LearnGospelMusic.com Community
Main => Ministry, M.O.M, Praise Teams and Choirs => Topic started by: vtguy84 on March 23, 2011, 11:30:15 AM
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In the years of being on this board, I have written some tips on how to be an effective choir director, from teaching how to direct, to effectively running a rehearsal. I'm making this thread and making it a sticky for any choir director looking for tips.
Any comments or suggestions are welcomed!
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Choir directing is no different than playing an instrument. You will not be a Ricky Dillard or a Hezekiah Walker overnight. It takes practice, work, and experience. The reason I say that is because I have seen many beginning directors try to do the Ricky Dillard moves and literally fall flat on their face. Start off simple.
Here are some notes:
- While directing, make sure that you are fully knowledgeable of the song. You are the one in control of the song and must make sure that you have a lock on the song in order to lead the Levites.
- Your hands need to tell the story. The way you direct is vitally important. If the song is supposed to be quiet, your hands should show it (directing very small) and if loud, hands should be outstretched.
- Timing is key. You must have excellent communication with your band and choir. Hand movements have to be done for everyone to see. You have to learn to do a move in time for the choir and band to make adjustments, however not too early where the gun is jumped.
Now with actual directing moves, here are a list of moves that I use. Use these as suggestions….you may find a better move.
- To repeat a move/phrase – Both hands moving in a circular motion
- To move to another phrase – Hitchhiker sign going towards your back
- To go back to the top - Tap top of head
- To modulate keys – Thumbs up sign towards the band
- To invert choir parts – Point up to the ceiling1 (You should have a different sign for modulations and inversions)
- To break the music – Cross hands to make an X towards the band
- To end the song – The number one waved in a circle followed by a hand up to signify the end2
This is a video of me directing at our 10 year anniversary concert: EGC Fall Concert 2005--Shekinah Glory Intro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r4kiuY6T-k#)
1 – shown at 6:24
2 – shown at 6:39
Remember the movements that I have stated are just suggestions. You need to learn what works for you. If you do a YouTube search, you will see several choirs and directors. If you like a move, use it. If you don’t, don’t.
Here is another clip of my friend Markise Hicks directing ‘The Blood’ by James Hall. This video is pretty stationary, so you can see more hand movements: Angelic Voices cover James Hall's "The Blood" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hpkIIbmXVk#)
Each song will use different moves. Like I said, start simple. It takes practice along with devotion.
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Let me start off by saying this: I think a lot of people are missing the fact that it takes way more than just prayer and anointing for something to work out.
If prayer and anointing did it, we would all not need to work 40-50 hours a week because we would have way more than enough to supply our needs. Same with the choir. It takes more than just the anointing. Let me do a quick lesson.
From the spiritual side, I think most choirs are hitting it very well: prayer and anointing. Let's look at the natural side of where we are missing the mark: musicianship and showmanship. Let's start off with a few definitions
musicianship n : artistry in performing music
showmanship n : the ability to present something in an attractive manner
Let's start with musicianship: It takes time away from a 1-2 hour rehearsal to get things prepared on both ends. From musicians, it means having music ready BEFORE rehearsal time so that time isn't wasted figuring out notes. From the singers view, it means grabbing a copy of the song and learning lyrics and trying to figure out your notes. It also means enunciation, proper breathing, etc.
Now showmanship: Christians act like this is a bad word to use in the church, however it is well needed to perform (or minister) effectively. Musicianship is very important, but if I'm in the audience and you are singing well but you don't have the look on your face or the vivacious behavior over in the music corner, I'm going to have a hard time getting with you. There have been many choirs that I've seen where they sing awesome according to musicianship but did not look like they wanted to be there.....other times, choirs who may have not mastered musicianship definitely had the showmanship, and people in the congregation are looking more for showmanship.
From a showman himself (choir director), I tell people plenty of times that I could direct that song a different way and the choir will probably sound the same, but it's something about my live character that causes excitement in the choir members, which ultimately makes the congregation get with the choir. No I'm not being fake and trying to conjure up something, however if you know me, you know music is my passion....so I just put my all in directing.
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Running an effective choir rehearsal
A choir rehearsal is extremely important to the choir’s function. A rehearsal can make the choir better or ultimately weaken the choir. Here are some things you may want to consider when it comes to rehearsal.
Before Rehearsal
A rehearsal is something not to be taken lightly. When working with a choir, it is easy to lose focus if there is no control in the rehearsal. There must be a clear cut plan of what will be executed in the rehearsal so things will run smoothly. Here are some things you want to do before your scheduled choir rehearsal:
- The choir director should meet with the head musician at least 24 hours before rehearsal to discuss the flow of rehearsal, including which songs will be rehearsed.
- Lyrics should be emailed at least 24 hours before rehearsal or printed off and brought to rehearsal.
- If possible, bring a copy of the songs to rehearsal.
At Rehearsal
This is where your preparation gets executed. If you have prepared well, rehearsal should go very smoothly. Be confident in your administration. Here is how a typical practice should start:
- Make sure all the leaders are ON TIME! If possible, have a small leadership prayer before the choir gets there. If you show up late, the choir will feel that it’s not required for them to show up on time.
- START ON TIME! Whether there are three people or 30, make sure that you get the ball rolling on time to show members that you will not wait for anyone.
- Start with breathing exercises to get the members prepared for the rehearsal.
Make sure that you change the format of rehearsals weekly to make things different. If people know that you are going to have a 10 minute Bible study at the beginning of each rehearsal, people won’t come on time because they feel like they won’t miss anything.
Execute the plan that you have come up with in an orderly, but fun manner. One thing you must remember is that being in the choir is extracurricular and if people don’t feel their time is being used effectively, they will not feel a need to come to rehearsal. Make rehearsal important.
Executing the Plan
The plan that you come up with in rehearsal is important to a successful and productive rehearsal. Here is a sample of a plan that I have used in my choir rehearsal:
Thursday’s Rehearsal (Seitz 313)
Set Up @ 5:30 p.m.
Prayer @ 6:00 p.m.
Word: ______________________
Warm-ups: ________________________________
Ice breaker: _______________________________
Song 1: __________________________________
Song 2: __________________________________
Water Break
Announcements/Upcoming Engagements
Song 3: __________________________________
Closing Prayer
In this particular rehearsal…
- We had the Word given at the beginning of rehearsal.
- We had an icebreaker because it was an interest meeting. Try to limit these to 5 minutes to keep rehearsal fun, but not lose track of why we’re here.
- Song #1 was ‘All Hail King Jesus (Sing the Praises to the King)’, a song that most people, even if it were their first rehearsal, are able to sing with ease.
With this plan, you have a clear idea of what songs will be done and how much time you should spend on each thing.
A different way to run rehearsal
If you are looking for a different way to run rehearsal, here is something that I have done and works well. This may or may not work based on the resources that your choir obtains:
As far as learning songs:
I have 1 section leader for each section. The three are responsible for learning the songs ahead of time. We get together two days before rehearsal and go over parts to make sure that parts are successful. Once we have mastered this, we go to rehearsal.
At rehearsal when I introduce a song, I let the choir listen to the whole song in its entirety. Afterwards, there are three separate rooms where the different section leaders take their section and work on their parts; each room has a CD and a boombox. While this is going on, the musicians are in the main room fixing last minute stuff to make sure that the music flows effectively. This way all people are working at the same time. A normal song takes about 10-15 minutes to work on. After that time, we come together and put it all together.
Summarized Points
Here are the points summarized:
- Prepare for rehearsals in advanced, giving songs to the musicians and writing out a plan.
- Show up to rehearsals on time and start rehearsals on time.
- Make rehearsal fun. When the choir feels a family atmosphere, they will feel more welcomed to showing up and being faithful.
- Change the layout of rehearsals to keep people intrigued.
Hope this helps. :)
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Good posts! Hope this stays as a 'sticky'!
:)
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Good posts! Hope this stays as a 'sticky'!
:)
Thanks! I plan to keep this up indefinitely. :)
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Hey, Mr. vtguy84, I'm a director and I've been trying to find like someone to help me out, and make me better. I am good, but there is always room to advance in your knowledge of directing! I would really like if you had the time to post other things on choir directors, or you at a rehersal video, or even you showing me some things on a little short video. Id appreciate it. Need anything message me!
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Hey, Mr. vtguy84, I'm a director and I've been trying to find like someone to help me out, and make me better. I am good, but there is always room to advance in your knowledge of directing! I would really like if you had the time to post other things on choir directors, or you at a rehersal video, or even you showing me some things on a little short video. Id appreciate it. Need anything message me!
I have been asked to do videos for over 10 years and the main reason I have not done it is simply because of time. With new functions like Ustream that allow me to broadcast and then save as video, I may do a couple of live Ustreams of my choir rehearsals to just give you a gauge of how I run a rehearsal. My choir rehearsals are only an hour and we get to the point. (Warning: when I stream them, be prepared to laugh as I like to crack jokes) Now I don't do much directing in my rehearsals, but I do a lot of teaching so hopefully that will help.
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I'm not the director to waste time either, we try to start promptly. I don't direct at all really at rehersals! Last week, we were all singing and doing the electric slide! And Yes, I'm a pretty funny guy myself!
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vt,
Thanks a zillion for your very hot tips. I'm just learning about this art.
Keep the hot tips coming sir.
ta
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Excellent post bruh. Our choir director follows a very similar schedule! You get the most out of it in the least amount of time!!
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vt,
Thanks a zillion for your very hot tips. I'm just learning about this art.
Keep the hot tips coming sir.
ta
Excellent post bruh. Our choir director follows a very similar schedule! You get the most out of it in the least amount of time!!
Thanks guys!
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i have been directing for over a decade and im only 18 years of age..everything you said at the beginning of this post is accurate and IMPORTANT information that Choir Directors & Masters need to know...you have to be able to completely execute the song while directing and accommodating not only the choir but the band as well ..AWESOME JOB
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As a Minister of Music,
This post has been very helpful and I will try some of these techniques in my choir rehearsal this week.
Thanks my fellow brother in christ
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Hi My name is Larry Seals.. I have been choir directing for some years now, yet I have dull music experiences!! I am pretty good at putting voices together as equally as possible, and also splitting up 3 parts tenor, alto, saprano into parts if possible so.. My piano at my church plays the same noice in every song, and the meaning of the song just do not sound the same!! I know a little bit about my notes on a piano, but i want to get better so bad!! I am happy where I am now, but i just want to get better at choir directing!! If you guys have any tips for me, please give it to me as effectively as possible! You do not how much your answers will make my day!! Another thing! Since I am young, people run over me so much because they are much older than me! how can i make a close perfect choir?? Is it okay to use one hand to direct a choir or both???
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Nice graphic, newnew! Welcome to LGM!
:)
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thank you!!!
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Running an effective choir rehearsal
.... wow ....
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WONDERFUL POST !! I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO USE ALL OF THIS !! GOD BLESS YOU :) !!
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.... wow ....
What?
WONDERFUL POST !! I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO USE ALL OF THIS !! GOD BLESS YOU :) !!
God Bless You and Welcome to LGM!
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Thanks for these tips! Appreciate that!
As far as directing with the hands, I can't. At my small church, I am the head musician(organ), and director and sound guy!!
So I will direct with my head, my mouth. At the end of songs I will stick my hand up to signal the end. I am going to keep reading what you are talking about. This is good stuff.
What do you do for warm ups? This last week I had them run up and down the scale on numbers and then on do-re-mi, etc.
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Thanks for these tips! Appreciate that!
As far as directing with the hands, I can't. At my small church, I am the head musician(organ), and director and sound guy!!
So I will direct with my head, my mouth. At the end of songs I will stick my hand up to signal the end. I am going to keep reading what you are talking about. This is good stuff.
What do you do for warm ups? This last week I had them run up and down the scale on numbers and then on do-re-mi, etc.
That's good - I also have them repeat a phrase from a song we're going to do, over and over. This works when getting levels on mics, too.
For next week's rehearsal, I cobbled together a sheet of short Choir parts to use for call-and-response Gospel warmups, in different keys...
(see attached pdf)
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Cool! This is cool, thanks!!!! I can totally use this. Got anymore, or know where I can go to get more?
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Thanks Betnich!
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Cool! This is cool, thanks!!!! I can totally use this. Got anymore, or know where I can go to get more?
Here's another, w/keyboard, that came to me last night. A little longer, but maybe you can do just the first 2 measures over and over, going up the keys chromatically. Or do the same with the whole thing. Our choir tends to just stand still when they sing, and Pastor wants them to move with the beat, so maybe this will help...
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Hi, New here...
Just one note - I've discovered that when I'm teaching parts, for quickest results, teach the words and rhythms first, then go back and teach the melodies to each part. So what I do is beat the time with my hands on my lap and get everyone to recite the words with me in rhythm. Then we worry about parts. Also, make sure each member has a recording of how we're going to do it to practice with.
Using this, I was able to teach the Hallelujah Chorus - soulful version in two rehearsals! The first one, everybody learned their parts, and the second one was tighten up.
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Hi, New here...
Just one note - I've discovered that when I'm teaching parts, for quickest results, teach the words and rhythms first, then go back and teach the melodies to each part. So what I do is beat the time with my hands on my lap and get everyone to recite the words with me in rhythm. Then we worry about parts. Also, make sure each member has a recording of how we're going to do it to practice with.
Using this, I was able to teach the Hallelujah Chorus - soulful version in two rehearsals! The first one, everybody learned their parts, and the second one was tighten up.
Welcome to LGM and GREAT advice!
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HI, I AM A BEGINNER CHOIR DIRECTOR, IVE BEEN DIRECTING FOR ABOUT 4 YRS NOW. I AM OK BUT I COULD USE A LOT OF IMPROVEMENT. I AM A LEADER AND I'M GOOD AT TAKING CONTROL ITS JUST THAT I DONT HAVE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DIRECTING. I WANT TO KNOW MORE AND HOW TO TEACH SONGS. IM GREATFUL FOR YOUR POST ON HOW TO RUN A EFFECTIVE REHEARSAL CAUSE IM GETTING READY TO TAKE OVER MY CHOIR AS PRESIDENT AND I NEED HELP BADLY. ESPECIALLY BEING THAT MY CHOIR DOESNT HAVE A MUSICIAN RIGHT NOW, WE JUST HAVE DRUMS SO WE'RE DOING THR BEST WE CAN. SO IF YOU HAVE ANY TIP THAT WOULD BE A GREAT BENEFIT TO ME PLEASE BLESS ME WITH THEM AND PLEASE KEEP POSTING, I COULD USE THE IDEAS! THANK YOU MUCH...GOD BLESS!!!
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HI, I AM A BEGINNER CHOIR DIRECTOR, IVE BEEN DIRECTING FOR ABOUT 4 YRS NOW. I AM OK BUT I COULD USE A LOT OF IMPROVEMENT. I AM A LEADER AND I'M GOOD AT TAKING CONTROL ITS JUST THAT I DONT HAVE ALL THE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DIRECTING. I WANT TO KNOW MORE AND HOW TO TEACH SONGS. IM GREATFUL FOR YOUR POST ON HOW TO RUN A EFFECTIVE REHEARSAL CAUSE IM GETTING READY TO TAKE OVER MY CHOIR AS PRESIDENT AND I NEED HELP BADLY. ESPECIALLY BEING THAT MY CHOIR DOESNT HAVE A MUSICIAN RIGHT NOW, WE JUST HAVE DRUMS SO WE'RE DOING THR BEST WE CAN. SO IF YOU HAVE ANY TIP THAT WOULD BE A GREAT BENEFIT TO ME PLEASE BLESS ME WITH THEM AND PLEASE KEEP POSTING, I COULD USE THE IDEAS! THANK YOU MUCH...GOD BLESS!!!
Welcome to LGM!
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The purpose of warm-ups is to help choir members learn certain techniques for more effective voice control such as breathing, vowel tones, and intonation. Each week, I pick a warm up exercise that addresses one of those targets. I choose my warm-up to emphasis something that will be needed in a song that will be taught that night. If the warm-ups don't have a direct connection to the music, choir members will feel it is a waste of time, and will either not fully participate or come in when they think that part of rehearsal is over. I even go back to the warm-up exercise if we hit a trouble spot in the song.
I focus a lot on diction and blend. I explain things like diphthongs and the vowel sounds that use them and why it's important to learn to sing them correctly. Example: the long "a" sound is eh ee. So for our exercise we sustain the "eh" and clip the "ee". I explain that if they pronounce in singing the way we talk often the diction is lost to the audience unless they already know the song. so we my do 13531 (nee Nehee Nahee (the long "I") No (long o) and Noo (long double o). we often start at low register (G below middle C) because in female register this is the lowest classical note for altos and the octave below is the lowest bass note, G below low C. I also tell them that we don't flinch when we are out of range; simply drop out, but when you feel you are at your peak, try one more level up, then drop out. the last section to drop out should be first sopranos and first tenors.
I seat my choirs according to 8 parts (first sop on the top tiers of the soprano section, 2nds down front, bass/baritones next to them tenors (first tenors in the top tiers, 2nds in front) altos (first altos lower tiers, 2nd altos in top tier) This helps me to identify who is being lazy during warm-ups and who is dropping out before they should based on what I know their range to be.
When we are doing a song that requires breath or dynamic control, our warm-up reflects this with hah's, consonants, and breathing exercises.
Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions.
Starkovich
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I'm new to LGM and love this fellowship of music lovers and ministry. This forum is fantastic and I'm enjoying reading the posts and comments.
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I'm new to LGM and love this fellowship of music lovers and ministry. This forum is fantastic and I'm enjoying reading the posts and comments.
Welcome Welcome Welcome to LGM! :)
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wonderful tips... thank you
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great tips
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AWESOME!!
Thank you!
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This is wonderful. Its helping choir directors to get it right. The CHALLENGE am having as a choir director is that i don't know how teach the choir their various vocal parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). I can play the piano but up till now, I'v not been able to figure out how to teach parts using a piano.
PLEASE HELP ME OUT.
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This is wonderful. Its helping choir directors to get it right. The CHALLENGE am having as a choir director is that i don't know how teach the choir their various vocal parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). I can play the piano but up till now, I'v not been able to figure out how to teach parts using a piano.
PLEASE HELP ME OUT.
There really isn't a RIGHT way of doing this. Luckily, I am able to hear parts very easily. If you aren't as fortunate, the best way is to listen to the song and to chart out the choir chords. Once you start doing this, you will realize the pattern in most Gospel harmonies that it'll become easier to teach.
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These are very good tips!! I've started to plan rehearsals. It keeps me focused. In my plan I have my plan of action and in that I also have the lyrics because in the past I've tried to teach songs but didn't 1) know the lyrics or 2) have the lyrics in front of me. I also estimae the amount of time it will take to learn it or complete the song. We have 2 rehearsals so the time in the 2nd rehearsal isn't as long.
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vtguy84 this has been such a blessing to me. I thank you so much for this post.
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vtguy84 this has been such a blessing to me. I thank you so much for this post.
Thank you sis and welcome!
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Here's another "Gospel Warmup" - anybody need this in letter-in-note "E-Z-Play" notation, please let me know...
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And here's another - I think the end of the same song. Doing the end of this in ascending keys would be a good spirited warmup. The first part would be good for different sections/people in the choir to do "solo" lines.
(I am also attaching a very rough MIDI, with a click track, because the piano/choir is so offbeat, to give an idea of how it sounds)
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Here's a link to a Book/CD of warm ups for choir - lots of vocal technique, directed at school/youth choirs...
http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=9970913&lid=14&subsiteid=27& (http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=9970913&lid=14&subsiteid=27&)
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I am a new choir director and I am so glad for the points that you have posted. Thanks
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hello my name is felicia .. i am a choir director i have been doing this for about 4 years and i do ok but i definitely can use some pointers so i as well as my choir can improve out sound .. i am now learning to play the organ and that is helping b cuz i am able to teach the parts to the choir and be more sure of myself .. i want to thank u for posting thoes tips and all the suggestions .. i needed some pointers .. thanks again ... i accidentally found this website but i now know it was not by accident ..
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Welcome to LGM, Felicia!
God Bless!
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Welcome, Felicia!
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Running an effective choir rehearsal
A choir rehearsal is extremely important to the choir’s function. A rehearsal can make the choir better or ultimately weaken the choir. Here are some things you may want to consider when it comes to rehearsal.
Before Rehearsal
A rehearsal is something not to be taken lightly. When working with a choir, it is easy to lose focus if there is no control in the rehearsal. There must be a clear cut plan of what will be executed in the rehearsal so things will run smoothly. Here are some things you want to do before your scheduled choir rehearsal:
- The choir director should meet with the head musician at least 24 hours before rehearsal to discuss the flow of rehearsal, including which songs will be rehearsed.
- Lyrics should be emailed at least 24 hours before rehearsal or printed off and brought to rehearsal.
- If possible, bring a copy of the songs to rehearsal.
At Rehearsal
This is where your preparation gets executed. If you have prepared well, rehearsal should go very smoothly. Be confident in your administration. Here is how a typical practice should start:
- Make sure all the leaders are ON TIME! If possible, have a small leadership prayer before the choir gets there. If you show up late, the choir will feel that it’s not required for them to show up on time.
- START ON TIME! Whether there are three people or 30, make sure that you get the ball rolling on time to show members that you will not wait for anyone.
- Start with breathing exercises to get the members prepared for the rehearsal.
Make sure that you change the format of rehearsals weekly to make things different. If people know that you are going to have a 10 minute Bible study at the beginning of each rehearsal, people won’t come on time because they feel like they won’t miss anything.
Execute the plan that you have come up with in an orderly, but fun manner. One thing you must remember is that being in the choir is extracurricular and if people don’t feel their time is being used effectively, they will not feel a need to come to rehearsal. Make rehearsal important.
Executing the Plan
The plan that you come up with in rehearsal is important to a successful and productive rehearsal. Here is a sample of a plan that I have used in my choir rehearsal:
Thursday’s Rehearsal (Seitz 313)
Set Up @ 5:30 p.m.
Prayer @ 6:00 p.m.
Word: ______________________
Warm-ups: ________________________________
Ice breaker: _______________________________
Song 1: __________________________________
Song 2: __________________________________
Water Break
Announcements/Upcoming Engagements
Song 3: __________________________________
Closing Prayer
In this particular rehearsal…
- We had the Word given at the beginning of rehearsal.
- We had an icebreaker because it was an interest meeting. Try to limit these to 5 minutes to keep rehearsal fun, but not lose track of why we’re here.
- Song #1 was ‘All Hail King Jesus (Sing the Praises to the King)’, a song that most people, even if it were their first rehearsal, are able to sing with ease.
With this plan, you have a clear idea of what songs will be done and how much time you should spend on each thing.
A different way to run rehearsal
If you are looking for a different way to run rehearsal, here is something that I have done and works well. This may or may not work based on the resources that your choir obtains:
As far as learning songs:
I have 1 section leader for each section. The three are responsible for learning the songs ahead of time. We get together two days before rehearsal and go over parts to make sure that parts are successful. Once we have mastered this, we go to rehearsal.
At rehearsal when I introduce a song, I let the choir listen to the whole song in its entirety. Afterwards, there are three separate rooms where the different section leaders take their section and work on their parts; each room has a CD and a boombox. While this is going on, the musicians are in the main room fixing last minute stuff to make sure that the music flows effectively. This way all people are working at the same time. A normal song takes about 10-15 minutes to work on. After that time, we come together and put it all together.
Summarized Points
Here are the points summarized:
- Prepare for rehearsals in advanced, giving songs to the musicians and writing out a plan.
- Show up to rehearsals on time and start rehearsals on time.
- Make rehearsal fun. When the choir feels a family atmosphere, they will feel more welcomed to showing up and being faithful.
- Change the layout of rehearsals to keep people intrigued.
Hope this helps. :)