Monday, August 21, 2017

10 ways in which leading a choir is like writing a blog – the day to day challenges

I’ve been writing a weekly blog since 2006 and leading choirs since 1997.

Find_your_voice.

It turns out that there are quite a few things in common between these two seemingly unrelated activities.

I was surprised to find that the skillset I’ve developed as a choir leader has come in very useful when writing a blog. It also works the other way round.

Here are a few ways in which running a choir is like writing a blog.

  1. week in, week out – you need to turn up every week which means a regular commitment. Not something to take on lightly.
  2. keep it fresh – it’s no good doing exactly the same warm up or song week on week, you need to keep it fresh. Think up new ideas every single week.
  3. promote it – if nobody knows about your choir (or your blog), then there’s just no point even if it’s brilliant. Get the word out any way you can.
  4. attract new people – just like a blog needs readers, a choir needs singers. You need to make your choir as attractive as possible for new members.
  5. keep everyone happy – once you’ve got a good readership or healthy membership you can’t rest on your laurels. Keep people interested each week or they will leave.
  6. use different approaches – we are often trying to say the same thing again and again, whether it’s a particular subject on a blog or a singing technique. It needs repeating so it sinks in. Find as many different ways as you can to say or present the same thing.
  7. work through the bad times – we all have off days, but you need to turn up to choir or write your next post even if you don’t feel like it. You don’t have the luxury of just not doing it.
  8. don’t get stuck in a rut – not only do you have to come up with new ideas every week, but don’t get stuck in a rut whether it’s repertoire, choir formation, blog layout or writing style. Shake things up now and again.
  9. get help – if you get stuck or find yourself out of your depth, then get help. It could be a mentor or someone who can step in when you’re not well. It could be a writing buddy or someone to write a guest post for you. You don’t have to do it all by yourself.
  10. find your niche – if your town is full of classical music choirs who sing the Messiah every year, then start something different. If your blog is too general, then narrow it down to an area that is not already saturated. Find your niche, your unique selling point, what makes your choir or blog different from all the others.

I hope these similarities have thrown a little light on what you do: whether it’s leading a choir or writing a blog. I’d love to hear from you if you can think of other things in common.

Get more posts like this delivered straight to your inbox!

Click to subscribe by email.


Chris Rowbury


Website: chrisrowbury.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury

Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
Monthly Music Roundup: Tinyletter.com/ChrisRowbury

Chris Rowbury


 

Get more posts like this delivered straight to your inbox!

Click to subscribe by email.

 

found this helpful?

I provide this content free of charge, because I like to be helpful. If you have found it useful, you may like to ...

... to say thank you.


 

Website: chrisrowbury.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury

Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury

Monthly Music Round-up: ChrisRowbury.substack.com

YouTube: YouTube.com/ChrisRowbury