Music

When we think of music, though singing will come to mind rather quickly, we usually imagine it accompanied with various instruments to back up the great vocals. This is not always the case, however, and choirs are also an important and popular part of the music world.

A choir is an ensemble of singers sometimes, but not always, associated with the church (very often, choirs not associated with the church are referred to as a chorus). Like an orchestra there will often be a conductor or choirmaster who will lead the choir in performance and the whole choir will be split into four sections to create a four part harmony. Some choirs can also have some sort of musical accompaniment to aide them though singing without this is referred to as ‘a cappella’.

Choirs are also split into different versions that will naturally produce different sounds. Mixed choirs contain both men and women with the sound being SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and bass). Male choirs also have an SATB sound. Female choirs have an SSA sound (soprano, soprano II and alto). Men choirs contain more baritone and bass to produce a TTBB sound whilst Children’s choirs have an SA (soprano, alto) sound.