Hands: Choral Octavo SoundTrax CD

Arrangers Teena Chinn has crafted this octavo to preserve the warmth and accessibility of the original chart-topper while making it genuinely singable for high school and middle school choirs. The contemporary pop idiom resonates immediately with singers, which means motivation in rehearsal stays high even while you're building vocal technique.

Immediate and inviting, with the conversational directness of modern pop songwriting set to accessible harmonies. The piece carries emotional honesty without sentimentality, making it feel substantial enough for concert programming while remaining easy to love from the first rehearsal.

School and youth choirs looking for contemporary repertoire that engages singers without compromising musicality. This octavo suits ensembles at the middle school through early high school level seeking material that feels current and meaningful to their singers.

• Lean into the rhythm section articulation on the SoundTrax accompaniment. Your singers need to hear the groove clearly during early rehearsals, so don't hesitate to run full accompaniment tracks while you're teaching phrase shapes and vowel consistency.
• Shape the melody with subtle dynamic curves rather than dramatic jumps. Pop phrasing often lives in restraint, and allowing voices to breathe naturally between phrases will keep the sound open and connected.
• Balance the harmony voices carefully against the melody. In pop arrangements, inner parts can easily disappear if sopranos anchor the line too heavily, so rotate who hears the recording accompaniment during sectionals.

Include this in a spring or winter concert alongside other contemporary works to show audiences the range of your choir's musical interests. It also works well as a high-engagement opener for a concert, drawing listeners in through familiarity before moving into more traditional choral repertoire.

• Pop phrasing and natural breath placement
• Rhythmic precision in contemporary accompaniment textures
• Balancing melody and harmony in four-part writing
• Interpreting recorded accompaniments with ensemble precision