Development of Early Choral Expertise: Insights from Middle School Elite Choristers
Abstract
1. Introduction
1.1. Developing Musical Expertise
1.2. Developing Choral Expertise
1.3. Listening to Young Children’s Voices
- How do middle school choristers develop competence in choral singing?
- What is the role of the choral community in this journey?
- How do middle school choristers achieve high-level results?
- How is chorister identity shaped through choral participation?
2. Methodology
2.1. Research Site
2.2. Participants
2.3. Data Collection
2.4. Thematic Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Competence: Learning as Mastery
4.2. Community: Learning as Belonging
4.3. Meaning: Learning as Experience
4.4. Identity: Learning as Becoming
5. Conclusions and Implications
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Pseudonym | Age | School Year | Sex | Instruments Played, Exam Level or Years of Learning |
---|---|---|---|---|
Emma | 10 | 5 | F | Piano, Grade 1; Harp, 1 year |
Eva | 10 | 6 | F | Piano, Grade 4; Clarinet, Grade 3 |
James | 10 | 5 | M | Violin, Grade 7; Piano, Grade 3 |
George | 10 | 5 | M | Cello, Grade 8; Percussion, Grade 2; Piano, 4 years |
Mia | 11 | 6 | F | Piano, Grade 5; Violin, Grade 5 |
Henry | 11 | 6 | M | Violin, 7 years |
Martin | 12 | 7 | M | Piano, Grade 4; Saxophone, 1 year |
Camilla | 13 | 7 | F | Piano, Grade 2; Violin, 2 years; Harp, 1.5 years; Bass Guitar, 1 year |
Anna | 13 | 7 | F | Flute, Grade 4; Piano and Guitar, beginner |
Lily | 13 | 8 | F | Flute, Grade 6; French Horn, beginner |
Chloe | 14 | 8 | F | Singing, 4 years; Clarinet, 3 years; Guitar, 1 year |
Theme | Sub-Themes | Participant Quotes |
---|---|---|
Competence: Learning as Mastery | Entry Point into Choral Singing | My first memory of singing would probably be when I went to school and was in the school choir at the age of 5 or 6. My sister was singing before me and she sung so beautifully that I thought to myself, “Wow, I want to someday be able to sing like that,” so I started singing. (Emma) When I was about seven my sister did her audition for the Sydney Children’s Choir and we both started singing a lot. (George) First memory of singing in a choir would definitely be when I was six, when I heard of the Sydney Children’s Choir and I decided to join. (Henry) When I was about five, I got my first singing teacher and she was really nice, and I completed Grade 1 when I was about five. That was probably my first musical experience of performing, so that’s pretty cool. (Camilla) My best friend’s Mum decided to start a class choir, just in my little class, and I did that for about a year. (Chloe) |
Formal Choral Music Education | Sight-singing classes helped me the most, because before that I didn’t really know treble clef that well and that’s really helped me develop my skills for that. (George) I’ve learnt a lot of theory, so much more than I ever would have learnt anywhere else. And blending and technique. (Chloe) In my singing lessons I work on new songs improving my vocal range. How I sing, techniques for breathing, just how to approach singing altogether. That’s been really, really helpful. (Camilla) If we first get a new piece then we’ll sight-sing it through first and then we’ll analyse the phrasing. And if it’s an old piece we’ll analyse the word stress and other things like that. (Anna) | |
Evolving Musical Practice | Last year I was alto, because we were split into three parts: Soprano 1, Soprano 2 and Alto. And this year I’m Alto 2 singing in four parts (Martin). My choir pushing me forward to do more challenging things, and I got to love singing even more than I had when I started. (Emma) We got to learn different types of music. Like we did a yodelling song and we did songs in other languages. (Mia) In this choir, we do quiet time before performance. Ten minutes before the performance, you’ll sit and shut our eyes and just think about everything. It’s nice to have time where you can just think about what you’re about to do. (Anna) | |
Community: Learning as Belonging | The Ensemble Community | The first rehearsal was really nice, because everyone was really nice and welcoming, seeing as I joined at a different time. And being able to make great music with great people and having a good time in rehearsals. (Lily) It’s such a lovely choir. The conductors are so supportive of our choir. The people are nice. The people are understandable, because I’m a bit like them. (James) I think it is more like a tribe or a family than a music attendance. (Henry) Honestly, I can’t imagine myself without my singing or my choir. My choir just makes me feel like I’m part of something and that I’m helping some people by singing and making them feel so nice inside. So, it’s made a very big impact on my life. (Emma) If I wasn’t singing, I don’t think I would be as happy as I am now. Singing with this choir has given me so many new friends, so many opportunities. So many ways to just be happy in general. The highlight of my week is coming to choir, I love choir. (Camilla) |
Peer Group | I’ve learnt there are people in the world like me who love singing and really appreciate the joy of music. (James) They are some of my closest friends because it’s really nice to have friends that love doing the same thing as you. (Anna) The friends that you get in choir are the friends that you keep for almost forever. (Henry) I have lots of really nice friends at choir, they’re probably better than my friends at school, because we’re all interested in the same things. When we have break time, we sit down, we eat, we talk. On tours we have so much fun. (Camilla) Not long ago I had a sleepover with my choir friends and then we went to the park and swam in the pools. (Mia) | |
Meaning: Learning as Experience | Purpose | When you get to the kind of professional level like in JPC, you have to commit to the two days a week of rehearsals. Singing is really important to me, so I always find the time to do it. (Eva) In this choir it is not focused on just singing a song but it is focused on giving you experience. They give you incredibly good vocals, great accompaniments, great conductors, great compositions, amazing works of art that you get to see. They are sharing something with us that is incredibly hard to find. (Henry) When conductors are singing it really shows me how a professional singer would sing, and what I need to aim towards. (Martin) You need to know that it’s a team rather than just one person. Everyone knows that it’s a choir, so everyone needs to blend. Blending is really important. (Chloe) In this choir we work on music skills like being able to read music and sight-singing as well as understanding the theory and what sort of ideas the composers had and what we need to portray when we’re performing the songs. (Lily) |
Achievement | I wasn’t very good at sight-singing and I’ve got better and better at that. And now I’m in the top sight-singing group. (Martin) I have learnt [music] theory, I have learnt how to do sight-singing really well. I have learnt how to compose and it has given me inspiration to do all sorts of other things. (Henry) I learnt to sing in tune, I learnt like how to blend our voices together, not just sing as one soloist but to sing as a choir. (Mia) I used to look like a balloon when I was breathing, but now I can breathe in the right spots, in the right pitches, which is a very important skill, especially in performance. (James) | |
Reciprocity | I think being in the choir I have developed a sense of maturity because conductors constantly rely on you to do the work. The responsibility is a real switch for everything and we have to follow with this responsibility. (Henry) I like how we can learn all the music together instead of just trying to practise by yourself, and conductors help you learn and find new methods of practising and learning. (George) [Conductors] don’t mind if they ask you to sing something and you get it wrong. They ask you to try again until you get it right, and then they congratulate you and just encourage you to do better. (Eva) Kindness and helping people who don’t really know the music that well and helping them to learn the music, and also to be a confident person. (Emma) [Conductor] fine-tunes the bits in a kind way that’s not critical and makes people confident of their abilities. (James) | |
Identity: Learning as Becoming | Transformation | I’m hoping to sing in choirs for a long time after now, and maybe do some solos, and be an opera singer part-time. (Emma) I just want to keep singing. I want to stay in the choir. I think it’s going to make me more musical and know more and understand more music. (Mia) I want to sing my whole life, that’s why I look after voice, I don’t want it to be hurt. I want to be a musical person in the future. (Camilla) I personally think it helps me tackle fear on an emotional level and it helps me with a lot of things in my mind because I get quite nervous sometimes occasionally. And then, when I sing, singing is the thing that makes me feel calm. (Henry) This choir also is about leadership too. Sometimes people are appointed leaders of the section, and I find that very good to improve your social skills. (James) |
Intensity | We sing it through it first, and conductors give us points, and we find it very helpful to always write it down on the music so they don’t have to keep repeating themselves, and most of the time we at least do a few bars, and then they would go over what we need to focus on. (Lily) Usually what happens is we practise the songs, but then when there’s something wrong then our conductor goes through that page or line or a specific part of the piece and we get people to have their opinions about how to perfect it, how it could be better. (James) I want to be able to blend with other choristers and trying to remember every note that the conductor gives you. I find it very helpful to have a pencil and write down absolutely everything they say. (Anna) The conductors sometimes like to make jokes, not hurting anyone’s feelings but helping us to get better, so giving us things to work on rather than telling off. (George) I love rehearsals, they are really fun and helpful. Doing fun mirror exercises and choir games. They are always really fun and you learn as well. (Eva) |
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Zhukov, K.; Barrett, M.S. Development of Early Choral Expertise: Insights from Middle School Elite Choristers. Educ. Sci. 2025, 15, 1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15091093
Zhukov K, Barrett MS. Development of Early Choral Expertise: Insights from Middle School Elite Choristers. Education Sciences. 2025; 15(9):1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15091093
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhukov, Katie, and Margaret S. Barrett. 2025. "Development of Early Choral Expertise: Insights from Middle School Elite Choristers" Education Sciences 15, no. 9: 1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15091093
APA StyleZhukov, K., & Barrett, M. S. (2025). Development of Early Choral Expertise: Insights from Middle School Elite Choristers. Education Sciences, 15(9), 1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15091093