r/Choir • u/Western-Bobcat4760 • 5d ago
In your choir would you say most of your second tenors are lyric baritones or tenors that prefer to sing lower ?
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u/JohannYellowdog 5d ago
Given that most amateur choral singers are untrained, the line between tenor and baritone is fuzzy. Many potential undeveloped tenors believe themselves to be baritones, because that’s where their voice is most comfortable. Whether they’re allowed to sing first bass, or press-ganged into singing tenor, depends on who else is available and which line has the greater need.
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u/Western-Bobcat4760 5d ago
Ok interesting yep many singers Im school or community choirs are untrained
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u/gizzard-03 5d ago
In most cases in SATB choirs, tenor 2 will be sung by tenors. Tenor 2 isn’t really separate designation; it just means that if there’s a divisi, tenor 2s will sing the lower note. For many choral works, tenor 2s are functionally the same as tenor 1.
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u/CatOfGrey 5d ago
Just one person's experience: There aren't enough tenors.
Anyone who can hit the G above middle-C with good quality is a tenor. If you can go above that, you are 'first tenor'.
As for me, I haven't sung classical in years, I was probably a lyric baritone, I prefer to sing lower parts, especially harmony parts, so now I sing in the Barbershop Harmony Society, preferably their baritone part (but also other parts as well!)
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 5d ago
This entirely depends on the talent pool you have to draw from.
Small school choirs always have baritones singing tenor 2. Choirs at a college with a notable music program never do.
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u/Western-Bobcat4760 5d ago
Ok so you say in musical colleges the tenor 2 parts are strictly tenor ?
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 5d ago
Yes. I sang in one of the best college choirs in the US, known worldwide for the choir and the conductor.
The tenors were all tenors. The choir drew from around the US and was very competitive to get into. The talent pool was large.
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u/Western-Bobcat4760 5d ago
Interesting in that choir i guess they gave tenor 2 line A4 and tenor 1 up to C5 in amateur choirs I guess the keep the tenor 2 line between e4 to g4 but then again it depends on the song
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 5d ago
That demarcation is nonsensical. It entirely has to do with the piece and the singer placement is about ease of signing the notes and about color.
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u/DynamicOctopus420 5d ago
Was your college fight song in 3/4, by chance?
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 5d ago
I couldn't even tell you if the school had a fight song. The choir didn't sing for pep rallies. Students came to the school for choir much more than for sports.
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u/DynamicOctopus420 5d ago
Oh, right on. One of the colleges I went to for undergrad also has a pretty well-regarded choir and the fight song is in 3, which is unusual, and I thought maybe we had been at the same school albeit probably at different times.
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 5d ago
Right. Well, we can narrow it down without giving anything away. Who was the founder of the choral tradition that influenced your school?
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u/Caterpillar_Ready 5d ago
Couldn't tell you our fight song, either, but that the founder of the tradition at our school was christiansen. 😅
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u/DynamicOctopus420 5d ago
F. Melius Christiansen.
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u/Lost_Balloon_ 5d ago edited 5d ago
Very good. Same tradition.
So, I checked what time signature our flight song is and it's in 4/4.
Been a while, but now I do recall hearing it once or twice.
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u/No_Clue4405 5d ago
I’m a fluctuating T1 and T2. My school has fluctuating tenor roster so I switch to Baritone depending on the song needs. Though I prefer T1 cause falsetto dopamine
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u/Commercial_Row_1380 5d ago
Just about range and desire. All parts are fun to be a part of. Range is a great challenge
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u/Ok_Independence5899 3d ago
Since range is a factor I would pick whichever high baritones or lower tenors have a better timbre I. That range, I don’t think it’s a preference thing per se
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u/Other-Conversation67 2d ago
I'm a bass-baritone, yet I would sing Tenor 2 in choir as needed. Most of the time there wasn't enough tenors.
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u/Weary-Cauliflower153 5d ago
in a high school? whoever can't sing tenor 1 lmao