CHOIR MEMBER MUST KNOW

1) Musical instrument
A musical instrument is anything that produces sound, and can somehow be controlled by a musician

Types of musical instruments
• Voice,
• String instruments generate a sound when the string is plucked, strummed, slapped,
• Wind instruments generate a sound when a column of air is made to vibrate inside them.
– Woodwind instruments, such as the clarinet, saxophone and flute,
– Brass, like the trumpet.
• Percussion instruments create sound when struck.
• Electronic instruments particularly keyboards, drums and guitars.
• Keyboard instruments
• Friction instruments are any instrument that use friction to create sound
• Lamellophones create a sound by the plucking of lamellas made from different materials (metal, raphia etc.)

2)
• a guitar player learns how to strum, pluck, etc;
• players of wind instruments learn about breath control and embouchure,
• singers learn how to make the most of their vocal cords without hurting them.
• a piano player learns about "fingering"

3)
• A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers.
• A choir usually has eight or more singers, typically with two or more singers on each part;
• a chorus is typically larger still, with many singers on each part.
• Smaller vocal ensembles are usually called trios, quartets, quintets,
• Choirs are often led by a conductor or choirmaster.
• Choirs can sing with or without instrumental accompaniment. Singing without accompaniment is typically called a cappella singing

4)
Choirs can be categorized by the voices they include:
• Mixed choirs (i.e., with male and female voices). Usually consisting of soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices, often abbreviated as SATB

• Male choirs, with the same SATB voicing as mixed choirs, but with boys singing the upper part (often called treble or boy soprano) and men singing alto (in falsetto), also known as countertenor.

• Female choirs, usually consisting of soprano and alto voices, two parts in each, often abbreviated as SSAA, or as soprano, soprano II, and alto, abbreviated SSA

• Men's choirs, usually consisting of two tenors, baritone, and bass, often abbreviated as TTBB
• Children's choirs, often two-part SA or three-part SSA

5)
some choirs are categorized by the type of music they perform, such as
• Symphonic choirs
• Vocal jazz choirs
• Show choirs, in which the members sing and dance, often in performances somewhat like musicals

6)
• Singers who have perfect pitch require yet other skills:
to sing music in keys
to stay in tune with the ensemble,
• In music, timbre, also timber is the quality of a musical note or sound that distinguishes different types of sound production or musical instruments
• Falsetto is a singing technique that produces sounds that are pitched higher than the singer's normal range

7)
The best choir/choral singers possess (among others) the following abilities:
• to sing precisely in tune and with a pleasing vocal timbre which blends with the other singers;
• to sing at precisely controlled levels of volume, matching the dynamics and expression marked in the score or prescribed by the conductor, and not sing so loudly as to be markedly detectable as an individual voice within the section;

• to sight-read music fluently;
• to sing solo passages when required;
• to memorize or near-memorize the music, and thus be able to keep eyes on the conductor as much as possible;

• to read and pronounce the sounds of foreign languages accurately and in the pronunciation style specified by the leader;
• to remain completely alert for long periods, monitoring closely what is going on in a rehearsal or performance;

• to monitor one's own singing and detect errors. In British and American choirs, it is often the custom for a singer to raise a hand to indicate awareness of having made a mistake;
• to accept direction from others for the good of the group as a whole, even when the singer disagrees esthetically with the instructions;
• to arrive at rehearsals and performances consistently on time, mentally and physically prepared to sing.