After spending just a few minutes via a search engine, I easily found articles about singing in a choir. The trouble is, once you find someone else's writing you can't use that yourself. I spent a lot of time explaining plagarism to my students when they were doing coursework for GCSE.
My own thinking is currently surrounding the fact that all choirs have some members who are more confident than others. They may be able to read music, understand the theory of music, have a louder voice, seem to learn their part more readily. The choir relies on them leading their section. This may be a formalised role or one that has simply evolved in the life of the choir. It is more likely when the choir is for anyone who wants to enjoy singing together, where there are no auditions.
I looked for advice from other blogs about relying on others within the choir, or your section of it. Equally, I was interested in the ones being relied upon. Should they sing more loudly so the notes are heard? Would this create an imbalance in the overall sound? Should they sing more quietly to draw out more from others? Certain pressures occur both ways.
I am not sure there is a simple answer. Some folks are daunted by the standard set by 'the better singers', while others like to have someone else taking greater responsibility so that they can get what they came for; enjoyment. We have a lot of concerts coming up in a short space of time. Not everyone can make every event. Sometimes key singers will be missing. It is important that we all do what we can to enhance the experience for the choir as a whole and each individual within the audiences that listen to us.
With this in mind I leave you with my top ten tips for enjoying practices and concerts. They are not particularly enlightening. Many of you would probably come up with something similar. At least I have not copied them from anyone else off the Internet. I hope you find them useful.
- Commit to the practices
- Try to be available for any concerts
- Organise your music folder to find pieces quickly
- Learn the words to each song
- Learn your part thoroughly, the notes, the timing
- Watch the conductor
- Learn from more talented choir members
- Practice at home using technology
- Sing your part at home once learned
- Avoid making the same mistakes over and over
Make A Comment
Comments (1)