An Introduction to Choral Music

A few things you wanted to know about choral music
(but didn't know who to ask)

Choir. Chorus. Choral. Chorale.
Find out the meaning of the word.

SATB
What voice parts make up the whole?

Choir. Chorus. Choral. Chorale.
What do they all mean?

A choir is an ensemble of singers. Not a group of soloists competing with each other. That's American Idol. No, a choir is an ensemble. The word "ensemble" comes from French and means "together." And that's what the singers in a choir do. They sing together.

A chorus and a chorale are pretty much the same thing, when you get down to it. In fact, they've come from the same root word, but passed along to us from ancient Greece and Rome in several different forms.

The word "choral" is an adjective describing what choirs, choruses and chorales all do. They sing. Together. Thus, choral music.

In practice, people do make distinctions between the words, but there are no hard and fast definitions keeping them separate. "Choir" often refers to a choral group associated with a church or school. "Chorus" is often used in a theatrical context, such as opera or musical theater, for the group of singers (and often dancers) who "back up" the featured performers. "Chorale" can refer to a particular type of church music, or simply be another name for a choir or chorus. Like Pacific Chorale. Your favorite choir / chorus / choral ensemble.

"Chorale" shouldn't be confused with "corral." (Yes, they're pronounced the same way.) A corral is where you pen your livestock. A chorale is, well, where you pen your singers. As it were. Pacific Chorale does not have any horses for rent.

And "choral" shouldn't be confused with "coral." Coral is an underwater creature that builds reefs. "Choral" is a description of a type of singing, which is hard to do underwater.

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SATB

No, it's not another standardized test. It's an abbreviation for the most typical structure of a choir: soprano, alto, tenor, bass—SATB.

Soprano is the high female voice. They usually sing the melody. Because our ears are calibrated to hear higher pitches more clearly, the soprano is usually what we hear first when we listen to a choir.

Alto is the low female voice. They sing harmony, which usually means lots of work and little glory. You'd certainly notice the difference, though, if they all got tired and left. Altos add warmth and richness to the sound.

Tenor is the high male voice. The tenor voice is relatively rare, which is why tenors are valued in the choral world. They add brilliance to the sound.

Bass is the low male voice. Don't pronounce it to rhyme with "grass"—that kind of bass is a fish! "Bass" sounds just like "base," and that's what they are: the base of the choir's sound.

A few other voice types you might encounter are treble, mezzo-soprano and baritone. "Treble" is usually used for boys who sing in the soprano range. "Mezzo-soprano" is the medium female voice, higher than alto and lower than soprano. It is not commonly used as a category in choral music, but is frequently applied to soloists. "Baritone" is the medium male voice, higher than bass and lower than tenor. In many choirs, baritones act as a subset of the bass section.

There are lots of other combinations of voices possible besides SATB. More to come about that in a future segment.

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An Introduction to Choral Music

Choir. Chorus. Choral. Chorale.What do they all mean?

SATB

Choir. Chorus. Choral. Chorale.
What do they all mean?