5 Tips for Leading a Successful Choir Rehearsal

5 Tips for Leading a Successful Choir Rehearsal

Leading a choir rehearsal is an art form. It requires a delicate balance of organization, musical expertise, and interpersonal skills. Whether it’s your first or thousandth time on the podium, the goal remains the same: to make the choir better. However, accomplishing this task isn’t always easy. 

From managing time effectively to fostering a positive rehearsal environment, you must consider numerous factors to ensure a successful outcome. In this article, we’ll explore five essential tips to help you navigate the complexities of leading a choir rehearsal with confidence and finesse. By incorporating these strategies into your rehearsal routine, you’ll be well-equipped to inspire, motivate, and empower your choir members to reach new heights of musical excellence.

In this article:

• What defines a successful choir rehearsal?
• Tip 1: Rehearse in “Whole-Part-Whole”
• Tip 2: Stay in the Musical Language
• Tip 3: Don’t be Error Detectors
• Tip 4: Identify the issue category
• Tip 5: Teach the people in the room, not on your paper

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What defines a successful choir rehearsal?

A successful choir rehearsal is defined by its transformative impact on the choir members. For a rehearsal to be fruitful, it must go beyond run-throughs of the repertoire or doing fun little icebreakers. Essentially, it boils down to: “Are singers leaving my rehearsal better than when they came?” You can answer this question in various ways, depending on the mission of your choir. Are they leaving as more whole people, better community members, more intelligent students, stronger musicians, or some combination of these things? 

Action step: Take a piece of paper and answer, “How do I want to make my singers better today?” Define the top priority (for example, singing a section of a song better), then define the other goals (like making them have fun, grow closer together, etc.). Of course, the temptation is to make everything the top priority, but knowing that this simply isn’t possible, decide on your top goal and go into rehearsal with that in sharp focus.

Tip 1: Rehearse in Whole-Part-Whole

Rehearsing in Whole-Part-Whole is a structured approach to teaching new music that involves breaking down the song into manageable sections. The ‘Whole’ refers to the initial rehearsal of the entire section of the song, allowing singers to understand the piece’s overall structure, style, and direction. This step provides a context for understanding how individual parts fit together to create the complete musical picture. After this, the ‘Part’ refers to the detailed rehearsal of smaller sections, focusing on specific elements like notes, rhythms, or dynamics. Finally, the ‘Whole’ is revisited, allowing singers to integrate the improvements made during the focused ‘Part’ section into the overall performance. 

The Whole

The “Whole” can refer to any larger chunk; it doesn’t have to mean the whole song or even a whole section (the “introduction,” or letter A to B, or any other formal division). It definitely can, and I often use these as natural checkpoints. But the “Whole” could mean four measures, and then you break it down smaller from there. It’s all about the relationship between the “Whole” and the “Part” you will break it into. 

The Part

After rehearsing the Whole (whatever you’ve defined it as), break it into smaller parts requiring more detailed attention. Toward the beginning of the process, this might mean just learning the notes, rhythms, and words for a given section. Take the measures of the Whole and break them into smaller chunks to teach these basic elements. Later in the music-making process, the Part might be a concept or a nuance you’d like the choir to focus on. You might take the Whole and ask your choir to think about their dynamics or aligning their vowels. You might tune specific chords or define the “landing points” of the phrase. Give these Parts your focused attention and make sure they achieve the smaller goal. By isolating these Parts, singers can focus on perfecting smaller elements of the music in a targeted manner.

The Whole (yes, again!)

Once the individual parts have been refined, they return to your Whole to put it all together. This step is crucial. It allows singers to integrate the improvements made during the focused “Part” section into the overall performance. It also provides an opportunity to reinforce musical connections between different sections and ensure cohesion and continuity throughout the piece. This is how I’ve been able to demand excellence from my ensembles without overwhelming them or making them feel defeated. Break it down as small as they need, but then build it back into the larger context.

The “Whole-Part-Whole” approach is effective for teaching new music because it provides a structured framework that balances the need for holistic understanding and detailed refinement. By starting with the big picture and gradually zooming in on specific areas of improvement before returning to the Whole, singers can build confidence, develop skills, and ultimately achieve a polished performance. This method also helps to keep rehearsals focused and productive, maximizing the choir’s progress within limited rehearsal time. This approach empowers your choir members to take ownership of their learning and growth, fostering a sense of responsibility and commitment.

Tip 2: Stay in the Musical Language

One of the most common pitfalls of choir directors (and teachers in general) is that they talk too much. There are many reasons for this, but the two main reasons are for trying to explain complex concepts and for classroom management. In my early days as a director, I pulled this thread and asked myself why I was overexplaining musical concepts or speaking more to regain control of a classroom. The answer? I didn’t know how not to do that. In other words, I was facing the question: if I wasn’t helping them improve by talking, what was another way?

The answer is to stay in the musical language as much as possible. Music is a language, after all; you become fluent in any language through immersion and practice, specifically in conversation. Now, I’m not suggesting you sing your instructions to them. By “staying in the musical language,” I mean focusing more on your nonverbal communication and gestures. Don’t count off before an entrance. Show them the dynamic and style instead of telling them what you want. If they aren’t responding, make it more obvious.

Okay, but why?

By turning off your words, you create an environment where singers can develop their musical intuition and expressiveness. They will be more engaged and focused. This will foster a deeper connection between you as the director and your choir, as it emphasizes the shared goal of musical expression and interpretation. It encourages active listening, musical sensitivity, and collaboration among choir members, leading to more cohesive and expressive performances.

Furthermore, talking too much can disrupt the flow of rehearsals and waste valuable rehearsal time. Singers learn best by doing, so it’s more effective to demonstrate musical concepts and guide them through hands-on practice rather than lengthy explanations. Additionally, excessive talking can lead to boredom or confusion among choir members, diminishing their focus and engagement during rehearsals.

In summary, staying in the musical language is essential for effective choir rehearsals because it facilitates learning, preserves rehearsal time, maintains engagement, and fosters musical collaboration and expression. By prioritizing musical communication over verbal instruction, directors can empower their choir members to reach new levels of artistry and musicality.

Tip 3: Don’t Be Error Detectors

While it is our job to hear the mistakes in our ensembles, it is not our job to solely point out their errors as a means for facilitating improvement. This is something I’m passionate about because I see it way too often, and it’s one of the leading contenders for lower morale in a choir. Pointing out mistakes is not helpful. Our job involves guiding and nurturing your singers’ musical growth and development. This means providing instruction, feedback, and encouragement to help them improve their vocal technique, musicianship, and performance skills.

Some examples of “error detectors” are saying things like:

• There was a wrong note in measure 63
• Altos missed the dynamic change in the A section
• Our balance is off; we need to listen better to each other

Now, it’s also important to note that all of these things may be true. But even so, our job goes beyond stating these as facts. 

So, what do we do instead of identifying the problems? We become the problem-solver. Or even better, develop our singers to be the problem-solvers—more about that in the next section.

Tip 4: Identify the category of the issue and develop tactics to fix

Instead of pointing out the issues, I’ve found it helpful to adopt a solution-focused mindset to teach singers how to fix things independently. Over time, I’ve developed several categories that choral problems usually fall into. Within these “buckets,” you develop tactics to get yourselves to solutions, and that is how you move from error detection to problem-solving.

Error detection says: That was flat.

Problem-solving says: Why was that flat, and what can we do about it?

Here are the common categories I use with my choirs:

• Rhythmic: are they missing the rhythm? If so, remove pitch elements to focus just on rhythm. Also, remove words if needed.
• Melodic: Do they need to understand the intervals or the shape of the melody (aka, are they singing the wrong notes)? If so, try singing it on solfege.
• Harmonic: do they need help understanding the context of the music within the bigger picture (aka, singing the right notes out of tune)? Putting the line on a neutral syllable like “loo” can help.
• Technical: are their vocal abilities hindering their success? Do they need to understand the anatomy of what is going on? Remember that we are educators of the whole person and not just focused on teaching specific songs; always give them the info they need to succeed.
• Tempo: sometimes, you just need to slow it down! See if they are successful at a different tempo than written. As musicians, we have all probably taken a fast song and slowed it down, but I’ve also found it helpful (particularly with younger singers) to take a slow song and speed it up.

It’s important to remember to always put tone first, even within each category. Never sacrifice tone while working within these categories. It is the cornerstone of a good choir.

The last thing to remember when addressing issues in rehearsal is that the goal is for singers to enjoy themselves! Rehearse in a way that makes singers love what you’re doing. This means that, even if you break down the issues to a solution-focused approach, you can still fall into a habit of “drilling” things, which defeats the purpose. Don’t drill.

Tip 5: Teach the people in the room, not on your paper

The most important thing to do in every rehearsal is to come in with a plan. The second most important thing is to be prepared to abandon that plan at any moment in service to the people you lead. People tend to do one of these two things really well naturally; they’re either extraordinary planners or are good at “winging it.” I’m telling you that to lead a successful choir rehearsal, you need to develop the skills to do both. 

Leading a successful choir rehearsal requires a balance of flexibility and responsiveness. While it’s crucial for directors to come prepared with a written plan outlining the rehearsal agenda, it’s equally important to be ready to deviate from that plan in order to address the specific needs and challenges of the singers in front of them.

Having a written plan provides structure and direction for rehearsals, helping directors make efficient use of their time and cover all necessary material. However, it’s essential to recognize that choir members are not static entities—they may have varying skill levels, different learning styles, and unique musical challenges. Therefore, it’s imperative that directors be attuned to the singers’ needs and adapt their approach accordingly.

Why should you be prepared to pivot your choir rehearsal plan?

Sometimes, the plan laid out on paper may not align with the reality of what the choir needs at that moment. This could be due to unexpected difficulties with a particular piece of music, vocal issues among the singers, or simply a lack of engagement or understanding. In such cases, it’s important for directors to be flexible and willing to adjust their plans on the fly to better serve the singers and address their immediate concerns.

By prioritizing the needs of the singers over sticking rigidly to a predetermined agenda, directors demonstrate their commitment to fostering a supportive and responsive learning environment. This approach helps address immediate challenges more effectively and builds trust and rapport between directors and choir members, ultimately leading to more productive and fulfilling rehearsals. In essence, while a written plan provides a roadmap, the ability to adapt and cater to the individuals in the room truly defines effective choir leadership.