Choir

A choir or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers.

Skills involved in choral singing

Choral singers vary greatly in their ability and performance. The best choral singers possess (among others) the following abilities:

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• to sing precisely in tune and with a pleasing vocal timbre which blends with the other singers;
• to sing at precisely controlled levels of volume, matching the dynamics and expression marked in the score or prescribed by the conductor, and not sing so loudly as to be markedly detectable as an individual voice within the section;
• to sight-read music fluently;
• to sing solo passages when required;
• to memorize or near-memorize the music, and thus be able to keep eyes on the conductor as much as possible;
• to read and pronounce the sounds of foreign languages accurately and in the pronunciation style specified by the leader;
• to remain completely alert for long periods, monitoring closely what is going on in a rehearsal or performance;
• to monitor one's own singing and detect errors. In British choirs, it is often the custom for a singer to raise a hand to indicate to the conductor that he/she realizes he/she has made a mistake and will not repeat it;
• to accept direction from others for the good of the group as a whole, even when the singer disagrees esthetically with the instructions;
• to arrive at rehearsals and performances consistently on time, mentally and physically prepared to sing.

Singers who have perfect pitch require yet another skill:

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• to sing music in keys other than that in which it is written, since choirs often sing music in transposed form.