Grade 11 - Performance Criteria

After our performances from the past 2 days, I was amazed by the talent in the room. These students can perform! Great job to everyone!

Today, we discussed the similarities between golf and singing. How are they similar? In many ways.... There are a lot of mechanics to golf. Am I holding the club correctly? Am I pointing my feet in the right direction? Am I bending my knees or not? Am I bending my arms on the back swing? Where do I look?

Similarly, when we sing, we must be thinking about our stance. Am I standing correctly? Am I slouching? Am I opening my mouth enough/too much? Am I tense in my neck? Am I straining my voice? All of these things go on in our mind. Eventually though, we need to trust that our bodies know this drill enough that we can be relaxed. In golf like in singing, if we are too tense, our ball will not hit the target or our voice will hurt. We need to relax.

Secondly, just as a golf club has a sweet spot, so do our voices. Students were encouraged to find a key signature for their songs that allows their "sweet spots" in their vocal range to shine. If they are singing in that sweet spot, they can properly project their voice and be at their best.

We also discussed what makes a good performance. Here is a sample of the responses I got from the students. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester and seeing these students really shine!

Performance Criteria from Students