MUSIC - Intro to Choir - Harmony Singing (Ages 9-12) - August 14-17

WILASC is honored to work with veteran choir singer, teacher and homeschool mom Courtney Cooke to offer two quality music summer camps for two age groups (5-8 and 9-12). (For the choir camp for age 5-8, please visit this page).  

In this week of music-making designed for children aged 9-12,  they will begin by learning to follow directions in terms of tempo and dynamics with warm-up songs and games. In addition to learning to sing more complex songs in melody and rounds, they will learn to start hearing and singing harmonies together.  

Body percussion and a combo of movement/motions and sign language for some songs will be taught, along with short histories of the multicultural folk songs they will be learning.  All songs are learned by imitation and repetition as demonstrated by the instructor, a capella. 

Musical terms and concepts will be taught along the way, as well as how to find harmonies by ear and find starting notes in written music for the harmony parts for those who can read music.

No music reading or prior background is required, but a love for music and singing is essential!   

Sample Schedule:

1:00-2:20  Opening songs and games, warming up voices and bodies, learning/singing most of the song repertoire we will be working with for the week

2:20-2:30  Bathroom and hydration*/snack break if needed

2:30-4:00  Adding in body percussion to songs, working on harmonies and rounds once the songs are learned well.

*Children should bring a water bottle and are encouraged to sip as needed while we sing to keep throats/voices lubricated. Parents are encouraged to pack some snacks for the snack break.  

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Courtney Cooke grew up singing and performing in ensembles and choirs, moving on to advanced competition choirs in high school before leading an adult choir for three years as a young adult, and then several children's singing circles over the years since moving to Whidbey in 2014.  She is a veteran homeschool mom of 20 years (4 kids) with wide-ranging experience working with and teaching mixed ages of homeschoolers in everything from science experiment classes to "sheep to shawl" classes.  Before having her own children to teach, she lived and worked in St Petersburg, Russia, teaching and working with kindergarten-age children in an English immersion program utilizing songs and games for learning.

From Courtney: "I do absolutely love to provide a nourishing music experience for our local children. Not only is it a rewarding experience to me to lead a choir, but I firmly believe that singing together and blending voices is something everyone should have the opportunity to do because I think it is very healing for our current social climate of division, to see that varied voices can blend to make a beautiful whole in harmony.  And I also think it is just plain healthy for children to learn to use their voices in this way, physically and psychologically.   It can be empowering and a wonderful way to experience music "from the inside".