Barquisimeto #2

Most afternoons during our time in Barquisimeto found us visiting a nucleo. Here are my thoughts on four very different music centres:

Santa Rosa Nucleo

We were already sold on this nucleo when we heard the poetic story of how the courtyard in this village fills with musicians every afternoon practicing in the shade. It’s a beautiful and serene place next to a large Catholic church. The nucleo  is two years old and serves 900 children with a variety of choral and orchestral ensembles including the two orchestras (Children’s and Youth) with 80-110 children in each. There is also an extension nucleo nearby in a very poor area which some of the Fellows visited.

I first went to observe the Pre-Infantil Choir with children from 1-7 years. About 35-40 children were all standing relatively still and on-task in three long rows, with an adorable toddler waddling up and down in between! This was the first time I observed team teaching in a choral setting: the roles of director, vocal coach, pianist and teaching assistant are apparent, and they do not necessarily fulfil the same role with each group they teach. The first half of the session was spent on warm-up activities which dealt with many aspects of vocal technique through fun exercises and games. The second half of the rehearsal involved singing some Venezuelan Christmas songs the children had already memorized. There wasn’t any obvious teaching input going on in terms of describing a new concept or explanations, but instead the activities included lots of repetition and modelling from the teachers. This modelling involved prompting the children with the correct lyrics, leading the melody, and demonstrating the hand gestures accompanying the song, as well as correct posture and behaviour. I have experienced a similar kind of team teaching with younger children, being assisted by class teachers and teaching assistants whilst preparing for musical productions, but this experience reminded me what a useful tool it is to have so many adults demonstrating the same abilities to guide the children’s learning process.

Later, we observed the Infantil (Childrens) Choir; this was a small group of seven children (9-11 years) whose warm-up activities has an emphasis on posture and technique, and the assistants were moving around, correcting posture and mouth shape. The vocal coach was delivering instructions on how to stand in a balanced posture, whilst the assistants helped the singers to copy what was being demonstrated. Team teaching at this level is absolutely fascinating to watch, as the children benefit from group teaching and individual attention at the same time (obviously made easier here by the small group). It was fantastic to see these young singers get to grips with vocal technique, and it highlighted how El Sistema gives its participants the opportunity to fulfil their potential in all aspects of the singing experience. None of what we saw was particularly revolutionary, however, but consistent dedication to excellent and unified team teaching.