Developing Technique Through Jazz/Pop Styles: Choral Method SoundTrax CD

This resource cuts through the vagueness that surrounds jazz and pop vocal technique by making style-specific demands explicit and teachable. Rather than assuming your singers already know what "swing feel" means or how Broadway legit differs from ballad phrasing, Althouse and Robinson provide concrete exercises embedded in actual five-part choral arrangements, so technique becomes inseparable from the music itself.

Five distinct musical worlds unfold through carefully designed vocal exercises. The ballad style invites a legit, connected sound; the swing sections snap with rhythmic precision; the Broadway material carries theatrical polish; and the rock arrangements sit somewhere between contemporary and rhythmic. Each style has its own voice, tone, and physicality.

Directors seeking to build a choir's fluency across multiple contemporary styles without relying on trial and error or informal knowledge. This works best for choirs ready to move beyond unison pop songs and tackle the rhythmic and tonal precision that jazz and Broadway repertoire demands.

• Listen actively to the recorded accompaniment during rehearsals to internalize the rhythmic vocabulary of each style; the SoundTrax recording models the exact feel your choir should achieve.
• Work through the warm-ups that target the specific vocal production demands of each style rather than using a generic warm-up sequence every day.
• Isolate individual performance exercises by style before combining them in a full rehearsal; this prevents singers from muddying a swing rhythm with ballad phrasing or vice versa.
• Reference the historical and stylistic context sections when introducing each new style to help singers understand the "why" behind unfamiliar techniques.

Use this resource as a rehearsal foundation during the seasons when you are programming jazz or pop repertoire, rather than as a standalone concert piece. The five performance exercises and accompanying techniques serve as reference material throughout the year, allowing you to circle back to a specific style whenever your concert calendar calls for it.

• Rhythmic precision in swing feel (regular and up-tempo variations)
• Stylistic differentiation between Broadway legit, ballad, rock, and swing aesthetics
• Vocal production techniques for jazz and pop (resonance, phrasing, articulation)
• Listening and matching pitch in a cappella and accompanied settings across multiple styles
• Historical awareness of jazz and pop vocal traditions