Keeping new choir members
  • musicman923
    Posts: 239
    Hi everyone,

    During this past Easter season, 3 people joined the Adult choir (4 actually but one has a hard work schedule on Sunday). The number is now up to 6 on a good Sunday!

    What is the best way to help keep them intrigued in choir and not quit? They are not trained profession musicians. They are just people who enjoy to sing but don't read music.

    Anyone have any tips also what is a good way to attract new people?? I have a poster board set up for a whole weekend in June and hoping that will entice people into the ministry!

    The church I play for is the average diocese suburb Catholic Church. Not use to traditional organ and hymn music. It's taken me 5 years to get rid of most of the comtemporary music and get into using traditional with standard common contemporary hymns. (Haas and Haugen type) There is a nighttime mass which is the folk mass and contemporary style music. The church does get contemporary music but not at the masses I do!

  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    What is the best way to help keep them intrigued in choir and not quit?


    -Sing good music
    -have rehearsals that are both fun and vigorous
    -sing good music
    -develop semi-ritualized prayer practices for rehearsal
    -sing good music
    -compliment people often
    -sing good music
    -make sure people know that you are depending on their presense
    -sing good music
    Thanked by 7jpal CHGiffen canadash JulieColl M. Jackson Osborn lagunaredbob kenstb
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 781
    Setting up the rare social activity can also be fun - a bonded, friendly choir is a happy choir! (A choir that plays together stays together...)
    Once or twice (back in the good ol' days when I had a choir...) after the Thursday rehearsal, we would head over to the parish hall and have "wine and cheese" night. Very fun and good cameraderie.
    Thanked by 2JulieColl expeditus1
  • Liam
    Posts: 4,942
    Drugs.
    Thanked by 5Adam Wood CharlesW Spriggo JulieColl BruceL
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    First one's free.
  • jpal
    Posts: 365
    Not far from what Liam said...carbs and caffeine. Coffee and tons of snacks. We aren't sophisticated enough for wine and cheese.

    (Although I do have one chorister who always provides plenty of whine and another who brings the punny kind of cheese...)

    Items 1,3,5,7, and 9 on Adam's list are definitely important. Our rehearsals are hard work; the singers learn a lot and I expect a lot, but there is also raucous fun.
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    Also: have individual discussions with each person and listen. You still make the decisions, but their viewpoint is valued.
    Thanked by 1JulieColl
  • Musicteacher56
    Posts: 621
    I agree with Carl. Not only individual discussions, but also as a group. Maintain your leadership, of course, but listen to their suggestions also. Every once in a while, throw them a bone in the music they picked. I know at my small parish, that sometimes helps. Also, make sure there are many compliments all around. Good luck and God bless.
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    I've found some really interesting ideas coming from schola members. They don't all work, of course, but it can help keep things interesting. And occasionally a jewel pops up.
  • BedfordRick
    Posts: 8
    As an ex choir member with bad experiences, if you have members you know struggle to follow the music, don't wait for them to make mistakes, then make it known to all as you correct them. Start out teaching them their parts. If you do it successfully, you wouldn't have to point out their mistakes because there wouldn't be any. It really is fun if your limitations can be overcome without embarrassing anyone or holding up the impatient ones who get irritated with those not as proficient as themselves.
  • WendiWendi
    Posts: 638
    What Rick said. Many of my choir members do not read music. We start by having the sopranos sing their line, then we move down the list. I make a recording of each voice part and send it to them via email. They LOVE that. It allows the members to listen and learn their part really well. (One member told me she puts it on a loop and listens while grading papers or cleaning house or whatever.)

    It takes us longer to learn music, but I'm ok with that and tell the choir so all the time. For the few members who are trained musicians, I make them section leaders and also give them the solo bits or cantor bits on different pieces. They ALL know that I value their contribution to the choir.

    We also pray together and laugh A lot.
    Thanked by 1Adam Wood
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 944
    We start by having the sopranos sing their line, then we move down the list.


    This must be done in a choir with non-readers. I would suggest a couple of shortcuts, though:

    1. Don't go down the list. Sopranos, then Basses (sometimes Basses first), then the other two (I usually go Alto-Tenor, but that's because my Tenors pick it up quicker).

    2. When teaching a part, always play all of the parts together. Only isolate a part if it really needs work by itself. By learning it from the very beginning in harmonic context, it speeds up the absorption of the work overall.
    Thanked by 5canadash Wendi Patricia Cecilia ClergetKubisz BruceL
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    I second the soprano-->bass order.
  • JPike1028
    Posts: 95
    When learning music we do it differently. We start with everyone singing the Bass (in their own octave) and then move up from lowest to highest, letting everyone stay on their actual voice part once they get there. This way the three harmony parts (arguably the more important parts) get the benefit of added numbers singing their parts and added time rehearsing their parts. It was an idea taken from Robert Shaw's book (I believe, I don't remember which book I stole it from, but his stands out in my mind) and has proven to be very valuable at getting choir members to retain their parts, while also learning the supporting parts underneath them. Also, if there is a balance issue it is easier to switch people over to necessary parts. This method also keeps the idle chatter when not singing down, because they are always singing. :)
    Thanked by 6Adam Wood Spriggo canadash CHGiffen Wendi francis
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    I"ll that've to try that.
  • Musicteacher56
    Posts: 621
    At my schola rehearsal the other night, a couple of the singers asked me to sing the phrase first and let them copy it by reading the music. While most of them are not readers, if I sing the phrase first, they are able to follow the notes. It resulted in a happier rehearsal and more accomplished. I think one of the best ways to keep people interested is for educated musicians to realize that most parish singers are volunteers with very little music education. If we treat rehearsals as a learning experience, even if it means moving slower, the people will stay.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    Additionally- even with an adult choir- there's no reason to let them continue to be people who don't read music. It isn't, after all, a mysterious skill incapable of being learned.

    I might start with...

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    Thanked by 1ClergetKubisz
  • WendiWendi
    Posts: 638
    We started with the Ave Maria...but what Little Joe said.
  • discenaj
    Posts: 13
    Thanks everyone for some great, common-sense, practical, immediately applicable suggestions !

    In regard to correcting mistakes, we've always gone with addressing the section, rather than the individual --- "OK altos --- let's polish that up a bit" --- then we give them measure # and pertinent text, and work with them. Saves face for the individual, and helps build team responsibility / ownership of their section.

    In the event that there's only one person in a section, we go with, "Pretty good, John --- let's just polish that up a bit," then work with him.
  • ClergetKubiszClergetKubisz
    Posts: 1,912
    I see what you did there, Adam :-)
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