Singing Games for All including BSL

Monday to Wednesday

This session will include games for all ages from early years through to Lower Secondary.
Paul Whittaker and Lucinda Geoghegan have been working on a project in Dundee specifically with deaf children looking at how BSL and Kodály work can be integrated.

In this session, we will share several games created for the project which aim to marry together the game aspect with BSL signing. The games have been created and tested with deaf children but of course, are suitable for all children. The games also create a wonderful opportunity to introduce BSL.

Thursday and Friday

Singing games for all. The games on these days will not relate to BSL and will include games from Early Years to Lower Secondary. There will be a variety of games which will be linked to pedagogical learning.

 

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Vocal Health & Technique

Whether you are a singer, teacher, conductor or instrumentalist these daily sessions are aimed to enhance your skill-set in the following specific areas:

Session 1: Vocal Health and Longevity

Session 2: Why and How to Warm Up the Voice
Session 3: The Voice as an Instrument
Session 4: Unlocking the Sound
Session 5: Next Steps and Q&A

Wilma has had the privilege of teaching singers of all ages and abilities for over 30 years and looks forward to sharing some of the best practically-adaptable, easily-accessible well-proven facts and technical exercises – very useful ‘add-ons’ for your own area of expertise and enjoyment of singing.

Session 1 – ‘Vocal Health and Longevity 

Factual and practical session covering simple ways to enable both your speaking voice and singing voice to work at its optimum level well into the future

Session 2 – Why and How to Warm Up the Voice 

Easy, effective and efficient daily warm up exercises for the voice – suitable and adaptable for all ages and stages

Session 3 –  The Voice as an Instrument

Unlike any other musical instrument, we cannot see or touch our voice – this session covers the basics of how the voice works from the scientific side (very useful when building ones own ‘technical toolkit’)

Session 4 – ‘Unlocking the sound’

Whatever the age of our pupils, our aim as a teacher/conductor/1:1 tutor/music educator  (is there a better way to say this for inclusion, or have I missed anything out?) is to unlock each individual’s true, natural sound. This session covers technical and practical tips to enhance tonal variety and choral ‘blend’ by working on vowel alignment, consonants and legato line

Session 5 – Next Steps and Q&A

This session covers some more advanced ‘vocal gymnastics’ including coloratura singing, staccato, vocal onset and offset, extension of range and vocal stamina.  This is followed by a Question and Answer with Wilma.

 

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Musicianship & Repertoire for Childrens’ Choirs

These sessions focus on the use of recorded music in the Kodály classroom. We explore a mixture of styles and composers and link to practical activities that help students practise musical concepts.

 

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BSL Choir

Join Paul Whittaker OBE for an opportunity to explore performing songs in British Sign Language (BSL). You will look at translation, musicality, emotion, expression, meaning and, of course, actually signing songs! We are hoping to explore signing in harmony, which will be a first. If you’ve never signed before, don’t worry;  Paul shall guide you through everything, assisted by big sister, Anne Whittaker.

It will be a lot of fun, perhaps a bit of a challenge too, but will make you think about music in a different way and add a completely new dimension to your performances.

 

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Teaching In The Kodály Way With Lynne Clark

These sessions are for people who are new to the Kodály concept, enthused by what they have gleaned so far, but at a loss as to how to incorporate this into their teaching.  Suitable for teachers of all age groups whether based in the classroom, teaching instruments in groups or individually, we will look at how to lay strong foundations for successful future learning.

 

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Conducting

The conducting module can be completed by anyone interested in leading singing groups or ensembles. This year, we will be offering two levels – Level 1 (lead by James Cuskelly) and Level 2 (Laszlo Nemes). This course contributes towards the British Kodály Certificate courses, following the same content as the Australian Kodály Certificate.

Objectives

Candidates will develop:

• an understanding of Kodály philosophy and its application in contemporary learning contexts.
• musical leadership and direction in group settings
• professional knowledge to design, plan and assess Kodály-inspired pedagogy
• professional practice skills to implement and reflect on Kodály-inspired pedagogy

Please see our Conducting Module Content Descriptors for more detailed information about what skills will be covered in each level.

There will be an opportunity to decide which level is best for you at Summer School but if you are not sure which level to book on for, please get in touch with Anna Ghazal. Those attending Summer School for certification will have priority for these classes but there will be some limited availability for those not attending for assessment.