Twenty years ago, Warwick Folk Festival asked me to create a community choir as part of its education outreach programme.
I was reluctant to use the word “choir” because I thought it might put some people off. So I used a thesaurus and came up with “Singing Safari”. This is the story of that project.
When you’re leading a one-off singing workshop, or have large influx of new members to your choir, there will be lots of people who don’t know each other.
Here are a few simple ways to mix people up so there’s less chance of things becoming cliquey.
I’m seeing lots of great warm-ups and singing advice online these days. But most of it is aimed at choirs which meet regularly.
Many of these ideas won’t work in one-off workshops. Let’s look at the different needs of each.
As Blanche DuBois says in A streetcar named desire: “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
Although I don’t actually depend on it, I’m always surprised and humbled when singers step up to help at a workshop.
I wrote last week about how No choir can be all things to all singers. Some singers prefer sheet music, others learn best by ear. Some love movement and performance, others just want to stand still and sing.
Here are some of the most common tensions that arise — and a few ways to navigate them.
You can’t please all your singers all the time (see Keeping a choir happy – you can’t please everyone).
There will inevitably be times when some singers want one thing while others want something very different. How do you keep everybody happy?
In my experience, when it comes to moving and singing at the same time, men seem to find it hardest.
Why is this, and are there ways to help?