In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Dean Luethi

Dr. Dean Luethi is an Associate Professor and Director of the School of Music at Washington State University in Pullman. In addition to his administrative duties Dean directs the Tenor/Bass Choir and teaches applied theory. Prior to his work at WSU, Dean worked as a Visiting Instructor at the University of South Florida in Tampa and Director of Choirs at Luxemburg-Casco High School and Lombardi Middle School.

He has guest conducted or presented research in India, Cuba, New Foundland, Hawaii, Austria, and Poland. He is sought after as a guest conductor, adjudicator, and clinician and has been published in Choral Journal and Music Educators Journal. His first book Aligning Voices: Exercise to Build Choral Musicianship will be released in spring of 2019 by GIA Publications. He is currently working on a virtual choral conducting series for the National Choir Council of the National Association for Music Educators to be distributed to choral conductors in India.

Dean Luethi : Aligning Voices

This book of versatile, pedagogically based choral warm-ups helps conductors take full advantage of important time in every rehearsal, providing tools for assessment, musicianship, and ensemble unity at the same time singers are warming up their voices.

The exercises in Aligning Voices are organized into nine chapters, each focusing on a different area of choral technique. Each warm-up contains two or more parts, allowing the director to work toward improving choral sound in a texture similar to that of the repertoire. Moreover, author Dean Luethi provides every warm-up in three voicings-SATB, SSAA, and TTBB-and sequentially organizes them by difficulty level.

These exercises go well beyond simply warming up the voice. This resource is a must-have for all choral directors looking to make the most of their warm-up time.

Songlist: Rhythm, Brilliance, Intonation, Balance, Dynamics, Consonants, Beginning Consonants, Diphthongs and Ending Consonants, Vowels