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Tags: part of a complete choral education

Hook the kids on fun singing, and they stay hooked! Music educator Aaron Knodle shared this story recently:

This last school year, I had my auditioned high school men’s group sing a tag every day at the beginning of rehearsal. I taught them a new tag each week, and the gentlemen knew that as soon as the bell rang, we stood up and sang the tag. They absolutely loved it! One day, it was very close to a concert and I skipped the tag with hopes of more rehearsal time on our concert pieces (I was worried about of few measures in one of our concert pieces). Well, as soon as I skipped the tag, I received immediate revolt and was read the riot act by my students. So, I calmed them down and asked, “Do you really want to sing a tag?”, and a young baritone in the back row stated in a plain, matter-of-fact voice, “Yes, Mr. Knodle; it’s kind of our thing.” I replied, “All right then.” I got out the tag book, we sang a tag and then had a fabulous rehearsal. I will tell you that I never, ever skipped the tag again!