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resonance and breath support. • Properly shaped mouths

• Being open and free, natural and easy, supported and • Vibrant, healthy (not forced), and balanced tone from top
energized, flowing, focused and directed, and more to bottom
vertically than laterally.
• Vocally healthy, unified vowels, beauty of sound, and ap-
• And being well blended, including dynamic color and propriate tone colors
variety. 2
• Good intonation
Ultimately, it is up to the choral conductor to make sure
that his or her students are capable of identifying a great • Unified vowels and a great understanding of dynamics
choral sound when they hear it and understand how they
can achieve that sound within their choral group. I do be- • Vitality/energy
lieve that it takes good planning, creativity, the right tools,
and hard work to achieve the sound we are looking for with • Tuneful, informed, and expressive singing
our choirs. 3
• Harmony (singing in tune with one another)

Pilot Study • The release of tension and complete freedom and
In order to receive feedback from choral conductors cur- movement causing singers’ bodies to be engaged in the
rently in the field, a Facebook post compiled by choral col- music
leagues was created (a closed group) asking the question,
“What do you consider important characteristics of a great Editor’s note: See the original article for the full list.
sounding choir?” Responses included:
Based on the responses given, characteristics such as the
• Diction importance of vowel unification, diction, and the use of en-
ergy and expression seemed to be recurring characteristics
• Tall, round vowels throughout the post. Even though these three characteris-
tics are not the only areas to help improve a choral sound,
• Clean, balanced sound across the whole choir literature can be found detailing how choral conductors
employ these characteristics to enhance their choral group.
• Engaged singing
The article continues with sections discussing Vowel Unification,
• Varied and appropriate sound for different and interesting Diction, and Expressivity. The author also provides a detailed checklist
literature for enhancing choral sound.

• Pure, clear tone, unified vowels, and crisp consonants
when appropriate NOTES

• Appropriate tone for age of the individuals 1 Donald L. Neuen, “The Sound of a Great Choir,” Music
Educators Journal 75, no. 4 (1988), 44.
• Intonation, rhythm, phrasing, vowels, dynamics, diction, 2 Walter Lamble, Handbook for Beginning Choral Educators
and energy (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004), accessed June
1, 2018, ProQuest Ebook Central, 28.
• Relaxed vowels, ending consonants together, understand- 3 Paul Nesheim & Weston Noble, Building Beautiful Voices: Singers
ing the text, and supported tones that blend Edition (Dayton, Ohio: Roger Dean Publishing Company,
1995), 2.

ChorTeach Volume 15 • Issue 1 29 Fall 2022