High School

Carrie Owens, High School

When I Hear Music

SATB

Michael G. Martin

Alfred

The text of this piece speaks about those people in our lives who have touched us with music. The texture is homophonic.  The harmonies traditional with a few chromatic notes to enhance the harmonies. This is a great piece to work on the men’s head voice and the transition from high to low. Altos will enjoy the many suspensions in their line. Sopranos will focus their attention on the passagio. This piece is very accessible for most high school choirs with a strong men’s section.

Sing Dem Herrn

2-5 Canon

Praetorius  arr. Wallace DePue

Alfred

This is my “go to” piece on the years that my men’s section is rebuilding. I have used this piece in middle school and high school and students love it! The German text is easy to master and repetitive. This piece can be performed in two to five parts. The biggest challenge is teaching the transition from the canon to the ending. Once students understand the ending, they will flourish on this piece. 

Cool Moon

SATB

Richard Williamson

Heritage Music Press

This is a great piece to work on sight-reading literature with dissonance. Most of the dissonances are approached from a unison with oblique movement. The basses will work on approaching the head voice to match the tenor line. Singers will need to pay careful attention to dynamics and phrasing. This is a great piece to start the year off with your top singers to get them listening and tuning with each other.

Choral Charisma – Singing with Expression by Tom Carter

Choral Charisma is a wonderful book to move your students from singing notes and words and begin connecting to the music. The first idea Tom Carter has is to create a safe environment where students are willing to take musical risks. He then writes about emotional vulnerability, analyzing the text, creating a singer that acts and many other topics that will breathe new life into your classroom.