SYLLABUS
NYU Men’s Glee Club
Credits: 0-1
Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
35 W. 4th St., 8th room 879
Choral Arts Society, Dept. of Music & Performing Arts Professions
NYU Steinhardt School
Instructor: John Joseph Atorino
Telephone: 551-206-1670 (cell)
E-mail: jatorino@nyu.edu
nyumensglee@gmail.com
Mailbox: 7th floor hallway, 35 W. 4th Street
Accompanist: Carol Dory Beadle
Student Conductor: John Tucker Wheatley
Course Description:
Emphasis on connecting male singers from across the university through musical
excellence, camaraderie, and musical performance. Students will be expected to sightread every class in order to improve their musical literacy skills as well as their vocal
technique. Conductor and students will choose repertoire together based on the groups
needs, likes, strengths, and weaknesses. All singers will perform at least once per
semester and will be expected to sing with fervor every single class.
Course Structure:
Class will begin with the following warm up structure:
physical warm ups
breathing exercises
resonance
vowel alignment
flexibility and diction
ear training, tuning, and sight-singing
Class will then rehearsal various pieces of music for about 15-20 minutes each. Students
will go through a wide variety of music before selecting 3-5 to sing in a concert or in a
public space.
Music will be memorized by the 8th week of rehearsals.
Students will sight-read at their level. Because levels vary, the pre-assessment taken in
the beginning of the semester will place students into three sections: beginner,
intermediate, advanced. Each week will feature exercises for all three levels during the
ear-training portion of class. This will last 5-10 minute each week.
Course Objectives:
Students should be able to:
1. Produce full healthy vocal tone
2. Demonstrate their knowledge of basic music literacy through sight-singing
3. Identify basic rhythm values
4. Identify basic score features
5. Identify notes on a page based on solfege
6. Analyze music to understand the relationship between parts
7. Analyze lyrics and music to understand the cultural and social contexts of each
song
Required Readings:
Students will not be required to purchase books for this class, but will refer
in class to sight-singing excerpts from the following sources:
Beck, A, and Brian Lewis. Singing at First Sight. Vol 1 and 2. Alfred
Publishing Company. June 2003. 1-120.
Cole, S. and Leo Rich Lewis. Melodia: A Comprehensive Course in Sight-Singing.
Boston: 1909. 1-22.
Student repertoire will vary from semester to semester.
Course Outline
Rehearsals:
September 13, 20, 27
October 4, 11, 18, 25
November 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
December 6, 13
Dress rehearsal:
December 16 (TBA)
Concerts:
December 16 7:30
Sight-Singing:
Pre-Assessment: September 27
Assessment: December 6
Assessment and Grading:
Students** will be assessed along the following 4 categories (150 points possible):
Category
1. Attendance: Does the student come to class? Is he on time for
class?
2. Participation: Is he prepared for class (e.g., brought all music,
water bottle, pencil)? Is he attentive to the instructor’s directions
and fully engaged in the class? Is he respectful of others in the
class?
3. Final Performance: Does the student perform the mandatory
final performance and attend the dress rehearsal? During the
performance, does the student reflect the hard work he has given
throughout the semester?
4. Sight-Reading: Does the student actively participate in sightreading during class? Does the student sight-read at a higher
level than the first class by the last class?
**For
Points
40
50
50
10
students taking course for 1 point undergraduate credit.
Grading Scale:
Letter Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Number Grade
135-150
120-134
105-119
90-104
75-89
Incomplete Grading: Incomplete grades are not a grading option.
Course Guidelines:


Attendance: Students are expected to attend every rehearsal with the exception
of missing two for doctor’s reasons or family emergencies. Each missed rehearsal
results in one letter grade down.
Late arrivals/Early departures: Students are not permitted to arrive late or
leave early unless discussed with the director in the beginning of the semester.
Late arrivals of more than 30 minutes will count as an absence. Special
accommodations will be made on a case by case basis.


Special Accommodations: Any student attending NYU who needs an
accommodation due to a chronic, psychological, visual, mobility and/or learning
disability, or is Deaf or Hard of Hearing should register with the Moses Center for
Students with Disabilities located at 240 Greene Street, phone: 212.998.4980, or
website address: www.nyu.edu/csd.
Concert Dress: Students are expected to wear a dark colored suit and dress shoes.
Bow-ties will be provided.