An Examination of Choral Rehearsal

Technique

Ignacio Angulo-PizarroRonald E. McNair Scholar

Mentor - Dr. Duane Cottrell

Personal Experiences

What is choir all about?!

re·hears·al (riˈhərsəl)Practice session preceding a public appearance

tech·nique (tekˈnēk) Manner and ability with which an artist, writer, dancer, athlete, or the like employs

the technical skills of a particular art of field of endeavor

re·hears·al tech·nique(riˈhərsəl tekˈnēk)

Manner and ability with which a musical artist employs his or her

technical skills to accomplish a practice session, whether private of public, preceding a public performance

cho·ral re·hears·al tech·nique(ˈkôrəl riˈhərsəl tekˈnēk)

Manner and ability with which a choral conductor employs his or her technical skills to

accomplish a private practice session preceding a public performance

“I hope to exploit this opportunity to cross the next threshold in the pursuit of musical perfection – knowing there’s really no such thing, but yet it’s so worth the pursuit.”

~ Dr. Paul D. Head

Research Questions

Technical vs. Interpretive

Literature Review

Rehearsal Organizational Structures Used by

Successful High School Choral Directors-Cox (1989)

Prediction of Performer Attentiveness Based on Rehearsal Activity and Teacher Behavior-Yarborough and Price (1981)

Effect of Magnitude of Conductor Behavior on Students in Selected Mixed Choruses-Yarborough (1975)

The Effect of Observation Focus on Evaluations of Choral Rehearsal Excerpts-Yarbrough

and Henley (1999)

Research in Choral Music: A Perspective-Gonzo(1973)

Video /Audio Observations

Survey

Interviews

Ex post facto analysis

Proposed Methodology

"Our responsibility as choral musicians does not stop with

the teaching of music. We must find time and energy for thought and study so that we can help teach people how to

live.”~ Howard

Swan

Special Thanks

My Research Mentor - Dr. Duane Cottrell

The inspirational conductors in my life - Dr. Paul D. Head, Andrew Kreckmann and Michael Semancik

My McNair Mentors - Dr. Kimberly Saunders, Tiffany Scott, Brenna James

My friends and colleagues – The 2011 McNair Scholars

References Cox, J. “Rehearsal Organizational Structures Used by Successful High School Choral Directors.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 1989, 37, 201-218.

Gonzo, C. “Research in Choral Music: A Perspective”. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 1973, 33, 21-33.

Henley, P. and Yarbrough, C. “The Effect of Observation Focus on Evaluations of Choral Rehearsal Excerpts.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 1999, 47, 308-318.

Price, H and Yarbrough, C. “Prediction of Performer Attentiveness Based on Rehearsal Activity and Teacher Behavior.” Journal of Music Education,1981, 29, 209-217

Yarbrough, C. "Effect of magnitude of conductor behavior on students in selected mixed choruses." Journal of Research in Music Education, 1975, 23, 134-146.