Spring 2013

Chad Zullinger
Choir
everal months ago CMEA, Bay

Section offered a Choral Festival Sightreading Questionnaire to gauge our
memberships opinions regarding Sightreading at the Choral Festival. In this issue
of Tempo I want to take the opportunity to
share some of the responses with you from
teachers in the Bay Area.
What parameters do you think would
provide an authentic assessment of a
choirs sight-reading abilities?
I think having different levels of music
selected for middle and high schools would
make sense. Also, continuing middle school
ensembles to use the piano during rehearsals
would be helpful. I think that if that were
taken away, some instructors might be too
intimidated. High school ensembles should
have stricter regulations. I would like to see
guidelines laid out as to how ensembles are
being evaluated during sight-reading. I feel
that it is sort of arbitrary right now.
Note/interval accuracy, pitch-fullness,
rhythmic integrity and musicality. Remember,
we/I am in the business of developing a love
of the Choral Art of which only a part is
dealing with sight-reading; it is only one road
to a glorious experience. Regarding texts in
sight-singing that is what choral music is
about the marriage of the poet and the
musician.
I have been bringing my choirs to the
CMEA festival for 22 years and I think the
way we have assessed our choirs sight-singing
ability is just fine.
I dont think sight-reading should be judged
at a choral festival. There are too many
variables and too short a time to really give
an accurate and meaningful assessment.
Tempo 8
CMEA should recognize that the terms

beginning, intermediate, and advance are
not universally defined across the state and
between school districts, especially those
districts that do not allow music programs
to thrive. A beginning high school choir in
a district where students receive K12 music
education is quite different than a beginning
high school choir in a district where the

students first chance to learn to sight-read is
in that high school choir.
What do you want students to take away
from this choral festival experience?
I want students to feel like they were
challenged. I want them to feel like going to
CMEA Festivals is as challenging as any other
festival. I want students to hear great choirs
from around the area. I want them to leave
with strategies for when they get home, based
on hearing and seeing other choirs.
A positive, joyous experience! The clinic
can be a great time for students to learn and
be confirmed in their singing. Choice of
clinicians is critical to insuring an authentically
valuable time. Testing sight-reading many
times has led to a disappointing and/or
negative ending to the festival experience for
many choirs over the years.
Students should come away from a festival
with a meaningful indicator (rating) of where
they are as musicians. CMEA has always
strived for students receiving a comprehensive
and valid music education. If a group is
going to achieve a Unanimous Superior,
they should know how to sight-read or sightsing. This has been a steadfast principle of
CMEA and should not only continue, but
should permeate consistently through all
our ensemble types instrumental and
vocal. Groups can always opt out and receive
a clinic if they choose; they just should not
qualify for a Unanimous Superior.
I would like my singers to come away
with validation of the skills they have been
learning in class, as well as information from
the adjudicator that will help them improve
as musicians and performers. As the teacher,
I look for information that will help me be
better at my job as an educator.
As of this publication you can read all of the
responses and summaries of the multiplechoice questions on our CMEA Bay Section
web page. I will post the questionnaire results
in the Tempo link. (continued on page 9)
provided opportunities for me to navigate

through the changes that are inherent in our
goals and pursuits, so that I may be of some
service in your aspirations. Thank you for a
great year and I look forward to serving you
in our future endeavors together. T
Choir
It has been a busy year and hopefully you

are pulling through you festival and concert
seasons nicely and without too much stress.
As we look to the future, this idea of change
is ever present, not only in our careers, but
also in our personal, as well as our students
lives. I am thankful to the profession that has
I look forward to Winter Conference 2014

and hope those of you who couldnt attend
this year will be able to join us. T
continued from page 8
This spring we are choosing and ordering new

sight-reading selections to begin replacing
the existing music in the choral sight-reading
bins. Some of you will have brand, new titles
to choose from at your festival this spring!
As I was going back through my notes from our

Winter Conference General Music sessions, I
was reminded of all the fun new ideas I came
away with, excited to try. I have implemented
a few already and will do more after break.
We had such a variety of sessions ranging
from how to take care of our voices (spring
break is the perfect opportunity for vocal
rest), singing and dancing our way through
Orff-Schulwerk and Kodly as we teach
phrasing, beat and rhythm, to mainstreaming
ideas. Participants had a good time and from
the feedback I received, really enjoyed the
variety of the sessions. Folks left with ideas
they could take right into the classroom,
which is a very important function of
conference sessions. In addition to attending
meaningful sessions, Winter Conference is
also a great time to connect with colleagues.
Sharing lesson ideas, teaching strategies,
and exploring how others work through the
challenges of their jobs is a very important
part of our professional development. Since
we have teachers from all over the Bay Area
attending, it is a golden opportunity to avail
ourselves of others expertise.
General/Classroom Music
I take the opportunity after spring break to

incorporate some new, fun activities into my
regular curriculum. Students come back to
school excited and energized, ready for new
challenges. Looking ahead to the end of
April/beginning of May(testing time), I will
also be planning many extra dances, singing
games and movement activities. Students
will be coming to class after sitting for long
periods of time and will need to move. Besides
having fun and releasing pent up energy and
anxiety, this also serves to wake up and reenergize their brains, which they will need to
do throughout the testing period. Elementary
teachers, if at all possible, work with your
principals to ensure that your students have
music during the testing window. If you
have classes in the morning, which is usually
when testing occurs, it would be worth it
to see if your schedule can be adjusted for
those two weeks. Most principals understand
the importance and value of music, but it
might not be a bad idea to remind them

of the connection between music, brain
development, emotional development and
how that supports higher test scores.
Terri Knight
appy Spring! I hope everyone

took time to rest and refuel over
spring break. It is so easy to think
of a week off as an opportunity to catch up
or get extra work done. However, if we do
not take this time to make deposits in our
emotional and physical bank accounts, we
will find ourselves overdrawn long before
the school year ends. Take walks, enjoy the
beautiful weather, read a book (thats not
work related), go to a movie, get together
with a friend you havent seen lately due to
the demands of your work schedule.
Tempo 9

Spring 2013

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Chad Zullinger

everal months ago CMEA, Bay

CMEA should recognize that the terms

high school choir in a district where the

provided opportunities for me to navigate

It has been a busy year and hopefully you

I look forward to Winter Conference 2014

continued from page 8

This spring we are choosing and ordering new

As I was going back through my notes from our

I take the opportunity after spring break to

might not be a bad idea to remind them

appy Spring! I hope everyone

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