Sarah Brenay - OB - Ch. 14

Summary: Holding auditions helps give the choral director control over the sound of the ensemble. Do music suited to your ensemble: "A strong two-part choir is better than a weak three- or four-part choir." Big voices may have trouble blending in a choir. Whatever you do, don't force singers to do things that will damage their voices, whether that be asking them to sing higher, lower, softer, or louder than they are readily able to do. Choral singing is not the kind of activity where you can ask a student to "take one for the team." Devote time to warming up at the beginning of every rehearsal. This will help preserve the singer's voices and will also improve their sound. Totally worth the time. Care should be taken when selecting repertoire for a choir of young voices. Operatic works are generally a bad idea. Have singers sit up straight during choir. Emphasize that this is for their vocal health, not just to be controlling or force them to pay attention. Also assure students that they do not need to sing out to be heard. Brown offers several useful exercises to improve blending and self-awareness. The beauty of choral singing is found in the ability to create something between several voices that cannot be accomplished through solo singing. The colors and and qualities created are unique to choral singing.
Key Concepts: Think of the individual singers, do not damage voices. Be aware! Take time to warm up. Teach the singers to be aware of the physical sensation of singing, how to sing freely, and the sound the are producing. Don't do it if you don't know what you're doing!
Making Connections: I loved this chapter! Because I love choir. And Brown does too. I really like a lot of his ideas. I agree that warm ups are extremely effective, and that training singers to be individually responsible for and aware of vocal technique will create the best possible sound. I also agree that special attention needs to be paid to individuals so that students aren't straining themselves. In that last paragraph, Brown touched on the aspect of choral music that really made me fall in love with it: that ability to create something with many voices that you cannot create alone. I think it's beautiful. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.