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New group for a cappellaDate: April 24, 2012 by Gregory Judd  Views: 2351
Hello all, I am currently a student studying music education and I've been very interested in the realm of a cappella music.
One of my plans in the near future was to set up a local a cappella group. Music students are interested, but I also want to branch out into areas that don't involve the musically trained (within the school of music).
This would probably be one of my biggest areas of concern because I would not necessarily sure how much singing experience anyone interested would have. My other thoughts involve the idea that some of them have never sung a cappella music before.
I was wondering if anyone had any extra tips for me in trying to train their ears so that the listening that takes place between them grows throughout the rehearsal time, before a concert or two.
Would doing exercises with sight singing be helpful to them?
Could I also do warm-up exercises that would help with vowel shapes?
Replies (6): Threaded | Chronological
on April 26, 2012 9:09pm
Two things to realize:
1. You can sing under pitch even when you raise your eye brows.
2. It is ok to sing straight tone. I know in my choir we mostly sing straight tone to make chords lock easier (plus we are going to France to sing in a competition in a few days and they hate straight tone).
Jeremy
on May 1, 2012 9:07pm
Jeremy - They LOVE not hate straight tone bro ;)
Gregory - I think it is AWESOME that you want to expand this to include those who arent top of the musical trained list, I have often been more impressed with non-music majors at Samford than I have with the bulk of Music Majors, so dont discount them either. People who dont major in music often have a love for singing that many of us in the profession have lost.
If you're thinking about more pop music than "classical", I would take a listen to Pentatonix for how to do a capella pop music well.
For more classical pieces take a listen to the University of Utah, the University of Lousville, and the Samford A Capella Choir.
Just keep the singing fun, and find ways to get everyone excited about their ear training. Learning to make a perfect sound without the help of instruments is truly one of the most rewarding things a singer can do!
Use simple 4-part Hymns as well, have everyone sight read the melody and then their own part. Challenge the group to grab a hymnal and sing what they think should be sung and then test themselves, I have faith that if people get excited about something they will give it their all!
Good luck in your endeavor bro!
on May 1, 2012 10:47pm
This is a similar problem that I have right now. I am student teaching with at a great school with 250 members in the choral program. There is a chamber group as the top group and right below that is a "women's contemporary" group. It's not fair to say that these girls are the "rejects" from chamber singers because there are some who are in both groups or are genuinely interested in singing contemporary music. The problem is that half of the group are great readers and can see the intricate harmonies on the page and relate them to their voices, and others have great pop style and sound but don't have the necessary training to be able to hang with the better singers. These students are still dedicated to the choral program and so were given the chance to be in a smaller singing group.
How can I help teach some of these girls the necessary components to "catch up" to the better readers in the group?
on May 2, 2012 12:55pm
Susanna: Just one small caveat, which has been mentioned before. "Contemporary" is a meaningless term unless you define it, since it simply means "of today." Eric Whitaker is "contemporary." Arvo Pärt is "contemporary. Hard core jazz is "contemporary" and so is heavy metal.
I assume that you mean "current pop choral" when you use the term, and that's fine. And as to how to help the non-readers "catch up," it's absolutely no different from helping non-readers in a traditional choir learn to read. You have to work at it in an organized way over a period of time, and they have to realize that it's worth while because it will allow them to learn more songs more quickly without getting in the way of their stylization.
All the best,
John
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Tips for a cappella singing
a. Vowels are classical vowels for blend - exception - vowels held create the style.
b. If you can’t hear others singing, you are singing too loud. Pull back to blend.
c. It requires good musicians who have the ability to consistently hit the “center of the pitch”--
otherwise the group is constantly trying to tune the chord.
d. Accept the fact that you may never sing the melody.
e. The background should never overpower the soloist.
f. Experiment with different sounds and styles--percussion as well as vocal.
g. You may have to add air to your voice for blend.
h. Don’t be inhibited about distorting your face for the vocal sound and style.
i. You have to practice together ALOT to strive for the sound you want.
j. Listen to lots of recordings of a cappella groups to understand the medium (Spike Jones video "Do It A Cappella" was a starting point for us, as well as Rockapella recordings).
One of my former students from this group started the UNM 505 a cappella group. Check out their website: http://www.myspace.com/the505chorus
Good luck and have fun!