“Choral practice takes advantage of neurophysiological effects of hearing on the speech organs.”
Think about that for a second. It means that if we practice speaking English simultaneously with a model speaker, what we hear coming from the group and ourselves will gradually regulate our speech organs to match what we are hearing from the model, automatically. As we chant in chorus with a model English speaker, we get better and better at our pronunciation, and we approximate the model speaker more and more closely.
” ‘Practice makes perfect’ is neurophysiologically true.”
We watch our children practice skill sets over and over until they master them. But as adults, we stop believing that we have to physically practice; we tend to think we can analyze something until we master it. But pronunciation is physical! There must be a strong connection between the brain and the body, and the only way to build these pathways and maintain them, is through practice.
“Choral practice provides a statistical mass effect.”
The more you practice in chorus, the better and better you get. You’ll be paving new neural pathways, making constant connections between the hearing and analyzing centers of the brain, and building reciprocal connections between the neural system and the speech organs.
Read Dr. Kjellin’s white paper here.
http://olle-kjellin.com/SpeechDoctor/Choral_Practice.pdf
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Peggy Tharpe teaches, coaches, and publishes about English pronunciation and intonation. She believes that if you understand why something is happening, you're better able to address it and change it. She teaches the "why" of pronunciation as well as the "what" and "how".