What Shape Is Your Brontosaurus?

WHAT SHAPE IS YOUR BRONTOSAURUS?

As I was rehearsing my collegiate a cappella group (Wright State University’s ETHOS) one evening, we took some time to map out the overall structure of each song in our repertoire.That is to say, we listed out the form of the song over time (Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1, Verse 2, Chorus 2, Bridge, etc.) and were charting things like volume, articulation, and intensity for each section. The first song we plotted was a power ballad. It started softly and eerily, then grew stronger and louder over time, then eventually faded again in both volume and intensity. I was drawing contoured lines on the white board to create a visual map for them.

One of the students remarked, “That shape looks like a brontosaurus!” Aside from my instant recollection of a Monty Python sketch (http://youtu.be/U6zWjUhfj-M), it just hit me that this was a very sticky way of reminding singers that each song has a shape, a journey, a plan for volume and intensity.

Choir Bites Interactive Slides can enhance online/hybrid lesson plans or be used as supplemental assignments. Your singers’ awareness will rise as they engage with these simple, “sticky” concepts! Click here to learn more! 

And so it came to pass that in subsequent rehearsals, any time ETHOS performed a song without any dynamic contour, I had only to ask “What shape is your brontosaurus?” and the matter cleared right up. This became shorthand for a more complex set of concepts.

I have written before about developing a “choral shorthand” with one’s choir: http://www.choraldirectormag.com/articles/the-practical-conductor/choral-shorthand/

In fact, my use of choral shorthand is essentially what inspired Choir Bites. People like STICKY phrases, code phrases that feel like inside jokes. By embracing this and finding your own “What shape is your brontosaurus?” moments, you can make your observations quick, inspire a few chuckles, make the singers feel like they are “in the know,” and get back to singing in a flash!