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Remote Choral Tidbits

Here are some short articles about various aspects of choral singing. They’re based on my personal experiences as a choral director, and have been practical ways of helping my singers work together.

You’re welcome to print and use them with your choir(s) free of charge; I only ask that you acknowledge the source. If you have any questions, you’re welcome to ask!

Cutoffs

A “cutoff” is the action of finishing a phrase. Any musical ensemble, whether vocal or instrumental, must execute its cutoffs cleanly. If we let each performer stop a phrase when they think it’s time, it leads to a sort of fadeout when that final phoneme is a vowel; the volume diminishes as we’re left with …

Long Vowels, Short Consonants

Unified, coordinated expression is one of the hallmarks of a great choir. In simple terms, we need to sound as if our voices belong together. One of the many factors important to that unity can be summed up in the following phrase: Long Vowels, Short Consonants Here are the assumptions behind this idea: We get …

Resonance center

Choral singing requires a solid sound. That solid sound can happen only if it has a definite focus point where it can live. I define this as having a “resonance center”, a place in which to focus the singing voice. Visualization of the Resonance Center I visualize the vocal resonance center as a small sphere …

Unified Consonants

Unified vowels define the power and tone in choral music. In the same fashion, unified consonants define the rhythm in that same music and make the lyrics understandable. Here are principles for unifying consonants: Make them short. This makes it easier for a large number of singers to enunciate them at the same time, thereby …

Unified Vowels

Vowels are the power and tone of the music. The best effect occurs when our vowels agree with each other. Unfortunately, people from different places have regional concepts of how those vowels sound. For instance, native West Coast singers sing with an “average” American accent similar to what newcasters tend to use. Upper Midwesterners tend …

Vowels

Vowels are the means by which we unify choral sound. They determine pitch and are the primary determiner of dynamic volume. If they’re enunciated consistently between singers, they also express the unity of the entire ensemble. It’s necessary to agree on how we’re going to sing our vowels. I’ve found that the most reasonable choice …