what happens in between multi-million car horns and dashes of rain

The concert, future result of this whole month work, is now in two weeks. Such hard work every single day that it goes by very quickly! I have to agree with Aaron and Ryan about the amount of interesting work to do here and the method they are using. Being around professional conductors from "La Palau de la Musica" and "Orfeo Catala" to get 360 children in a choir has taught me how to entertain the children into singing and listening and that we cannot rely on scores or leave one single second (litteraly) of distraction during the class.

In the rehearsals, it is all by memory from the first note of a song, it is 5 different languages (4 of them that they don't know), it is a lot of harmonies to develop the ear and barely any time to be unsure of ourselves: the warm-ups are active, the Kodaly method is constantly effective, the memory is developed, the body position sticks in their mind and they become more self-conscious of what they are doing.
And it is fun! They discover our teaching (sounds related to activities of every day: "tch, pf, sh, ts, k, r" related to showering, train noises, mosquitoes, cars, brushing. It works great with children) and the older ones have a lot of respect: we teach them what they do wrong-- while turning it into a show to make them laugh, therefore remember and apply later--so they can improve their technique. I have to agree once again with Ryan and Aaron in their last post when dealing with intonation and structure of the class. From what I have seen so far, the children have not been taught how to pitch, they only repeat after the teacher more and more without being propperly corrected. The rhythm is often not correctly settled for them by the musician, which slows down the class and confuses the interpretation.
The main point is that there is no concrete communication from the children during the classes in schools. The idea is not only to follow the orders and listen to the stories but to react to them with their musical abilities: during the rehearsals these past weeks, they are asked to come up with musical tunes, rhythmical patterns, dance moves. We ask them to make contrasts in the music therefore use up their memory from the warm-ups and the music they sing. The conducting is precise so that they should understand the entries, the expression and dynamic of the songs, the words and the direction of the piece. No need to get annoyed with them or beg them to do anything as we single them out to make each child feel more important and noticed. That way they can loosen up more and let go of their guard so as to be more expressive.

On the other hand, we went to Godrej on our free day of the week to discover the school (primary and secondary): They emphasize the education on art discovery and development. The values and principles of life are taught through prayers, yoga every morning, pottery, painting, drawing, creating works of art with recycled materials, making instruments out of recycled pieces (Coca-cola caps or coconuts) and important words in the songs. The children are being taught to think and create for themselves.

I've analysed Hindi music more in the few more sessions we've had and the rhythm is brilliantly intoxicating. The tunes don't use a wide range and mainly repeat the same words all together (no parts singing). It seems like the tune is set and the rhythm is varied which may explain why they don't really warm-up before choir Hindi singing: the repetition of the same phrases and the small amount of notes used make up for part of our singing exercices! But it is lacking in teaching the function of the body.


In Godrej's primary school, the children recognize all the sounds of different instruments, melodies or rhythms and immediately know what actions, songs and positions to take. No need to explain or order. Music highly develops the brain connections and it is great to see how their memory and ear just get better. One of the hardest thing for them is coordination and choir rehearsal with instruments in their hands teach them patience and group work.

The choirs here are doing great and the teachers are highly motivated, helpful and wanting to learn. Despite the weather and the atmospheric pressure which slows them down sometimes, they work hard and make us enjoy teaching very much with their enthusiasm and interest. The other morning, the rain got our shoes soaked on the street; there was no difference of level between the pavement and the road, and the water came up to above the ankles! I love the experience because it shows how to deal with infrastructure problems emphasized by the environment and nature.

The Colaba market is very attractive for its products but so frustrating since you actually never know which prize is a good one. They give out too easily on the price, you know you've been sort of robbed. They don't give you anything and even sometimes ignore you: it seems like they're not interested in selling. They push you into choosing within litterally 5 seconds of getting in.

A stroll in the fresh water fish market on Sunday morning is the experience of your life! They are dripping with water from the fish, throwing it right 5 cm in front of your face, push you in all directions. It's a little bit like the driving and the horns around here! I love getting around and seeing the different customs and crossing the roads!

The baker who was supposed to deliver cakes for the general rehearsal next week, delivered it today! So he decided to give it out to the poor. We give out sweets to the children who come knocking on the car's door, but they always ask for money as well. We sang in a cave last week and the people around came to record!

People in Mumbai are friendly after two lines of conversation and make our time here a real pleasure!

Juliette, Sunday 18th July