Adding Zing to a Choral Arrangement

Choral music can be very expressive, exhibiting the best of musical composition and arrangement. However, there must be a sense of art about the piece. Otherwise, it’s just so many notes. 

Zing, of course, is not a musical term, but I think you know what I mean. It’s that certain something, that je ne sais quoi that makes the music sparkle and be memorable. Brass instruments can be very zing-y. They can attack, sforzando, be muted three different ways, and use a tongue trill or vibrato. Most singers get very upset when someone puts a mute in their mouth or shakes them to make their voice different. Woodwinds and strings also have their special effects. So, what can be done for voices? 

There are some extreme things that have been done. Long before the 1980s, a few classical choral scores called for speaking instead of speaking their parts, including some shouting, hissing and raspberries (later called rapping in the 1950s and 1960s, without the hissing and raspberries). Some composers wrote part that were somewhat atonal, singing “around” a note but not quite on it. 

Of course, a choir can always clap, snap, stomp and sway, play tambourines, finger cymbals, and hand drums. But, those devices, though effective in their particular songs, have lost their uniqueness. 

Surprisingly, some of the most useful devices to add zing to a choral arrangement are to perform it properly. “What?” I hear you say. Actually, to add zing to any choral or instrumental piece it needs to be done with precision. When a group of singers starts and ends a word at the exact same time, it adds a certain crispness. When the words are pronounced the same way by everyone (even if it’s an incorrect pronunciation done for some effect), it adds clarity and transparency. 

Everything should be done the way the composer or arranger indicates, including dynamics, tempo, expression and technique. The comparison between improper and proper performance is the difference between mumbling and sparkling elocution. 

But, even if a choir does ALL that, if the music isn’t good, then they’re, well, wasting their breath. An arrangement worth singing has to have a few characteristics. 

The essential thing in a choral arrangement with zing is Variety. A simple method is to have each part sing a different verse. More involved techniques involve arranging the song so that the chord progression or meter for different parts of it would be a bit different. The dynamics, tempo and/or expressions also can be varied. Let’s look at ways an arranger might accomplish this. 

CHORD PROGRESSION – There are hundreds of possible chords that can go with any one note, but only a few that really sound acceptable. A good “marriage” of lyric tone (happy, sad, angry, etc.) in a certain passage and a chord progression can really beef up that passage. The variety of chord progressions used in any one song should fit in a determined category. A good choral arrangement wouldn’t usually have tight jazz chords and open modal chords in the same piece, unless it had a certain story to tell that would benefit from such a wide array of progressions. 

VARIATION ON THE MELODY – As part of using appropriate chords, occasionally an arranger will use an escape tone or passing tone to add a bit of zing to the melody. A lot of soloists do this as part of their performance. The arranger would simply make it part of the “official” music. The idea is to reinforce the motion of the melody, not change it. 

METER – In movie and TV music, you may hear the theme song played in a different meter. That is, the arranger would take the strong rock-ish theme in 4/4 and play it with strings in 3/4 for a sentimental part of the show. The same thing can be done in vocal music. Often, this is done for the whole song, but it can be used the same way as using an alternate chord progression to reinforce a lyric tone. Salt cellar creations has a unique arrangement of Amazing Grace called How Sweet the Sound that does just that. It’s in 4/4 time, the melody is recognizable but not exactly like the original, and has a very Appalachian sound about it. We also have “Now I See”, another arrangement of “Amazing Grace”, but this one is in 5/4 meter and has some jazz chords in it. 

DYNAMICS – Virtually ALL of contemporary music, pop, rock, country, contemporary Christian is compressed when it is mixed/mastered. There are no real dynamics; it’s produced to be listened to by people doing something else besides really listening to the music. To make a choral arrangement stand out, it NEEDS variations in volume. Life has sound levels; so should music. Some parts of a song are intimate, some are worth sharing loudly. 

TEMPO – When you get excited, your heart rate goes up. If a song is getting exciting, it can speed up, too. If it gets pensive, it can slow down so the listener can think along with the words. An arranger or composer must use caution here; it can be easy to speed or slow a dong too much in an effort to be expressive. 

EXPRESSIONS – Some people, when they are in deep, poignant discussion (argument) with someone will poke a finger at the other person’s nose. A great choral arrangement can make a point with “pointed” notes, staccato and accents. Alternately, a sweet song should be silky smooth. An arranger can achieve such silkiness by using close harmony, some parallel motion or effectively placed slurs. The best ice cream has nougats of nuts and chocolate chips among its creaminess. So, too, the best choral arrangements have a proper balance of expressions. 

LAYERING – This can be done with polyphony. It’s not just harmony, but a concept in which different melodies are sung at the same time. The chord progression fits both melodies. It can also be done with staggered entries. Each part comes in at slightly different times, but all end at the same time. The parts have to be modified so that while the early entries are “waiting”, they still sound like they belong. We have an arrangement of “He Who Would Valiant Be” from John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” with some layering. It’s not quite polyphony, but it’s interesting enough for a choir of high school aged singers. 

This list is not exhaustive, but gives you a good look at what an arranger needs to do to give a choral piece the ZING it needs. 

Salt Cellar Creations understands the beauty and power that a good choral group can convey and has a growing library of original works and arrangements to help accomplish those goals. Explore the offerings HERE. 

SCC can also compose an original piece for you or do a custom arrangement for you. There are two ways that this can be done; one is much more affordable than the other. And SCC is always looking for ideas of pieces to arrange or suggestions for original pieces. 

We have sold music not only in the US but in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and New Zealand. Please visit the WEBSITE or  CONTACT US to let us know what we can do for you!