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Gonna Sing: TTB, <i>a cappella</i> Choral Octavo

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Gonna Sing Cover Image
Gonna Sing: TTB, a cappella Choral Octavo

Gonna Sing: TTB, a cappella Choral Octavo

(When the Spirit Says Sing)

Traditional Spiritual / arr. Andy Beck

Item: 00-48427
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Description
The familiar African-American spiritual in a fresh rhythmic setting! Opening with just a shaker and unison voices, a tapestry of percussion ostinatos and traditional choral harmony gradually unfolds before returning back to the clean lines of the beginning. Well-planned key changes ensure successful a cappella modulations for less-experienced groups. Three notated percussion parts are included in the publication.

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Additional Details
Series: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher: Alfred Music
Page Count: 12
UPC: 038081552507
SKU: 00-48427

More about this title

About the Arranger: Andy Beck

Andy Beck

Andy Beck leads the choral publications division at Alfred Music, where he has cultivated a catalog of over 450 works spanning choral arrangements, vocal resources, and children's musicals. His compositions and arrangements are performed regularly by singers across the globe, and his pedagogical resources—including Sing at First Sight, Foundations in Choral Sight Singing, and Vocalize! 45 Vocal Warm-Ups That Teach Technique—have become staples in music classrooms and rehearsal rooms.

Beyond his work as a publisher, Beck maintains an active life as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, serving honor choirs and all-state groups throughout the Southeast and beyond. A trained tenor and experienced musical theatre performer, he brings both compositional sophistication and classroom realism to every score he creates. His degrees in Music Education from Ithaca College and Northwest Missouri State University, combined with decades of work in choral arts, ground his writing in genuine pedagogical insight.

Why we love this

Beck's setting captures the spiritual's power while making it genuinely achievable for TTB groups still building their a cappella confidence. The rhythmic reframing keeps the arrangement fresh and contemporary without losing the piece's spiritual authenticity, and the strategic modulations are written with inexperienced ensembles in mind, so your singers can succeed rather than strain.

What to expect

The piece opens with stark simplicity, a single shaker and pure unison voices, before gradually thickening into layered rhythmic complexity. It feels like watching a spiritual transform in real time, moving from its roots to something contemporary and alive, then returning to silence and clarity.

Who it's for

TTB choirs looking for a spiritual with contemporary energy and a cappella integrity without the technical gauntlet. Groups with developing sight-readers will appreciate the logical harmonic structure and well-planned key changes, and singers unfamiliar with African-American sacred music will connect with both the tradition and its fresh interpretation here.

How to get the most out of it

  • Start with the shaker part in rehearsal to lock the fundamental pulse before adding voices; that single percussion element establishes the groove that sustains the entire opening.
  • Layer the vocal lines gradually during early rehearsals, just as the arrangement itself builds. Begin with unison, then add harmony in sections only after the first part is rock-solid.
  • Prepare the modulations by singing them a cappella without the percussion ostinatos; this removes the textural cushion and forces your singers to find their intonation independently.
  • Bring the three notated percussion parts into full rehearsal only after the choir is secure. Let them anchor the middle sections and create the tapestry the arrangement promises.

How to use it

This works beautifully as a concert opener that sets an immediate tone of spiritual authenticity, or as the emotional anchor in a program mixing sacred and secular repertoire. Its brief length and strong arrangement make it ideal for festivals and competitions where impact matters, and its pedagogical clarity positions it as a teaching piece for choirs ready to explore a cappella singing without overwhelming them.

Skills your students will build

  • Singing a cappella with confident intonation through strategic modulations
  • Understanding rhythmic layers and ostinatos in vocal writing
  • Blending unison and three-part harmony within a single spiritual tradition
  • Coordinating with percussion parts notated in the score
  • Building confidence in parts by beginning with unison and expanding to full texture

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