5 Great Charts For Your Beginning Jazz Choir
One of the most exciting parts of the year for you, as an educator, and for all of your students is learning and getting started on new repertoire for the school year. Curating the repertoire for the year isn’t easy – it takes a lot of planning, good judgment, and great taste to make sure that you and your students feel great about the music they’ll be singing all year.
Whether you have a concert choir that would like to dip into the jazz realm, or if you’ve got a middle/high school beginner jazz choir… here are 5 charts that we believe would be a great addition to your setlist! All of these charts are between levels 1-3, have a maximum of 4 part splits, and are arranged to be very singable.
Folsom High School Jazz Choir
#1 - I’m Old Fashioned, arr. Matt Falker
This classic Johnny Mercer tune, “I’m Old Fashioned”, is a great introductory medium-swing piece to teach your students a handful of vocal jazz techniques. The chart’s divisi is 3 parts (SAB), and it’s arranged to have melodic lines that are singable and memorable. The most unique part of this arrangement is the use of call-and-response with the melody – it adds exciting and colorful textures to the piece that’ll certainly captivate your students and audience. If you listen to the demo, you’ll notice that there is a brief and natural meter-change in every chorus (4/4 → 3/4). This is an awesome opportunity to to introduce meter changes to your students. Additionally, if you have a few students that you’re thinking about featuring on a solo, there are a few sections in the chart that require a soloist! You also have the option to have an instrumental or scat solo section… it’s very easy to open it up.
#2 - Waters Of March, arr. Dave Barduhn
Waters of March, originally known as “Águas De Março”, is a bossa nova tune composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Get your students excited about Latin grooves with this lively 2-part (SB) arrangement! The complexity of this arrangement is less about vocal harmony, but more about the ability to grasp the mouthful of lyrics and groove… which is perfect for young singers who are still developing their part-singing abilities. This arrangement features an instrumental solo section, and could potentially be opened up to feature a scat soloist. Your choir will have a blast learning these exciting lyrics and beautifully written parts!
#3 - September In The Rain, arr. Kerry Marsh
Kerry Marsh is an outstanding contemporary vocal arranger, and if you’re brand new to the vocal jazz realm, be sure to check out his website and browse his wide array of all kinds of jazz choir/a cappella charts. His arrangement of “September In The Rain” composed by Harry Warren is an awesome straight-ahead (SAB) arrangement suited for beginning jazz choirs. The parts are very singable, and lean a whole lot into teaching your students basic swing concepts. The chart features a soprano or alto soloist, as well as a scat solo (that could easily be replaced with an instrumental solo instead). If you feel that your choir is advanced enough to take on the challenge, there is a 4-part SATB version of the arrangement available as well.
#4 - Fly Me To The Moon, arr. Rosana Eckert
This Frank Sinatra classic (orig. composed by Bart Howard) is sure to get your students absolutely ecstatic to learn and perform a new chart! This SATB arrangement is very digestible and teachable, and absolutely tasteful. The use of counter-melodies provide a burst of energy and colorful textures that will undoubtedly grab an audiences attention. If you’ve got a baritone or mezzo-soprano soloist in mind, this is the perfect chart for your choir. Additionally, the soli is an amazing opportunity to have your students get a better grip on scatting, swing articulation, and vocal blend.
#5 - Tenderly, arr. Steve Zegree
This gorgeous ballad, composed by Walter Gross & Jack Lawrence, will be an amazing starting point to have your students start thinking about vocal blending, micro-dynamics, and tuning with an ensemble. Because this SATB piece is a cappella, the vocal harmony in this arrangement will be slightly more challenging for your students… but of course, it’s doable. The rubato feel will also give your students the opportunity to learn how to conduct themselves, breathe together, and hone in on each others musical expression.