A-Cappella Vocal Ensembles

            I’ve recently become the director of a new a-cappella ensemble in Cleveland, Ohio.  A-cappella groups are vocal groups that use no instruments, only the voice.  Most often a-cappella groups perform covers of existing songs that do include instruments, and use the human voice to imitate the sounds that the instruments would normally produce through the use of varying syllables and vowel sounds.  Some groups include vocal percussion, which is effectively specialized beat-boxing in an a-cappella arrangement that emulates drum set, electronic percussion and other percussive sounds and/or remixing effects.  While a-cappella groups can cover songs in any genre, most often they cover barbershop, do-wop, rock, r&b, pop, gospel, dance and top-40.

            There are a lot of cool features of a-cappella groups over other groups.  A-cappella ensembles may be any size, may be mixed-gender or standard gender, may allow for soloists (‘leads’), and music for the group may be more easily tailored to fit the level of the singers than many other ensemble configurations.  A-cappella can be sung anywhere at any time, since no equipment is required.

            A-cappella teaches many different skills to singers.  It requires a high level of careful listening and teaches singers to react carefully to what they hear from the other singers to create a cohesive sound—much more than they would in a standard choir.  Often a-cappella groups have four or less people on a part, so there is nowhere to hide.  Thus, singers become stronger and more confident as they get used to singing independently rather in a large choral section.  Furthermore, a-cappella develops rhythm in singers much more than other vocal ensembles.  There is no accompaniment or percussion to keep the beat, so the group members rely upon each other to keep the beat steady.

            With that being said, I’m really excited about this new ensemble.  If you are a singer in the Cleveland area and interested in singing a-cappella music, please do consider joining us.  More information can be found on the group’s facebook page.