5-Minute Read: Unison Chorales to the Rescue!
If we got a dollar every time we said the words "intonation" and "balance," we'd be fondly remembering our band directing days from our private island in the Caribbean. We are constantly striving to get our performers to listen to the prevailing ensemble balance and pitch center. And one of our best tools in the ongoing battle is the warm-up chorale.A four-part chorale teaches so much about balance and tuning across an ensemble, and when they're done well they are just plain fun to play and listen to. However, sometimes the richness of a four-part harmonized chorale can mask pitch and balance issues from our care and attention. So try simplifying with unison chorales!
Ready-Made or Do-It-Yourself?
There are plenty of chorale books that have a variety of chorales in every key, and that show your musicians every single part of the arrangement. Therefore, you can always use the techniques described here by simply telling your ensemble "everyone play the soprano part in exercise 7." However, let me lobby for the Do-It-Yourself variety of unison chorale, for several reasons that will be made apparent below.
You can easily create a unison chorale with any legato melody. It could even be a melody from your current performance folder (even better!). For example, if your band is playing Holst's First Suite in Eb, take the opening chaconne phrase and plug it into your notation software of choice for every instrument in your band.
Now your warm-up is also helping your students practice a phrase from their music, and they're having to tune to every other instrument in the ensemble. You can have them play it, sing it, brass buzz it, you name it. In fact, you'll find it very useful to actually mix and match these techniques mid-phrase. Just play up to a certain chord, cut off the ensemble, and have them sing the next pitch through their instrument, or have the brass buzz the next pitch.
Every Key Signature!
Download the free “Concert Winds Care and Feeding” program for a 12-week program that includes unison chorales. It's free!
There are more advantages to this do-it-yourself chorale method. Since you've plugged this into your notation software, it's now very easy for you to transpose this into every key. You'll have to adjust some notes that go out of the practical range for your players, but you've got a simple method of teaching your students to listen and play in every single major key.
You might find it useful to focus on a single major scale each week, using the unison chorale in the matching key signature. Because the melody always remains the same, your students can focus entirely on balance, intonation, and quality of sound throughout all ranges of their instrument. These techniques of unison melodic warm-up in all keys, mixed with singing and mouthpiece buzzing, can vastly improve your concert or marching band's ability to tune and produce a balanced sound. Give it a try!