Video transcript
2021 Primary Proms repertoire - 09. The Inchworm - teaching tips

[music playing]

RACHEL KELLY: Hi, I'm Rachel Kelly. This video is part of a series on tips for conducting your choir.

This song really only has 2 sections to learn, what I call the math section and the inchworm section. These are nearly always sung in unison, except for one part where the sopranos sing the math section while the altos sing the inchworm part.

The time signature of this song is 3/4. That means we conduct 3 beats in every bar, and each page is a crotchet. So, we go down, out, up, down, out, up, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. (SINGING) Two and two are four. Four and four are eight.

This is a great song for working on a beautiful pure tone with your choir with lovely rounded vowels and smooth legato phrases. Just watch out especially for the word two. So, we want it to sound like this - (SINGING) Two and two - ooh - rather than this - (SINGING) Two and two.

Now I know this melody sits up quite high, but it's actually in a great range for young voices. Just encourage good posture, good breath support, just to really help support that high sound and carry them through the longer phrases.

Now this first section is marked p or soft, but within each little phrase, we can have a bit of a rise and a fall. So, we could go (SINGING) Two and two are four. Four and four are eight.

You'll notice there's some words in the lyrics that are in bold there. The reason for that is we want to just slightly emphasise where the first beat of the bar is. So, (SINGING) Two and two are four. When we normally say that phrase, we'd say two and two are four. We emphasise the four. But if we do it like that in the song, it's going to make it feel like that's where the first beat of the bar is, like this. (SINGING) Two and two are four. And we don't want that feel. So, we just give a little bit extra on the bold words.

So, after those first 2 short opening phrases, there's a much longer phrase from bar 9. So, they need to take a nice big breath here. So, it goes like this - (SINGING) Eight and eight are sixteen, sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two. And that two cuts off right on the third beat of bar 13. So, (SINGING) teen are thirty-two.

And then we repeat that math section at bar 14, and then we're into the inchworm section from bar 26. So, we can have some lovely phrasing here, which we can show in our conducting. Let me show you an example. You could go (SINGING) Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds. You and your arithmetic you'll probably go far.

So, when we've got a long note like that far, we can use our left hand to show that we hold the note, and then we give a nice clear cut off at the end of it. Now, if everyone's watching you, and you're very clear with your cut off, it doesn't really matter if you forget the exact beat that that cutoff is meant to happen. As long as we're all together, that's the main thing.

Those little comments that you see here and there above the music are breath marks to make it easier to get through some of those long phrases. So, from bar 35 we'd sing (SINGING) Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds. Seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful they are.

Now at bar 49, we combine the two parts. And they should be lovely and balanced here. The alto part shouldn't sound strong and rough just because it's low. It can be more of a challenge to sing in a pure and gentle tone on the lower notes.

So, it should sound like this. (SINGING) Inchworm, inchworm, rather than (SINGING) Inchworm, inchworm. Then at bar 58, the sopranos join the altos in unison for the rest of the inchworm section. At bar 67 for the last phrase, we're in a new slower tempo, and then it slows down even further in the next bar, indicated by the word rit., which stands for ritardando, which means gradually get slower.

You'll notice there's no breath mark this time after stop and see, so we sing (SINGING) Seems to me you'd stop and see how beautiful. And that's because we get to take a breath after beautiful.

So, when we get to that full of beautiful, there's a pause sign, so we hold that note on. And then we see these 2 diagonal parallel lines. This is called a caesura. Sometimes they're called tram tracks. And this means we have a complete break in the sound. Even the piano has a caesura here.

So, we go like this. (SINGING) Beautiful. We cut them off, and we freeze our hands in the air. Everyone's watching us with baited breath to see when they're going to come back in. And so when they sing the next word, which is they, it's on the third beat of the bar, which is the up beat. So, that's what we show. (SINGING) They are. And so on.

I just want to show you that one more time, because I want you to notice a small movement that I make just before I do that up beat after the caesura. And this anticipates that up beat. I also breathe with the choir there, and that just helps them come back in.

So, I'll show you again. (SINGING) Beautiful they are. And so on. And then once we're on that final note, we've resumed our former tempo, but not for long, because in the second to last bar there's a poco rit., which means to get a little slower. And then there's a pause on the last bar.

So, there's no need to conduct the 3 beats through that final bar. You can just hold for that pause, and then bring everybody off. They should have enough breath to get them through that final note, but if they are running out of air, they can always take a sneaky breath and come back in again. (SINGING) ah, ah. Like that.