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Choral repertoire lists1/17/2024 ![]() In contrast, eighth grade choruses will generally have more low voices and fewer high. Sixth grade choruses will have more high voices and fewer low. ![]() Each grade level has significant strengths and weaknesses. It is also helpful to combine grade levels for middle school male choruses. Personally, I believe that carefully selected TTB music is the best solution, using the ranges listed above. It also emphasizes that singing is a “guy thing.” As is the case with mixed chorus repertoire, one must be careful to select repertoire that has vocal parts for guys in all stages of vocal maturation. This allows the boys to go through the voice change without the potential embarrassment of singing in front of the girls. I have also found it beneficial to actually separate the boys and girls at the middle school level. This is the music I recommend most often for middle school mixed choruses. Fortunately, in the last several years, more and more of these voicings include optional baritone parts. Too often, however, the new baritones get slighted in three-part mixed music. And the beginning changed voices can comfortably sing the lowest part in most three-part mixed pieces. The higher guys can often still sing the alto part. But in most middle school mixed choirs, two-part music generally does not provide enough parts for the variety of voice parts present. With the voice change, two-part music with equal ranges just doesn’t work any longer. In my sixth grade mixed chorus, I often use specifically chosen two-part music in which the range of part II is generally A to A. However, I personally prefer to combine them with the beginning changed voices on the alto part. Unchanged voices can often sing the soprano part. When it comes to mixed voice repertoire, you will need to make sure that there are parts for each of these broad categories. Don’t neglect them-they often become great singers once their voices have stabilized. They need individual attention and lots of encouragement. (Privately, I jokingly call them my “subterranean basses!”) It is certainly difficult to consider these guys when selecting repertoire. There are also a few guys with voices that have changed quickly and have a hard time matching pitch, except for a few notes at the very bottom of the bass clef. Range-ready repertoire for developing TTB choirs can be found in my book The Cambiata Collection. When searching for music for tenor/bass choirs, I suggest seeking out TTB voicings that adhere to these vocal ranges. Finally, there are those boys who have voices that have dropped lower, from around the Bb an octave below middle C to the A or Bb just below middle C. This is the range often referred to as Part III in three-part mixed pieces. ![]() There are also middle-voice guys who are more comfortable around middle C, usually from the F or G below to the D or Eb right above. I personally call them Tenor 1, even though they are actually more like altos. The A below middle C to the A above is a comfortable tessitura for most of these guys. High voices include those boys who have voices that are unchanged or in the first stages of change-cambiata voices. Think of adolescent male voices in terms of tessituras: high, middle, and low. Although many authorities have come up with specific ranges and labels, I find it more useful to think of voice ranges in practical terms as they relate to repertoire: what pieces and voicings will fit the variety of voice types found in the average middle school choir? No doubt the adolescent male voice change impacts middle school choruses more significantly than at any other level. Perhaps the most challenging issue facing middle school choral directors is finding appropriate repertoire for their choirs.
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