Choir sheet music is necessary for the Choir director, musicians and choristers to aid them in learning a new song. It is advantageous for everyone involved to know how to read music but it is not absolutely necessary for all of the choir members to. You must have at least one musician preferably the pianist, to have music reading ability.

The Choir sheet music should be written in standard SATB which stands for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass. You can have an effective choir just using Soprano, Alto and Tenor with all of the men singing Tenor. This may require the men to sing the Tenor part at two different octaves but this will work and will sound pleasant.

Another thing that will greatly aid in teaching a choir a new song is to have sectional leaders, one for each section. When learning a new song it is best to give the musicians and sectional leaders the song one week in advance so they can learn it.

In most cases I recommend starting with the Tenor unless you are doing a harmony inversion and utilizing a Tenor lead in which case I recommend starting with the vocal part that will be singing the Tenor part. Learn the song line by line one or two lines at a time. Have the sectional leader sing the line while the pianist plays the single vocal part. Once the sectional leader sings the line have the choir section sing the line with the sectional leader. If it is not correct, make the necessary corrections and proceed to the next line.

I recommend learning the verse with all sections before moving on to the chorus. Usually I will teach the verses first, then the chorus and finally the tag. I will not move on to the chorus until all parts know the verse and I will not move on to the tag until all parts know both the verses and the chorus.

Make sure that the choir sheet music is written in a comfortable key for the choir. You do not want the song to be too high as this can cause unnecessary strain to the choristers and also cause them to sing flat. Nor do you want the song to be to low as this can cause strain as well as producing low volume.

It is best to make sure that you as the choir director are familiar with the song and that your musicians are equally familiar with the song before attempting to teach it to the choir.

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To understand the Soprano part it is imperative that you first understand vocal range. Technically, vocal range is “the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate.” * In layman’s terms vocal range is the musical notes that a person can sing. Vocal range encompasses all of the musical notes that a person can sing from the lowest note to the highest. The highest of the vocal ranges is the Soprano and it is in most cases, especially in the choir, sung by females.

Typically, the Soprano range is from middle C on the piano (also referred to as C4 not to be confused with the explosive) up to two octaves above middle C or C6. In some cases the individual may be able to sing higher or lower or even both but the Soprano range is going to fall within this span. The Soprano part is usually the melody or lead part with the exception of harmony inversions where one of the other parts would take the lead and the Soprano would switch to a harmony part. When the lead part is sung by a male in a quartet it is sung an octave lower.

When referring to Soprano, most all of the time, especially as it relates to Choral or Choir sheet music it is referencing the voice classification. It should also be noted that in referring to Choral or Choir the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but as a general rule of thumb, Choral or Chorus is usually related to a theatrical group of singers whereas Choir almost always refers to a Church Choir or a religious themed group of singers.

It is common in England in Choral music for males to sing the Soprano in the typical Soprano range using their falsetto voice. In this case, they are either referred to as countertenors or sopranists.

In choir as well as choral music, often referred to as SATB sheet music (for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) the term Soprano does not necessarily refer to the type of voice but instead refers to a vocal part or voice classification. The term voice classification is by and large related to opera and was developed within the realms of classical music for the purpose of evaluating and designating voice type. There are several other things such as timbre, vocal weight and tessitura to consider but the first thing in determining the voice type is to determine the voice range.

The Soprano voice is most commonly a bright toned high pitched voice. True Sopranos are vocally weaker in their middle voice and much stronger on the upper end of their register.

The untrained vocalist will usually be more limited on their vocal range both on the top and bottom end of their vocal register but can improve and extend this range with proper training.

In standard SATB notation and in most songs arranged for Choir as well as the Old Red Back Church Hymnal the Soprano note is the top note of the Treble or G clef. If you have the ability to read music then sit down and examine a piece of standard SATB sheet music and you will discover that the top note of the Treble clef, the Soprano part, will usually fall in the range of middle C (C4) up to the C6.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_range

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How To Mic A Choir – Chapter Five – Setting Up Your Choir from Audix Microphones on Vimeo.

Travis Cibolski, owner of Clarity Media Group and Technical Director for the Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland Oregon, talks with Dean k from Audix about the basics of miking a choir.

Chapter Five explores choir positioning and blending of voices as well as the basics for recording your choir.

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How To Mic A Choir – Chapter Four-More Complex Choir Configurations from Audix Microphones on Vimeo.

Travis Cibolski, owner of Clarity Media Group and Technical Director for the Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland Oregon, talks with Dean k from Audix about the basics of miking a choir.

Chapter Four delves into more complex choir configurations and difficult miking situations.

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How To Mic A Choir – Chapter Three – More About Microphones from Audix Microphones on Vimeo.

Travis Cibolski, owner of Clarity Media Group and Technical Director for the Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland Oregon, talks with Dean k from Audix about the basics of miking a choir.

Chapter Three provides more information on microphones, polar patterns, larger choirs, and the 3 to 1 rule.

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How To Mic A Choir-Chapter Two – Microphone Placement from Audix Microphones on Vimeo.

Travis Cibolski, owner of Clarity Media Group and Technical Director for the Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland Oregon, talks with Dean k from Audix about the basics of miking a choir.

Chapter Two explores microphone placement.

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How To Mic A Choir- Introduction and Microphone Choices from Audix Microphones on Vimeo.

Travis Cibolski, owner of Clarity Media Group and Technical Director for the Sunset Presbyterian Church in Portland Oregon, talks with Dean k from Audix about the basics of miking a choir.

Chapter One focuses on microphone choices.

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One thing I am constantly asked is “How do you get that choir to sing so loud”? Now before we get into some exercises that will increase the volume of the choir, it needs to be said that there is a difference between singing loud and SCREAMING. You can sing loud without SCREAMING, but you cannot SCREAM and sing at the same time.

The voice box, or larynx, is a muscle, and as a muscle you should take care of it. Just like a weight lifter can tear a muscle by trying to lift too much weight, you can tear your larynx by over-singing and screaming. It is also imperative that you warm up. Just as a runner stretches and loosens and warms up his muscles before running, you need to take the time to warm up before singing, but warm ups is another tip for another time, let’s look at some techniques that will help increase the volume of your choir.

One of the first things that I will do when teaching a Choir Workshop, and this may seem simple, is tell the choir to open their mouth. When singing, you should be able to take three fingers, your index, middle and ring finger, turn them so they are parallel with the index finger on the top and the ring finger at the bottom, insert them into your mouth (only the lips not all the way into the teeth). This is how wide your mouth should be open when you are singing. If you were to take a couple of songbooks and lay them on the speakers of your car audio system, it would greatly muffle the sound. Your lips are the same way, if you don’t open your mouth, they will muffle and decrease the volume.

Another simple thing to do is smile. I know, that seems overly simple, but if you will smile, raise your eyebrows just a little (as if you were surprised) you will be amazed at the increase in volume not to mention the fact that it looks much more pleasant to see someone smile when they sing.

I will also have the choir memorize and quote Ecclesiastes 9:10a “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; I will have them quote this, increasing their volume each time until they reach an acceptable volume level. Again, they are speaking slightly above speech level, not screaming.

If you have a 30 member choir, and you will do these simple exercises with them, you will increase your volume by at least 50%

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