My Score Sheets Say What??!!

By Kim Wonders, Metro Nashville Chorus, Region 23

Every year at regional competition when we pick up our packet, we immediately pull out our scoresheets and pore over them. First, we probably look at the number written at the bottom of each sheet. Then, we go back through and read the comments from each judge. Tucked inside that packet of information are our scoresheets, our video/DVD recording and our audio recording. Also, in the packet is a list of the judges, their addresses, a sheet of paper entitled Guidelines for Self-Evaluation, and Performance Level Guidelines. The Guidelines for Self-Evaluation are to help us evaluate our contest performance. I would like to share with you a process that helped us take full advantage of our score sheets from regional competition.

Just to refresh your memory here are the suggestions for evaluating our contest performance:

1. Read all judges’ scoresheets.

2. Check your scores for each category. What level are they? (A+, A, B+, B, C+, etc.)

3. Check the official tabulation to locate your overall placement.

4. Analyze the placements of all judges by each individual judge.

5. Play your contest tape while you read the scoresheet comments.

6. For comparison, play one of your last rehearsals taped before competition.

7. Note the one-time errors-those due to unusual circumstances before or during the contest, those due to nerves, etc.

8. List your strengths as indicated on the scoresheets, e.g., “good contest material chosen,” “good overall accuracy,” etc.

9. List area needing improvement, e.g., “choppy phrasing,” “need more breath support,” “not enough dynamics,” etc.

10. Note the areas in which there has been improvement since your last competition.

11. Give more consideration to your relative placement in the contest and to your scoring levels than to whether your numerical scores are higher or lower than last year.

12. Set some specific goals for the coming year.

13. Evaluate whether or not the contest performance is truly representative of your chorus performance and current level.

These are great suggestions to help us evaluate our contest performance and focus on improvement. I took #9 and carried it a bit further. A few years ago, as I was reading my chorus scoresheets from our recent regional competition, I listed areas needing improvement by category. Then, I went back and looked at which comments appeared in more than one category. I noted that these were the areas I needed to focus on to help my chorus improve. We had comments about synchronization in three of the four categories. The sound judge commented that we had some synchronization problems, and some internal synchronization at times. Synchronization was circled on the score sheet. The music judge said we had “some synchronization errors,” and the expression judge said, “Minor synchronization problems are interfering with lyric flow.”

Even though I knew what synchronization was, I delved into the Judging Category Description Book to find out how synchronization is addressed in each category. In the Sound Category synchronization is under Accuracy, and it states,

“Synchronization is a necessary element of harmony accuracy. The sound judge rewards a performance in which a total unit sound exists, i.e., chords are locked from the instant they are sounded. Lack of synchronization affects unit sound because it can mar a blended musical unit, preventing instantly matched vowels and distort a solid barbershop sound.”

That told me a lot, so I turned to the Music Category where synchronization is under Musical Unity, and it says, “Musical unity is achieved when all members of the ensemble are singing vowels correctly and simultaneously, and are singing chords in tune and together. Ensemble singing requires particular attention to synchronization.” And in the Expression Category synchronization is part of the Basic Requirements. It is addressed under Synchronization/Unity, and it says, ”The components of synchronization and attacks and releases are considered together because they go hand-in-hand; one is the beginning and the other is the ending.” It further states, “The term ‘internal synchronization’ is often used to refer to the vertical togetherness that must exist within words and phrases if the unity of the presentation is to be maintained.”

Now I felt prepared to map out a plan for my chorus to improve this area of singing. I developed a process by which we would focus on blend and synchronization. I even came up with a name for this and called it BLYNCH (blend and synchronization, pronounced “blink”). Each week in rehearsal I would spend 15-20 minutes working with one section to develop better blend and synchronization within that section. As I worked with one section, the rest of the chorus would listen and learn from each other. As the skills in each section improved I would schedule BLYNCH time every few weeks and would work two sections at a time, then I would add another section, layering the sound as we improved our skills. The chorus could hear the difference and would look forward to our BLYNCH sessions.

The next year at competition there were no comments on our scoresheets regarding synchronization, and our overall score improved greatly. The work we put into our BLYNCH sessions was so valuable to the chorus. We continue to have BLYNCH sessions and it is exciting to see the growth in the individual chorus members as their skills of listening, blending and synchronization improves.

By focusing on an area of improvement that is listed in more than one category I believe we are able to develop skills that impact our overall musical growth as a chorus. This is one of the many things that has contributed to the success of our chorus. I certainly look at my scoresheets differently now, and I hope you will, too.

Return to Pitch Pipe Main Page