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I don't care much for sectionals. I do them, but in limited circumstances. My issue with sectionals is primarily that they breed dependence, rather than independence (see Richard Sparks' posts here and here). For a lot of choirs (non-auditioned, school age choirs, etc.), they make a lot of sense, as not everyone can be expected to learn their parts on their own, and breaking into sectionals saves valuable rehearsal time. In my top college group however, everyone in there should be able to practice the music outside of rehearsal on their own. Even the non-music majors must have at least the basic musicianship skills to teach themselves. My expectation is that everyone should practice just 15 minutes per day. Of course not all do, but that is my expectation.

I do use sectionals in these circumstances:

  • Any choir where there are singers who can't learn their parts on their own. 
  • Auditioned groups on hard pieces after a few regular rehearsals, where context (T1 needs to hear T2 to get it right) is important.
  • After we have learned the piece really well, but there are still small issues of blend and tuning. Then the sectional is done unaccompanied, and each section sings listening for matching vowels, clear unisons, and common phrasing. "Aha" moments often occur in these sectionals.

That's about it. 

A few years go I had a conversation with a singer about his frustration with our level of preparation on Bach's Der Geist Hilft. He wanted us to do more sectionals. I explained to this young tenor my feeling that sectionals don't breed independence (I shared his frustration, and had implemented a check day the following week to try to motivate the singers). I said "What would happen if everyone followed my expectation that they practice 15 minutes per day?" 

Without batting an eye he said "We'd know it already." 

 

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Comments

  1. Josh (Bronfman, that is,
     
    Enjoying your writings!
    Your last five lines tell the story.
    I have my nodest choir sing through a piece four times with my coaching one section,(their pencils in hand) then the others in turn.
    It woeks pretty well for this particular choir.
    For choir workshops I prepared “Some Things Your Choir Director Should Reasonably Expect You To Know!”
            Where to put final consonants before a breath so as to not break rhythmic flow.
            The breath as an anacrusis.
            We have fun working out the problems of dotted quarters/eighths. Not justrhythic, textual, too.
            Finding the tiniest phrases, too.
     
    We call it choral musicianship.
     
    Thanks, Josh,
    EP
           

  2. Great ideas, Kenneth! Absolutely, hearing in context (or not!) is one of the best reasons for people to learn their part with others. You add a lot to the dialogue about non-auditioned choirs.

  3. I agree that the level of the ensemble makes all the difference.  My comments don’t run along the same lines as those above, but just to give a non-audition choir point of veiw of sectionals, here mine are:
    I work with lower-level choirs, but also don’t care much for individual sectionals.  The problem with single-part sectionals for my singers (most of whom don’t read music) is that they learn their notes/rhythm, but as soon as it is back in context it sounds so different that they lose it.  I find two-part sectionals more more usefull.  It requires them to hear their part against at least one other part, but still gives them a simpler context to let them learn the basics of notes/rhythm etc.  Which two parts work together depends on the music.  The singers often hate this at first and beg to hear their part alone, but I insist that they CAN hear which is their note and that it will help them when we put it back together.  They learn to hear their part in the context pretty quickly and stop asking to hear just their part.
    Since I have strong singers and weak singers in the same ensemble I also frequently have the sections circle to face each other within the whole-choir rehearsal so they can hear their own section more while still hearing the entire choir.  Once they become more confident we start working to address the sound of the choir beyond their section.

  4.  

    Hi –
     
    I think sectionals can be useful depending on how they are used and as you noted, for the skills of the membership. I think in levels for the organization.  Below is somewhat oversimplified for the purposes of a quick response but….
     
    1. Notes and rhythms can be independently learned at the “singer level.”
     
    2. Balance, blend, homogeneity is a “section level” element.
     
    3. Section awareness and ensemble communicative unification is a “choir level” element.
     
    In our top ensemble is where we experiment with this idea the most.  They are expected to learn notes, rhythms independently.  Sectionals to work out (no. 2) and then put things together as a choir.  This isn’t terribly unique as this process is basically what almost everyone does.  We just try to make it more legitimate and efficient through evaluation and consistency of application.
     

  5. Well, you hit the two nails on the head, really.
     
    1) Check days. For undergards, it really makes a difference. The way they are graded is important, too. I have a few different methods…hmmm, I feel a new post coming on…
    2) Culture. My senior members expect the younger singers to practice, and they let me know when someone isn't practicing. The seniors truly get it, and get frustrated when progress is not swift.
     
     

  6. Nice post, Joshua! I feel much the same way.
     
    What have you done to get greater compliance with your request for 15 minutes practice each day? Do you do quartet/octet testing? In rehearsal/outside?
     
    I’ll have a post soon about creating a culture inside the choir so that expectations come more automatically (because they’re what the choir members themselves expect), but it will be full of as many questions as answers!

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