20 Small ensemble rehearsal techniques for choirs of all sizes

Simon Carrington

Philosophy

Can anything original really be added to the many volumes already in print containing all manner of earnest thoughts about choral rehearsal technique? Plunging into choral conducting and the teaching thereof after thirty years as a performer, I dutifully purchased various carefully selected tomes about crafting the choral rehearsal, vocal warm-ups, and the like, but soon came to the conclusion that our own ears and ideals were a more important resource.

I was fortunate to work with fine mentors and contemporaries such as Sir David Willcocks and Sir John Eliot Gardiner , and these experiences undoubtedly helped me decide my own priorities, but I am confident that there is no substitute for a steady diet of listening to the sounds and styles of choirs of all shapes and sizes while watching and evaluating their conductors. All this will help you develop your own personal palette of colors and sounds that communicate and enrich the ears, eyes, hearts, and lives of choirs, ensembles, and listeners alike.

It is an unfortunate fact that singers are generally less expert at counting and pitching than their instrumentalist colleagues. A choral conductor’s duty is to instill in the singers a sense of personal responsibility and an appreciation that they can improve their ensemble skills themselves through concentration and self-discipline. Conductors should treat their singers like players, expect them to move as fast, to be as alert and fearless as a trumpet player, to count time and be as independent as a percussionist, and to pitch intervals with as good intonation as a fine string player.

I’ll begin by listing my own rehearsal essentials in the hope that a few may coincide in some way with those of other conductors or help you review your own.

Essentials

Every rehearsal “technique” should contain strong elements of creative musicianship; nothing should be repeated by rote. Every twist and turn of an exercise or warm-up should be musical in some way and should add to the singers’ understanding of harmony, key, phrase shape, and the power of certain lines and harmonic effects to move the spirit.

Like many of my kind I learned much of my musicianship and reading skills by being dropped into a rigorous daily routine as a small boy chorister. If I sang a wrong note, missed an entry, or came in early, I was severely admonished (a raised eyebrow from the conductor could be as devastating as a painful nudge in the ribs or a kick on the shin from my slightly older neighbor). When I arrived in the USA to begin my conducting career, I was disappointed by the levels of sight-reading and ensemble awareness, in spite of what I perceived as the efficient and pedagogically sound teaching of choral methods already received by the students. I decided to utilize the training methods of my formative years. I bought copies of the Tallis 40-part motet Spem in alium , and handed them out to the University of Kansas Chamber Choir . I beat a slow 4 and insisted they did all the work, counting and pitching for their lives! This remarkable piece (and any number of other polychoral pieces), rehearsed steadily with patience (but with no compromise in the form of plunking helpful notes on the piano!), remains my own choral rehearsal method book. The beautiful performance of the Tallis masterpiece under the spire of Salisbury Cathedral by those forty students from the Midwest of the USA, many of whom had never even seen the ocean before, remains the highlight of my career and proved to me that stylistic singing and musicianship can be taught by patience and determination alone and can traverse all boundaries: cultural, ethnic, and demographic.

I have continued to work around this model and always ask choir members to raise their hands to acknowledge an error as their musicianship skills develop. If I see the telltale sign I carry on without feeling the need to re-rehearse that particular passage, trusting the singers to sort out the problem themselves.

Specific techniques

It is important to imagine in your head the choral sound you wish to develop and to convey this ideal clearly and constantly to your singers.

Mine is a clear, fresh, “tall” sound with a sonic range from bright to dark, cold to warm, hard to soft. I imagine a flexible sound with a consistent intensity, and a controlled vibrato, which can range easily and swiftly from none at all to moderate – much like the vibrato of an accomplished string player.

I work consistently and persistently to develop this sound which can then become the default sound to which the choir can always return and from which we can set out afresh on each new adventure or experiment.

Beginnings

To stimulate resonance, begin rehearsals with one, two or all of the three hums ([m], [n], or [ŋ ]): buzzing lips for the [m], a tingling nasal bridge for the [n], and a head full of sound with a yawning throat for the [ŋ ]. Having established silence and calm breathing through the nose, give a single pitch on the keyboard or pitch-pipe (I don’t believe anyone’s singing voice is as pinpoint accurate or reliable as either of these instruments). Announce the name of the note and urge the singers to visualize that note on the staff as they begin. Ask for a series of specific intervals, (changing these every rehearsal), with soft glissandi between the notes to promote steady breath energy and a relaxed open throat with no bumps or clicks. Insist on plenty of flexing and stretching of the lips, chewing, gnawing, and nostril flaring throughout these exercises while expecting a perfect unison at the beginning and end of each slide.

From the hums move to the two core singing vowels [i] and [y], both of which require a focused sound, use minimum air, and need flexible lips (or “fishmouth” as this shape is often described). Think of these two vowels as the two main vowel channels – a technique I gleaned from my friend the Norwegian choral director Carl Høgset – [ i ε e a] and [y u œ ɔ :]. With a series of melodies invented before each rehearsal containing some modest harmonic or intervallic teasers, work the singers through these two channels, ensuring that the singers maintain a fairly consistent mouth shape and just move the tongue slightly from vowel to vowel maintaining the same forward placement for all the vowels in the channel. Insist that the singers breathe in through their mouths as if through a straw or where possible through their noses, and persuade them to focus their sound as far forward as possible. At this point glissandi should be strongly discouraged, and the vocal sensation of moving from note to note should be similar to a good string player “shifting” between pitches – legato, within the same bow stroke. I also expect little or no pitch vibrato, to maintain a perfect unison and encourage consistent listening and steady breath control.

Continue to require singers to think of their sound as being centered in the sleeve of the [i] or the [y], as emerging through that sleeve or tube, and as being silver in color rather than brown. I also do not allow the vowels (and therefore the mouth) to spread sideways, and be sure to require a raised soft palate but not necessarily always a low larynx. I feel healthy vibrant singing requires a flexible larynx: sometimes low, sometimes higher, so that altos and basses can sing with brightness and elegance and don’t have to sound hollow, while tenors and sopranos can sing with clean-limbed elegance at the high end of their registers without pinching and sounding thin. A male alto with a relatively high larynx can often help to bring brilliance and shimmer to a section of mezzo-sopranos.

As the voices continue to sing softly, urge ears and brains to get “louder and louder” – working harder and harder. “Big ears, small sound” is a useful mantra. Singers should be listening vertically through the harmony and horizontally towards each side of the ensemble. However much one may hope that singers do this automatically, constant but positive reminders remain essential. Insist that no one vowel be any louder or softer than its neighbor (except for sound musical reasons) to encourage the concept of line, the secret to beautiful singing. A closed [y] and a more open [a] should therefore be the same dynamic for the purpose of these exercises, which is not as straightforward as it may seem, as many singers will allow an open vowel (like [a]) to escape from the mouth louder than the so-called closed vowels surrounding it. How often does one hear small unimportant words with big vowels such as and emerging as the loudest event in a phrase, much like an insensitive string player allowing the use of an open string on his instrument to emerge more stridently than the fingered (or “stopped”) notes surrounding it?

When the sound is established and secure, step up the aural demands, with more awkward intervals (by name not by imitation), diminished 7th arpeggios, octatonic scales, careful tuning of harmonic progressions over unison pitches, and other such devices. It is fun and invigorating to invent these exercises (perhaps based on the scores being studied) on the way to rehearsal, trying to remember the weaknesses observed previously and designing little riffs and motifs to counteract the problem patches. I would arrive in my studio, grab my rehearsal sheet for that evening and quickly notate the exercises I had conceived en route before they were forgotten.

Here are a few specimen warm-ups to demonstrate this principle: the first for consistency of tone ( Example 20.1 ), the second for dynamic shape allied with interval security ( Example 20.2 ), the third for tuning and enharmonics ( Example 20.3 ). There are thousands like these of course and I urge everyone to think of their own choir’s priorities, weaknesses, and needs, and to invent warm-ups specifically for each occasion. All effective warm-ups should contain a vocal technique component, an aural challenge, a dynamic shading, and an expressive quality of some kind. The IPA for the first exercise is: [i ε e a y u œ ɔ :].

Example 20.1 This exercise uses my two principal vowel channels the “ee” and the “ü”. Encourage your singers to keep the sound forward, with a consistent color and mouth shape, and not too much jaw movement. You can certainly begin in A minor with no key signature [!], but I like to introduce key challenges whereever I can. The “aw” vowel should be the equivalent of the “o” in the word “gloria”

Example 20.2 This exercise combines a feeling for dynamic shape with a sense of key

Example 20.3 For this exercise you can choose any vowel or vowels that need work. The top line is an octatonic scale, the second teaches descending diminished 4ths and rising half steps, the third rising major 3rds and descending 5ths, and the fourth line (“bass”) descending minor 6ths and ascending 4ths. The first beat of every bar is an octave unison. I suggest that all voices first sing each of the lines in unison and then put them together in harmony. The voice order below is perhaps the most practical but the parts can be exchanged at will.

Choir seating

This is very much a matter of taste but my preferred line-up formation for a chamber choir of twenty-four singers is a front row of alternating sopranos and altos and a back row of tenors and basses – also alternating. This maintains the concept of a harmonic pyramid founded on the bass line, but supports self-awareness, independence, and careful listening. I adapt this idea to choirs of all sizes and find that, even in polyphonic music, the sound is warmer, crisper, and more flexible. Even in music for one choir, dividing the choir into two, with the First Choir to the left and the Second Choir to the right of the conductor, works well. This configuration has the advantage of playing one choir against the other and thereby encouraging careful listening and evaluation by the singers themselves. However, by separating the Second Basses from the First Choir, the Firsts are deprived of the foundational harmony pitches often in the lowest bass voice. These instances may require a compromise of some kind.

The art of rhetoric – or being persuasive!

While rehearsing the essential pitches and rhythms, begin to emphasize that there should be no such thing as a “rehearsal” as such. Singers have the unique privilege of expressing text and should do so every time a phrase is sung. This leads to my top priority – rhetoric. The experience of listening to fine, disciplined choirs singing beautifully at choral conventions without ever really communicating the meaning of the text, conveying the atmosphere implied by the context, or moving listeners with the emotions being expressed has convinced me that a return to the ancient tradition of rhetoric is an essential element of the choral rehearsal process and one which I have brought to the top of my personal priority list.

In 1516 Sir Thomas More wrote in his Utopia :

For all their musicke that they sing with mannes voice dothe so resemble and expresse naturall affections, the sound and tune is so applied and made agreeable to the thinge, that whether it bee a prayer, or els a dytty of gladness, of patience, of trouble, of mournynge, or of anger: the fassion of the melodye dothe so represente the meaning of the thing, that it doth wonderfullye move, stirre, pearce, and enflame the hearers myndes. 1

The educated singers and composers of Renaissance polyphony would have enjoyed extensive study of Latin for instance and felt comfortable and confident with the stress and direction of each word and phrase. To them, what we have to study and analyze would have come naturally and without thought. They would also have studied rhetoric extensively as the main foundation of their education. The technique of using words persuasively (the best definition of the art of rhetoric, perhaps, for the non-specialist) would have been a very important part of performance practice. A sense of the expressive powers of certain intervals would also have been part of the essential training. The singers would have felt the ebb and flow of the lines naturally and understood how to communicate the changing moods implied by the texts.

With your singers:

Use the power of imagination to color the text

I like to try the technique of thinking of an opposite or a mundane concept and then releasing the proper word almost as a surprise so that nothing sounds routine to the audience. This can be carried to extremes as an exercise (My mouth/soul doth magnify the lunch/Lord) but the technique can be very persuasive and never fails to make the actual text more emphatic and expressive and also prevents any rehearsal becoming just a run-through! Whereas a fine orchestra can benefit from a routine rehearsal to tidy corners and settle a new or different interpretation, a choir needs to think about the interpretation of a powerful text almost every time in the manner of a fine singer of Lieder, to be sure that the singers’ imagination is coloring their sound.

Rhetoric reminders

Consonants

Particularly in English and German, consonants are all different lengths.

When we speak persuasively, we taper naturally before final consonants and speak with more urgency when we repeat a phrase. We should do the same when we sing – choirs and soloists alike.

Consonants should be in the character and dynamic of the phrase. They should be clear, and neither overdone nor mannered.

The ubiquitous s is always audible, but softer, more liquid and voiced consonants should be relished, elongated and pitched accurately: m , n , ng , l , ll , w , v , th , nd , mp , nt , etc.

Vowels

Not all vowels are the same size.

Unstressed final vowels are not simply a different color, but also a different size and shape and can be given extra shading with the lips.

Place emphasis on modifying the vowel size to give a characteristic inflection to the text. There are numerous books about open and closed vowels, voice placement, and the regular use of IPA for vowel purity, but I have not yet found one that relates vowel size and word shape to give the flexibility of speech demonstrated by fine orators and actors. Listen and observe the great actor Derek Jacobi speaking the Prologue straight into the camera at the opening of Kenneth Branagh’s film version of Shakespeare’s Henry V .

Some other rehearsal disciplines

As I work so much by intuition I asked Dominick DiOrio, a member of my Yale choir and a conducting graduate, to make notes during our rehearsals. Many of the points set out in this section are the result of his invaluable help.

Text

Even when the tempo of a piece is fast, the text must still be shaped rhetorically, so the sentences make poetic sense.

Rehearsal dynamic

Rehearse passages softly to emphasize the aspect of “re-hearing” or listening. Too often singers just blast away in rehearsals without really paying attention to what’s going on around them. Singing quietly enables them to notice more in the music and how their parts relate to each other.

Singing “off the voice”

Don’t be afraid of this concept. Contrary to the view of certain voice teachers, singing lightly from time to time does no harm. How can the singers use their vocal mechanisms for an ever broader palette of colors? In the same way as different tones are used while speaking – for emphasis, or to express urgency, despair, delight, and any number of other emotional states – a choir makes a vast range of extra colors available by adding or subtracting the amount of air in the voice.

Spinning the tone

The idea mentioned earlier of keeping the sound “spinning” at all times is important to maintain. This is a concept which is best described with images. Encourage singers to imagine their voices spinning like frisbees or clay pigeons through the air as they sing. This helps to prevent a bland sound that lacks energy and intensity.

Problem vowels

The open [ε] vowel is one of the least attractive of all, particularly in the alto register. As long as space is maintained in the throat and breath is flowing easily, advance the idea that most vowels should be considered “closed” (at least to some degree) to maintain consistency of tone. Certain voices can lose focus in different registers; conductors should listen constantly for vocal color and learn to recognize what creates a more brilliant ringing tone, encourages overtones, and helps the choral sound to carry.

Soft onsets

Phrases that begin on open vowels are a constant hazard, and techniques to avoid bumps, inaccurate pitched entries, and unwanted pop glides (coming in below pitch and gliding into place!) need constant practice. Try suggesting a deliberate [h] on the beginning of the offending word which is then gradually reduced until it is inaudible while the vocal mechanism remains the same. Vocal warm-ups of all kinds can be invented to concentrate on this issue. For soft high entries on open vowels, suggest the singers prepare on an [ŋ ] with a nicely open throat (and with the appropriate vowel shape ready). They should breathe through the nose, and then drop the tongue at the last moment as the breath reverses and they sing the vowel.

Glottal stops

I use these often to express texts effectively and not only in German, where they are obligatory. A gently expressive glottal stop before the e of eyes transforms the line “Weep Oh mine eyes” – and then there’s the o of oh of course!

Choices of where and where not to glottal are very personal. Try standing on stage and speaking a line to someone at the back of the hall who has never heard the text before. The more expressive the glottals, the better you’ll be understood.

The expressive w and y

Work hard with your lips before w and with your tongue before y . Weeping and yearning are touching concepts and so often sound like eeping and earning in anything larger than a small, dry rehearsal room.

Crafting and articulating a phrase

The higher voices (sopranos and tenors) have to be particularly careful to maintain the integrity of phrases without always heading over-enthusiastically for the higher notes.

The danger of a plodding bass line

In the same way that a chamber orchestra is rendered distinctive by a shapely and well-articulated double bass and cello line, a choir depends on a nimble and agile vocal bass line to provide the essential energy, alacrity, and intensity. The bass line needs to phrase and shape more than any of the others.

The importance of communicative faces!

This is an area very often neglected but which makes an immeasurable contribution to whether a performance goes beyond the “passable” and becomes distinctive. Choral singers must always strive for direct facial contact – with an audience, rather than with their scores! This “open and out” communication can make a huge impact on the way the music is received. Even with highly intelligent and experienced singers, this aspect of rehearsing and performance needs to be stressed regularly.

Tempi

Rehearsal tempi should be elastic, particularly in music from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, where the tendency in current performance practice is to be painfully insistent.

The tactus is related to the speed and recurrence of the heartbeat, and the heartbeat can change when the music becomes excited. 2 My warm-ups contain rubato, accelerandi, and various other devices to encourage constant eye contact between singer and conductor.

Conclusion

There is a danger that choirs can suffer from too much rehearsal, which leaves them sounding stale beside their nimbler orchestral colleagues. I can’t stress highly enough the importance of creating an atmosphere in the choral rehearsal where each choir member sings with an element of spontaneity each time a phrase is repeated. Entreat your singers to take on as much responsibility as possible. Why do you have to start a phrase three times to get it together? Why do five of the sopranos look as though they understand the context and implications behind certain key words while others plainly do not? Constantly offer your singers challenges in a positive and constructive way based on the techniques you are steadily developing with them every time you rehearse.

Never let up! The rewards for them, for the listeners, and for you are beyond measure.