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If you're willing to take on the task (and it won't be easy!), you have to start with the basics.

If they won't learn to read music, you'll have to teach them their parts by rote, playing each individual part over and over until they learn their part. Once they've learned their parts individually, you need to get them to put it all together. Some of the best ways I know of to do this are 1. count singing -- everybody sings the rhythm of the song by counting out "one two ti four / one-and two-and ti-and four-and", etc. "Ti" is used in place of "three" becaue it flows out more quickly in rhythm without that tripthong in the beginning. At the beginning, count-singing should be done without pitches so that the singers are concentrating on RHYTHM only. 2. Once the rhythm is properly set in their head, add count-singing with pitch (but still no lyrics). This will help set the melodies and harmonies in their heads. 3. Chanting -- again, this is a rhythmic exercise, but helps set the lyrics straight with the rhythm. During this phase, work on setting and correcting diction, making sure consonants (especially final consonants of words and phrases) all fall together. Proper diction during singing is one of the most important aspects, and is almost universally ignored by church choir directors. 4. Put it all together.

One of the most useful things I have found for my own practice is the creation of rehearsal tapes. This is a tedious process, but is becoming more practical with the advent of sheet music scanning software. I can scan a song, convert it to midi, massage the midi file somewhat with a music notation program, and create usable rehearsal tapes reasonably quickly (about 15 - 20 minutes per page of music these days). The trick with such a process is to create a separate rehearsal tape for each voice part, isolating that voice part on one channel (let's say the left channel for convenience) while mixing all of the rest of the voices to the right channel, and mixing the accompaniment equally. This way, each singer can hear their own part clearly without confusion from the other voices, but while still hearing the accompaniment.

1: Study the song thoroughly. The choir director should know all the parts! To be ready to teach a song, you have to know it. Study the song until it becomes a part of you, until you know it backward and forward. Some gospel choir songs have sheet music you can learn from, but most do not. You'll usually be studying the song by listening to a recording. If you're a beginning choir director, you may need to spend a lot of time training yourself to hear the individual soprano, alto, and tenor parts in the music. Listen to the song and sing along with it. Practice singing the soprano part until you can sing the entire part correctly without stumbling. Now repeat the process singing the alto part until you have that down pat. Now do the tenor part, and then the bass part if there is one. Yes, you will be listening to the same song over and over and over. Yes, you will drive your family nuts. Even if you use headphones you will still test their patience because you'll be singing along, over and over and over. If you have a higher voice, like most females, you probably can't hit the lowest notes on the tenor and bass parts. Likewise, if you have a low voice, like most males, you would not be able to reach the high soprano notes. Just sing the part an octave higher or an octave lower when you need to. The important thing is that you have full command of the part. For extra insurance, you might want to write down some kind of notes that you can use as a reminder when you're teaching the song in rehearsal. If you know a little bit of music theory, you can make note of the scale tones that each part starts on. When you stand before the choir you want to be fully confident that you can teach every part. Your goal is to be able to do this yourself without having to ask the musician, "What's the alto part on the chorus?"

2: Decide on your arrangement of the song. Are you going to do the song exactly the way it is on the recording? The recorded version might be just right for your group and your purpose, but if not, adjust things to meet your own needs.

You might decide to do the song in a different key, based on the vocal ranges of your choir members. Or you might want to speed the song up or slow it down to get a different feel. Decide if you want to make any changes to the vocal parts or the words. Some good tips from a choir director friend of mine: In some cases you might need to simplify a song. If you are going to have a limited amount of rehearsal time, you could leave out a complicated passage or stick with only one vamp (repeating chorus) when the song might have two or three of them. And if you're working with a choir of less-experienced singers, you may also leave out key changes and inversions (that's when the tenors jump to the alto part, the altos go to the soprano part, and the sopranos go up into the stratosphere). If you don't have a lead singer, you might leave out the lead verse. Another option when there's no lead singer is to have a whole section of the choir sing the lead verse. Our choir has a couple of songs where the whole soprano section or the whole alto sections sings a verse that was done by a soloist on the record. This works best if the verse has a very straightforward tune and rhythm that don't need a lot of embellishments, otherwise you're better off just leaving out the verse. On the flip side, if you're going to be singing for a special occasion, you might decide to add some extra flourishes to a song. Add a dramatic introduction. Give it a more elaborate ending. Whatever you feel. Also make plans for the instruments. On some songs you might want the full band. On others, maybe just a couple of instruments. Or you might begin the song with just the piano and then bring the rest of the instruments in. Do you want the drummer to use the sticks or the brushes? Once you've decided how the song is going to be performed, then you're ready to present it. 3: Present the song to the musicians. Your choir rehearsal will go much better if the musicians already know the music. Trying to teach both the singers and the instruments at the same time makes for a long rehearsal. And the singers will have a much harder time learning their parts if the instruments are still trying to figure out the song and making mistakes along the way. So bring the song to the musicians ahead of time so they'll be ready.

How do your musicians learn best? As you know, your gospel musicians probably don't read sheet music. With some, you can just hand them the CD and they handle the rest. (We all love musicians like that!) Others may need a paper that shows them the chords. This is called a lead sheet or a fake sheet. If you're familiar with chords, you can write out a fake sheet yourself. If you need help, there are some websites that provide chords for many well-known gospel songs. One very popular site is the Chorded Songs page provided by Earnest and Roline Ministries. Talk to your musicians about how much advance time they need before a song is going to be taught to the choir.

4: Think about how you want to teach the song to the choir. What's your "lesson plan"? When you're teaching the singers, you want them to start getting an understanding and a feel for the song as soon as possible. Decide beforehand what you think will be the most effective way to teach the song so that they'll grasp it well. For a lot of songs, it will work fine to just start singing the first part of the song and proceed from there. But with some songs you might want to take a different approach. If a song has a lot of words, you should probably present the words first before the tune. If there are complex rhythms, talk through the song with them, at a slower speed if necessary. Once they have the rhythm down, then teach the melody. And which vocal part will you teach first? Usually in gospel choir songs the sopranos have the melody which makes them a natural first choice. But if the altos or tenors are the part that really holds a particular passage together, start with them. If a song is long or complicated, consider just teaching a portion of it at one rehearsal, then teaching the rest of it the next time. And here's another tip from the choir directing community: If you're going to be doing the song about the same as the original recording, you may want to play the recording for the choir when you first present it. The choir can hear the finished product and perhaps sing along with it. This can give them a boost of confidence and generate some excitement about the song.

5: Start teaching! My motto for choir teaching is "Drill, baby, drill!" You'll notice as you read that I use words like "repeat" and "again" and "over" a whole lot. This is an important point. Since gospel choirs sing from memory, parts must be repeated until they've been internalized. Drill, baby, drill. Give the choir a little bit at a time. Whichever part you're starting with (usually the sopranos, but not always), give them one line at a time. You demonstrate it first, and then have them sing it back to you. Let them repeat the line until they look and sound like they're comfortable with it. Then add the next line to it and repeat that until they've really got it. Then bring the two lines together and make sure that they can sing them smoothly. Keep adding a line at a time until they have learned the whole verse. After they have the whole verse, move on to the next group of singers and repeat the process. When they have learned the verse too, you may want to have the two parts sing it together, or you may want to move on to the third group of singers right away. When all the parts have learned the verse, have them sing it again together. Make sure that everyone is able to keep on their part even when they're hearing the other parts singing. If anyone seems unclear on their part go back over it. It is important to deal with mistakes right away. If you let someone sing a part incorrectly several times, it will be difficult for them to unlearn those wrong notes. After the choir learns one portion of the song, go on to the next portion (the chorus or bridge or whatever). Teach it the same way, a part at a time, a line at a time. Be sure to practice the transitions from one portion of the song to another! Some choir directors make the mistake of teaching each portion in isolation and the choir has trouble figuring out how to get from the chorus to the bridge ("Do we wait four beats, or do we come straight in?"). After you've taught the whole song, sing it again from beginning to end. If the choir is hearing the song for the first time, they may have forgotten the beginning parts by the time you get to the end. Go over the whole thing to refresh their memories. Let your choir members know that they can ask questions at any time during the rehearsal. If there is a part they are unsure about, you want them to ask you

immediately. Otherwise they might forget the question. And every time someone asks a question there are probably two or three other people who were wondering the same thing.

6: Do it again at another rehearsal! Don't expect the choir to remember a song perfectly after only one practice. Once they leave the rehearsal, they will start to forget. You will need to rehearse the song at least two or three times before you can be confident that they will be ready to sing it in a church service. There are very few songs that are easy enough to learn completely in only one rehearsal. If you need suggestions for super-easy songs, you can check out my one-rehearsal songs page. Otherwise, plan to practice a song several times before you sing it. At the second rehearsal, try having them sing the song all together just like it was a performance. They might be able to do it, or they might be shaky on their parts. That is normal. If you need to teach the parts again, go ahead. It won't take as long as it did at the first rehearsal.

Directing a Choir: A Behaviorist, Cognitive and Situated Teaching Activity A choral conductors task is immense: he must take a large group of people with disparate learning styles and musical abilities, have them read ink dots on staves with words beneath, translate what they read to sound that contains pitch, timbre, rhythm and expression, and join their individual sounds into one sound that not only make sense, but that can stir hearts and minds. He must find many ways to teach his singers; he must have strong grasp of learning theory. After watching Stephen Sano conduct a rehearsal (as well as singing with him in the University Singers), it is clear that he uses methods that span a broad spectrum of learning theory, methods that might be applauded by a behaviorist, a cognitivist and a supporter of situated learning. Elements from all three schools are needed owing to the enormity of the task, the number of skills necessary to impart, the diversity among the learners, and the need for a credible, even moving, final product. Behaviorism, on its surface, seems far too mechanistic a theory of learning to be applicable to Mozart or Mendelssohn. Behaviorist teaching and learning, however, forms some of what skilled conductors do. In its simplest terms, behaviorism, according to Robert Gagn, deals with an input, an output, and a functioning entity in between. The input is a stimulus situation, the output is a response that produces an identifiable product. The behaviorist model is characterized by the learner being presented with discrete sets of skills, arranged in careful order, from easily grasped to more complex, leading to more complex levels of skills. Gagn posits eight levels of learning activities; they range from simple stimulus and response to higher-order learning, i.e. concept learning, rule learning and problem solving. Skills of all these levels are present in most choral activity. Extensive warm-up exercises at the beginning of each rehearsal, which train the mind and the voice, but have no immediate relationship with the music to be rehearsed during that session, are a good example of this schools impact on music conducting. While Mendelssohns Elijah does not require the chorister to yawn, or trill the lips at length, or say mee-meh-mah-moh-muu, each of those skills helps Elijah to sound better when rehearsed and performed. And as a group improves in those skills, they are enfolded in more challenging warm-ups as the choir matures together. Having a choir take a particularly challenging fugal portion of the Mozart Requiem and sing each note on du, rather than on the words (Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison), in order to properly sing and hear the intricate rhythms and note changes, then go to

the real text when the dus are mastered, is another explicit example of behavioristic teaching. One of the key skills for a choir is watching and responding to the lead of the conductor. Exercises in which the conductor uses specific gestures to elicit, for example, rhythmic clapping from the choir, train the choir not only in rhythm but in following the conductors lead. Some of singing is thinking; much of singing in a group is training, and a behaviorist approach can be effective in instilling that training. Habits are instilled, simpler works can give way to more complex works, and some of the process can be automatized, so that more work can be done on expression and interpretation. Behaviorism, as mechanistic as it may seem, has its place in the repertoire of choral teaching and learning. Yet, there is, of course, more to singing than training. A choir needs to think; a choir needs to have a mental model of where its going. According to Case and Bereiter (1984), the basic elements of the cognitive approach to learning consist of: identifying the task to be taught and developing a measure for assessing success; diagnosing the strategy that experts use for succeeding at this task; diagnosing the strategy used by novices or those who fail at the task; designing a paradigm for showing the learner why their current strategy is inadequate and for enabling them to assemble a more powerful one; minimizing the working memory load of the instructional program; providing sufficient practice at each step. Creating a mental, or conceptual, model is critical in the cognitivists point of view (Case and Bereiter, 1984). A choral conductor as good at communicating as Stephen Sano does this frequently. One way at imparting an entire mental model is to recommend several recordings of the work being studied and rehearsed. This enables the singer to understand where each movement fits in the whole, where the flow of the work is heading, and to understand the meaning of the larger context. (When working on the Lacrymosa in the Mozart Requiem, it is important to hear it as following the inflamed and troubled and somewhat schizophrenic Confutatis Maledictis to fully appreciate its place, which is not generally possible in the usual rehearsal.)

A good conductor is frequently verbally creating a larger conceptual model of a work for the choir. Stephen Sano frequently takes a quick aside to discuss the time, the place, the character of the composer, the meaning of particular lyrics; all of these help the choir to create a clearer mental image of the work being performed. The

work begins to take root in each choir members mind; it becomes no longer a work outside the mind to be mastered. The work becomes more than a series of responses to particular stimuli; it becomes a living part of each singers conscious thought. The good director, true to cognitive theory, develops an approach that fits the choir with whom he or she is working, develops a teaching strategy that challenges them but that doesnt overtax the choristers powers of working memory. Finally, a good conductor must work in the model of situativity. Choral singing is, at its essence, individual effort in a social setting. Each member must have a clear understanding of the work and of his or her part, but be subsumed, unite with, and learn from, the singers around him or her. A conductor frequently reminds (or implores) his singers to listen to the other parts, to whats going on around them. Learning occurs, according to the situative model, always in a social setting (Greeno, 1998). In a choir this is particularly true. One tenor will listen to anothers rendition of a particular passage in order to improve his. The conductor will ask the altos to perform a passage that they do well, so that the other parts can hear their interpretation. An errant bass will hear the correct rhythm of a passage from the sopranos, and incorporate it into his performance. Most importantly, situative thinkers place an importance on the creation of a community of practice. Students studying science should not just read books, they should do what scientists do. Nowhere is this more faithfully carried out than in an amateur choir. The director is constantly modeling, instructing, reminding the members how to sing, think and act; individual members do so to one another. While the amateur choirs musical ability may not be as great as a professional choirs, their rehearsal ethos, their zeal for expressive interpretation, their desire for a good performance may be just as great. Finally, situative thinkers desire for the learner an authentic demonstration of what has been learned. Memorial Church, with a full orchestra, and a paid audience of 600 eager listeners provides just that. This is no mere recitation for the teacher; it is incorporating notes, text, rhythm, precision, feeling and intellect in an electric atmosphere. The conductor and teacher is being assessed just as much as his charges. The gifted conductor must be principled with respect to learning theory, but he or she cannot be a slave to one ideal. Elements from behaviorism, a cognitive approach and situativity can and should be a part of an effective condu ctors repertoire of teaching strategies.

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