new choir members
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,564
    Has anyone tried to teach music reading online to their new choir members?

    I have three ppl who are showing interest. They are all fairly young (20 - 35) and super interested. They have NO choral experience. They do not read music.

    I am a bit worried about just letting them join in for a number of reasons, but ppl who have experience are not joining and the older people are "retiring". It is a lot of commitment.

    My church is a decent drive away, so teaching online would be the way to go. I figure there is no point to figuring it all out, if someone has already done so. I don't just want to point them in the direction of videos b/c I don't know that they would actually watch them, except for homework, which I would be fine with.

    Someone suggested a Saturday morning where I just teach about singing and reading?

    Thanks for any help you can offer.
  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 559
    We have this situation a lot with new postulants and novices. I actually find that letting them learn by ear and memory for a bit helps before even introducing them to reading the music.

    After that we teach them how to sight read gregorian (I have some worksheets for this I can find somewhere to scan for you) and then slowly move to reading the music (in classical notation) first by teaching the time signatures and then notes and keys.

    It might seem kind of backwards to how most people learn, but I have found that it was the quickest and the most effective way. You dont need to spend more than 10 minutes after or before the ordinary session to do this.
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,564
    It doesn't seem backward at all. Music is aural after all. The problem is that we sing SATB, and that's difficult if you are singing anything but soprano. We don't sing a lot of chant either, though our ordinary is in unison. Maybe that would be a good place to start.

    How do you find the blending. Are your newcomers good at listening and knowing when they are "sticking out"? This is also an issue I have. And of course, all the women want to be sopranos and they don't have actual proper singing skills so they don't know how to form proper vowels or blend. I have been told that my standards are high. I don't think so, I'm just aware that a poorly sounding choir can be distracting. It's so difficult to find music that will challenge the veterans, yet not be out of reach for the newcomers.
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  • Chant_Supremacist
    Posts: 291
    I've taken a few voice lessons online. It's not ideal but it kind of works and it's better than nothing, especially when you want to work with someone specific.

    FWIW I have let inexperienced singers into my choir. To be exact, two of them to date. Both knew in general how to read music, but didn't know how to sing. I spend a bit of extra time with them after practice (less so now as the initial pitch-matching hump has been mostly overcome). I manage what they're involved in and tell them to sit certain things out, reassuring them that it's temporary. For me, if they are willing to attend practice regularly and follow my instructions, that's basically what it takes to join, and it has worked so far.
  • monasteryliturgistmonasteryliturgist
    Posts: 559
    For new comers, we usually encourage active listening during the actual Mass, and singing during the practices. That way they get experience but not where it matters if someone sticks out. We also practice a "buddy system" matching voices with those that have a similar ranger and timber and know how to blend so they can kind of teach them how to blend with the whole.

    I wouldnt be able to comment on the sopranos without knowing if they truly are sopranos and dont want to be alto because they cant hit low notes or if they are altos trying to be sopranos. If they are true sopranos who just dont have the right method, I would not give up right away-sometimes its just technique that needs to be learnt, if they are not sopranos you should explain that to them--and if they are not mature enough to accept that kind of correction they prob. shouldnt be in choir to begin with.

    To keep challenging the veterans, I would have smaller "scholas" that you could form within the choir for certain moments on feasts etc... something they learn and are capable of but not everyone needs to be apart of it.
  • rvisser
    Posts: 89
    I am trying to work with my students (K-12) on blending because it is a weakness in my choir at the moment. It is difficult to get everyone singing the same vowel (sometimes they are just being silly and will sing something different). Today I had them show me (without sound) what an "ah" vowel looks like, or an "oh" vowel, and it's easy to see from their mouth shape if it will produce the sound I want. Then I had them sing the various vowels. Lastly, I had the whole class sing a particular vowel, and then I changed my vowel shape slightly and had them listen for the change in intonation. It is amazing how different vowels sung on the same pitch can make something sound out of tune! I will try this with my adults at rehearsal this week, too.

    For context, my parish choir of 30ish singers is about 75% students. I would not turn away young adults from choir if they are interested in learning (unless they are not able to match pitch after some individual lessons). If you are singing hymns, I would have them all sing the melody, and save your rehearsal time for SATB motets.

    Things I tend to focus on to get volunteers to sound good are eliding vowels, precise cutoffs (whispering the consonant "s" in particular), and planned breaths. I use mostly public domain music, so writing in breath marks and Latin pronunciation (if applicable) saves so much time. Just make sure you explain your markings...I had a new singer ask what "NB" meant in a phrase, because of course she had never sung in a choir and didn't know it meant "no breath!"

    @monasteryliturgist - I also teach Gregorian notation before 5-line notation, and have found that it is so much simpler for students to understand. Even kindergartners can understand what a do-clef is, but making the leap to treble clef and key signatures and note names...there are just so many other steps!
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