The Amazing Choral Musician

Thank you for all of the kind words and positive feedback about our December concerts!  I was so proud of our choristers, directors, parent volunteers, and of course, grateful to the administrative staff, volunteer board, families, and audiences whose support makes it all possible. 

 

After these concerts, you may have been wondering—how do our singers learn such a wide variety of music, from different time periods, cultures, and languages?  How do they get to such a sophisticated level of performance in such a short amount of time?  How do they sing in three, four, or more parts?  The short answer is, of course, practice!  Really what’s going on, though, is top-notch music education.  Our choristers are working with amazing conductor/teachers (welcome again, new Young Singers Program teachers, Lesley Rippee and Julia Sarewitz!).  Our choristers also learn a great deal from their amazing peers—Northwest Girlchoir is full of bright, talented, and team-oriented girls, and we take advantage of this resource every rehearsal, through “singing partners,” “choir mentors,” “Amore families,” and of course, just the chance to sit/stand next to, and sing with, great friends.

 

As 2012 begins, choristers are “starting over,” learning new repertoire for our March concerts.  From a music education point of view, however, we are continuing right where we left off in December, building upon the skills and concepts we’ve been working on since the school year began (and since each chorister began singing with us).  I know that parents sometimes wonder—aren’t they just singing songs?  What are they actually learning?  Certainly, it depends on the age of your chorister, but every chorister is gaining valuable skills and experiences that, put together, are unique to choral singing.  I’d like to give you a sampling of what our amazing choral musicians are immersed in—it’s a lot of fun, but it’s also serious work...

 

In Songbirds, Music Makers, and Prep Choir, choristers are learning to expand their “talking voice” range to a much wider “singing voice” range, including using what is called their “head voice” or “light mechanism.”  At this age, we are introducing girls to what it means to sing and work together (a choir “must”), through singing games and activities, as well as what it means to sing in a choir and perform for an audience.  We want singers at this age to have numerous opportunities to experience musical concepts (like walking a steady beat or showing high and low sounds with their arms) so that they are ready to deal with those concepts again when they are written as musical notation.

 

Beginning at the Fresca level, singers are holding music in their hands, watching notes going up and down, and working hard to make sense of this new language, even as they are developing as word readers.  As singers progress through our choir levels, they will be presented with more and more complex music, and they are dealing with their developing “adult” voices.  Our music education goal is to foster in each chorister the skills and knowledge to take on any musical challenge and create music at the highest level of artistry.

 

So, what does it take to sing in a choir?  What are the skills that a singer is using at any moment?  Here’s what I came up with (I bet that our choristers could add even more to the list):

 

1.      Take care of your own singing

Stand with excellent posture, with your spine long and your neck and shoulders relaxed, so that your ribs can fully expand, your lungs can fill fully with air, and your abdominal muscles can control the rate of your exhaled air.  Keep your jaw and tongue relaxed.  Create lots of space in your mouth for the sound to resonate, especially as you sing higher notes.  Adjust where you feel the sound vibrating in your mouth, throat, nose, or even behind your eyes, depending on the pitch you are singing.  Keep your cheek muscles feeling elevated and “bright” so that you can sing with vibrant tone and good tuning. 

 

2.      Listen to your own singing

Sing the right pitches and rhythms, even though you do not have buttons, keys, or strings to use (like an instrumentalist does) and actually have to hear the sound in your head a split second before you sing it.  Enter and exit singing lines at the right time.  Sing with beautiful tone, precise diction, and in the center of the pitch (i.e. not flat or sharp).

 

3.      Listen to the singing of those around you

Balance your singing with those around you (e.g. not too loud or soft).  Shape your vowels the same way as those around you.  Coordinate your part with others, so that you are singing the same tempo. 

 

4.      Listen to the whole choir

Balance your group’s part with all of the other parts, so that if there is a “most important part or note” at any moment, it can be heard the best?  Work with the whole choir to keep the tempo steady, or move slower or faster together, if required.

 

5.      Attend to the text

Read and deliver the words and the music notation simultaneously.  Sing in foreign languages, sometimes by reading International Phonetic Alphabet symbols or transliterated languages. Think about what the text means while you are singing, so that you can connect on an emotional level to the piece and communicate that passion to the audience.  Sing with excellent diction (extra precise and exaggerated use of the lips, teeth, and tongue), so that the audience can understand the words, even if there are many different lines of singing, with different sets of words, or even if you are “competing” with the volume of the piano or other accompanying instruments, like a flute, trumpet, or full orchestra.

 

6.      Use music notation

Respond to the pitch and rhythm (duration) symbol indication for each note.  Find and read your part, even though there may be several other parts on the page that aren’t yours to sing (including the piano part)—“ignore” the other parts, but also use these parts to help you understand the bigger picture of the piece and what the other parts are doing.  Use clues from the other vocal parts and piano part to help you find your pitches.  Use your understanding of music theory, such as the key signature, to help you find how the notes relate to each other, and therefore, how to sing them.  Attend to all of the other information on the page—the dynamic and tempo markings, the “roadmap” direction, other composer and editor suggestions, and your own markings and hints, to sing the piece as artistically as you can in the moment.

 

7.      Respond to your director

Stand with your body and eyes facing the director.  Sing the piece at the tempo indicated by your director’s conducting gesture.  Respond to your director’s hold, enter, exit, and cut-off gestures.  Use the director’s gestures to help you remember where to change the dynamics (louds/softs), where to change the tempo, and how to articulate notes (i.e. accents or very legato).  Respond to the director’s facial expression to remember the character of the piece and what your choir wants the audience to feel during the piece. 

 

8.      Communicate with the audience

Remember that the audience is there, but don’t let them distract you, especially if you are singing a more complicated piece that takes lots of inner concentration as well as focus on the director.  Remember that the audience usually only has one chance to hear the piece once—perform at your very best, so that the audience gets the most from the piece and what the composer or arranger, and your choir, intended.

 

Isn’t it amazing what a choral musician can do?

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