Singing at Home with Vocalize! Sing-Along Interactive Slides

As we begin a school year where in-person choir rehearsals seem uncertain, this question weighs heavily on my mind: How can we keep students singing while at home? Of course, many directors are making practice tracks for repertoire and assigning sight singing exercises, but how will we keep singers on track with individual vocal technique? I hope this will help— interactive warm-up slides from Vocalize!

When I first composed Vocalize! (back in 2013), I built the exercises with informative lyrics about some of the most important topics for developing singers: breath, vowels, posture, tone, diction, etc. Since that time, choir directors have been teaching the exercises by rote and sharing the helpful tips (provided above every example) at large group rehearsals, in breakout sectionals, or during private voice lessons. I never imagined a world where singing might need to happen in isolation, but here we are. Necessity is the mother of invention. As it turns out, with just a little innovation from Alfred Music, Vocalize! Sing-Along Slides are now ready to go for distance learners.

Each interactive slide includes an embedded accompaniment track that modulates through several keys. Singers are encouraged to read the helpful tips, study the informative lyrics, learn the simple melodies, and then sing along to develop fundamental vocal skills. Purchase includes the right to share the Interactive Slides with all of your students (limited to one school/organization) through the learning platform of your choice. You may post the entire collection, or create customized copies for specific choirs, grade levels, individual students, or to match the singing concepts you are currently introducing or reinforcing.

I’ve long been dedicated to creating resources to guide and inspire singers, so I am truly thrilled with reports like this one which arrived in my inbox from Amy Davis, a music teacher at Durham School of the Arts in Durham, NC.

“Vocalize! Sing-Along Slides literally saved my life today for online teaching! My first class was kids from last year, so we used three slides that they already knew! Their faces lit up when they realized they knew what it was, and the tracks sounded so good! I am not a traditional “track” teacher, preferring live piano, but I AM SOLD on these!”

Here’s hoping we all find Amy’s level of excitement and satisfaction in our new virtual world.