Vocal chording: Technique and Application

I. Rationale
A. Melody can sound more beautiful when accompaniment is added.
B. Engages students of all ability levels and offers opportunities for creativity.
C. Reinforcement of other curricular topics [e.g. solfège, ensemble, and extemporization].
D. Vocal chording can act as a gateway to more advanced topics, including harmony, voice
leading, and the idea of texture.

II. Position within the Harmonic Independence hierarchy

1. Sing a melody
2. Add an ostinato
3. Sing partner songs
4. Add a descant
5. Sing chord roots
6. Add vocal chording 
7. Sing phrases or sections of a round
8. Sing rounds and canons
9. Sing “transition” pieces
10. Sing 2–4vv Part Songs

III. Technique
A. Vocal Chording by rote:
1. Select a well-known or easily learnable melody that may be harmonized in a simple,
straightforward manner [Example 1].
2. Discern the harmony implied by this melody.
3. Express this harmony as a simple chord progression [Example 2].
4. Assign each voice-leading “strand” to a group of singers, teaching each group their
part individually before adding all parts together.
B. Extemporization:
Often, students with good musical instincts can ‘intuit’ an accompaniment to a simple
or familiar melody. In this situation, the challenge for the student is reversed: instead of
singing a pattern of given solfège syllables, the student should be encouraged to apply
correct syllables to the accompaniment they extemporize.

IV. Application
A. Practical considerations:
1. Common chords, such as the tonic (I), subdominant (IV) and dominant (V), are
easily grasped.
2. Arrange chords so as to minimize motion in the various parts [Example 2, *].
3. Sustained notes [as are often found in vocal chording] are ideal for practicing
dynamic devices [crescendo and decrescendo; the messa di voce].
B. From classroom to concert? A blueprint for performance.
1. Presentation of the melody line-by-line in call and response format.
2. Presentation of the complete chord progression, NO MELODY!
3. 1 verse of melody and vocal chording.
4. Interlude [appropriate rhythm solo, melodic riff, etc.] with vocal chording.
5. The Big Finish™: Melody, Vocal Chording, AND rhythm, descant [improvised?], etc.
Crawford 2013 | MUE 1093 | Bowers
Example 1.

Example 2.

Crawford 2013 | MUE 1093 | Bowers