Does anybody else have this problem with their choir? Please say you do, and please say you have a sensible solution – it’s driving me nuts!
Partly because we’re a community choir, partly because of the kind of material we do, but mainly because I think it’s good for people to exercise the whole of their vocal range, I encourage people to swap parts for different songs. We don’t stick to the normal soprano/ alto/ tenor/ bass categories (we're never too high, and not too low!) and I don’t allocate people to a fixed part or role. We don’t use seats so people are free to move around. Some songs have three parts, some five or more, some the ‘standard’ four. Not everyone is present every week for a variety of reasons. This is the background to the problem.
When we first start learning a song I try to make sure each part is made up of roughly an equal number of people. The weeks go by, people come and go, I fit people who missed the first week into a part that is a little thin on the ground. Then suddenly, out of the blue, one week (usually when a concert is looming) EVERYONE seems to be singing alto! There are no tenors to speak of, the tops look pretty thin on the ground, and the basses are the usual suspects. This is parts creep. When I turn around people sneak from their part to another part without telling me. They do it on purpose (I'm sure of this!). What was once a supremely balanced and orderly choir is now entirely out of kilter. And they deny it! “I thought you guys were all singing tops when we started?” “Oh, no, we’ve always been altos for this song”. And so it goes.
Of course, some people are in the ‘wrong’ part, some people deny ever having learnt the song in the first place, and some are just doing it (I’m sure of this too!) to wind me up. What’s worse – yes, even worse – is that then half the tops tell me that they can’t even do the concert after all!!!!!
Apart from nailing people’s feet to the ground, labelling them with a barcode on their forehead, making them wear different coloured shirts to represent the different parts, compelling everyone to learn every part of every song equally well, forcing the excess altos at gun point to rejoin the tops, or even culling the spare voices, what does one do?? Suggestions on a postcard, or click ‘comment’ below. PLEASE!!!
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7 comments:
I know you don't do auditions, but have you thought about giving selected people "range tests," just to see what they can actually handle as opposed to what they think they can? Then you might, if you have enough seating or can move your chairs, make more physical space between the parts so the ones on the edges can't hear one another so well. Or you could ask your strongest, most reliable people in each part to sit on the edges, just until everybody's strong in their part. It sounds like a lot of your people don't read music, or else are too lazy to pay attention to the notes. Our choir director had everyone bring in blank tapes at the beginning of the season and she worked out each part, playing it on piano over a recording of a previous year's performance. Then we each had to sing along with our part as "homework." Some of us swore by it, others never listened to the tapes.
I like the idea of having them switch around on a part for an exercise, but I would definately assign them a permanent part and write it down in the choir's roster. Give them too much leeway and your choir will do as they will instead of what you want.
Just found out about your blog through the NVPN newsletter. It's great stuff... very familiar stories. Re. the parts creep- I don't like to be too much of a Nazi with a choir so I'll let them shift around parts in the early stages and only get them assigned to a definite part when we're in focused rehearsal mode (a few weeks before performance). At that stage I can usually tempt people out of the alto comfort zone by saying that I NEED some people to balance out the top/bass and that it's not so very high/low/difficult. Sometimes I target individuals by saying, 'you're so good at picking things up, could you move to this other part'. Yes, I do use subtle emotional manipulation with my singers, but hey, whatever works!! Thanks for creating this great blog- keep it up!
Holy toledo -- you make everyone learn all the parts?!? And then let them choose? Well there's your problem right there. Great training, I'll admit, but water runs downhill and people will always seek their comfort zone. And in a community choir, where people have limited time and other commitments, it includes the least amount of effort possible. Interesting that in your group the comfort zone is the alto parts. Most groups I know of have a surfeit of sopranos, because they get the melody. Tenors, on the other hand, have quite difficult parts, so I can see why they might want to drift somewhere else, given the choice. (As a soprano myself, I hugely admire anyone who can sing harmony!) Barcode 'em and nail their feet to floor is my vote. We actually quite enjoy it. We bond to our fellow section members, and complain about the other parts!
Babs, a slight misunderstanding here: I don't make everyone learn ALL the parts (actually, I don't make them do anything!), but I do say people can swap parts for each song if they choose to. Sometimes the top is just low enough in one song for an alto to have a go, sometimes the tune is in the tenor, or (usually) the tenor has the most interesting, sexy part! And sometimes we have weird complicated songs with lots of backing in maybe 6 or 5 parts, so where do people go then.
When I first started out, we usually only ever had three part song as there weren't many basses. I called the parts top, middle and bass. Ever since then, whatever the song, one woman would say: "I sing middle" and I'd say, "But there are four parts in this song", "Yes, I know, I sing middle".
Getting my nail gun and barcoder as we speak!
Ah, it becomes a little clearer now! (Although I still like the idea of barcoding ;)
We have the opposite problem in our group. Once assigned to a part, it sometimes takes blasting powder to get anyone to switch to a different section. Our comfort zone is always singing with the same people, in the same range.
We have occasionally sung songs where there is some leeway as to which line we choose to sing. What I have noticed is that group members tend to follow the strongest voices, so on lines with unassigned voices, there is a drift towards singing whatever the strongest vocalists are singing.
Cheers, and good luck with the bar coder and nail gun!
Stronger singers at the edges or outer voices directed at people in other parts ideally with listening too. Sonic field. This might be a peer pressure to stay in a group.
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