Music Help: School Chorus vs. Vocal Training?

dreamer • 3 April 2013 at 2:39 PM

For the entirety of this year, I've been singing in the seventh grade girl's chorus. I signed up for it last year: It's an all-year class that I have two times a week.
It's exactly what you'd expect from a chorus class: All the giggly girls and the little group of "not so giggly" girls sit in chairs and sing songs.
I do enjoy the class every once and a while, but I really can't stand it anymore.
We chose our electives for eighth grade, and I just can't do chorus again. My closest friend in that class isn't doing it next year, so I'd be stuck with a class where half the girls are the ones I absolutely CAN'T STAND. This isn't even about feuds. I'm not "enemies" with any of these girls, I jut can't be compared to some of them in the chorus aspect.
I have a wide range; I'm mainly Soprano, but I can hit all of the Alto notes and the ones between. But my chorus teacher keeps slapping me into the Altos group, when I'm more comfortable on really high Soprano parts. I try to tell her I want to change, but she just ignores me. I kept my hand up for literally twenty minutes once because she was in a fussy mood and she refused to talk to me.
Plus, we can't learn to use our voices; we just use the generic, high-pitched voices with our nose and throat. I want to REALLY sing; like some powerhouse singers you'd hear... Just using that deeper, raw voice.
And reading the music. I have NO IDEA how to read music, and my chorus teacher doesn't help us, even when I ask. She just expects us to know the basics already. But honestly, the reason I signed up for the class is because I was willing to learn. :/
(Continued in next post)

thepells4 • 3 April 2013 at 2:45 PM

(this is @Dreamer)

Anyways, I told my parents about the issues I'm having with the class. I'm not saying any of this because I'm just in a bad mood. I've been considering and pondering this all year, and I'm really not satisfied with the class. I want to finish off the year and look elsewhere for musical teaching.
My parents have mentioned signing me up for vocal/music classes out of school a few times. I'm just worried it would be costly, with enrollment and transportation, and I don't know what I'd actually learn in a vocals class.


So if anyone takes a music class (not in school), can you answer the following questions?:
1. Is your class only singing, or do you learn to read music too? I'd love to learn to read music, because I'd be able to write it, too.
2. Do you sing any clich chorus songs, or can you choose what you'd like to sing?
3. Does your teacher give you singing skills: using a stronger voice, having more control, et catera?

I really want to know what you guys think before I take the next step and enroll in a vocal class. I REALLY want to learn more about music, but in-school girl's chorus is getting me nowhere.

Please ping me on my main account!

mokat • 3 April 2013 at 6:03 PM

@dreamer From what you said, I think you'd probably be a lot happier in voice lessons. I think that it depends on the teacher for what skills you'd learn in the class, but if you get a good teacher then it's really worthwile.

Deleted • 3 April 2013 at 8:52 PM

@dreamer
i think you'd be better off in voice lessons out side of school 😊

my music class wasnt too good so im not doing it this year....i wasnt learning anything, i just got told what to do.

i figured out how to read music online last year 😊

i havnt been to any voice lessons cos i dont sing, just piano haha but my friend has, she complained so much at the start cos they started off with easy stuff but started to like it cos she started learning once the teacher knew where she should learn from...i dont think she's learning to read music though... 😊

trish • 3 April 2013 at 9:12 PM

@dreamer Join Band. Lol. 😋

I'm only in band, but I do know about my school's choir.

1. I believe they learn how to read music before singing. O_o Well, they can read music for sure. Or at least know when to go higher or lower. xD

2. At the concerts when I'm just with the band holding my saxophone, the choir sings traditional/classics with solos from students but add a rap/pop twist sometimes. (Jingle Bell Rock, some chinese song, My Girl)

3. The choir teacher, I'm just guessing, wouldn't work with a single person, just the section (Sopr.,Altos, Tenors, Baritone). She's a very good and talented teacher though.


Maybe your choir teacher doesn't need another Soprano, and needs an Alto. Choirs gotta have balance, right?

dreamer • 10 April 2013 at 4:35 PM

@Trish She did it again the other day with the reading. =_= She said this, word for word: "You guys need to read the music. This is a problem in my eighth grade class too. Most of the girls look at the music, but they're not getting the right notes because they're not reading it. I need you to sing the right parts and read the music."
I said to my friend: "Well, if you want us to read the music, why don't you, I don't know, TEACH US HOW TO????" Shocker. I guess that's just too much for our chorus teacher. There are four girls who take instruments as well as chorus, and they're the only ones who know how to read the music. Now apparently, the other 18 girls in our class are supposed to wake up one morning and suddenly be able to read every. Single. Note.
That's just not how it works. =_= I don't know how else I can say it. There's just no reasoning with the chorus teacher...
I mean, really. I'm willing to learn how to read music. But I need a teacher, and I can't just read Internet lessons or any of that crap. BUT SHE JUST WON'T TEACH USSSSS.

And there are actually quite a few Altos. Plus, the Sopranos never sing loud enough. We also do some songs with the boys chorus, so the Sopranos are almost entirely inaudible.
I really want to sing Soprano parts, but for some reason the words "I'd like to sing the Soprano part" don't exist in the English language anymore?
Ugg. =_= I can't do anything other than get through this year and then go elsewhere in eighth grade. I really don't understand why we can't learn the basics. She spends so much time lecturing us or telling us to clean up her room or the auditorium. Why not spend that time trying to read music or something? GEE. I guess we only do it if it's convenient for her.

trish • 10 April 2013 at 8:17 PM

@dreamer I don't know how the instrumentalists know how to match pitches to the notes. O. o notes just have fingerings but impressive. Anyway, petition? Bring up a complaint to the principal?

Deleted • 10 April 2013 at 8:54 PM

@dreamer

This happened to me- kinda.

Soooo...i had this one super-mean piano teacher. Mom really liked her....but i told Mom over and over again, and we finally switched.

So have perseverance. Just keep asking and asking. If it doesn't work, well, switch to vocal lessons.

Remember, follow your heart and mind, not others's.

icymuffin • 10 April 2013 at 9:13 PM

Well... when I was in a school chorus, the instructor already assumed we all knew how to read music. And it kinda seemed that most of did, or at least caught on really quickly... :I

Personally dunno anything about singing really though...
But in my opinion, ask yourself, do you want to learn how to sing seriously?
From what you wrote, it doesn't seem like you'll enjoy that class very much next year. So what is it exactly that's holding you back...?

I don't think you should waste your time in a class like that. Put your efforts somewhere else? Something that you can actually enjoy it to its fullest, 'cuz this is the short while you still have before studying actually gets beyond dead serious [beyond zombie ghost dead serious 8D //shot//].

Anyways, I think you'll learn much more in depth in a vocal class than in the school chorus for various reasons c: