Sweet Harms: Teaching Harmony Singing at an Early Age

As a self-proclaimed "choir geek" from an early age, I have been very lucky to spend a good portion of my life sharing songs with others. I could go on all day about what choral singing has done for me as a person, but I will spare my readers from the never ending list. Namely, choral singing as a child gave me life long friends, positive childhood musical memories, a supportive atmosphere to be myself and a strong sense of community.
Musically, choral singing as a child gave me strong sight-reading skills, the ability to hear moving chordal structures, self-discipline in practicing, a healthy understanding of vocal technique and the ability to sing contrasting harmony against a melody.
However, there was one aspect of choral singing that did not carry far through my vocal upbringing: learning by rote.  In elementary choirs, a "call and response" method is often used to speed along the learning process and can allow all singers to learn on the same level as many young children have not yet learned to read music. As the choirs I began joining became more advanced however, all emphasis was placed on sight-reading and learning scores from a theoretical standpoint. Let me now state, that both of these methods of teaching and learning are effective and build different skills in singers. Now, as I work more with adult singers, I see a strong disconnect between what we can read on the page and understanding what we are hearing harmonically.
As a singer coming from a predominantly classical upbringing that launched herself into the jazz idiom, in some ways I had to teach myself how to listen again. I had become so "stuck" to the score that I felt as though my ears were lacking the discipline that my theory knowledge had far outstripped.
Recently I have begun to work with some of my private voice students  on the relationship between melody they have learned vs. what they hear in the accompaniment and encouraging improvised melodic development by having them pick out notes from what they hear in the piano, or for some more advanced students, giving them a starting harmony note for a phrase and asking to complete the harmony by listening to the progression of chords underneath. This is the foundation for teaching simple composition, improvised singing and melodic and harmonic arranging. And it's FUN! For some of my students who are strong music readers, this has pushed them to step outside their comfort zone and into new musical territory, while for others who have strong ears but are slow in theory, this method teaches them to think critically and theoretically about what they are singing.

I love harmony singing and I believe having a multitude of methods of teaching harmony is perhaps one of the most important aspects of early musical development in singers.

Can't Stop Listening: "Ode", Brad Mehldau

Pianist Brad Mehldau is one of those musicians who has people talking. Not every jazz musician I know is a fan, while others worship his music. To me, Brad Mehldau represents a new generation of musicians that are willing to take jazz as we know it and turn it into something that is not completely different but rather, shows a new side of  the modern jazz personality.

I've been listening to Brad Mehldau for quite a few years. His trio work, which often includes complex arrangements of newer pop tunes (most famously, the vastly overplayed Oasis song, "Wonderwall") and jazz standards. However, departing from the trio setting that he has become known for, Mehldau released a chamber jazz album in 2010 called "Highway Rider" that earned him some much deserved praise.

I was very fortunate to see Brad Mehldau live in a rare duo setting with saxophonist, Joshua Redman at the Montreal Jazz Festival in July 2011. It wasn't until then that I really found an appreciation for Mehldau's innovative improvisation and mastery of his instrument. Watching these two fantastic musicians interact was an experience I will never forget.

And luckily for all of us, Brad Mehldau has a new album out. Coming back to his trio roots, "Ode" is comprised of completely original material (a rare treat from Mehldau) and is highly unique in feel but with echoes to other artists including a dedication to Michael Brecker and some piano styling that this particular blogger finds to be slightly reminiscent of Thelonious Monk. "Ode" features Mehldau on piano, one of my favourite current bassists, Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. His compositions riveted me at many points but I think it is Mehldau's improvisations that are really the shining star of this record.


Here's a little taste of the title track, "Ode", I hope you enjoy as much I did.

My Evening with Chef Gillis

Between teaching, rehearsals and composing it is hard these times to get some quality cooking and baking time in. So when my beautiful friend, Jessi Gillis asked if I'd like to get together and have some culinary fun, I leaped at the chance! Last Saturday Jessi came over and we drank delicious red wine and shared some fun recipes while Jessi taught me some simple and very useful little tips for the kitchen!

We had decided ahead of time that I would choose the dessert to make and she would choose the main course. I was beyond excited and intrigued when Jessi proposed the idea of making homemade pasta! I learned all about making delicious pasta dough, the uses of mascarpone cheese (yum!!) and how to make a tasty roasted vegetable sauce and another pesto variation - I love pesto!!

The result? A delicious ravioli stuffed with mascarpone cheese and caramelized onion (I'm drooling thinking back on it) with both a homemade pesto and a roasted red sauce! I know, she is all kinds of talented.

When Jessi asked me to take charge on dessert I contemplated for quite awhile what to make but I decided it would be best to stick to what I love most - strawberries, vanilla and exorbitant amounts of icing. So, we created "the rose cake". Excited by my new piping kit (a lovely present from my sister's beloved), I made a vanilla buttercream frosting infused with a simple strawberry syrup. Jessi was kind enough to teach me all about how to make different syrups - I have no idea how easy it was! Underneath the mountains of frosting was a VERY sweet and simple vanilla cake.

Voila! The Rose Cake!

All in all, it was a perfect evening of delicious food and fabulous friendship. To read more about Chef Jessi Gillis and her fantastic catering company, Highland Drive (and her new shop opening up in the Hydrostone!!),

Check out what Jessi has in store!

When the Moon Hits Your Eye...

I love pizza. In particular, I love homemade pizza. I love the entire process of making pizza: kneading the dough, letting it rise, picking the perfect combination of ingredients and watching the magic happen! I also love making custom pizzas for whomever my lovely guests are because the beauty of pizza is that it can satisfy even my most picky friends (you know who you are)! So, here is my recipe for a very simple and user-friendly pizza dough because it's time we all started baking from scratch - can I get an amen?

Zoe's Easy Pizza Dough

1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast

4 cups All-purpose Flour

Salt (I don't measure my salt)

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

*This recipe usually makes two decently sized pizzas!

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Combine flour and salt in a mixer or food processor. With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it (the longer it's in there, the better!)

And.. voila!! Yummy, homemade pizza!! This is a new favourite of mine with shaved asparagus, parmesan and sea salt! VERY simple and delicious!

What Joni Mitchell Gave To Me

I don't remember when I started listening to Joni Mitchell. I don't remember how old I was, where I was in my life musically or personally, and I don't remember who told me to listen to Joni Mitchell. But I remember how I felt. I remember listening to "A Case of You" from the album "Blue" (1976) and remember feeling overwhelmed and at a loss for words. Until that time, I had never heard lyrics that painted such a vivid picture or expressed such a bare emotion as Joni's.

In the multi-decade career of Joni Mitchell she has gone through many transformations as an artist. I don't love every era or every artistic choice she's made (there are few musicians who I could say I do). However, there is an honesty in Mitchell's lyrics that is raw and deeply personal as well as a poetic lilt that has inspired my own writing enormously, always.

Joni Mitchell writes folk music, yet she appeals to musicians of all genres for her surprising turns in chord progressions and intricate melodies.

To conclude, Joni Mitchell gave me inspiration, gave me humility and most of all, gave me a love for the human voice and written word in a way perhaps no other singer has.


Check out some personal favourites of Joni Mitchell.