I've been participating in formal singing groups since fourth grade, not to mention instruction in general music from kindergarten through fifth grade. So I must admit, when tasked with warming up a choral group, I assumed it would be significantly easier than teaching a mostly unknown-to-me band instrument. I borrowed some of my favorite and most useful warm-up exercises from various choral directors over the past ten years, and I though I had a good variety, warming up the singers' bodies, voices, and minds. But I still ran into problems.
Last week, when teaching clarinet, I was thrown off my the time constraint of a five-minute lesson. I wasn't sure how long or short that was, or how much time had passed. And I ran into that same issue this week. Additionally, all of my choral directors have also been skilled piano players, and accompanied warm-ups with full harmonies. I, however, can only play simple melodies with one hand, and in a limited number of keys, so I had to simply play the first note of each passage. Nonetheless, I don't think that drastically hindered the execution of the exercises, and I did cover all of what I had planned. Another small problem was presenting an exercise using Italian, "bella signora," without confirming the pronunciation beforehand. Now I know to address that first, in the future.
Interacting with the singers while warmups were in progress was one thing that I hadn't thought to address. To correct vowels, pitch, or posture would reinforce correct behavior rather than simple rote recitation of the exercises.
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