Women's Choirs

Rachel Upton, R&R Chair 

This Little Babe

SSA

Benjamin Britten

Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. 48009018

“This Little Babe” features a minor-mode melody that my girls just devoured. The melody is used as a canon first with two parts and then with three at a very quick tempo. It rests in a healthy tessitura for all women and encourages girls who normally sing at the bottom or below the staff to open up and sing up through the top. This classic is on at least six different states’ approved repertoire lists and is appropriate for Christmas-time and festival. I used it for both! It calls for harp accompaniment, but piano works just as well. 

Rosas Pandan

SSAA

George G. Hernandez

Pavane Publishing P1524

“Rosas Pandan” has such a sassy Spanish flare. This piece allows for a variety of movement such as simple dance steps or the incorporation of some fans, scarves, skirt swings, or castanets. It is featured on the North Carolina repertoire list and has been a selection at several choral conventions including TCDA, NJEA, and PMEA. “Rosas Pandan” challenges female students to sing with energy and percussiveness, especially if they do not have the melody.  

Rockin’ Jerusalem

SSAA

Tawn Thomas

Alliance Music Publications AMP 0791

This piece is a powerful a cappella spiritual that is a great closer for a concert. The singers will really have to listen and internalize the beat as the melody is exchanged throughout the voices. Directors can incorporate a myriad of techniques with phrasing and dynamics with “weep” and “mourn”. I threw in a sforzando on the last note and a high Bb to really top it all off. 

Progressive Sight Singing 

Carol Krueger

I have recently done an overhaul with how to introduce and teach sight-reading with my choirs. Carol Krueger, an advocate of sound before sight before theory, has created an all-inclusive method to teaching music literacy with emphasis on aural skills, dictation, and improvisation. The book is divided into two sections, rhythmic and tonal, and are meant to be taught together in spiral fashion. A companion website provides additional resources for teachers and students including vocal-pitch exercises, charts, and graphs, all of which are printable. The book also comes with a CD to facilitate independent study and practice outside the classroom.