There is now a stable group of nine choristers, along with a couple who are still wavering. There is a good spread of ages, which means that there's two clear cohorts, with about half quite young, and half older. This makes breaking the larger group into two smaller groups a viable proposition; it's possible to give each chorister some personal attention at each rehearsal.
Last week was a testing week -- all present passed the tests about following the service. This includes knowing what is in the pew sheet, how the order of service works, and how to find various things in the hymnbook. Once they pass these tests, they get a cassock and sit up the front. When they pass some musical foundation tests (plus any special tasks that may be set) they get a surplice and a medal with a white ribbon. This will be be the point where the choir goes from being a provisional idea to a concrete reality.
Still, in the meantime, I'm working quite hard on developing the program materials for the training scheme. I decided to put the white level together for myself, so that there would be enough covered to ensure that choristers would be on their way to sight reading simple hymn tunes by the time they've done it. The division of the group means that one part goes off with my assistant to work on rhythm, while the other group stays with me to work on pitch. After half and hour or so, we swap. There's a general warmup at the beginning, and a group activity at the end -- the latter usually competitive, and aimed at reinforcing the concepts covered that day. Sol-fa knockout is proving to be a real hit!
In my wanderings, I've hit upon a couple of useful websites with material for interval recognition. This is all-important, given that I would like my choristers to be on the way to bullet-proof in about six weeks' time, which is when I expect the older group will be completing white level. The surest way to teach interval recognition is by a series of songs where each interval features prominently (I remember vividly learning Maria, working madly on the tritone). The web has megatonnes of material in this direction, but I was especially impressed by Earmaster, which provides a link to youtube for each song, which is useful for quick and memorable reference.
In the Jungle also has a useful list of songs, and a very good commentary on tuning issues as they apply to each interval.
Virginia Commonwealth University Music Department has a very comprehensive list of interval songs, but you'll have to find the music for yourself. Much of it is replicated at Earmaster.
This site has some interesting advice on integrating interval practice into your physical training routine. They don't recommend taking medical advice before commencing the program, but I reckon it would be a good idea...
There are a few good web applications for testing yourself on interval recognition. Here is one, although the midi quality is a bit suspect on my computer speakers. There's also a song list, which links to youtube. The testing part is like a multiple-choice quiz, so plenty of fun to be had! I'm not sure how to integrate this into my teaching program, at least for white level, so perhaps there's scope for it at some later stage.
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