Essentials of the Choral Warm-Up: Science, Method, and Pedagogy

Applying the principles of Edwin E. Gordon's Music Learning Theory, this volume aligns choral pedagogy with the principles of voice science and works as a guide to transforming the sound, intonation, and musicianship of choral ensembles at all levels. Topics include:

  • Vocal science as it pertains to alignment, respiration, articulation, phonation, registration, and resonance
  • Debunking myths about "fixing" choral ensemble sound
  • Teaching via the architecture of the vowel
  • The pedagogical "miracle" of the mixed vowel ü
  • New warm-up and music-learning sequences
  • Vocal registration and the choral warm-up
  • Rethinking the warm-up to build healthy choral tone
  • Determining acoustically correct standing positions for choral ensembles
  • New essential 1-3-5 exercises for use in choral warm-ups
  • Eliminating blend and intonation issues
  • Guides to teaching phrasing
  • Understanding the horizontal part of the conducting gesture and its role as the primary method of communication to singers

This book continues the pedagogy contained in The Anatomy of Tone; The Choral Warm-Up and Intonational Solfege, and together with the companion 1-3-5 Essential Choral Exercises book it is a landmark work for choral conductors and choirs.