Ideas and Quotes from Eph Ehly:

From Rehearsals and Performances:

• “No” has a lot of negative effects unless it is followed by two things: a smile and a
suggestion.

• “We could fill your seat right here and now with another person, but it would not be the
same! It could not be the same! No one can contribute exactly what YOU can

contribute!”

• When you say “I can’t make this rehearsal” or “I can’t be at that performance,” what
you’re really saying is “I don’t what to be a part of this community anymore.”

• No one sings wrong notes or rhythms on purpose; don’t be upset with them.
• Everybody wants to do a good job, and if they aren’t doing it then they don’t know how.

• You only get one chance to sight read, so go all in!

• The brain will accept nothing but the correct pitch (if you know it).

• When picking out choral music, check the text first (“no great song has a cheap text”),
then ask how it can make the singers better people.

• Vibrato is directly correlated with dynamics. When singing pp there should be no

vibrato, and when singing ff there should be huge vibrato!

• “A good philosophy is forever.”

• The purpose of a performance is to “deliver the message.”

• Your facial expression informs your tone.

• “Seek the Extra in the Ordinary.”

• 6 fundamentals of choral music:

• Tone Quality

• Diction

• Dynamics

• Breath

• Pitch
• Rhythm
 • Anything not on this list is informed by, created by, or composed of the elements on
the list.

• “Good tone quality is natural, free, and vibrant!”

• Inform your face of the message.

• Directors give direction and make followers; teachers make people think for themselves.

• Analyze the score by the way you rehearse it, not by talking about it.

• Human emotion is not static; it comes in waves.

• “When you stop learning, you start dying.”

• 3 steps of life:

• “Living to learn”

• “Learning to teach”
• “Teaching to learn how to live [better]”

• “Weak teachers have weak philosophies. Strong teachers have strong philosophies.”

• There are two functions of teaching:

• philosophy vs. methodology

• = why vs. how

• = teacher vs. director

• = permanent vs. temporary

• For each fundamental of music, you need:

• 1—philosophy

• 2—methodology (which is informed by the philosophy)

• 3—“vocology” (which is informed by the methodology)

• Stop “teaching music to people” and start “teaching people through music”

• “Pitch is something you think; harmony is something you feel.”

• Dynamic levels:

• mf: the natural dynamic; simply breathe and then phonate!

• mp: holding back just one degree from mf

• p: keeping all of your sound in a small area in front of you, as if cradling it.
• pp: as soft as possible

• f: more intense than mf, but not necessarily louder

 • ff: “all of what you have”

• Consonants come before the beat so that vowels can land on the beat.

• Never pronounce the American [r] in singing—instead, “never let the tongue touch the
teeth” and approximate the sound.

• Notes on breathing:

• Diaphragmatic breathing: Yes! Expand the ribcage. Intercostal breathing: No! Never!
“Babies breathe perfectly. You ever heard of a hoarse baby?”

• Breathe out like a tube of toothpaste—from the bottom up.

• Don’t let the chest collapse.

• If the pitch goes down, it’s not because someone isn’t hearing it; it’s because someone
isn’t thinking it.

• 90% of people sing with less mature of a voice than they have.

• Resonance is in the middle of the mouth, not at the front or back; find the point of
“hysteria.” Resonance involves singing in a way that is 1—open, 2—mature, and 3—all

of what you have.

• Basic Practice Strategy: Isolate. Emphasize. Prioritize.

• Methods of investing energy:

• i. Coming to rest; ebbing | reinforcing (helping)

• ii. In stasis, orbiting | observing (allowing)

• iii. Surging, flowing | resisting (blocking)

• For singing chant:

• 1. Accelerando at the beginning of each phrase, and ritardando at the end.

• 2. Crescendo at the beginning of each phrase, and diminuendo at the end.

• 3. Make everything connected

• The last note value of each phrase is doubled.

• No vibrato.

• Sophisticated speech:

• Vowel shape should be puckered.

• Use vertical vowels.

• “The drama in speech lies in the consonants.”

• Sing the pitch 1/2 step lower, 1/2 step higher; discover that the right pitch is the easiest
one to sing.

• In performance: “If you have to cough, choke first.”

• When you come to an ensemble, it should not just be an ensemble, but a “Sanctuary of
Joy and Peace.” Not a lot of “have to’s,” just sing “nice and easy.”

• Pitch: “You sing better when you don’t use your voice.” (silent rehearsal is beneficial)

• Considerations for choosing a text:

• 1. Thought-provoking

• 2. Poetic

• 3. Improve your tone quality through sophisticated speech.

• “Keep everyone else engaged—talk to everyone who your comment isn’t about.”
• “Confidence comes before you know your part.”

• “If you take confidence away from a singer then they have nothing left.”

• “Our job is to build confidence, not to destroy it.”

• “Only teachers can take the dignity out of teaching, and only teachers can put it back
in!”

From Dr. Ehly’s memoirs (Hogey’s Journey)

• “Every waking moment is an adventure in living.”

• “The joy of music is found in the enjoyment of music.”

• “A successful leader has to persuade others to perform beyond their expectations.”

• “Love is directional… a teacher should not expect [his or her] students to love [him or
her] more than [he or she] loves them.”

• “Success is the realization of a worthy ideal.”

• “Success can only be determined after the ideal has been realized and deemed worthy.”

• “Teach a student something worthy and respect follows.”

• “Music is a re-creation and a recreation of the imagination.”

• “Those with useful information are compelled to share it. To do otherwise renders one
useless.”

• “To diminish the act of teaching is to diminish the person.”

• “Fond memories are what give music most of its power.”

• “One is never too old to learn the truth. And the truth is never too old to be learned.”

• “Confusion is a state of learning.”

• “As a new teacher, you don’t mess with tradition.”

• “What’s uncomfortable for the teacher may be painful for the student.”

• “A scratch on the surface may be hiding a slashing scar.”

• “For every behavioral problem there is a root cause more threatening than the results of
the encountered problem.”

• “Around every failing youth are failing adults.”

• “A teacher who doesn’t admit, ‘I wish I knew then what I know now’ is likely to be an
ineffective teacher.”

• “Seeing an ordinary thing should trigger an extraordinary thought.”

• “Don’t give away the answer. Do all you can to help students discover answers and
solutions on their own.”

• “The mind must be in a receptive mode before the information is delivered or it won’t be
absorbed.”

• “Every good song has a story, if it doesn’t it’s not worth doing.”

• “Faster and bigger are often the enemies of healthier and better.”

• “Unpredictability draws attention like a magnet.”

• “What takes an ensemble weeks to build takes one person a second to tear down.”

• “The creative spirit lives or dies with self-confidence.”

• “Information is powerless. Knowledge is powerless. Action is powerful.”

• “Good teaching begets thinking. Thinking begets discovery. Discovery begets
enlightenment. Enlightenment begets a more meaningful life.”

• “Favoritism interferes with fairness.”

• (adapted): Every school’s mission should be to teach people to be empathetic to one

another.

• “Fond memories are neither born in the future nor in the past. Their birthplace is in the
present.”

• “The good life is all about creating fond memories.”

• “Fond memories must be protected like the treasures they become.”

• “The joy of ownership comes only after the pain of endurance.”

• “Because music reflects every aspect of life, the one who teaches it should have an
appreciation for every aspect of life.”

• “All music is perceived through association.”

• Pianissimo sensitizes. Fortissimo de-sensitizes.”

• “There are reasons you are what you are, but those reasons are no excuse to become
what you become.”

• “Teaching by doing is better than teaching by preaching.”