Choir Directing

Are your group meetings feeling stagnant? Are you playing the same music, dancing the same dances, or singing the same songs? Do you feel that going to practice is feeling more and more like a chore? Is attendance fairly low (or dropping!)? Are you feeling bored? If you answered yes to any of these questions, [...]

Today’s Vocalize is the same as last week’s, but in the minor mode. Always a good idea to have choir sing in minor. ^_^ Here you go: vocalize14 See the Vocalize 13 and Vocalize 11 for variation ideas. Enjoy!

This week’s vocalize is just like the title says, “generic but versatile”. It’s a combination of descending scales and arpeggios in the major mode. Very simple, but you can work on quite a few things with it. Check it out: vocalize13 Here are just a few things you can do with this vocalize: Sing it [...]

Here are three reasons why I believe SCA singing groups should include ballads and other solo music. The main reason I think it’s a good idea for singing groups to include period ballads in their performances is that it enables the group to be more flexible at events. Sometimes there will only be one or [...]

The following vocalize is in the Dorian Mode, meaning it’s in D minor without the B flat. For more info check out the Wikipedia article on Dorian. Dorian is a popular key for Medieval and Renaissance music, so it’s a good idea to get familiar with it. vocalize12 This is an exercise worth getting into [...]

At Pennsic last week, Aaron attended a class on performing medieval music. I didn’t go because I was learning how to use my new inkle loom, but I did get to look at the handout afterward, and Aaron told me what was discussed during the class. The point I’m going to discuss here is combining [...]

Every so often you run into songs with tricky rhythms. It’s hard enough for you as the director to figure them out at home at your own pace, let alone expect your choir to pick it up on the spot. In this post I’ll discuss several strategies to help your singers more easily internalize the [...]

Remember how a couple weeks ago I promised some variations on the cadenza exercise? Well here they are, albeit, a little late. Just as a refresher here’s the basic solfege version: vocalize11 The vocalize can be divided easily into 3 sections of 3 notes and one section of 4, making for many possible variations. So [...]

This week’s vocalize is essentially a cadenza. It sounds like the end of a little piano exercise, and has nice little three note sections that can be used to practice different techniques. It’s also fairly long so breath control can be examined too. Check it out: vocalize10 Here are a few ideas for how you [...]