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Translating Emotion to Expression:

Five Strategies to Try

CHRISTOPHER LOFTIN

Christopher Loftin recently received his PhD from refine these rules: adding, removing, and clarifying prin-
Auburn University. lofti008@yahoo.com ciples, so the rehearsal is more impactful for students and
myself. There are many more strategies available, so it is
vital for the director to decide what works best for their
Students are constantly looking for positive ways to ex- ensembles. The strategies in this article are not meant to
press themselves. They want to feel valued, heard, and un- “technique” emotion or expression. Instead, the purpose
derstood. Due to tragic events in schools every day, more of this article is to provide a simplification of the many in-
research and attention are on social-emotional learning, dividual tasks we ask our students to do on a regular basis
trauma-informed pedagogy, and culturally responsive ped- into categories they understand.
agogy. All these philosophies put the whole student and the As directors, everything we say and do matters because
whole singer at the forefront of learning. Each day, students it creates a response from our ensembles. This applies to
bring their experiences, traumas, expertise, and assets to us as coaches as well. Research suggests that 93% of what
our classrooms. This is a great opportunity for choir direc- the audience receives is nonverbal communication, which
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tors to allow students the chance to channel their emotions is why conducting clarity is so important. However, this
in a healthy way that impacts audiences. The challenge for makes the 7% verbal communication that much more im-
choir directors is how to engage students in the process of portant. How many times have we said to our chorus, “Lift
translating their emotions in a way that ultimately reaches that phrase ending,” “Stronger ‘c’ on the word ‘can,’” or
the audience. Translating internal emotion to external ex- “get louder here?”
pression in a way that is unified, free from vocal or visual Choir directors can easily fall into the trap of spend-
distractions, and congruent to the song’s lyrical, musical, ing too much time talking about individual spots in music,
and contextual intent is a tall but exciting task. as opposed to teaching bigger “rules” or patterns. There-
This article breaks down vocal and visual expression fore, about five years ago, my co-director, Jason Martin,
into five “rules” or principles that streamline instruction and I created a system of five basic rules of articulation,
and allow students the opportunity to create expressive which helped our choruses take more ownership of their
decisions for themselves in a healthy manner. I constantly learning and increased their retention. After practicing

ChorTeach Volume 15 • Issue 4 12 Summer 2023