Trainee Manual 2009

Glee Club History: 88 years of Choral Music Excellence

Policies:Traineeship, Membership, lates, absences, cuts

Music Th eory:Staves, Mea-sures, Notes, Scales, Cues, Dynamics,

Ateneo De Manila College Glee ClubTrainee Manual 2009

Prepared by: kyxPPrPPP epared by: kyx

ii | Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club

Welcome trainees’ batch 2009!

This year marks the 88th year of the Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club as a college choir committed to the musical excellence and service to God and people. We invite you to consider yourself our partner in inspiring our audiences to nurture an enduring love for their faith, their culture and their people. Be with us as we continue to train and receive invaluable experiences learning the music of the world, meeting and living with people of various up-bringings and callings.The Glee Club is now measured by higher standards than it has ever been due to continuous successes it has reaped abroad in the past eight years. As the new generations of the glee club, much is expected of you. The glee club needs your commitment to keep the standards of choral excellence alive. It is not an easy job – you’ll need to learn the discipline of personal study, the value of group interaction and independence, and the skill of time management and schedul-ing priorities – but it is not without rewards. Lifelong friendships, personal development,, broadened horizons, and making beautiful music are but some of them.

Nicole AngVice President for Personnel

Trainee Manual 2009 |1

MissionThe Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club (ACGC) is a non-stock, non-profi t orga-nization composed of bonafi de Ateneo

students and guests that aims to promote appreciation for choral music; to uphold Filipino faith and culture; and to aid its members in their personal formation to-

wards fully becoming men and women for others.

The ACGC aims to inculcate discipline, responsibility, determination, coopera-

tion, and humility, inspire passion in and enhance the potential of its members through membership training, creative

repertoire selection, and music scholarship and performance.

2 | Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club

History The Ateneo de Manila College Glee Club (ACGC) is the oldest university chorale in the Philippines. It was organized in 1921 primarily to provide liturgical music at the San Ignacio Church in Manila. The choir has since expanded both in repertoire and membership, having become a mixed choir since the university became co-educational. Led by its able conductors, the group has enjoyed consistent success, pioneering many fi rsts as both a student organization in the Philippines and as a Fili-pino choir. The group took home top prize in many of the local competitions it has par-ticipated in, including the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), and has, in addition, received international acclaim in its tours of Europe, Asia, and North America.

The ACGC swept through Europe at the turn of the millennium, and under long time conductor Joel Navarro and guest conductor Jonathan Velasco, two of the country’s leading conductors, the ACGC won top prizes in the competitions in Maribor, Slovenia (2000), Riva del Garda, Italy (2000), Cork, Ireland (2000), Tolosa, Spain (2000), and Tours, France (2000). The victory at Tours in particular qualifi ed the choir to participate in the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing at Debrecen, Hungary in 2001.

The baton has since passed on to Prof. Maria Lourdes Hermo, the ACGC’s fi rst lady conductress. ACGC choristers have continued to receive steady guidance under her formation, as shown by the release of two commercial recordings and by heartening receptions during the choir’s European competition and concert tour in 2006, where the group swept all possible prizes in the competition held in Miltenberg, Germany and garnered high awards in Arezzo, Italy.

This year, the Glee Club embarks on a new era and a new paradigm in choral singing with Professor Ma. Lourdes Hermo, herself an alumna of the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers. She is currently engaged in the academe as a Professor of Music at the St. Scholastica’s College where she handles Choral Conducting in the Masters program. She is assisted by Mr. Arjay Viray, as assistant conductor and Ms. Maria Blanca Krystl Buesa, as vocal coach.


The Glee Club as an Organization

Upon being assigned to a specifi c voice, the applicant is given the status of ♦

Trainee.

Trainees are required to attend rehearsal where they are to learn both standard ♦

repertoire and new pieces. From time to time, the conductor will check the prog-ress of the trainees by holding quartet exams.

Aside from attending rehearsals, trainees are strongly encouraged to watch all ♦

Glee Club performances to get fi rst-hand experience of performance require-ments and expectations.

Trainee’s performance at Glee Club engagements is at the discretion of the ♦

conductor.

When a trainee exceeds the allowable number of cuts, he/she will be given a ♦

warning of probation. Trainees under probation are closely monitored on at-tendance, attitude and musical performance. If a trainee on probation still fails to comply with regulations and standards, his/her acceptance in the Glee Club will be subject to deliberation by the Execom and Music Committee.

Traineeship

Membership•Trainees are given one school year (two semesters and a summer) to become a member. Within that one year, they must pass two consecutive trainee exams to earn membership.

•Trainee exams consist of three components

oMusical component – determined by diagnostic quartet exams

oWritten component – an exam which consists of lectures given by the Musical Conductor and/or the Assistant conductor

�Note: it is wise for you to take down notes, listen carefully to the musicom’s lectures, and remember the interpretation of pieces.

oBehavioral component – determined by an evaluation of the Execom and Musicom.

•Corollary, a trainee cannot earn membership status if he/she fails two consecutive trainee exams.


TardinessRehearsals are usually three times a week. If its is on a M-W-F, it starts at 5:00 1.

pm and ends at 8:00 pm. The Execom or Musical Director may call additional rehearsals when necessary. Announcements will be made by the VPP for this purpose.

Should you arrive late for a rehearsal or performance for any reason (valid 2.

or invalid), make sure you inform the VPP at least two(2) hours before the rehearsal or call time.

AbsencesShould you be absent for a rehearsal, make sure you inform the VPP at least 1.

twelve hours before (in person or thru text). Should you be absent for a per-formance, make sure you inform the VPP two (2) rehearsal days before the performance.

Those who have classes that coincide with the Glee Club rehearsals are the only 2.

ones excused from attending.

Consecutive days of absence due to sickness are counted as only one cut. (pres-3.

ent your doctor’s slip or an excuse letter)

Cuts You have nine(9) allowable cuts. Should you exceed the maximum number of cuts, you will be placed on probation to see if you can catch up with the learning pace of the group. If not, your acceptance in the Glee Club will be subject to delib-eration by the Execom and Musicom.


Your Responsibilities as Trainees

1.Your pieces are your responsibilities. All pieces should be kept in a plain black folder.

2.If you were absent during a rehearsal, it is your responsibility to obtain copies of any new pieces given out during the rehearsal you missed. You will not be provided with copies anymore. You should also fi nd out the announcements for that day, as well as catch up with what was studied or rehearsed for that day. Missing a rehearsal is not an excuse for not knowing your notes.

3.You must always come to rehearsals prepared! Rehearsals are for learning new pieces, polishing and shaping music. This is not possible unless you know your notes. Take the initiative to review pieces all the time. Bring tape recorders, ask members for help or get together with your section outside rehearsals; anything that will speed up the learning process

4.All musical pieces and costumes furnished by the Glee Club are considered Glee Club property. They should be surrendered to the Glee Club upon graduation and resignation. You will be held responsible for damaged and lost pieces and costumes.

5. Always bring a pencil during rehearsals to mark parts of the piece which require extra attention and also, to write down the instructions given for the song.

6.If you are chosen to sing for an engagement which requires you to borrow a cos-tume from the Glee Club (to be assigned to you by the VPP), it is your responsibility to return it washed and ironed and in good condition. Make sure you inform the VPP if you do not have a costume for the engagement

7.When singing for an engagement, it is standard operating procedure for both mem-bers and trainees to have the following: Ladies: a.PLAIN pearl earrings – no dangling, no diamonds, no black pearls. b.Plain closed black pumps – no buckles, no open toes c.Plain black hairnet or pusod, hair ties and hairpins d.Your own complete make-up kit Gentlemen: a.Plain black shoes- no buckles b.Black socks c.Black pants


The Executive Committee2009-2010

Carlos Miguel BautistaPresident

The Musical Committee

Prof. Ma. Lourdes V. HermoConductor

Arjay VirayAssistant Conductor

Krystl BuesaVocal Coach

Abby CoVice President for External Affairs

Nicole AngVice President for

Personnel

Will TanVice President for

Finance

Francisco LaizAssistant Vice Presi-dent for Personnel

Tonee BayhonAssistantVice Presi-

dent for Finance

Martha FloresHead of Marketing

Kathy TorralbaExecutive Secretary

Regine GilHead of Production


•Stave, Measure, and Systems

•Notes and Rests

•Clefs and Time Signatures

•Accidentals

•Scales, Key Signatures, and Intervals

•Cues and Symbols

•Tempo markings

•Dynamics

•Articulations

The following will give you basic knowledge of music theory which will help you in your devel-opment as a musician

Line 1Line 2

Line 3Line 4

Line 5

Space 1Space 2

Space 3Space 4

The staff (plural: Staves) is a structure of fi ve lines and four spaces

that holds printed notes, graphically indicating

the relative highness or lowness of pitches.

Barline Double Barline Final Barline

Measure 1 Measure 2 Measure 3 Measure 4

The staff is divided into sections by vertical lines called bar lines. The number of notes of a particular denomination that

make up one bar is indicated by the time signature.

double bar line- used to mark sections within a piece of music ♦

fi nal bar line- used to mark they very end of a piece or of a par- ♦

ticular movement within it.

A system is a notation of a line of music including all the parts and voices involved, presented in a group of two or more staves which are joined together on the

left hand side by a vertical bar and a brace.


Note- A single sound of a particular pitch and length which is notated with a symbol made up of a notehead (in all cases), a stem (in some cases), and a fl ag (in some cases), and which notes bearing fl ags are grouped together using a beam

Flags

Name Symbol RestValue equal to a whole note

Double whole note

Whole note

Half note

Quarter note

Eighth note

Sixteenth note

.5

1

2

4

816


When placed on a staff, a note sign will be placed either on a line or on a space between the lines. The position in-dicates the relative pitch of the note. If the note lies above or below the staff, then it will lie on, above, or below aux-illary lines called ledger or ledger lines. Notice how the position of the note on the staff generally determines

whether stem “rises” or “falls”from the note-head.

A dotted note is 1.5 times the length of the same kind of note without the dot.

A dotted half note, therefore, has 3 beats because a half note gets 2 beats and 1.5 times 2 is 3.

A triplet takes place in the amount of time it would normally take to play two of the

triplet notes at their regular length


Clef- Graphical Symbol placed on the left of a staff which establishes the relationship between particular note names and and their position on the staff lines and spaces

The treble (or G) clef marks the G above middle C on the second line from the bottom of the staff

A small fi gure 8 placed below the clef sign tells us that music will sound one octave low-er than it is written

The bass (or F) clef marks the F below mid-dle C as the second line from the top of the staff

Time signature- a symbol placed on the left side of the staff indicating the meter of the composition. The upper number tells us the number of beats in a bar. The lower number tells us which note is to represent a beat.

Common time- The time signature is 4/4

Alla breve or Cut time- used for quick duple time in which the half note, or occasionally the whole note, is given 1 beat, instead of 2


Accidentals- sign for raising or lowering the pitch of a note or of cancelling a previously applied sign

Rules for using accidentals

The sign is placed in front of the note ♦

The note-accidental combination ‘names’ the note to ♦

be playedThe sign only applies to the line or space where it fi rst ♦

appearsThe accidental applies only up to the end of that ♦

particular bar, or until another accidental appers later in the same bar on the same note on the same line or spaceIf the note bearing the accidental is tied into the next ♦

bar, the accidental persists for that note only; any note after the end of the tie would have to be marked again. Where there may be any doubt, precautionary marks ♦

(accidentals in parenthesis) may be used

Sharp- a sign to show that a note should be raised one semitone in pitch

Flat- a sign which lowers the pitch of a note by one semitone

Natural- a sign which cancels a previously applied sign, i.e. the note is no longer fl at nor sharp


The major scale- a mode consisting of the rising inter-val sequence whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half. Using the distincive major scale sequence, we can derive each of the scales in turn.

Key signature- a device that tells you which notes have fl ats or sharps for an entire piece of music. Each key sig-nature is also the name of the major scale of the same name.


Interval- the distance, in perceived pitch space, between two pitches described in terms of two parameters, the nu-merical value and the quality.

Intervals in semi-tone

Interval

0 P11 m2/A12 M23 m34 M3/d45 P46 d5/A47 P58 m6/A59 M6

10 m7

P- Perfect; A- Augmented; d-Diminished; M-Major; m-Minor


Instruction Meaning What you must do

D.C. al Fine Da Capo (D.C.)= from the startFine=end

Return to the begin-ning up to the end of

the piece

D.C. al Coda Da Capo (D.C.)= from the startCoda=tail

Go back to the begin-ning then play up to the coda sign, skip,

then play the coda

D.S. al Fine Dal Segno (D.s.)= From the signFine=end

Go back to the sign then play up to the

end

D.S. al Coda Dal Segno (D.s.)= From the signCoda=tail

Go back to the sign then pplay up to the coda sign, skip, then

play the coda

Sign-Segno looks like

Coda sign Jump from the sign to the section marked coda skipping all parts in between the coda sign and the coda sec-

tion

Repeated Sections


Repeated notes

bar1: a standard quarter note ♦

bar2: two repeated eighth notes in the time of one quarter note ♦

bar3: four repeated sixteenth notes in the time of one quarter note ♦

bar4: eight repeated thirty-second notes in the time of one quarter note ♦

bar5: three repeated eighth notes in the time of one dotted quarter note ♦

bar6: four repeated quarter notes in the time of one half note ♦

bar7: two repeated sixteenth notes in the time of one eighth note ♦

*number of strokes=number of fl ags

Repeated Groups

sixteen sixteenth notes in the time of one whole note


Repeated Chords

bar1: repeated chords- a single oblique stroke, one single stroke per chord what- ♦

ever its note value

bar2: repeated sixteenth note pattern-two oblique strokes, number of ♦

strokes=number of fl ags

repeated pattern of mixed notes - two oblique strokes with two dots. ♦

Repeated Bars

When individual bars are to be repeated, the composer may use a single oblique stroke between two dots in the bars or the

bars following


The Ten Commandments of Choral Singing

1.Thou shalt sing with sincerity•or with feeling•try to make one’s hair stand on end•look for the beauty in the music

2.Thou shalt be on pitch•one must learn to listen all the time to oneself and to others, especially you neighbors (assuming they are on pitch). Do not sing too loud; you cannot listen if you are too loud.•pitch depends on good technique•practice with an instrument•buy a tuning fork

3.Thou shalt not go fl at

4.Thou shalt read notes•know how to identify and name your note•have some basic knowledge on intervals•know note and rest durations•be familiar with musical symbols and terms•know time signatures•have basic knowledge of and identify chords and key signatures•learn how to look at a piece of music as a conductor would, seeing how the notes interact with each other. Very useful for entrances and pitches.

5.Thou shalt sing beautifully•vocalize everyday, but do not over-sing•fi nd you own technique and placement•listen to other singers and choirs•practice singing short melodic tunes from our pieces to develop soloistic singing•do not aspire to be a Pavarotti or Bocelli•avoid excessive vibrato and tremolo


•round your voice•listen to all kinds of music to develop appreciation of not only choral or vocal singing, but also to have a well rounded musical background

6.Thou shalt not breathe in a long note

7.Thou shalt watch the conductor•either directly or peripherally•so we will all be together•especially at critical junctures (individual entrances, tempo chang-es, endings, etc.)

8.Thou shalt not beat nor tap time

9.Thou shalt study thy music•no substitute to studying•will force you to read notes•will enhance sight-singing ability•familiarize oneself with the layout of the piece, which notes to read, words and pronunciation•Ideally, we should sing from memory.•In the Madrigal Singers, the worst sing that could be said about you is not that you are fl at, or stick out, or have too much vibrato. The worst thing is to be told, or to be said that you do not know your music.

10.Thou shalt not be amateurish nor unprofessional•not being professional does not mean being amateurish. Amateur comes from the Latin “amas” meaning “to love”. Amateur does not mean amateurish.•“we are not professionals” is no excuse•do not correct your neighbor’s mistake, better bring up with con-ductor or section head•NEVER assume that we are better than other choirs, better as-sume the opposite


Trainee Manual 2009

Documents

Transcript of Trainee Manual 2009