Author: paulthompsonmusic

Score study changed my life. Before I went to UW-Milwaukee and studied with Sharon Hansen, I would routinely learn the music along with my choirs. If it was something big and/or hard I would look at it ahead of time, play through it at the piano... but not really have a plan to learn to … Continue reading Virtual Choir: Use the Score! →

I mentioned in my last post that a little bit of work on the front end would pay dividends all the way through a project. One of the places this matters most is in audio editing. Unless we're going for a specific electronic-enhanced sound, we probably want to do our best to keep the project … Continue reading Virtual Choir Audio Editing →

I've been thinking about how to write relevant blog posts during the COVID pandemic. I'm saving some of my rehearsal and gesture stuff for whenever we decide what normal looks like again. That being said, I've been building a lot of virtual choir videos since March, and lately I've been working with people to help … Continue reading Virtual Choir Basics →

Last week I wrote about how my adventures with Noom helped me look differently at goals for the choir and how it might relate to repertoire selection. This week I want to look at some ways to become aware of and prioritize goals. It's been suggested that we will achieve goals with the most efficiency … Continue reading Goals for the Choir →

Wow what a crazy year! I can't even begin to go into all the strange that's happened in the last 12 months, topped off by the COVID-19 pandemic we're all working through right now. Among the other things that have happened, I've managed to lose over 65 lbs in a healthy way with the Noom … Continue reading The Return →

First post in this series is HERE. Previous post in this series is HERE. In the last post in this series we talked about conducting gesture transmitting information in the Cognitive domain. By this we meant specifically knowledge that our performers could choose to either act on or not. This post explores the second of … Continue reading Gestural Musings: The Psycho-Motor Domain →

In the last post in this series (found HERE), I talked about the very basic framework for the foundations of my gestural pedagogy. This post will look at the first of three domains in which we can communicate: the cognitive domain. Before we jump in, I want to just admit right up front that I … Continue reading Gestural Musings: The Cognitive Domain →

The following is excerpted from a sermon I heard at church on Sunday titled "Whose are we?" The first answer was "We belong to the universe" which is good with me! But in hearing the second answer (of three) I was struck by how relevant the words were to the choral experience. I've been reflecting … Continue reading Whose are we? →

Ok, this may feel a little cheesy, but I think it's worth stewing on. What is the role of silence for us as choral musicians? Our blank canvas One analogy that I hear a lot, and that is definitely work considering, is that silence is our blank canvas. Sound is our color. I like this … Continue reading Silence is Golden →

Last time I wrote about the importance of the people-first idea in choirs( link is HERE). Here are a three simple ways to practice that idea: 1. Talk to everyone It's easy to fall into the habit of talking to the singers in the choir who are our friends. But how valuable is it to … Continue reading Three Ways to Keep People First →