How do we write for such a group? We must remember that Tenor I and Tenor II voices are going to be singing this repertoire, so my response is to keep the Tenor a bit more moderate in range than in TTB voicings. The resulting tone can be a rich, beautiful tone, with the Tenor providing an obligato role at times. Sometimes the range of a melody is wide, and the melody is "passed around" to accommodate ranges. The challenge of choral directors is to meld all of this "passing around" into one tone.
Listed below are the basic ranges in TBB choral writing:
Tenor - F below Middle "C" to F above Middle "C"
Bass I - "C" below Middle "C" to Middle "C" - an 8va!
Bass II - G (8va + 4th) below Middle "C" to B (or so) below Middle "C"
The goal of a Rehearsal Preparation Sheet is to ultimately duplicate the repertoire. The process includes pinpointing problems and challenges that might be incurred, addressing them before the students get to the repertoire. The goal is to strategically get all students to the same level. The RPS materials will assist in this process, and hopefully success will be experienced. The RPS can assist students in learning repertoire faster and more effectively, creating more time in the classroom for other activities...a good thing.
Rehearsal Preparation Sheets are available on the J. W. Pepper website for 250+ publications from Earlene Rentz Online Publications, and most of them have 2-3 pages. The RPS sheets are written using Successive Approximations (Simple to Complex) strategies, and students will be guided into new intervals, rhythms, and harmonies via previous information.
J. W. Pepper offers the RPS for a very reasonable cost, and the purchaser is granted permission to make multiple copies for their choir. On the J. W. Pepper site, most RPS materials are located at the bottom of the page (Reproducible PDF) on each title's webpage:
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Let's take a look at some RPS examples with TBB Voicings:
Example 1 - The melody and harmonies are taught using step-wise motion. All pitches are located by going up or down the scale to find them. The key is d minor, and Tenors might have difficulty singing the entire scale (range). The objective of Measures 1-4 is to teach the d minor scale. Tenors hang out on the dominant (A) until they can jump in and sing the melody with the Bass.
Example 2 - Both Bass parts are in thirds, and the Tenor provides an obligato part on the root of the chord, then doubles BII with the melody in the last three measures.
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This next title is "The Gift to Sing," (text by James Weldon Johnson...See March 16, 2021 post). The style is joyful, and the text encourages us to sing through challenging times.
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