Chapter Summary: Choral directors need to be accountable for the voices in their ensembles and act as voice teachers on a large scale. Many of the singers in a chorus, especially community or local groups, won't have had voice lessons, so singing in a choir is the ONLY voice training most people get. A choral director should be very considerate of the individual voices in the choir and should audition or listen to the voices individually to assess and know them in order to help them be effective. This also means the warm-ups and vocalises should be a hugely important part of rehearsal, because a choral director is giving a voice lesson on a large scale. Like all athletes know, muscles reach peak efficiency after a short period of use. Using our voice is the same! Also warm-ups are key teaching moments for the choral director to achieve the sound and style they want for the choir. Repertoire can make or break a mediocre or otherwise fantastic group. The level of the group must be at the forefront of a choral conductors mind as well in choosing rep and in most effective rehearsal techniques.
Key Concept: Choral singing is a different challenge than solo singing, but so many of the same principles apply. A good choral rehearsal is like a good voice lesson with 100 people at the same time.
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Making Connections: Since this is my chosen field about which I'm very passionate I appreciate particularly a lot of what he said in this chapter. I believe very strongly in the importance of the warm-up for developing the voices in the choir as well as preparing them to sing specific repertoire. There is never a case when I think the warm-up should be glossed over, especially when working with younger singers. As I look to teach at the secondary education level very soon I am very aware of this and want to take great care of the voices I will be instructing.
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