How to develop chorus education in primary and secondary schools

Chorus is an art category of collective singing of multi-voice vocal works, which requires a high degree of unity and coordination of vocal groups. It is one of the most popular and widely participated music performances. As a performance tool of chorus art, human voice has its unique advantages, which can directly express the thoughts and feelings in music works and stimulate the emotions of the audience. Choir has played a very positive role in the period of revolution and construction. Chorus is the most beautiful and advanced art form of singing. "A good vocal foundation may not necessarily lead to a good chorus, while a bad vocal foundation may lead to a bad chorus". The author likes chorus very much and has made some attempts in chorus education. Now I'll talk about some ideas and suggestions on chorus education. 1. At present, she is a music teacher from a rural primary school. After years of music teaching and participating in art activities organized by districts and cities, I feel that all dances are unified, and the higher education authorities also try to encourage the diversity of programs in the whole region, but few schools offer chorus programs. What are the reasons for the "weakness" of chorus in primary schools? I think, firstly, the higher education departments do not pay enough attention to art education, especially chorus education. Most of the leaders of primary schools come from the so-called "main courses", thinking that holding choirs or competitions will affect the teaching effect. Secondly, there are serious defects in the music education system in China, and there is no important link in chorus professional teaching and chorus sound training, which also leads to the grass-roots music teachers not putting chorus education in an important position in the curriculum. 2. The significance of carrying out chorus activities In view of the current situation, I think that vigorously carrying out chorus activities will not only affect the performance, but also add strength to the education and teaching of the school. There is a famous saying: "Chorus is an irreplaceable important form of any educational work". Many developed countries and regions regard school chorus activities as an important task to cultivate students' noble sentiments and team spirit. For schools, chorus education has the characteristics of "less investment, simple operation, wide popularization and great significance". Vigorously developing chorus education activities can cultivate students' interest in classical music, improve their sense of teamwork, collectivism and patriotism, enlighten their minds, purify their souls, and make their study more effective. Chorus is the best way to express patriotic feelings, show campus culture and sing a beautiful era. The significance of developing chorus education and carrying out chorus activities to socialist modernization cannot be underestimated. 3. The formation of the chorus. 3. 1 Establish the orientation and development direction of the choir. The formation of chorus in primary and secondary schools, when selecting members, should pay attention to students' intonation, rhythm, music understanding ability and work acceptance ability, and also take into account students at all levels. Because we don't "sing for achievement, but for growth", especially some students with poor foundation and poor academic performance can grow up in their studies, which is the original intention of our team. 3.2 Chorus ratio. To form a chorus, in order to keep the team alive, the number of people selected in each grade is different. The proportion of primary school choirs is 1214, 3412 and 5614. Or grade two or three 1/4, grade four or five 1/2, grade six 1/4. Chorus structure of junior high school: Grade one13, Grade two/3, and Grade three retains some backbones. The choir structure in senior high school is different from that in junior high school, with about 1/3 in Grade One, about 2/3 in Grade Two, and some backbones in Grade Three. 3.3 Pay attention to the backbone role in the team. Chorus organizers should have keen insight, be good at finding students with strong leadership and strong musical expression in the team, and vigorously cultivate them to play an important role in the team. These students should account for at least 1/3 of the whole chorus, and ensure that all voices have backbones and their positions should be scattered. 4. How to teach and rehearse chorus? 4. 1 Let the students establish a correct chorus concept. Chorus is a collective activity, which requires each participant to regard himself as a member of the group and sing in coordination and cooperation with others. This is conducive to cultivating students' high degree of discipline and forming a collective consciousness. In order to make students realize that chorus is a cooperative harmony art, the individual voice should be integrated with the whole voice, so that each individual's voice can achieve a high degree of unity. Unity and cooperation are extremely important for chorus. 4.2 Pay attention to pitch and rhythm training. As we all know, there are several parts in a chorus, which requires higher solfeggio ability for the parts other than the main melody. At the beginning of voice division, we should pay attention to the average strength and strengthen solfeggio training in daily training. First, sing the music score of the voice with musical instruments, and establish the correct concept of pitch, that is to say, solfeggio and ear training of the voice should be carried out separately, and then practice with both hands. In this kind of repeated training, students can get the concept of intonation in the harmony effect, so as to master the intonation, achieve the harmony and unity of the high and low parts, and strengthen the inner experience and feeling of music works. 4.3 the coordination of sound. When rehearsing two-part and multi-part songs, you must have correct steps, otherwise you will get twice the result with half the effort. I think it's better for the general chorus to practice the bass part first. Because as far as the general chorus is concerned, the high-pitched part is the melody part, which is fluent and pleasant to listen to, easy to remember and easy to learn. The melody of the bass part is not smooth, so it is difficult to learn and remember. Practice has proved that before learning a new song, the first impression is very important, and the characteristics of students' learning are to learn quickly and remember firmly. So we take a preconceived approach, that is, let students receive bass training first, and then accept high-pitched melody. In this way, they will also feel fresh. In chorus practice, you can also use computer music software for auxiliary teaching. In chorus practice, teachers must spend part of their energy on playing the piano in class and cannot devote themselves to the organization of teaching activities; Piano performance is not only restricted by the technical level of performance, but also by people's mental and physical state. After many classes in a row, if you feel a little tired, you may repeatedly play the wrong sound or the wrong rhythm. Piano music is single, so it is much more convenient to teach pronunciation with computer music software. Music can be saved as MIDI files by music sorting software, and then played on the computer as needed during class. You can open the sound part for students, and you can also audition the overall effect for students. Students can sing the first part of music and play the second part, and vice versa. You can also record the students' singing effect in real time, and then play it back immediately, so that students can compare between correct singing and self-singing, and constantly improve their solfeggio ability between listening and singing. When we train students to sing in chorus, we can add some technical things to make them work hard on the words "accuracy" and "emotion". For example, when rehearsing "Motherland, Kind Mother" and adapting it into a chorus, we can make them realize that the motherland is our mother by reading the lyrics and matching the melody, and by inspiring their love for the motherland and longing for the future, and we should bless our mother. Therefore, this song has been artistically treated: the first half of the lead singer requires students to be lyrical and energetic as the protagonist, and the second half of the chorus requires deep affection and breadth, which is in contrast with the lead singer. Adding a bright color to the choir. 5. Chorus skills training. The skill training of chorus is mainly breathing and vocal exercises. Let's talk briefly about how to practice breathing and vocalization. 5. 1 chorus. There are three ways of breathing in chorus: one is holistic breathing-that is, all chorus members breathe, inhale and breathe at the same time, and hundreds of people are like one person, which is the most basic and commonly used way of breathing. The second is vocal breathing-that is, breathing, inhaling and breathing in different parts, which is mostly used in polyphonic works. The third is cyclic breathing-that is, everyone breathes, inhales and breathes at different times according to their own depth. The whole sound is continuous, thus making various technical changes in strength, speed and color. The correct concept of breathing in singing is air column resistance. Exhale is the only driving force of singing, and it is a kind of power that gas can exhale instinctively after opening its mouth, and its energy is always greater than resistance. Resistance is man-made, it is the force that consciously pushes the diaphragm down under the premise of tight waist, and it is the force that reversely restricts the force in air impedance. I feel downward pressure on my waist and abdomen when lifting heavy objects. Artificial downward pressure resistance is a necessary condition for the existence of air resistance when singing. The main trick of singing skills is to seek, create and master the sense of confrontation between two opposing forces in the air column, that is, the strength that exhales upwards and the resistance that falls downwards: the strength advances smoothly and economically because of the reverse restriction of the resistance, and the resistance is more strongly opposed because of the stimulation of the strength. It is always performed in singing. The essence of air column resistance is a small confrontation at glottis and a big confrontation at waist and abdomen. Waist tension is the future and key to produce air column resistance, and the essence of air column resistance is small confrontation at glottis and big confrontation at waist and abdomen. First, the small confrontation at the glottis refers to the confrontation between the strength of upward exhalation under the glottis and the resistance of artificial downward pressure in the glottis. Specifically, when singing, the throat should do two actions: choking and inserting. Blocking qi refers to increasing the closing strength between the two vocal cords immediately before vocalization; Downward insertion means that the larynx should be inserted artificially when vocalizing, just like the feeling that the larynx spontaneously blocks the downward movement of air before coughing. The action of throat plugging is very subtle. It is good to think about the action before making a sound, but it is indispensable and important. Because the resistance of gas compression at the glottis increases, the more intense the confrontation, the higher the quality of the song. Second, the waist-abdomen confrontation. A small confrontation at the glottis can only produce a weak vocal pitch, and a large number of overtones mixed with * * * are needed. It can only rely on the huge energy of air resistance to make sound waves with a certain pitch enter the oral cavity and nasal cavity through the throat cavity and pharynx cavity, and produce a large number of overtones mixed with * * * *, so as to achieve the purpose of sound penetrating the whole audience. The specific method of waist-abdomen confrontation: the circumference of the inhaled waist will be tightened immediately, and the diaphragm will be artificially lowered to produce resistance, which will counter the artificial inward bounce of Tian Dan (about two fingers under the navel). The elastic movement of Tian Dan can't be produced spontaneously and needs special training; Much like wheezing after a long run and abdominal beating when coughing violently. When practicing vocal music, you can make a long "hiss-"sound that is stable, even, thin, light and economical. The longer the hissing sound, the tighter the waist, the artificially depressed diaphragm, and the better if the throat is trapped spontaneously. At the same time, do a good job of bouncing breath practice and truly master the correct and scientific anti-luck method in singing. 5.2 Chorus vocalization. The basic principle of chorus vocalization is consistent with that of solo vocalization. The purpose of generative training is to adjust the generative function of chorus members, so that they can enter the positive state of singing generation as soon as possible to adapt to high-intensity song rehearsal and singing activities. Therefore, in the training process, members of the choir should gradually master and apply scientific vocal methods, and give full play to the functions of vocal organs, so as to improve their adjustment ability in singing pronunciation (including pitch, rhythm, volume, timbre, breathing, singing, language, etc.). ), so as to achieve better overall chorus effect. Chorus vocal training usually begins with a medium range (C major) and a medium intensity (mp or mf). The application range and intensity of vocal music practice should be gradually expanded, and the appropriate training progress should be mastered according to the vocal state of most chorus members. Chorus members must seek the harmony and balance of each voice when trying to produce good sound through the reasonable operation of the vocal organs. The mouth and ears should work at the same time. The application field of vocal music is moderate, and the range of vocal music is usually expanded by semitone transposition. This can gradually inspire the vocal organs of all the chorus members, so that they can quickly enter a positive singing state and skillfully adjust and control their voices. The difficulty of using rhythm and intonation in vocal music practice must also be added purposefully. Remember to mechanically copy other people's vocal etudes, grasp the actual characteristics of the choir, and move towards a certain training goal. There are three methods commonly used in vocal music training: 1. Arouse: Think about the pitch, volume and timbre before vocalization, and make preparations for the corresponding organ state, and suddenly impact the vocal cords with qi to make an accurate, clean, neat and elastic sound head. This is the most basic vocal skill. Never sing an olive-shaped voice. Second, soft start: that is, let out air first and then make sound. Sound is a vocal skill set off by breath. Third, the sound is straight: it is to keep the state after sounding, and don't let the voice tremble. Because everyone's voice fluctuates in different amplitude and speed, which will affect the acoustic effect of the chorus, so we require that the chorus voice should be straight. Professor Ma Geshun, a famous conductor, once scientifically summed up the state of human body singing as 12 words: head empty, throat full, shoulders wide and abdomen tight. When rehearsing, you should practice purposefully according to the requirements of this word 12. The methods are as follows: ① Relaxation: the muscles of all parts of the organs are relaxed, especially the mandible and throat. The base of the tongue should be flat, and the chin should not be tilted up or down. Yang: The abdomen is slightly retracted, the posture is correct, the mental state is upward, and the attention is concentrated. I want to sing, not I want to sing. ③ Vertical: Lift the soft flap with the feeling of yawning, and the mouth looks like a duck egg standing upright, which can be achieved by touching the cheek with both hands. ④ Up: The voice should be as high as possible, as if singing to the eyebrows and the head cavity. To retract the lower abdomen slightly, hold the voice with the abdominal muscles above the navel, so that the voice is in a higher position, and don't put it down to sing. Try to practice your head voice with proper falsetto. ⑤ Down: Inhale horizontally instead of vertically, don't shrug your shoulders, learn to sing with an "air column" (with a breathing fulcrum), and properly control the abdominal muscles above the navel to support the sound. ⑥ Close: The sound should be concentrated, a little, and not scattered. This point should be "punched" slightly in front of the soft and hard flap connection. Depending on the nature of the song, you can also move forward or backward slightly. ⑦ Change: We should train the mouth changes of various vowels, such as opening, closing, hard rising, soft rising, Legato, staccato, strength, progression, big jump, responding to command changes, listening to basic chords, etc. ⑧ Opening: The front and back oral cavity, nasal cavity and head cavity should be open, and there should be no congestion, so that the sound can flow out of the body smoothly. Vocal music training involves many skills and techniques. In the limited time of each rehearsal, we should practice the etudes adapted from vocal music or singing song fragments, so that the key points and difficulties of singing skills in basic training and rehearsal songs can be properly combined. Combining practice with practice can improve efficiency and achieve good rehearsal effect. 6. Appreciate all kinds of chorus works, cultivate interest and improve students' aesthetics. Appreciation is an important part of chorus teaching. By enjoying various types of chorus, students can broaden their musical horizons and improve their ability to feel and appreciate chorus. Play some well-known chorus songs at home and abroad, such as spring rain, pastoral, echo and so on. Between rehearsals or in classroom teaching, let them listen carefully to the melody of each voice, train students' musical hearing, improve the hearing ability of chorus, let them experience the beauty of chorus art from the melody of music itself, thus cultivating students' interest in chorus. In short, chorus has extremely rich artistic expression and appeal. Chorus education can stimulate students' initiative and enhance their self-confidence. Let's use beautiful melody to arouse everyone's desire for music and love for life!