The music of this generation seems to all sounds the same. The same three chords, an annoying catchy beat and repetitive lyrics that get stuck in your head incredibly easily. A recipe for success, it seems. You do not hear much of classical music anymore because it’s not “trendy.” But, going back to the basics can be soothing to the soul. When you hear a group of beautiful voices in all ranges, and you feel a sense of serenity. That is what choir teacher Carol Hatch feels when she hears a choir singing old fashioned gospel songs.
“I love all types of music, and I love all eras of music,” Hatch said. “Classical music is really fun where we have great harmony and great resolutions in our music with classical literature.”
In most choral music, there are multiple ranges of voices: baritones, trebles, altos, second sopranos and sopranos. Sometimes, there are only girls in choir, so it can be very difficult for everyone to be able to sing parts without trying to sing the other vocal ranges and especially difficult with classical music.
“Popular music is probably the most difficult genre to sing because people are used to hearing it on the radio,” Hatch said. “When it’s written in choral music, it’s changed slightly, and everybody wants to sing it the way they hear it on the radio.”
Time and effort is key to achieve the perfect pitches, perfect harmony and making sure everyone is in the correct stance. When the choir sings popular music, the students seem to let loose and dance a little when it comes to the day of the concert. What most do not understand is that it can be the same with classical music too. When everyone works hard, the outcome can be overwhelmingly good, according to junior Ashleigh Maze.
“When we actually do the performance, because you do all the work to get up to the performance and once you’re actually doing it, it’s just really great with everybody in the choir.”