Choral Director's Cookbook Essay

In the Choral Director’s Cookbook, choral conductors need to have certain ingredients to prepare their choral programs. They first need to select music, based on range, content and audience. Then they need to arrange the music effectively in groups of musical and textual content. Directors need to study their scores to fully understand the song. The last step is to prepare for the rehearsals, such as warm-ups. David L. Brunner’s ingredients include a diversity of musical material, such as building vocal and aural skills. When shopping for music, one should look for practical, artistic, and personal considerations. For example, music that stimulates musical growth, that teaches musical concepts, and personal taste or judgement. Kathleen Roddle encourages using internet sites that come

from all over the world.

Conductors also use the Musica International Database of Choral Music, Primarily A Cappella, and conventions to located several different, and sometimes new, music varieties. Then the last is international publishers such as CM Musical Editions. Most music comes from oral traditions used in world music, that a conductor may have to transcribe themselves. This type of music helps conductors step out of their comfort zones. When a conductor adds in a piece with juxtaposition of pieces, they can teach cultural context to their students and their audiences. Directors need to find a main work to build their programs up and find other songs that complement the main song(s), such as homegrown products or a song of different languages. Then think about the flow of the show and bring in equipment and flyers.

In the video, Attention to Detail: A Choral Conductor’s Guide, Dale Warland sets up secrets and methods for every choral conductor. A conductor should look at the choir/voices, music, and themselves. They should focus on finding and researching music that helps the teachers

grow in their professions. Directors need to ask themselves what is important for growth of the choir? In general, conductors need to focus on tone and phrasing. In the tone, the conductor need to work on style, gestures, acoustics, technique and many other characteristics. For a beautiful tone, conductors should look at both the musical factors, as well as vocal factors. Tone cannot just be developed on just focusing on vowels, this causes the choir to sound mechanical. Selection of voices can also affect the tone. In auditions, conductors should look for vocal skills, musicianships, and personality. Then Warland showed the difference between the effect on the acoustic factors, such as a spread out group versus a close group, to see the affects. Thus, a choir should be spread out to have a bigger sound, because close bodies block sound. Conductors should have general skills, such as gestures or vocalizing. Then pronouncing and emmamulation, one could either use the correct or common usage of a word, such as the difference between “w,” which is voice, or “wh,” which is aspirated in the word “what.” For breaths and breaks, the breathes should be either subtle, using an eighth rest, or just a break, using a stopped eighth note. Balance is then decided on where a group can hear the balance or notice the dynamics of individual singers. Then in the dynamics, the conductors could either follow the composers intentions or adjust the choir. The dynamics should be either a full sound or a loud sounds. Some of the most common problems or challenges for a choir are slow tempos, legato articulation, and soft dynamics.