Ch 2: Initial Choral Arranging Considerations

Question 1

What are the technical aspects of Choral Arranging?

• Capabilities of the human coice
• Scoring and notation
• Text Setting

There is no substitute for hearing firsthand the various voice types in differnet registers and their interaction in a choral setting.

The primary consideration of the music is to enhance the meaning words

VOICE TYPES AND COMINATIONS ACCORDING TO AGE GROUPS

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEVEL

Arranging for young children have one or two vocal parts, both notated in treble clef.

Designated I and II rather than soprano and alto

The ranges are basically the same, although I stays above II

Tessitura: the register in which most of the part lies

So as to not tire the voices, the tessitura should fall near the middle of the range

To to musical limitations, most elementary school level groups music should be stepwise and diatonic, short phrases by rests for frequent breathes, simple rhythms.

MIDDLE SCHOOL LEVEL

Boys’ voices begun to change to the mature low voice

Cambiata: changing voice. Used to boys whose voices have not yet deepended.

Middle school girls voices are maturing into higher or lower women’s voices, though there are rarely true altos yet.

Most common combinations are Soprano I, Soprano II, Cambiata, Baritone

Parts are more independant than elementary school level arrangements

Doubling is quite common

Cambiata parts should be predominantly stepwise homophony because transition voices at this age often lack focus and security.

HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL

The common voice combinations at this level are Soprano-Alto-Tenor-Bass (SATB)

Ranges for TENOR / SOPRANO are C-G while ALTO is the opposite G-C

Ranges are a rule of thumb

The greatest importantce is that the tessitura of any part must not be in either extreme end of the range, as the voice tires quickly in extreme registers

The arranger should become familiar with the tone quality of each voice in various registers in order to control the balance and color and to create the desired musical effect.

If a choir has more women than men, a very popular solution is to arrange (SAB) and group all the men together. This denies the men the satisfaction of exploring the brillian high notes and low notes of individual sections. This should only be used when necessary.

MATURE ADULT VOICES

After puberty, a maturing voice does not naturally extend its range very much, but rather it becomes more consistent and focuse throughout its range.

Greater security and focus bring clarity to the choir section which permits faster lines and more complex vocal textures.

The key to writing an effective arrangement employing the full spectrum of the choral ranges and colors is to gear it to a specific type of chorus: Madrigal group, Jazz Chorus, Barbershop, etc

MUSIC NOTATION

Correct notation is important for three reasons:

• Clarity: so the arranger’s musical intentions are best communicated to the performer
• Positive psychological effect on the performer–The notation being the first indication to the performer of the arranger’s expertise
• Ease of performance–contributing to a more efficient rehearsal and successful concert

SCORE SETUP

Gernerally there should be one staff for each vocal part with each staff identified

The tenor part is written in the treble clef, though it sounds one octave below

Open Scoring- Soprano and Alto in the Treble clef, Tenor treble clef sounding down and octave, and Bass and Baritone in Bass Clef

If needed to distinguish the vocal parts, the upper voice’s note stems should go up, while those of the lower voice should go down. This two stave setup is reffered to as “Closed scoring”

If closed scoring is used at all, it must be used for an entire section of the arrangement, as switching back and forth to open scoring is confusing.

When a soprano has a different text and rhythm from an alto briefly, the text for the soprano can be above the staff for clarity. Should this continue, the notataion becomes awkward and open scoring should be used.

When a vocal soloist is featured against a choral background, it is best to put his or her part on a separate staff above all of the choral parts.

A tenor solo may be kept on the tenors’ staff if

• the rest of the tenors are not singing, in which case the designation “solo” above the staff is sufficient to indicate the solo passage
• the solo is merely a brief interaction with the choral tenors, where “Stems up” distinguis the solo part from the “stems down” pf tje rest

Dynamics are placed above the vocal staff, so as not to be confused with the text, which is written beneath the staff

Tempos indicators are placed only above the top vocal part and the instrument accompaniment.

Singers asked to speak, should, clap, or make some other gesture of unspecified pitch use the symbol (get image of x| notation).

Brace: a double line, drawn to connect the vocal parts and separate them vusually from the accompaniment

Sometimes a piano part merely duplicates the vocal parts to aid in learning. “For rehearsal only” is written at the beginning, between the staves of the piano part to ensure the piano is not played in performance.

The organ is notated in the same manner as the piano. If the pedal is active, a third staff in the base clef is added below the keyboard staves.

String and horn parts are placed above the choral parts in the score.

Vocal jazz arrangements usually employ a rhythm section (piano or guitar, string or electric bass, and drum set) and often three wind instruments such as trumpet, saxophone, and trombone. All of these are placed beneath the choral parts in the score as follows:

• (choral parts)
• winds
• piano/guitar
• bass
• drums

Guitar parts are written in treble clef sounding an octave below.

String and electric bass parts are written in the bass clef sounding an octave below.

Unpitched percussion instruments use a nuetral clef and often just a one-line staff.

In simple arrangements where saving space is important, verbal instructions are possible such as: “Flute may double piano treble clef part on repeat”

Key signature should occur at the beginning of each system just to the right of the clef sign.

Should the key signature change, the new signature must be preceeded by double bar lines.

If a new signature essentially cancels all sharps or flats, natural signs are used to indicate.

Should a key signature change at the beginning of a system, the change should also be indicated at the end of the previous system to prepare the performer for the change.

The meter (time) signature is placed on each staff at the beginning of an arrangement just to the right of the key signature.

The meter signature should not recur unless the meter changes.

Should a time signature change at the beginning of a system, the change should also be indicated at the end of the previous system to prepare the performer for the change.

If the perfomrer is to return to the very beginning of the arrangement for the repeat, no left repeat sign (insert) is necessary at the beginning; the absense of that marking dictates that the performer return to the beginning.

• Da Capo (D.C)*: Directs the perfomer back to the beginning of the arrangement.
• Dal Segno (D.S)*: directs the performer to an earlier place within the arrangment where the (S insert p10) sign has been placed above all parts. From there the piece may end in the middle of the score at a point marked fine (prnounced “feenay”).

If the performer is to move from a section previously sung to an entirely separate section to end the arrangement, a coda sign, symbolized by (insert p10), is placed above the parts at the point where the performer must jum to the code, identified by “coda” or another (insert) marking and often clearly separate from the rest of the arrangement. The D.C. or D.S. should in that case have been followed by al coda to prepare this move.

INSERT 2.6

Conventional devices save space and writing time but run the performance risk a singer may forget to repeat or jump to the coda, or include page flipping. The arranger must weight all of these factors when setting up the score.

CHORD NOMENCLATURE

Only music in which some degree of improvisation is expected in performance uses chord symbols.

A published arrangement will usually also have a conventially-notated part, to suggest the imporives style or to be read in case the performer is not a strong improvisor.

In a style where improvisation is appropriate, the chord symbols allow the performer to unfuse the part with some individuality or–in the case of the pianist who is not a strong reader–at least provide a fuctional, harmonically-based accompaniment.

These symbols also suggest the harmonic function of each chord, from which the improvisor generates melodic material.

These symbols can also be used as an analytical shorthand, even when noted in the music iteself, and will be used along with Roman numberals to analyze harmonic structures.

STEMMING, BEAMING, AND RESTS

IMAGE- stems

IMAGE-beams 1 & 2

IMAGE- stem 2

IMAGE- stem 3

IMAGE- stem 4

IMAGE- beam 3

IMAGE- beam 4

IMAGE- rests 1

IMAGE- rests 2

IMAGE- rests 3

IMAGE- rests 4

PIANO NOTATION

p 13

pick up at the bottom of the page

TEXT NOTATION

p14

TEXT DECLAMATION

p 16