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WHICH ROUNDS AND CANONS ARE THE BEST?
When beginning a choir, EVERYONE tells you to start with unison singing, followed by ROUNDS. The question remains, WHICH ROUNDS? And more importantly, why?
The short answer is ALWAYS-- Whichever rounds YOU love. If you have a passion for a piece of music, AND you demonstrate this passion, your students will too. Maybe not immediately, but ultimately. Below, I have listed SOME of the rounds I start with every year. There are links to purchase a copy of my collections of rounds, as well as nice examples of students singing them. A few of these rounds are protected by copyright, which case there will be a link to most easily access the music.
Before I list the best rounds for your beginning choir, at ANY level, I would like to touch on the foundations for best usage.
ENJOYMENT
As educators and directors, we understand that not every song is going to vibe with every choir. This is true of finding the best rounds for your choir, too. You must know your choir members. Sometimes, we get to know them AS we are choosing repertoire, in this case, the best rounds for choirs. Often times you already know your choir, their personalities individually as well as their "choir personality". For instance, right now, I have 4 choirs. One is very smart and rebellious. They are the product of Covid and get restless easily, YET they need to be challenged. So, they need beautiful, time-tested melodies and often rhythmically-driven music. One of my choirs is very, very immature and needs silly. Lots and lots of silly. Whether I find silly rounds and songs, OR I inject my own silliness. We HAVE to be salespeople of our repertoire, and this goes for finding and delivering the best rounds, as well. If you and your choir are not enjoying the process-- FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO SING.
VOCAL PRODUCTION
The best rounds for your choirs are always going to be the ones that
Vowel Formation and Blend
Ear Training
Sight Reading
Now, without further ado--- the BEST Rounds for choirs.
Ah Poor Bird
This round is from 18th century England and can be found in the "Catch Club".
Banaha
Be like the Bird
Dance for the Nations
Dark of The Moon
Fly Fly Fly
Frere Jaques
Haida
Hey Ho Nobody Home
Kardos Canon
Kookaburra
Love is Love
Music Alone Shall Live
Oh Be Swift to Love
Oh How Lovely Is the Evening
Poor Tom (Ghost of John)
Roots and Wings
Rose, Rose
Strawberries
Summer is a Comin' In
The Birch Tree
This Pretty Planet
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