CORNERSTONE 4:
SING
When someone enters your choir, they arrive with all the baggage of their workplace or family life, all their social anxiety and feelings of inadequacy, and with all the uncertainty of what lies ahead.
Our role is to create a framework that immediately makes people feel: WELCOME, VALUED and SUPPORTED for their journey ahead.
There are many amazing ways that our choirs achieve this, and we value all the efforts everyone puts in. The following items are imperative to achieve our goals, and minimise your workload going forwards.
- Give a bit of background about a new song you’re introducing to the choir: Who wrote it? What’s it about? Why do you like it? What’s interesting about it?
- Historical or social context of the song can often enhance people’s understanding of the lyric, and their engagement with the song.
- How do you want your audience to FEEL when you sing the song?
- A good introduction can open a gateway to enjoyment of and commitment to a song.
WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE:
“This is a traditional song from the XXXX region. It’s a beautiful song that talks about XXXX. I hope you can all feel connected to this tradition and these ideas while we sing it.”
“This song was written by XXXX and explores their feelings of XXXX. Maybe you can think about something similar that’s happened to you.”
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE:
- I know where this song comes from and the background behind it.
- I know what this song is about and what I should be thinking about while I’m singing it.
AVAILABLE RESOURCES:
- Our Shared Repertoire includes a brief summary & history of each song.
- SHARED REPERTOIRE
- Go slow: don’t assume everyone knows the song, even if it’s popular.
- Repeat each line AT LEAST three times. Assume not everyone can read the lyrics.
- Give each repeat a new element of inflection or style so people who already know the song stay engaged and challenged.
- Listen when they repeat a line back to you, and correct melodic or rhythmic problems as you go along. If people sing something wrong repeatedly it forms a bad habit that’s hard to break later.
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE:
- I feel confident in my ability to learn this song, and I’m not being left behind.
- I am engaged and included in the process of learning a new song.
ACCESSIBILITY:
- Some members may have trouble reading lyrics, and would benefit from learning aurally. Others may have trouble hearing or remembering lyrics, and would prefer to read them. It’s best to make both options available!
- We discourage the use of sheet music, as only musically trained people can read it.
- Make sure that people feel comfortable letting you know if they’re having trouble learning a song.
AVAILABLE RESOURCES:
- Our Shared Repertoire includes lyrics, as well as tracks for each part if anyone would like to practice at home.
- SHARED REPERTOIRE
- TBD
- Come back to tricky songs from week to week to monitor improvement.
- Publicly identify and celebrate the progress of the choir when they improve.
- Specify areas that could do with improvement, without being discouraging.
WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE:
“You guys have got that tricky part down-pat! Great job!”
“Well done everyone – just make sure that when you reach this part in the song you’re doing the correct rhythm. Have a listen and I’ll sing it for you.”
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE:
- I have the support to learn new songs, no matter how difficult they are.
- I feel encouraged, and I’m improving every week.
- I am a better singer now than I was when I first joined the choir.
ACCESSIBILITY:
- Remember that this is a non-auditioned, all-abilities choir. Any improvement and progress should be celebrated and encouraged!
- We’re never going to sound like a professional choir, but it’s still valuable for our members to feel like they’re improving as singers.
- Remember, we are just singing songs! If it’s not feeling fun, you’re probably doing it wrong.
- If you’re getting bogged down in something and people are losing focus, don’t be afraid to change plans and sing something else.
- Empower your choir to make choices about what they’d like to sing, at least once every rehearsal.
- When something is well rehearsed, invite your singers (those who are able and willing) to stand up and sing it with some emotion.
WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE:
“The person who tells the best joke gets to pick a song for us to sing today!”
“Maybe we’re all a bit too tired to learn something new today. Let’s do our favourite song instead!”
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE:
- I have fun at choir!
- Choir is about the joy of singing.
- At the end of a rehearsal I feel rejuvenated and happy.
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