Instrument

 “The human voice is the most beautiful instrument of all, but it is the most difficult to play.” (Richard Strauss)

The choir of the home church (Fellowship Baptist Church in Columbus, OH) I grew up in was one of my fondest adult memories. How can I ever forget the humorous choir director (and pastor’s wife), Jean Dinoff, that made the group effort of singing in a choir actually fun. There was the formal wear the choir members wore for the annual church Christmas pageant that always gave the entire story of the life of Christ.

Who can forget all the vocal sheet music you used. Falling asleep in the raised choir loft in front of the church congregation every Sunday morning makes me both grimace and smile. All those experiences gave me the boldness to eventually sing solos occasionally in front of the church congregation on a Sunday morning service.

Voice type is the classification of a singer’s voice based on several different criteria including their vocal range, vocal weight, tessitura, vocal tone, and bridge location. Voice classification is a tool for singers, composers, venues, and listeners to categorize vocal properties and to associate roles with voices. There are eight singing voice types:

·       Alto is a low female (or boy’s) voice.

·       Baritone is a male voice that falls in between tenor and bass

·       Bass is a low (adult) male voice

·       Coloratura soprano is a voice that is unusually high, light, and agile (even for a soprano).

·       Contralto is a female voice that is even lower than a typical alto.

·       Countertenor is a male voice that is unusually high, light, and agile (even for a tenor).

·       Mezzo-soprano is between a soprano and alto.

·       Soprano is a high female (or boy’s) voice.

·       Tenor is a high (adult) male voice.

Singing in any kind of choir (church or secular) can teach some wonderful life lessons. Here are eight of them:

Confidence: Through performing, one can learn how to deliver in front of small groups (as well as those numbering into the thousands). You can know when and how not to pull focus (like not playing with your hair) and when and how to take center stage to be heard. These experiences allow you to develop skills to use in both in one’s personal and professional lives, and have provided opportunities to participate in ways I otherwise wouldn’t.

You can know how to connect with people, and feel comfortable being part of a team as you serve as its leader. Essentially, You can be confident in your abilities with your experience through the years gained through singing with numerous choirs.

Contribute what you can: You have different talents and challenges. Sometimes you want a different voice from what you have. And you can work on broadening your range and further developing what comes naturally, but there is not much to be gained through jealousy of others’ gifts or equally, not recognizing and utilizing one’s own gifts.

There’s a place for melody and harmony. Decide which you can bring and bring it well. You may get the chance to experience both, depending on what is needed in a given song or situation. Balance and diversity of skill and point of view often bring about the best outcomes. Be thankful for who you are, and the things you do well.

Do what you love: Do something you love that way you’ll never work a day in your life. Not everyone can sing for a living, but not everyone has to in order to benefit from the joy it brings. Singing along to the radio turned up full volume while doing chores, to holiday caroling or listening to instrumental hymns on Pandora have all given me a chance to vocalize.

There may be times in your life when you really needed a choir. Hopefully, you can find one at a church (or somewhere else). To be able to escape the pain of the everyday stress of an over-scheduled life is a valuable result of doing something you love. Nothing matches the experience of singing 3- to 4- to 8-part harmony to transport me to my happiest place.

Listen and work together: The thing about singing in a choir is that it is not a solitary exploit. There may be solos, but there is much more time spent blending and working together to create the beauty the composer had envisioned. Everyone plays a part. And although there are some leaders that are accurate with the correct notes, words and phrasing, the amazing part is that all members come together as a whole to sing in harmony where no one voice really stands out. This requires learning to listen to others so that your voice is strong and true yet no louder than the folks’ to either side of you.

Responsibility: Joining a choir is like connecting together with any other team. Everybody counts on you to be prepared and on time. You need to work the rest of your life around these responsibilities.  This time management experience helps immensely in countless aspects of life. No matter what was required to rehearse or perform, this provides practice in honoring a commitment. This ability is valuable in all aspects of my life.

Practice and hard work: The only way to get good at something is to practice. Few people know every word, harmony, phrasing, dynamic, tempo or cue to every song immediately. Most everyone has to dedicate time and effort to practice. Focus, hard work, attention to detail and persistence pay off in music, and in life, and often bring joy and a sense of accomplishment along with them.

Sometimes you must stand on your own: There are times while singing in the choir that you take center stage and sing on your own. All eyes are on you, and part of the fun is that you get to show a little bit more of yourself and what you can do in ways that are different from your usual singing. Solos can be sung a cappella, or with instrumental or vocal backup. Being able to confidently present yourself in these types of situations is a great skill to have.

Things sometimes go as planned and other times all sorts of things happen and you must improvise. This is another extremely important skill to master, because things in life don’t always go as planned. Successful people are those who are able to assess the situation, and quickly come up with a new plan given the current (often unforeseen) circumstances. This is a skill often strengthened through being in the moment and dealing with changing circumstances.

Take direction: In a choir the conductor is in charge. In life in order for people to work together especially in large groups, it’s often most effective to have a single person lead the group. Allowing that one person’s leadership or vision to guide your work together allows people to stay on task and accomplish goals. You may not always agree with their choices, but following this person’s lead not only helps coordinate everybody’s efforts.

It may just open you up to new ways of looking at, interpreting or accomplishing goals (sometimes even stretching your own ability and creativity). You all find ourselves in situations when you are asked to take direction, to accept it, and try to learn something from it (even if it’s how not to do something in the future).

“When the songs of your heart start singing, you should listen…for its harmony will bring you happiness, and the melody is the voice of your true spirit.” (Paulo Coelho)[i]

---

[i] Adapted from:

·       “8 Things I Learned From Singing in Choir” by Christine Griswold

·       “Vocal Types and Ranges“ by iumen

·       “What is a Voice Type?” by Matt Ramsey

The family at an annual Christmas pageant at Fellowship Baptist Church. (Bobbi is pregnant with our daughter, Allena.)