Choral music has seen a dramatic surge of interest over the past few years thanks to popular primetime television shows such as Glee, The Sing-Off, etc. While this is wonderful for choral programs, it also calls into question what to do when your students want to sing pop centric choral repertoire. The transition from a “pop” dominated atmosphere to one centered around choral artistry is enough to keep a director awake at night. However, after some time, the benefits will out-weigh the struggle. My students have stated they believe the fine choral arts require much more “dedication and nitpicking” during rehearsal; whereas, pop choral music is more focused on pleasing an audience.
One of the primary goals of directing a choir, or any musical ensemble, is to build a solid foundation of musicianship. Students who have mostly performed pop centric choral music will possibly resist the idea of learning and refining their musical skill set. My students are no exception here. There will always be a student to convince! Though, a rule I have is “You cannot say you hate a song until after the concert”. Fortunately, because of our “dedication and constant nitpicking”, I’ve yet to hear a student utter those words.
During the beginning of each semester, you will always be bombarded with the statement “We should do (insert name of pop song)”. Again, I am not immune to these requests and often say “I’ll look into it but in the mean time let’s start reading through this” as I hand out a jazz standard or composer similar to Moses Hogan and Eric Whitacre. As usual, the newer or younger students turn their noses up a little to this new and unusual sound but with your enthusiasm and persistent rehearsal techniques they will soon become addicted to it. In due time, your choirs, especially the advanced groups, will start avoiding the pop genre all together or use it as “fun and easy” crowd-pleasers to perform at a concert or graduation ceremony. In all honesty, the main strategy to achieve higher levels of choral musicianship in your classroom is enthusiasm, consistency, and dedication to the choral arts by you!
Joshua Oppenheim says
Kip White says
Lucy Hudson Stembridge says