Page 48 - CJSeptember25

Repertoire & Resources - Vocal Jazz

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2) B 7 full-diminished (from the bottom up…B -A -C- Rehearsal Preparation
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D -F -G). Here are a few thoughts to consider when it comes to
rehearsal preparation. Within any chart, I want to mi-
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3) A 13 (from the bottom up…A -G -B -C-D-F). cromanage every single phrase. Every moment of the
music is planned out, and I found myself being a bet-
The beauty of this exercise is that it shows both the ter director because of that philosophy. My rehearsals
student’s voice part they are used to singing and, more are about developing consistency from rehearsal to re-
importantly, the other voice parts they are used to lis- hearsal, which hopefully translates to the performance.
tening to while they sing! Three correct notes per chord Much of my focus is on matching vowels within the
is an average ear, and four is above average. Students groove of the music, changes in the tonal placement
who can consistently find five or six notes per chord throughout each line, word stress/phrasing, and artic-
are the students I want in my vocal jazz ensembles. ulation. I keep focusing on this every single rehearsal
These are the students who can hear the entire chord until they are absolutely consistent! I tell them regularly
while singing within an ensemble, and the intonation that we don’t do this job to be mediocre. I expect ex-
and blend work will move faster during the rehearsal cellence, and they should expect that from themselves!
process. Students who can only hear one or two pitches By rehearsing this way, I should be able to walk away
per chord should not be in a vocal jazz ensemble. Their from the ensemble off stage during a performance, and
ears aren’t ready for it yet. For example, if you have a the music happens on its own because they are so pre-
bass singer who can only hear the bottom note in ev- pared. If I’m on stage giving cues to the vocalists or the
ery chord (of course, the root of the chord), and then rhythm section, that means I’m not comfortable with
you put that student in a vocal jazz setting, that singer them being on their own yet. (This is more of the case
will naturally gravitate toward singing the lead soprano in the fall semester.)
melody down the octave (which will conflict with the
3/7 voicing they should be singing). Warm-Ups
I am critical about warm-ups for a variety of rea-
sons. I mostly don’t do warm-ups for my vocal jazz
When and How Often to Audition groups because all of the students sing in my concert
The decision of when and how often to have audi- choir earlier in the day, and I teach warm-ups during
tions depends on your program. My students usually that time. Within my warm-ups for choir, I mostly want
stay in the same ensemble for the entire year, so I only to establish the ensemble tone, vowel matching, and the
have auditions once a year. The audition above is for concept of listening to the entire chord, not just the
new students entering my program. The returning stu- part they are going to sing. I have students sing a chord
dents who want to do vocal jazz have to re-audition, (usually, an open-voicing) and sing OO-EE-EH-AH-
and that’s a different process. Even the best singers in OH and back to OO.
my top group have to re-audition to keep their spot in I hold each vowel and remind them of the raised
the ensemble. I give the students a few pages of a chart palette with the forward tongue (tip of the tongue
to learn on their own and have them make a video for placed behind the bottom teeth). I also have them sing
me singing their part. I then send the videos to several a crescendo/decrescendo on MI-ME-MAH-MOH-
colleagues (both on-campus and out-of-state) to adju- MOO and have them move their arms in circles while
dicate and score. This is helpful for me to justify my doing that exercise. These vowel warm-ups are what I
thoughts, and if a student doesn’t get into the ensemble do every single day. I do other short warm-ups to sing
they want, it’s easier for me to explain the reasoning through their ranges and change these warm-ups daily.
with adjudication notes from someone who isn’t biased. Lastly, I sometimes have the ensembles sing chromatic
scales on solfège and sight-read a short excerpt during
our warm-up time.

46 CHORAL JOURNAL September 2025 Volume 66 Number 2