Ethan Neal

EPE 301-201
Dr. Eric Weber

Literature Review 4: James Jordan - Inside the Choral Rehearsal

Dr. James Jordan, DMA & Ph.D is an astute author and professor at the Westminster

Choir College housed at Rider University in New Jersey. His publications have garnered praise

from across the world for their creativity and contributions to the field of choral pedagogy. In his

book, Inside the Choral Rehearsal, Jordan explores all aspects of the choral rehearsal process

and expresses the different ways of approaching each aspect of the rehearsal. Jordan provides a

framework for rehearsing, tools for aural development of the choir, and pedagogical methods for

empowering the choir. In my research, I will use these techniques to help garner a framework for

developing choral conductors to better bridge the gap between the students and the teacher to

assist the student learning process.

Jordan provides a framework for rehearsal techniques to be used throughout the choral

rehearsal process. As many classrooms have separate lecture, assessment, and activity times, the

choral classroom combines all of these in every class, every day. Jordan explores how we as

teachers can explore these different approaches to best suit the needs of our students in front of

us at any time. A particular interest of mine is his inclusion of a comprehensive framework for

teaching aural literacy in the classroom. This provides the necessary skills to the teacher to teach

rhythmic and harmonic literacy as it relates to the aural aspect of choral music to better provide

tools to teach audiation and listening of both the director and the ensemble. Jordan also describes

his use of critical pedagogy within rehearsal procedure to empower choral musicians.