Ten Rehearsal Strategies to Keep Your Choir Engaged

We as church musicians are constantly looking for new ways to enhance our weekly routines. In the past few years I have realized that my training as a Laban Movement Analyst has helped me to become a more open and effective conductor and person. This blog will give you some suggestions for strategies to keep your choir rehearsals focused and creative.

Rudolf Laban Rudolf

Laban was a teacher and movement specialist who created a movement theory to define and enhance dynamic and productive patterns of our daily lives. From an early age he observed human movement patterns and created a theory of how to maximize our movement patterns through relating the psychological intent of movement to the actual movement itself. Through certification in Laban Movement Theory, I have grown more expressive as a conductor and am connecting to my choirs in new and creative ways by pairing the idea of intent to action.

There is a connection between intention and every movement we make. Modeling good posture when we rehearse builds a connection to our singers that is subtle yet important. The relationships we build with our ensemble members are formed from simple gestures of welcoming to the intended gesture of conducting and feedback in the rehearsal and liturgy.

Below is a series of routines and gestures that we can actively create to assist in keeping our ensembles focused and create a welcoming environment for singers to share in the connection between intent and action/performance. Below are some suggested strategies to re-energize your own work and connect to your choir.

Ten rehearsal strategies to keep your choir engaged:

1. Greet your singers at the door and individually say hello. The personal connection we make from shaking hands and being greeted with eye contact confirms for choir members that they are individually important to the choir. Keeping your posture positive and open will create the physical and emotional space for them to engage in conversation or simply be aware of the space they hold in rehearsal.

2. Focus on changing your warm-up patterns. I have a set pattern in warmups that starts with something physical such as stretching or playing a mirror game. I encourage my groups to follow me as I move—raising an arm (if I raise my left they raise their right as if they are looking in a mirror), scrunching my face, massaging my jaw. To add a bit of Laban Movement Theory to the mirror exercise, I have the ensemble isolate one side of the body while they move the other side and then switch sides. This exercise allows you to see which side is dominant and how free your singers are to experiment with movement in rehearsal. Simply inserting breathing back into your warm-ups is a good place to start. Activate the voice with a unison hum prior to vocal warm-ups.

3. Modify the configuration of your rehearsal space or simply change the chair set up. Rehearsals need a familiarity in the way you start your rehearsal but consider a new way for your ensemble to hear. Changing the design of your rehearsal set up can create an opportunity for singers to hear in a new way. Volunteers are often hesitant to change seats but by trying this from time to time you may find that they ask for one of your new seating arrangements. When you are working in pews or seats that cannot be moved, move the singers. Have you tried a standing position that is mixed by voice part or conducting rehearsal in a circle? Part of building trust in your ensemble is to move them around and ask them to sing mixed. This is another strategy to build confidence for the individual singer.

4. Start a new piece with the goal of singing it in the future, perhaps a month away. My rehearsal pattern is to begin with the songs for services that week, followed by music for at least the next three weeks if possible. My church choir looks forward to feeling confident when we sing each week. When you work ahead, you have the opportunity to set the parameters for how difficult the rehearsals may get during a special or demanding time in the liturgical year.

5. Find a way to do something social prior to or following rehearsal, such as a once-a-month birthday club. This gives the group an excuse to be social with one another outside the church and creates a place for members that might not connect in other ways. Attend concerts together or plan other group activities to find what your singers have in common. 

6. Try a rehearsal where you use very little or no talking. This is an excellent tool for training your singers to watch your gestures. We can define the length of phrases and demonstrate the style of a piece with our hands. Demonstrate the shape of an arc in front of you and then ask your singers to model this shape back to you with their hands. This can bring a new level of musicality to your rehearsal without a great deal of explanation. If you incorporate the mirror exercise mentioned earlier you may find that your choir will be able to apply the same sound you create in warm up to your pieces. I have found it humbling to realize just how much we rely on our words rather than our gesture to convey musical intent.

7. Ask your members for a list of their favorite songs from which to choose as you plan your music for the year. Choirs can build a sense of identity by singing a familiar piece. This also allows for ownership of the piece from within your ensemble. This can be gathered through a survey via email at the beginning of the year or by signing up in rehearsal. This is another example of the inner connection of the music to the outward connection to one another. Of course you will always have veto power! 

8. Learn a song together that can be used as a closing prayer for rehearsal. Several conductors I know use a closing song such as “The Lord Bless You and Keep You.” There are times when a closing prayer after sharing time may be too difficult for the choir to create. By singing together before they depart they have the opportunity to share something in common that signals that rehearsal is about to end.

9. Give your rehearsal one focus for the evening such as tone, rhythm, or singing line. Our society has become a place where holding multiple conversations, perhaps online and in person in tandem is commonplace. Setting a single goal for your rehearsal helps you to unify your focus as a conductor. This shows the choir how important the topic is for music making. If we foster a solid sense of rhythmic vitality with one song it will most likely carry to the next in your rehearsal. Awareness of simple concepts shared between pieces decreases the need to repeat the same directive with your next rehearsal piece.

10. Choose a rehearsal in which you set the goal for yourself of making eye contact with each member of your choir. This may be a habit for many of you. It can be rewarding to see the members of your ensemble respond to you and instill a sense of connection when breathing and releasing together. The tutti breath that is shared lifts and opens the rib cage, which in turn produces healthy tone.

It is my hope that this article has given you a reason to engage in routine and the freedom or permission to make it different. Refreshing these strategies is important in confirming a sense of ensemble for your singers. Our singers are creatures of habit and will flourish with encouragement and the opportunity to connect with one another.

 

This article was originally published in Today’s Liturgy © 2016 OCP. All rights reserved.

 

About the Author

Lisa Billingham

Lisa Billingham is an associate professor of choral music education at George Mason University where she conducts the university chorale and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in choral music education. She is the past president for the Virginia chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and is a planning committee member for the Annual Voices United Conference. She earned her doctorate of musical arts from the University of Arizona.