The Tenor Shortage
Your high school SATB choir has 36 singers: 14 sopranos, 12 altos, 4 tenors, and 6 basses. Two tenors are in the middle of voice change and can reliably sing only a narrow range; one tenor misses one rehearsal each week for an athletic commitment. The festival is in eight weeks, and the adjudication rubric rewards part independence and tonal blend. Your planned program includes a Renaissance motet with an independent tenor line, a spiritual with an optional tenor divisi, and a pop arrangement whose tenor part sits high. The sopranos are strong but tend to oversing. The principal wants no easy repertoire, and the festival requires three contrasting pieces. You have two 50-minute rehearsals per week and one after-school sectional.
1. How will you revoice or select repertoire to preserve artistic integrity while accommodating the tenor section? Explain the vocal and pedagogical trade-offs.
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Do not drop the tenor line or move it wholesale to the altos; that changes the voicing and often puts the line in an uncomfortable range. Instead, create a flexible tenor section: keep the two secure tenors on the original line, give the two changing voices a simplified tenor part limited to a fifth, often B-flat to F, and mark it optional where the line divides. For the Renaissance motet, consider an editorial transposition down a minor second or whole step if the tenor tessitura sits high; check that soprano and bass ranges remain healthy. For the pop arrangement, transpose down a step and remove the highest tenor divisi. The spiritual optional divisi can be assigned to the secure tenors plus one bass-baritone. The trade-off is that transposition may reduce brightness, and simplified parts can weaken part independence, so the simplified part must still have the same rhythm and harmonic function, not just roots. Because the festival rubric rewards independence, keep the tenor line rhythmically intact even when pitch range is reduced.
2. Outline the first three weeks of rehearsals with specific warm-ups and part-learning strategies for the changing voices.
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Weeks 1-3: warm up with descending five-note patterns on oo and ee, then add solfege. For the changing voices, use a narrow-range exercise and allow octave displacement. Teach the motet by phrase: sopranos and basses first, then altos, then tenors alone with a strong player or piano. In sectionals, record the tenors and let them hear the line; use staggered entries so no tenor sings alone in front of the full choir. In full rehearsal, place the two secure tenors on either side of the changing voices. For the pop piece, rehearse the tenor line at a slower tempo with the bass line only, then add soprano. Stop sopranos from oversinging by assigning a listening task: they must hear the tenor line and report one thing they noticed. This builds blend rather than volume.
3. How will you assess part independence without penalizing the changing-voice singers?
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Assess part independence with a short individual or trio check on a four-measure phrase, using a rubric for pitch accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, and independence from the piano. Give the changing-voice singers the simplified part for the check; grade the same rhythmic and harmonic criteria, not the original octave. Use a self-assessment where singers rate their confidence and identify one listening cue. This avoids penalizing vocal development while still holding all students to part independence.