Because of the harmonic content in Life Painting, musicians will need to get used to playing intervals of major and minor seconds. To rehearse this, divide students into four groups. Start all four groups playing a concert F and then have three of the groups move up one step. Next, have two of those groups move up another step. Finally, have one of those groups move up another step. Hold those intervals and allow the musicians to feel comfortable with the dissonance. Continue this process around the Circle (concert Bb, Eb, etc.). Sometimes start with a minor second and then a major second or with two major seconds and a minor second, etc. Allow ensemble members to switch which group moves and which group holds on the first, second, or third note of the cluster. Within the context of the piece, identify the thirds or fifths when they occur and eliminate the "cluster" note from them. Tune the thirds or fifths and then add back in the note that creates the cluster chord and find where it fits best in tune. There will still be beats because of the dissonance, but it will be in tune when the beats are the slowest. 

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Pulse/Rhythm: 

    Life Painting creates a tapestry of sound. In order to weave their sounds together, ensemble members need a unified pulse. In The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader, Edward Lisk describes how to teach internal pulse to an ensemble. With my students, I refer to it as the internal pulse game, to instill the idea that becoming better musicians through concentration and focus is fun. To lead the game, hold your hands out with the palms up and count aloud 1-8 (at a tempo of approximately 60 beats per minute). Because Life Painting has a tempo of 58-62 beats per minute for the majority of the piece, the tempo of the game is easily applied to the piece. Next, the musicians should count with you. Everyone should be counting with a crisp tone of voice and be focused on listening to the space between the beats. It is important that musicians keep their bodies still during this time. The attention should be focused on internal pulse, not on external elements like foot tapping, head bobbing, etc. After the pulse has been established, turn your hands, so your palms are facing down. When your palms are down, you and the ensemble members should switch to silently counting. During silent counting, no one should be mouthing the numbers to themselves. Remind musicians of the internalization process or "thinking in your brain". At first, only indicate one or two beats of silence at a time. As the musicians improve their internal pulse, keep your palms down for more beats. It becomes a fun challenge for musicians to see how long they can count silently and still come in on the correct number and with their voices exactly together.  

     After the musicians have performed the pulse exercise correctly, they should transfer it to playing around the Circle of 4ths. Begin by having them play in unison on concert F on the Circle of 4ths for pulse 5. Ensemble members should be counting to five (internally) while they are playing for four beats, releasing on beat five, and then breathing and entering with the new pitch on the next beat. After they have played concert F, they should play concert Bb, then concert Eb, etc. At first, you can conduct a "one" pattern and indicate the entrances and releases. When the ensemble is secure in the internal pulse,

stop conducting and let the musicians continue to play pulse 5 around the Circle. It is important to stop the ensemble when they lose precision in entrances and releases. Remind musicians to breathe together and play together. Whenever the entrances or releases lose precision, name a new pulse (for example, pulse 4 or pulse 6) and begin on a different note in the Circle (concert Eb, for example). With time, the internal pulse of the ensemble and precision of entrances and releases will improve. As this occurs, indicate

pulses between 3 and 7 (or longer). Rests should also be added. For example, pulse 5 rest 3 would be "play, two, three, four, release, two, three, breathe" and would be notated as a whole note followed by a whole rest. 

     The rhythms mostly consist of eighth, quarter, half, and whole notes. Because the piece is written using 2/2 and 3/2 time signatures, musicians need to understand how to count the rhythms with a half note pulse, rather than a quarter or eighth note pulse. For example, in part 2 measures 23-25, the rhythm would be counted: