Laura B DYV 14

Laura B
Chapter Summary: There is a lot of consideration that should be put into putting a choir together. Whether the choir is a unison choir, two parts, or many parts, great music can be made through the way that each voice is treated and appreciated. Conductors should take time to warm-up the full-range voice properly at the beginning of each rehearsal. They must then work through each piece of music in a step-wise way, learning the rhythm and the pitches first before rushing into the finished product. Conductors can help their members to not compete with each other by having them plug their ears when they sing and switching up the choir's positions. When the members are not competing for being heard, the sound of the whole will be more glorious and voices will not feel strained and tired at the end of rehearsals. Choir directors must have the objective of bringing out good technique in each singer. Even if the director doesn't have the best singing voice, that person can still create a beautiful sound in the choir if they have a sensitivity and good ear for the potential of the human voice. Directors must always be conscious of intonation, or nature's scale will take over in the group. All in all, singing in a choir is a great experience for the members as well as the audience as long as sensitivity of each voice is taken into account.
Key Concept: "Selecting voices for a choir should always be done from the standpoint of doing what is best for each individual. If this is not followed, voices will not contribute their best abilities and the ensemble will not be able to produce its best results."
Key Terms: choral singing, intonation, equal temperament, just intonation
Making Connections: This was a great chapter for all of us future choir directors. I learned a lot of stuff in here that I feel will help me as I lead choirs as well as groups in music therapy. It helps me to understand more fully why choir directors do what they do when placing voices and mixing them up.