ChoralEd: A Democratic Approach to Selecting Repertoire

In episode 39 of ChoralEd, Dr. Robert Jordan discusses a democratic approach to repertoire selection. In a democratic approach, Jordan invites students to search for repertoire and share their discovered works with the class. For younger singers, students select music from a list curated by the director. As students develop their musical skills, they begin to search for repertoire on their own based on the following program and compositional criteria.

Program Criteria that Impact Student Growth

Does this music:

• build upon students’ prior experiences?
• capitalize on students’ cultural knowledge?
• allow students to experience through their preferred learning styles?
• showcase students’ culturally informed performance styles?
• contribute something new to the ensemble’s performance set? 
• provide challenges and opportunities for growth?
• align with student-selected concert themes?

First four from Julia Shaw, “The Skin We Sing: Culturally Responsive Choral Music Education,” Music Educators Journal 98, no. 4 (June 2012): 75–81, https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432112443561.

Compositional Criteria of the Repertoire 

Is this piece appropriate in terms of:

• voicing/instrumentation?
• range/tessitura?
• technical/conceptual complexity?
• duration/length?
• lyrics/languages?
• notational systems?
• available instructional time?

To watch ChoralEd, Episode 39 on YouTube click HERE