and is the founder and musical director of The White River Youth Choir.   Since 1990 he has presented twenty-five clinics throughout the Midwest and served as guest conductor for thirty festival choirs.  His research and publication focuses on instructional strategies and the adolescent voice.  Ester's publications include articles in the Music Educators Journal, Choral Journal, Contributions to Research in Music Education, and Journal of Research In Singing.  He was also a contributor to strategies for Teaching:  Guide for Music Methods Classes.  His responsibilities at Ball State include teaching choral music education courses and graduate research courses and conducting the Women's Chorus.  He received the 1998 Ball State University Excellence in Teaching Award.   An accomplished pianist/accompanist, he is a member of the American Choral Directors Association and a research member of the Music Educators National Conference.  He has served on the board of both the Indiana Music Educators Association and the Indiana Choral Directors Association.