Choral singing has been a part of culture for centuries. Choirs are comprised of singers with a near endless variety of experience levels in terms of training and technique. Three problems that face directors of choirs are: 1) How to recruit and retain students for their programs, 2) How to audition and structure, and 3) How to incorporate vocal technique into the choral rehearsal. In this paper I address some suggestions for recruitment that will touch on the ideas of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well as the basics of group vocal technique - breathing, tone, and diction, and reference the teachings of respected choral conductors and pedagogues. I also compare and contrast those findings with the basics of vocal pedagogy for the solo singing student. With the understanding that singing is singing, I expect to find many overlapping fundamentals in technical approaches. For example, breathing for singing is the same regardless of whether the singer is singing alone or in a group. However, I address the possible compromises in solo vocal technique that a choral singer must make. Finally, I address some basic techniques for including the found principles into the high school choral rehearsal, thereby establishing a sound vocal foundation for high school singers.
","abstract_html":"<p>Choral singing has been a part of culture for centuries. Choirs are comprised of singers with a near endless variety of experience levels in terms of training and technique. Three problems that face directors of choirs are: 1) How to recruit and retain students for their programs, 2) How to audition and structure, and 3) How to incorporate vocal technique into the choral rehearsal. In this paper I address some suggestions for recruitment that will touch on the ideas of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well as the basics of group vocal technique - breathing, tone, and diction, and reference the teachings of respected choral conductors and pedagogues. I also compare and contrast those findings with the basics of vocal pedagogy for the solo singing student. With the understanding that singing is singing, I expect to find many overlapping fundamentals in technical approaches. For example, breathing for singing is the same regardless of whether the singer is singing alone or in a group. However, I address the possible compromises in solo vocal technique that a choral singer must make. Finally, I address some basic techniques for including the found principles into the high school choral rehearsal, thereby establishing a sound vocal foundation for high school singers.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Patten, Lindsay"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Music Education - Choral Concentration","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Schwob School of Music","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Michelle M. DeBruyn"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2007-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:44:48Z","subjects":["Vocal Technique","High School Singers","Vocal Pedagogy","Choir","Choral Singing","Music","Music Education"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/82","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Michelle M. DeBruyn"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Patten, Lindsay"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-10-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Schwob School of Music"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Music Education - Choral Concentration"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Vocal Technique","High School Singers","Vocal Pedagogy","Choir","Choral Singing","Music","Music Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/82"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Choral singing has been a part of culture for centuries. Choirs are comprised of singers with a near endless variety of experience levels in terms of training and technique. Three problems that face directors of choirs are: 1) How to recruit and retain students for their programs, 2) How to audition and structure, and 3) How to incorporate vocal technique into the choral rehearsal. In this paper I address some suggestions for recruitment that will touch on the ideas of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well as the basics of group vocal technique - breathing, tone, and diction, and reference the teachings of respected choral conductors and pedagogues. I also compare and contrast those findings with the basics of vocal pedagogy for the solo singing student. With the understanding that singing is singing, I expect to find many overlapping fundamentals in technical approaches. For example, breathing for singing is the same regardless of whether the singer is singing alone or in a group. However, I address the possible compromises in solo vocal technique that a choral singer must make. Finally, I address some basic techniques for including the found principles into the high school choral rehearsal, thereby establishing a sound vocal foundation for high school singers.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Singer's Perspective on Recruitment, Auditioning, and Vocal Technique in the Choral Program"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Michelle M. DeBruyn"],"dc:creator":["Patten, Lindsay"],"dc:date.available":["2015-10-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Choral singing has been a part of culture for centuries. Choirs are comprised of singers with a near endless variety of experience levels in terms of training and technique. Three problems that face directors of choirs are: 1) How to recruit and retain students for their programs, 2) How to audition and structure, and 3) How to incorporate vocal technique into the choral rehearsal. In this paper I address some suggestions for recruitment that will touch on the ideas of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well as the basics of group vocal technique - breathing, tone, and diction, and reference the teachings of respected choral conductors and pedagogues. I also compare and contrast those findings with the basics of vocal pedagogy for the solo singing student. With the understanding that singing is singing, I expect to find many overlapping fundamentals in technical approaches. For example, breathing for singing is the same regardless of whether the singer is singing alone or in a group. However, I address the possible compromises in solo vocal technique that a choral singer must make. Finally, I address some basic techniques for including the found principles into the high school choral rehearsal, thereby establishing a sound vocal foundation for high school singers.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/82"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["Vocal Technique","High School Singers","Vocal Pedagogy","Choir","Choral Singing","Music","Music Education"],"dc:title":["A Singer's Perspective on Recruitment, Auditioning, and Vocal Technique in the Choral Program"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Schwob School of Music"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Music Education - Choral Concentration"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:44:48Z"}