Glee Club
I’ll be very honest here. During the first hobby session when I met with my Glee Club group, I made several scary realizations. The first of which being that the campers in front of me were some of the youngest in camp. As a music teacher, I concluded that there was no way they were developmentally able to sing in three-part harmony yet, and it looked like even two-part would be a stretch. After doing brief one-on-one vocal sessions with each of them, it was clear that there was a wide range of vocal abilities, which is a challenge in and of itself. Furthermore, I didn’t know how I’d get them through grueling two-hour rehearsal blocks without making them hate me, hobbies, and music in general. I almost ran to my supervisor afterwards to say “HELP, what did I get myself into?” and beg him to somehow help me out of it.
When I signed on to lead this group, I was thinking back to Color War 6 when I led a similar four-person group for the Red (victorious) Team. This was very successful, but those campers were much older and had extensive singing experience. I suddenly felt completely unprepared to give these young campers a good, successful experience. I looked at the sheet music I was about to hand out to them; a pop song medley from Jamie Wisset’s high school a cappella group. I looked at the four-part harmonies, turned to Jamie and said “I don’t think this is going to work.”
We slowly started teaching the first part of the medley, and naturally, it was rough. But for the most part, they got it, and they came to the next rehearsal ready to learn more. It soon became clear that the campers were really getting it and starting to sound good, and they learned and retained the new material quickly and effectively. Their attitudes have been excellent throughout the process. Now after just four hobby sessions, they’re well on their way to a successful culmination performance. I don’t know how they’re doing it. Logically and given the circumstances, the musical tasks in front of them should be too hard and they shouldn’t be sounding nearly as good as they are.
Since the pop medley was going so well, I wrote a mashup of two of the campers’ current favorite songs: the Cup Song and I Love It. They picked it up quickly and I then wrote a mashup of Umbrella and True Colors. I’m writing one final mashup for them and we’ve been collaborating with Sound and Stomp to create an epic final product.
This has been a very humbling learning experience for me. I recently spent four years at a conservatory taking careful textbook notes on childhood vocal development and what musical tasks kids are and aren’t ready for at what age level. While it’s good to have that framework, it’s been amazing to see these campers prove me and the textbooks wrong by vastly exceeding expectations. They have taught me more in 4 hobby sessions than several professors taught me in semester-long courses.
The Glee Club is made up of the following campers:
Eila M.
Charlie S.
Samantha E.
Sarah B.
Jordyn K.
Tabitha G.
Leah R.
Zoe F.
Katarina Andersson
Drama Head Specialist
