High school a cappella is all the rage right now. It has enormous buzz. Why is that? Why is there such an explosion of a cappella in high schools? And, after we explore that phenomenon, what do we do with all the recent hub-bub centered around this question: “How is it that many high school groups manage to outperform college groups?”

Let’s take a look first at why a cappella is blowing up in high schools. Then we’ll get to the core differences between HS and Collegiate a cappella.

A CAPPELLA IS EXPLODING IN THE HIGH SCHOOL RANKS BECAUSE:

The kids love…

-music that is familiar: students have always asked “can we sing insert song from radio here?” That song might not be appropriate for a freshman mixed choir, but it certainly will work for an a cappella group.

-the social aspect of sing...