Recommended reading/virtual training
  • Joseph_M
    Posts: 10
    I'm looking for guidance. I'm almost at 1 year as a part time Music Director. I work full time outside of the church. I'm proficient on the piano. I acquired a Hammond H133 organ two years ago and have mostly self taught the organ. My pedal technique and fluency needs to improve.

    I always overlooked music theory when receiving piano lessons throughout my childhood. I now realize the importance of it. I'm Looking for recommendations of books to read, virtual trainings, YouTube channels etc to devote myself to improving my ability to serve the Church. I'm responsible for 2 parishes (OF). One with a well established choir, and one that needs a lot of work. We use We Celebrate hymnal and missalettes. I have a Tonebase piano subscription I'm gaining value from for Music Theory. I don't know much about directing a choir, especially from the organ. My main desire is eventually to have a schola sing chant, but I realize that's a different style of conducting. I've listened to a lot of Chant School Podcast info. Read/Listened to Dr Mahrt.

    Essentially, what do I need to study to get the necessary skills, theoretical knowledge, and competence to do this job well and not feel like an imposter? Sorry for the lack of clarity and rant
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 2,320
    This is a very helpful post, because lots of people are in your position or otherwise doing a lot of music without much or any, or with inadequate, formal musical education.

    Ear training and theory gaps are probably very common for what it’s worth.

    And for my money, being able to explain how to do exercises (not just why, but that helps too) when someone isn’t quite getting it helps too. I’m not great at lip trills for example, but it’s worse knowing that people who have long sung in choirs, even if not pros themselves, don’t remember how hard this is for amateurs (not a pot shot by any means at members here, but go watch high-school or college choir videos that go viral…)
  • emac3183
    Posts: 56
    As far as the organ goes, lessons with a local professor/AGO person REALLY help. I was able to get a $700 grant from our local Catholic Community Foundation to cover my first 10 lessons, which got me to the level of proficiency that I needed.
    I would highly recommend Catholic Institute for Sacred Music's summer programs. Their courses are free, rigorous, and (some) are online. Dr. Donelson's Square Notes podcast also makes for interesting listening.
    Shadowing good directors (with a chance to ask them about their techniques) will also help your directoring. Do you have any strong Catholic choirs in the area? Ask their directors when their rehearsals are (hopefully on a different night from your rehearsals) and I'm sure they would be happy to pass on the knowledge to you!
    Thanked by 1irishtenor
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,088
    Audiation.
    You need to be able to tell what your chorus is doing wrong when you hear something that doesn't sound right. This means you need to know scales and intervals so well that they move into the "language" side of the brain. There are a number of software/web based solutions for drilling intervals and melodic lines. Find something that works for you, and spend some time with it. Make sure also that you can tell major from minor intervals on the page (before you get to the auditory part). If you can't ID mistakes, and a better musician starts singing with you, they'll think you're an impostor, which is exponentially worse than YOU thinking you're an impostor. If your basics are fuzzy, I used to recommend Music Theory for Dummies to our non-music majors at CWRU. Or the "programmed learning" John Clough et al Scales Intervals Keys..., now out of print.

    Knowing harmony will be an invaluable support to this, as you'll recognize whether you're root/3rd/fifth and what harmonic function. Besides, the typical chorale-style training is basically Fux species 1 & 2 and will provide about as much counterpoint as you'll need starting out. (It's amazing how many beginning composers think that "we don't need to study voice-leading nowadays". NO!)

    If there's any way to swing it, I'd strongly suggest voice lessons. You will be the voice instructor of first and last resort for your volunteers, so you need to have a kinetic feel for how voices work. If you're a singing conductor (as we often are, choirs being what they are), it's even more important, because choristers will unconsciously imitate what you're doing, even if it's wrong.
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