Less is more: don’t feel you have to teach or learn new songs all the time (by Betsy Sansby)

Many choir leaders end up feeling like song factories because we feel that our singers crave novelty. If we don’t keep giving them new things, they might leave.

One World Community Choir conducted by Betsy Sansby

Actually most singers in a choir welcome singing the old, familiar songs and find it hard learning new stuff all the time. It’s important to find the balance.

If you don’t feel nervous before a concert or a singing workshop then something’s wrong

I never sleep the night before running a singing workshop and I always feel terribly nervous before a concert – whether I’m singing or conducting.

photo by Francesco

But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The day you stop being nervous is the day you should give up. Here’s why.

What if the singing session is a success, but you feel like a failure?

Sometimes we’re asked to lead a rehearsal or run a singing workshop or perform a song and we do our job very well. But afterwards we don’t feel particularly good about it.

photo by www.stockmonkeys.com/

What’s going on here? Is it possible to be successful, but fail at the same time?

What’s the best recording device to use in a choir rehearsal or singing workshop?

How long’s a piece of string?! There are so many options that I’m not going to specify any particular type or model.

photo by svennevenn

However, here are some of the things you need to consider.

Recording during singing workshops and choir rehearsals – why, what and when?

Despite my strong belief in the oral/ aural tradition, there is an increasing number of handheld recording devices appearing in my singing sessions!

photo by Harris & Ewing [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

People ask if they can record during a singing workshop; choir members record their parts on their phone whilst learning a new song; I record the songs we’ve learnt at the end of each workshop I run.

But what’s the best, and most appropriate way of recording during singing workshops and choir rehearsals?

The singers who didn’t like warm ups (and what became of them)

Once upon a time there were two singers: Olga and Little Erik. They  did not like choir warm ups. Olga always came late so she could avoid them. Little Erik did them in a half-hearted way with a scowl on his face.



What became of these two reckless singers? Read on to find out.

10 exercises guaranteed to get your singers listening more carefully

I went to a workshop recently run by the amazing Su Hart who has spent around 25 years working with the Baka people of Central Africa. Living in the rainforest as they do, listening well is literally a matter of life or death.

photo by Rex Bennett

Su’s workshop reminded me yet again that singing is all about listening. But how can we get our singers to listen to each other better? Here are 10 exercises to get you started.

Build it and they will come – why you can never have too many choirs

I had a friend who moved to a new town and set up a new choir, blissfully ignorant of the 100+ community chorus that already existed there.

photo by ToBreatheAsOne

What was amazing was that the new choir quickly attracted 40 or so new singers, none of whom were from the rival choir. How is that possible?

Increase your enjoyment of singing in the choir in the coming year

I wrote a post a while back called Ask not what your choir can do for you – ask what can you do for your choir. The more you put in, the more you get back!

The OK Chorale, Woodbridge, Suffolk

There are plenty of practical things you can do to help you get more out of your choir. Here are a few. Why not try them in the coming year?

Busily doing nothing – 5 reasons why downtime is important for singers and choir leaders

Feel like you’re on a treadmill? Constantly learning and practising and planning but never arriving? Not enough time to catch your breath between concerts?

photo by Roger Gordon

Then you need some downtime! That is, time spent doing things completely unrelated to singing and choirs. Here’s why.

Christmas carols are dying out – but are they really?

There have been two articles in the UK national press this week, one bemoaning the fact that we don’t sing Christmas carols together as much as we used to, and the other celebrating the thriving culture of pub Christmas carols in Yorkshire.



The truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. Let’s look at the evidence.

Why a choir can never be truly democratic

Ever asked your choir members how they think things are going? Is there a large committee helping to run your choir? If so, you’ve realised that a choir is not a democracy!



A choir is more like a benign dictatorship. Here’s why democratic choirs don’t work.

Songbooks and other resources for choirs (that will also make great presents)

I’ve written before about finding songs for your choir (Where do you find all your songs? and Easy songs for your choir and Finding songs for your choir). But times move on and new books get published all the time.



Here’s a round up of songbooks and other resources that are either fairly new or which I haven’t mentioned before.

The differences between a ‘natural voice’ choir and all the rest

You may have come across the term ‘natural voice’. You may also have realised by now that I am a member of The Natural Voice Practitioners’ Network.



But what exactly is the ‘natural voice’ and how do choirs run on ‘natural voice’ principles differ from other choirs? You’re in luck! Caroline Bithell has just written an amazing book that answers all your questions. Let’s look at what’s in it.

Using world songs in the classroom: a teacher’s guide to sourcing songs and how to teach them

Some teachers find themselves having to lead singing sessions at their school, but don’t have that much experience of using songs from the world music repertoire (‘world songs’) or of teaching songs by ear.



Here is a short guide to using world songs in the classroom with some handy references to warms ups, song sources, and how to lead choirs.

Choirs and copyright: a beginner’s guide for the bewildered

[NB this post is about UK copyright laws. Although the situation will be similar in other countries, the various copyright and performing rights agencies and websites will obviously be different]

I wrote extensively about copyright way back in 2010 (see my series of seven posts Songs and copyright), but I still get emails every week from choir leaders asking me questions!



I’m certainly no expert, especially since I don’t use sheet music, but I thought I’d revisit the topic and try to spell it out in simple terms. Here goes!

Is how you label yourself as a singer holding you back?

We all have an image of the type of singer (or musical director or choir) that we think we are. There are things that we can do and things that we can’t (or won’t) do.

photo by iamstarbuck

But what if the way we see ourselves is out of date? What if we’ve given ourselves the wrong label? How can we move forward?

Want to sing but are scared of being judged? Here’s what to do

Sarcastic remarks from X Factor judges. Teachers telling kids to “stand at the back and just mime”. Being made to stand up and sing solo to get into your workplace choir. Scary!



And enough to put anyone off singing! However, there are plenty of other ways of singing with others without the fear of being judged or ridiculed. Here’s what you can do.

Want to develop your voice and sing better? Be silly and play!

Trying to increase your vocal range? Want to develop a richer tone to your voice? Puzzling over voice placement and timbre?

photo by The-Serene-Mage

Before you rush off to find a singing teacher, try being playful with your voice for fun.

Is one of your choir sections thin on the ground? 10 ways to find more singers to fill the gaps

Many of us are in choirs where a particular section needs bolstering. In my case it’s a lack of altos, for others it might be too few tenors.



Here are 10 ideas for beefing up a particular voice part.