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Stretching the Skills of Your Community Choir
Stretching the Skills of Y our Communit y Choir

equate their voices with their own identities. Singers do not which you can concentrate on technique. Avoid staccati.
have a choice of instruments. They are stuck with the one
with which they were born. • Conductors tend to start rehearsals by speaking loudly
Be cautious about making negative comments about over the choir to settle them down, which is not a healthy
voices. When working with amateurs, comments about start for your voice. As the rehearsal begins, be aware of
voices in rehearsals should not be viewed as criticism but your speaking voice, making it gentle and inviting and using
rather as helpful and intriguing means to improve their vo- natural inflection, rather than allowing your sound to be
cal skills. Singers will be more open to working on a vocal harsh and punched.
problem if the conductor first compliments something they
are already doing well (use your imagination, there is always • Out of expediency, we tend to sing all the voice parts
something), and only then suggest the needed adjustment, whenever there is a problem, often over the singing of the
which could be added to what they are already doing well. choir. Besides being an inefficient teaching method, when
In a similar regard, conductors of amateur choirs some- we do this, we sing too loudly. When a voice part needs
times unknowingly hammer away with great intensity at note help, stop the music and have the piano slowly play the
vocal or musical concerns, but when singers finally over- problem passages. Singing over your choir’s singing results
come the problem, far less is made of the improvement in the choir learning little, while conductors are wearing
than the memorable intensity of the original concern. As a out their voices.
result, the subconscious minds of singers linger on the con-
ductor’s temporary disappointment in them. They feel little • When male conductors sing women’s parts in falsetto,
pride in the eventual accomplishment because so little was they should be sure to use ample breath support. When fe-
made of it in relationship to the problem. Yet, it is pride male conductors sing men’s parts, they should mix some
of accomplishment that causes community choruses to sing head voice in with the chest tone and use forward tone
with spirit and confidence, enriching their choral sound. So placement.
when dealing with a vocal concern, be calm, patient, and
encouraging, and when the problem gets solved, overdo the • When helping voice parts on the spot by singing their
congratulations! notes, the conductor is inevitably looking down at the mu-
sic on the stand. Proper posture is compromised, the head
is lowered, and the upper abdominal wall is tight. This pos-
Protecting the Voices of Directors ture results in inadequate air flow and a throaty, swallowed
Most choral directors find that rehearsals are tough on singing quality. When you need to model the various voice
their voices, especially when conducting amateur choirs parts, pick your music off the stand and hold it as you want
that need modeling and note help. As conductors begin your choir members to hold their music, allowing you to
to age, they notice this vocal stress more readily, perhaps use better vocal technique.
thinking that their voices are simply getting old. That isn’t
the problem. We need to be more aware of unnecessary • When speaking to the choir, avoid leaning forward toward
vocal strain on our own voices during our rehearsals and the singers, because this posture tightens the upper abdom-
develop healthier habits to avoid it. inal wall, diminishing the air flow needed for healthy sing-
ing. See the earlier discussion about posture.
So what is it about rehearsals that tire our voices?
• There will be times when you need to quickly sing voice
• We are so busy preparing for rehearsal that we fail to get parts and do not have the time to stop and lift up your mu-
ourselves ready vocally. Take a few minutes to warm up sic. In that case, develop the habit of putting one leg a little
your own voice quietly before every rehearsal. Be aware behind you, sticking your butt out slightly and arching your
of your posture and breath support. Above all in your per- back so that your upper torso is high and your jaw is not
sonal warm-up, think horizontally. Begin with expressive jammed down on your vocal folds. The vocal result is that
middle range humming and move on to simple phrases in your voice is free and unimpeded. This type of posture is a

ChorTeach Volume 15 • Issue 2 23 Winter 2023