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How To Read Choral Music

This document provides guidance on basic choral music reading skills. It explains how to identify your vocal part, read different note durations and rests, sight read note movement between pitches, and understand various symbols and terms that appear in sheet music. Mastering these fundamentals is important for creating beautiful music as part of a choir, though you should primarily watch the director for cues on musical expression.

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justin
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578 views4 pages

How To Read Choral Music

This document provides guidance on basic choral music reading skills. It explains how to identify your vocal part, read different note durations and rests, sight read note movement between pitches, and understand various symbols and terms that appear in sheet music. Mastering these fundamentals is important for creating beautiful music as part of a choir, though you should primarily watch the director for cues on musical expression.

Uploaded by

justin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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!

How to Read Choral Music


Compiled by Tim Korthuis
!
Sheet music is a road map to help you create beautiful music. Please note that is only there
as a guide. Follow the director for cues on dynamics (volume) and phrasing (cues and cuts).
DO NOT RELY ENTIRELY ON YOUR MUSIC!!! Only glance at it for words and notes.
!
This ‘manual’ is a very condensed version, and is here as a reference. It does not include
everything to do with reading music, only the basics to help you on your way. There may be
many markings that you wonder about. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask.
!
1. Where is YOUR part?
• You need to determine whether you are Soprano or Alto (high or low ladies), or Tenor
(hi men/low ladies) or Bass (low men)
• Soprano is the highest note, followed by Alto, Tenor, (Baritone) & Bass

Soprano NOTE:
!
Alto If there is another staff
!
Tenor !
!
Bass above the choir bracket, it is
Bracket
! !
Brace
usually for a solo or
‘descant’ (high soprano).
!
Piano
!
!
!
!
• The Treble Clef usually indicates Soprano and Alto parts
!
o If there are three notes in the Treble Clef, ask the director which section will
be ‘split’ (eg. 1st and 2nd Soprano).
o Music written solely for women will usually have two Treble Clefs.

• The Bass Clef indicates Tenor, Baritone and Bass parts


!
o If there are three parts in the Bass Clef, the usual configuration is: Top -
Tenor, Middle - Baritone, Bottom – Bass, though this too may be ‘split’
(eg. 1st and 2nd Tenor)
o Music written solely for men will often have two Bass Clefs, though Treble
Clef is used for men as well (written 1 octave higher).

• NOTE: The direction of the note stems can guide you in reading your music (eg. stem
up for soprano/tenor, stem down for alto/bass). However, it may vary depending on
publisher. Ask your director if you have questions.
!
!
2. Notes & Rests
• For basic conducting purposes, one (1) beat is defined as one conducting motion, in
one direction.
o Hand comes down – 1 beat.
o Hand moves left – 1 beat.
o Hand moves right – 1 beat.
o Hand comes up – 1 beat.
!
• Make sure to watch the director. The choice might be made to extend the note beyond
its defined limit, or cut it off early, if the mood of the music indicates such. Note
length is defined primarily by director cue, not written music.

!!!
Whole Note Whole Rest = 4 beats

!!! Note
Half Half Rest = 2 beats

!!! Note
Quarter Quarter Rest = 1 beat

!!! Note
Eighth Eighth Rest = ½ beat

Sixteenth Note Sixteenth Rest = ¼ beat

!
• Note relationships:
!
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• Beams: Notes may be ‘beamed’ to clear up clutter on the page.
o Example:

= =
!
• Dotted notes: A dot placed after a note or rest increases the length by ½ of its original
value.
o Example:

!
!
!
• Ties: Notes of the same pitch (non-moving) may be ‘tied’ together. The first note is
to be held for the combined duration, without sounding the subsequent notes.
o Example:
!
!
!
!
• Bars: Notes are separated into measure (or bars). These are indicated by bar lines.
o Example:
!
!
o In most music, these bars will be numbered every 3-8 bars, to assist in quick
reference.
!
• Time Signature: The amount of beats (notes/rests) per bar is indicated by the time
signature.
o Example: - how many beats per bar.
!
- type of note that equals one beat.
4 – quarter, 8 – eighth, etc.
!
4. Playing your part
• If you have access to a piano (or other instrument), playing your part will give you a
more solid hold on the notes.

!
!
!!
Semitone Tone Tone

Semitone – move from one note to the


next immediate note
!
Tone – move two semitones
!
!
!
Tone

3. Sight-reading Note Movement


• Basic instruction for sight-reading the movement of notes:
o ‘If the note goes up (vertically), so does your voice. If the note goes down,
your voice does likewise.’
o The greater the distance between notes (interval) the greater the difference in
the pitch of your voice.
!
• Try going over the different intervals (ascending and descending), and start
associating songs you know (the first 2 notes) with their different sounds (see next
page).
!
This is one of the best ways to begin learning to sight-read music.
!
!
!
!
!
E.g. Michael, Row Star Wars Jaws My Bonny lies Amazing Somewhere over
The Boat Ashore over the ocean Grace the rainbow

• NOTE: The size of the interval is measured by the number of letter-names contained
in the interval, including both the bottom and the top notes, and each space and line
in-between.
!
• This technique is not designed to make you a perfect sight-reader in one week, but to
give you the tools to start making educated guesses as to where the note is supposed
to be.
• It’s better to make a guess, than not try it at all. Guesses can always be fine-
tuned. Silence can not.
!
5. Symbols & Terms

repeat the previous section from or from the beginning

The passage is to be repeated, but the ending will be changed the second
time.
!
- Crescendo (gradually increasing volume) - Forte (loud)
- Diminuendo (gradually decreasing volume) - Piano (quiet)
- Fermate (pause)
!
D.S. al Coda – Go back to the sign . Continue until you see ‘2nd time to Coda.’ Turn
! pages until you see the large . Sing to the end.

!D.C. al Coda – Go back to the beginning, continue as above (ie. 2 nd time to Coda, etc.)
D.C. al Fine – Go back to the beginning, continue until you see ‘Fine’, which is the end.

!D.S. al Fine – Go back to the sign ,, continue and end at the ‘Fine’.

Ledger Lines – Used to write notes


higher and lower than the staff.
!
!
- Sharp (raise note one semitone) - Flat (lower note one S.T.)
!
NOTE: Sharps and flats stay changed for the entire bar, ending at the bar line.

Key Signature – Tells you which notes are permanently sharp


or flat throughout the piece.

- Natural (cancels any sharp or flat)

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