It’s the start of a new year, a time when people make new plans and take on new challenges.
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For singers and choir leaders, that often means dealing with change: new people, new spaces, new songs, and unfamiliar ways of doing things. Change can be exciting, but it can also feel unsettling.
In this post I’m looking at some of the new situations you might encounter at the start of a choir season, and a few ideas that may help you find your feet.
new choir
You might have decided to start singing and join a choir, or you might have had enough of your current choir and want a change.
Being a new choir member can be a bit like going up to big school. You might know one or two people, but most will be strangers and you won’t yet be familiar with “the way things are done”. If you’re lucky, the choir will have a policy to help new members settle in, such as a buddy system.
Helpful reading:
new choir leader
This is one of those changes that are usually imposed on you rather than chosen.
It’s not just hard for the singers, but also for the new choir leader who might feel pressure to “do things like we’ve always done”. Expectations, habits, and loyalties can all make the transition more complicated than it first appears.
Helpful reading:
- When a new musical director takes over your choir: a guide for choir members
- Taking over an established choir – a guide for choir leaders
new choir members
Depending on when and how often your choir is open to new singers, you might find yourself standing next to a whole bunch of strangers at your next rehearsal.
For choir leaders, there’s also the challenge of helping new members catch up with existing repertoire without making them feel excluded or overwhelmed.
Helpful reading:
- Helping new choir members learn the old songs
- How welcoming is your choir?
- Integrating new choir members: a guide for new singers, existing members and choir leaders
- How to prepare new choir members for their first visit
new vocal range
You might reassess your vocal range for many reasons: an ageing voice, a breakthrough at a workshop, singing lessons, or simply curiosity about another harmony part.
Changing voice part can feel surprisingly unsettling, especially if you’ve always strongly identified with one role in the choir.
Helpful reading:
- How to know which harmony part to sing – a guide for new singers
- Do you always sing the same voice part? Maybe it’s time for a change!
- Testing your limits: Are you singing the right part for your voice?
new songs (for choir members)
Many choirs begin a new choir season with new songs. At first this can feel uncomfortable: the material is unfamiliar, and progress can seem slow.
Remember to be patient. Learning a song nearly always takes longer than you expect, even if everyone else appears to be picking it up quickly.
Helpful reading:
- How long does it take to learn a song?
- Why does it take me so long to learn a song? Everyone else seems to pick it up fast
- Your complete guide to learning songs by ear
new venue
Perhaps your rehearsal venue is no longer available, or the choir has outgrown it. Maybe a more central location has become available.
For choir leaders, a new venue means different acoustics and a different layout. For singers, even standing in a new place can make everything feel harder. A new venue is a bigger change than it first appears.
The first few rehearsals work best when they’re fun and exploratory. Find out as a group how the new space works.
Helpful reading:
- Can you remember a song while standing on one leg?
- Making the space work for you – how to cope with unusual venues
conclusion
All of these changes have one thing in common: they take time to settle into.
Whether you’re the one who’s new, or the one adapting to change around you, patience and kindness — towards yourself as much as others — can make a big difference.
In the next post, I’ll look at the changes you might choose to make at the start of a new season: reflecting, planning, and deciding what (if anything) needs to change.
Chris Rowbury
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