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Topic: New to composing for male vocal groups... (Read 2347 times) previous topic - next topic

New to composing for male vocal groups...

Hi, everyone!

I am new to Noteworthy Composer and to composing for male vocal groups and vocal groups in general, but I am definitley not new to the music world. I love to write and I love to perform. However, I have never written anything for TTBB before, and now I am suddenly trying to put something together for a holiday show. I'm wondering if anyone can offer any "do's and dont's" and helpful hints for arrnaging parts for male vocal? I have Noteworthy layout down pat, so I'm really just looking for a little music theory 101 here. How do the male parts overlap, when can I use dissonance without sounding like somebody popped a vocal chord, what kind of chord intervals work best for male voices, and are pleasing to the ear?...those sort of things. Also, where might I find some helpful TTBB music files to guide me? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Re: New to composing for male vocal groups...

Reply #1 –
I can't advise you on the music theory, not being a musician, but I can offer you the following observation based on experience singing in a choir:

The range from A3 to D4 (slightly more than an octave below middle C, to just above middle C) seems to be comfortably within the singing range of most adult males who can sing at all, regardless of whether an individual's nominal range is tenor or bass. For women, the same applies one octave higher. That is why most common melodies and church hymns are written in that range.

If you can keep a part in that range, you improve the chances that randomly-chosen singers will be able to perform it. If you go above or below, then you are more likely to need singers with better voice training, or who specialize in tenor or bass. (A professional singer can go both above and below that range.)