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Rehearsal Break
R ehe arsal Br e ak

Jennifer Rodgers, editor

Choral Singing in Tune

by Jameson Marvin

Column Editor’s Note: This Rehearsal Break article is ral image” (the mind’s ear), part of which includes the
the first in a three-part series on intonation from three different conductor’s pitch standard, who feeds this informa-
authors. Their approaches span from tuning practices and exercis- tion back to the choir, and the choir then reshapes the
es in harmonic context to the detailed management of alternative sound to the director’s standard. As the process contin-
tuning systems. ues in rehearsal after rehearsal, inevitably the choir’s
sound and pitch standard begin to more clearly match
the conductor’s mental-aural image. Therefore, the re-
Achieving good intonation might be the most elusive sponsibility for maintaining good pitch lies ultimately
of all the challenges of the choral art. Learning notes, with the singers.
rhythms, dynamics, and phrasing can be achieved in a
relatively straightforward manner, but singing in tune
requires a particular consciousness each time. Singers The Conductor’s Ear
might be able to do it once, but there is no guarantee and How to Listen
they can do it again! Communicating the mental-aural image to singers
What is singing in tune? In this article, to sing in tune requires time, patience, discipline, and experience.
means to unify the pitch, bringing all voices into like Over time, a conductor’s ears and the singers’ ears be-
frequencies and compatible timbres. In choral singing, come the channel through which all sound information
this means that unified pitch depends upon matched is transferred. The ear is the yardstick—the “truth tell-
vowels; thus, the vowels and the pitch must be tuned. er,” the intermediary—that makes possible the conduc-
Singing in tune requires good ears from conductors and tor’s capacity to realize their conception of the sound.
singers and absolutely consistent choral reinforcement. The better the conductor’s ear, the more effective
The process of teaching a choir how to sing in tune is the conductor will be in attaining that mental-aural im-
essentially a circular one. The conductor measures the age. Every bit of information is gathered by the ear.
sound produced by the choir against their “mental-au- The information received can be categorized into four

CHORAL JOURNAL May 2026 Volume 66 Number 8 49