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CHORTEACH

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Asking Facebook Colleagues

What Enhances Choral Sound – A Pilot Study

by Derrick Thompson

Derrick Thompson taught for eight years in the Virginia They tend to ask the question, “How does that choir create
school system, teaching elementary general music and con- such an amazing choral sound?” Or after reviewing feed-
ducting middle and high school choirs. He is currently the back from adjudicators, many singers try to take the notes
music program director and director of choral activities at offered to help improve their next performance.
Delaware State University. He is president-elect for Dela- During the school year, conductors introduce many
ware ACDA. methods and approaches to help their students recognize
the importance of proper singing technique and singing
Editor’s note: This section will appear in each issue of Chor- together as a group. These approaches can be presented
Teach and will preview a past article from the archives. You through warm-ups, the repertoire chosen, or by listening to
can view the full archives and the annotated ChorTeach in- other high-quality performing ensembles. But the question
dex, with articles organized into seventeen categories, at is, what does choral and vocal pedagogy look and feel like,
acda.org/chorteach. (You must be logged into the website in action, in the classroom? What are we choral directors
with your username and password.) Following is a preview doing to enhance the sound of their choir and help our
of an article from the Winter 2019 issue. singers grow?
Available literature indicates that choral conductors’
ideas (and singers’ ideas) about a “great sounding choir”
From year to year, many choral conductors have their can vary depending on the perspectives of those individu-
choir participate in festivals, district assessments, and other als. Donald Neuen (1988) considers a great sounding choir
adjudications in an effort to receive feedback on what can to be one that uses energy, which includes buoyancy, delib-
be improved in their choral ensemble. Often, the conductor erately formed vowel sounds, proper placement, and vocal
receives notes that will benefit the group, and sometimes control. In Walter Lamble’s Handbook for Beginning Choral
1
students receive feedback from adjudicators that their cho- Educators, the author asked eleven participants to describe
ral conductor alluded to previously. The benefit of attend- the tone quality they felt was appropriate for a high school
ing these events for the students and the choral conductor choir. Some of the responses included:
is having the opportunity to receive feedback from someone
who doesn’t normally hear the group and having the op- • Having the ability to sing with “cleanliness,” intonation,
portunity to listen to other choral groups from the area or matched vowels, and a moderately mature tone.
district. After attending these choral events, students have
conversations about the choral groups that performed. • Having a naturally sounding vocal production with good

ChorTeach Volume 15 • Issue 1 28 Fall 2022