Vocal Pedagogy in the Overlapping Rehearsal Contexts of Musical Theatre and Choral Music

This article is for the choral music educator who finds themselves assisting their colleagues or even leading or directing their school musical. Whatever capacity the choral director may hold, the choral educator must rely on their choral methodology and voice pedagogy training to guide the musical experience. In this article, the authors share strategies for applying vocal pedagogy in settings that use overlapping rehearsal contexts through an interview.

The reader will gain insight into the author's strategies and perceptions concerning:

The role that vocal pedagogy plays in the musical theatre chorus rehearsal and traditional choral classroom;

Rhythmic integrity when working with an accompanist;

The role vocal pedagogy plays in helping students achieve emotional results;

Similarities noticed between choral music and musical theatre;

Vocal pedagogy helping with intonation;

And more.

Whether you’re in a choral or musical theatre setting, we find many overlapping techniques learned through our studies that we can use to promote vocal health, achieve vocal success, and keep both rehearsal settings exciting and fun. I am currently assisting a local high school with its spring musical and reminded of the many similarities and differences that come along with the journey and reminding myself how to navigate a musical theatre rehearsal as it is not part of my daily duties. I encourage my fellow choral and music theatre directors to read this article and continue to depend on their prior knowledge moving forward.