In Rehearsal
How to run a good choir rehearsal...
People come to ward choir because they love to sing!! So spend as much time as you can in rehearsal SINGING!!!!! Try to keep talking brief and to the point. People do not want to leave their homes for yet another Sunday meeting if they feel like their time is being wasted or just to chat. Plan your rehearsal so you can spend as much time as you can singing.
Take charge of the rehearsal. Keep the pace moving. Be direct and ask the choir to do what you want them to do. If they did not come in on your cue, stop and have them do it again. It is O.K. for you to expect the choir to follow your instructions and to do it again if they didn't do what you asked the first time. The key is to learn to be direct and firm but still be polite and positive. It helps to have a sense of humor here... (i.e. "Whoa, I think I must have heard about a million T's when you came in there. Let's try it again and see if we can make only one T, all together.")
It is your job to listen to the choir and evaluate if they are doing what you want. It usually works best for the director to NOT sing with the choir, so they can listen better to how the choir is singing. If you have a hard time hearing all of the individual parts and whether they are being sung correctly, appoint section leaders to help you: Have one "leader" in each section and make it their job to listen to the section and notify you if they need more help on a part or are singing it incorrectly. I am a big fan of singing WITHOUT the piano so the choir can more clearly hear themselves and evaluate their own singing.
Try to accomplish multiple things at once. While you run a tricky passage over and over, have them do the dynamics while they are at it. Instead of just running through the bass part with the piano, have the pianist play the bass part for the basses, but have the tenors hum along their part. When learning parts, remember that the part has to be sung in context [with other parts]. Try to include as much context as you can.
Anyone can sing their part while the piano is plunking it out, but rarely is there a song where the piano just plunks out one part. =] It is also VERY boring to the other parts, so try to spend as little rehearsal time as possible plunking out a single part with the piano. Some alternate ideas: Can they sing their part a cappella? Can they sing their part with the piano playing their part and another part singing along? Can they sing their part a cappella with other parts too? Can they sing their part with accompaniment?
A choir will usually sing about as good as you ask them to.... If they are not doing the dynamics, stop them and cheerfully request that they do it again with more dynamics. If they are not singing in tune, stop them and ask them to pay more attention their tuning. It is helpful if you can sing to demonstrate what you want and/or don't want ("Here's how I want you to sing it. Here is how I DON'T want you to sing it.") When making corrections, always refer to sections, not individuals. Even if just one individual is singing it wrong, refer to the section ("Sopranos, I need you to fix the notes in measure 8" or "Tenors, please watch your vibrato." ) Be upbeat about your corrections, but maintain high expectations. Also, be specific. "That needs work," doesn't really help anyone. Instead ask for specifics like: "Make sure you are getting the right notes," "Make your vowels sound the same," "Follow my beat and don't drag," "Listen to make sure you are in tune and matching your neighbor," "Be careful of your vibrato," or "More dynamic contrast."
Make sure to give the choir direction, but do it in 10-30 second increments and then have them sing it again. Try to keep talking to a minimum- brief and to the point. Then follow up... A problem is not corrected until it has been sung CORRECTLY 3x. It is not enough to just tell them to fix something. Furthermore, it usually doesn't help to much to elaborate on it. Simply and briefly tell them what to fix and then have them sing it again right.
When the choir does do something right, TELL THEM!!! Be very enthusiastic in your positive feedback when the choir does something well.