To Make a Song: SATB Choral Octavo
Words and music by Andy Beck
Item: 00-PO-0007881
$2.60
Minimum order quantity: 20 copies
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Description
A rock-infused beat and some high-velocity harmonies drive this joyful celebration of our art---music! What does it take to make a song? "A spark of joyfulness . . . a twinkle in the eye . . . love . . . laughter . . . hope . . . healing," and so much more. It's a dazzling opener, a grand finale, and a perfect concert theme. Combine any of the no-fuss voicings for a full-school panorama, festival choir, or powerhouse pyramid performance.
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Additional Details
Series:
Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
16
SKU:
00-PO-0007881
Instrumentation:
Guitar/Bass, Drumset
More about this title
About the Composer: Andy Beck
Andy Beck leads choral publications at Alfred Music and has composed and arranged over 450 choral works, vocal resources, and children's musicals now in widespread use. His pedagogical resources—including Sing at First Sight, Foundations in Choral Sight Singing, and Vocalize! 45 Vocal Warm-Ups That Teach Technique—have shaped how singers develop fundamental skills across the country. A trained tenor with degrees in Music Education from Ithaca College and Northwest Missouri State University, Beck works regularly as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator for honor choirs and all-state groups throughout the Southeast and beyond.
Beck's commitment to choral artistry extends beyond composition into active performance and music theatre direction. He has served as an Alfred Music studio singer since 1992, performed with the North Carolina Master Chorale Chamber Choir, and continues to accept commissions and conducting invitations from honor choirs of all ages. His music reaches audiences globally, performed constantly by singers at every level; a search for his name on YouTube reveals the breadth of his influence on contemporary choral practice.
Why we love this
Beck captures the infectious energy that makes choral music infectious without resorting to forced brightness. The rock-infused beat and fleet harmonies feel genuinely contemporary, and the embedded flexibility to mix and match voicings transforms one piece into infinite programming possibilities. This is the kind of opener that energizes an audience and your singers in equal measure.
What to expect
The piece radiates genuine joy without saccharine sentiment. A rock heartbeat propels the harmonies skyward, creating a sense of forward motion and collective celebration. Singers feel the lightness and freedom in the modern groove while the layered voicings offer moments of intricate beauty.
Who it's for
Choral directors programming concerts that benefit from a guaranteed energizer, festival choirs and honor groups seeking a contemporary closer or opener, and singers who thrive on modern idioms and rhythmic drive. This works equally well for single-voice high schoolers and a full mixed choir.
How to get the most out of it
- Lock the rhythm section (guitar, bass, drums) before the choir enters; the groove drives everything, and the voices sit best when they lock in on that foundation.
- Highlight the text painting in the high-velocity harmonies; each phrase about 'spark,' 'twinkle,' 'love,' 'laughter,' 'hope,' and 'healing' deserves its own emotional temperature.
- Experiment with combining different voicings across your singers or ensembles to create layered textures; this piece rewards the pyramid approach mentioned in the description.
- Use the recorded accompaniment as a rehearsal tool early, then gradually pull back on it so your singers develop independence and confidence with the modern groove.
How to use it
Open a concert here to set an energetic tone, or close it to leave the audience buoyed and reminded why choral music matters. Use it to bridge traditional repertoire and contemporary sounds, or build an all-day festival around multiple voicing combinations performed by different ensembles back-to-back for a kaleidoscopic final effect.
Skills your students will build
- Singing with rhythmic precision in contemporary groove-based meter
- Balancing individual harmonic lines within complex SATB textures at faster tempos
- Interpreting emotional subtext in brief text phrases ('spark,' 'healing,' etc.) across varied melodic shapes
- Responding to rock-style rhythmic accompaniment and locked groove with accuracy and independence