Listen to this piano and melody guide for Singing in the Choir as you follow along with the vocal score. Watch the video to hear all parts combined in the second half of the song.

Singing in the Choir

Choristers will be tempted to push the tempo as they sing the lilting feel of swung eighths. Speed is not recommended! When adding all the parts together, excessive speed will create issues.

The choir director may opt not to sing the section between Rehearsal letter D-E. When omitting this section, proceed from bar 68 directly to bar 77.

The soprano part is extremely challenging. Have the sopranos sing lightly and listen carefully for the downbeat of each bar so the off-beat quarter notes stay steady and landing in the right spots.

Sopranos are encouraged to sing the word “tenors” with derisive attitude. After all, it is the tenors who have stolen the limelight and the melody that is usually assigned to the sopranos!

Invite each section to sing with attitude and dramatic presentation to add expressiveness to the humour of the song.

Included in the download is a melody guide track which provides singers the opportunity to hear the melodic line for their section. As the song progresses, each part is added back in cumulatively. At the point in the melody guide track where the parts are all added back in, only the tenor line (the melody of the song) is played.  

I was thinking about the makeup of the SATB choir and the kinds of parts that seem to be typical when choral pieces are written for an SATB ensemble. I started out with an idea that tenors might be miffed at only having parts that are in the middle of the harmonic fabric of a song. Maybe they would like to have the opportunity to sing the tune once in a while. The bouncy tune (swinging the eighths) and the complaint of the tenors “It’s not just girls who like to sing and be noticed, we like to sing melodies too!” set the tone for the piece and I was off to the races! By deconstructing (or constructing) the elements that go into harmony parts, it was fairly simple to outline the chord changes with the bass part, and to fill in the inner harmonies with the alto line. Each part got to sing about their issues with this kind of stereotypical writing, so the text fell into place easily as well. Finally, the only part that was left was the soprano line.

Sopranos often have the beautiful, soaring melody line in choral pieces. In this case, the melody had already been handled by the tenors so, in a fairly complete role reversal, the soprano line became a series of short, high notes, sung on off beats, that were points of colour on top of the rest of the harmonies.  It wasn’t my intention to create such a difficult part for the sopranos to sing, but it really turned out that way. Maybe it was because I have never really sung soprano in a choir. Early in my ensemble singing experience it was discovered by my music teachers that I had the ability to sing solid harmony parts, and I was quickly assigned to sing alto. I must hasten to include here that I do not harbour any ill will toward sopranos, but it would not be a stretch to sing this particular piece and to wonder about my motives! The only thing I can think of to assuage the misgivings of sopranos is to turn their attention to songs like The Love of the Sea or I Will Be There to discover that I do like to write lovely melody lines for sopranos to sing.

As I continued crafting the remaining elements of Singing in the Choir, I thought it would be fun to add a part for the director who would admonish the choir to cooperate with each other and to sing all their parts to create a cohesive piece of music. After this entreaty by the director, the tenors begin singing their part and each section is added cumulatively as the song progresses. The piano also plays a collaborative role. As the song progresses the piano accompaniment becomes more and more sparse, allowing the complexity of multiple parts and lyrics to unfold without being masked by the piano. However, when the full piano part returns, listeners will hear how the foundational accompaniment also has an important part to play in the overall presentation. Each part does indeed have an important role in creating a successful performance and the final conclusion is reached, “I like singing in the choir!”

This was a fun song to write and when it was completed, I was delighted when director, Ross Thompson programmed Singing in the Choir for a concert performed by the Cantabile Singers of Truro. They did a super job of hamming up the bickering between the sections and of course, fine singing was also part of the fun performance.

When you have enjoyed singing this song with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Please send us your performance video - we might be able to post it on this page!

"Fun and easy for an amateur choir.  A great way for any level to break down any preconceived ideas about choirs taking themselves seriously. " 

Dawn Harwood-Jones

Director, 3 Choirs

Listen to melody + accompaniment for O Little Town of Bethlehem as you follow along with the lyrics.

O Little Town of Bethlehem

I remember writing this melody. It was late at night and I was playing chord changes, just “noodling” and not really working on anything in particular. I have multiple tracks that I recorded during this session and when I listen to them in order, it is possible to hear how the song idea evolved until it reached its final form. It was certainly a process that became refined and molded through many repetitions.

The song’s plaintive, minor tonality seemed to me to require a serious topic for the song. I crafted lyrics about the weeping willow and the secrets it must hold in its branches and that cause the willow to weep. I don’t know what made me think to try the lyrics for O Little Town of Bethlehem with my melody. When I did so, I was delighted to discover that they fit with one minor lyric change. I like the words to this familiar Christmas carol but the melody by Lewis H. Redner has never been one of my favourites. Now, with my new melody I am happy to include O Little Town of Bethlehem as one of the Christmas songs I really enjoy playing and singing.

In addition to its use as a Christmas carol in unison, SSA and SATB arrangements and as the secular song “Willow” (words and music), my melody was edited for use as a Vocalise (a wordless vocal study) for inclusion in the Royal Conservatory of Music Voice Series, 2025 Edition (Vocalises 5). I also play this as an instrumental solo on my violin or on my accordion (see bonus tab below). That’s a lot of mileage for one song!

When you have enjoyed singing this song with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Send us your performance video - perhaps we might post it on this page!

O Little Town of Bethlehem (SSA) is also available through Full Voice Music 

O Little Town of Bethlehem uses the original melody from Donna's composition Willow. Enjoy this studio instrumental version of Willow from Donna's CD Musically Yours.

Listen to this grade 4-5 elementary choir performing Thankful as you follow along with the vocal score.

Thankful  has been arranged as a three-part round. It is available as a 3-part treble arrangement and also as an SSATB arrangement. The melody is written with a range of B3-E5 in the treble clef and B1-E4 for bass clef singers. When the song is being sung as a round, it is suggested that each part be sung by mixed groups of singers (soprano/alto and tenor/bass) to create support for the outer ranges of the melody line.

The two arrangements (3-part treble and SSATB) are compatible and can be used for a massed choir performance. The only adjustment is the section of the music between bars 49-72 (Rehearsal letter B-C). In this section, the tenor/bass voices are highlighted in the SSATB arrangement. In the 3-part arrangement, a 2-part canon is written. For a massed choir performance, choose one group to highlight for this section (either tenor/bass voices or 2-part treble voices singing the 2-part round) and resume with all members singing at rehearsal letter C.

Thankful is written with the option to include handbells with the piano accompaniment.

When performing with handbells, they present the opening introduction of the melody. The melody is written in the piano score as well to add support. However, if the bells are secure in presenting the melody, the piano accompanist may either leave out the melody notes or play them lightly. If using the piano as the only accompanying instrument, the melody line is written in the piano part and it needs to be highlighted. It is possible to play the handbell part using a second piano if one is available. This provides more texture and depth to the accompaniment.

Andy and I were travelling from Nova Scotia, Canada to do a tour of Donna & Andy concerts in elementary schools in Ontario. As we drove, rural Nova Scotia and scenic ocean views had given way to the forested scenery (and hopes of catching sight of a moose) in New Brunswick. We had navigated the traffic in Montreal, which can be an adventure or a disaster depending on the time of day, and we were finally in Ontario. The 401 is a highway that is known for lots of lane changing as traffic weaves and flows and it is also known for the times when all 16 lanes come to a complete halt during peak travel times. For a country girl, the highway was overwhelming at times and as Andy drove I would sometimes cover my eyes and let him do his thing as he adeptly navigated the traffic. At one point suddenly to our left, I could see a large expanse of water. “It’s the ocean!” was my first thought, but it turned out to be Lake Ontario. Nonetheless, the sight of a large body of water sparkling in the sun beaming from a clear blue sky was a welcome sight to this Maritimer’s eyes. 

The words that turned out to be the song Thankful sprang to my mind and I quickly grabbed a pen to write them down. They are very simple and they don’t rhyme, but they captured the moment completely. The melody also came at the same time and I jotted that down using my solfege training so I could write out the notes later.

When we returned home, I taught the song to my elementary school choir. I realized that we could layer the parts by singing it as a round. There are a few spots where the harmonies that are created are a bit dissonant, but they quickly pass and satisfying, comfortable harmonies appear – much like the welcome sight of sparkling water after dealing with the snarls of the highway.

Thankful is a thought, a feeling, and a reflection set to music. We have much for which to be thankful if we stop and take notice.

When you have enjoyed singing this song with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Please send us your performance video - we might be able to post it on this page!