Tips for even better choir rehearsals
Many of my singers sing in choirs. Their music is very diverse, it varies from pop music to musical theatre to classical music. Part of the charm of singing in a choir, is that it brings many people from different backgrounds and skill levels together! It is great fun singing together and it is even scientifically proven to be good for your health!
Of course, we all know that singing is good for you: singing releases endorphins (happiness hormones), is good for your lungs, reduces stress levels and scientist are researching the role of singing in strengthening the immune system, improving memory and lessening the impact of Parkinson’s disease.
Singing together with others is even better, as it is beneficial for your social contacts, as well as strengthens the emotional bonds with the people you sing with. There are some cases where synchronised heartbeats of choir members were recorded! Bizar, right!? Below are two links to some nice articles giving some insight: Oxford University & Washington Post.
There may sometimes be some minor disadvantages to singing in a choir: many singers complain about being hoarse after rehearsals and the hoarseness continuing even longer than one day! That is not supposed to happen! How can that be possible? Below are some tips for getting through the choir rehearsals unscathed.
Warm-up
Rehearsals, they always seem to be too short! A brief hello and a bit of chatter in the beginning. A quick warm-up and then on to the real deal: practicing the repertoire. That quick warm-up should be fitting for all voice groups, sometimes they include breathing exercises, a few scales and that’s all. More than that is impossible when there is limited available time and full programme with a large group of singers of diverse voice types and skill levels to work through.
Many singers, however, need more vocal warm-up to get through the rehearsal without being hoarse afterwards. The solution is simple: warm up your voice before you go to rehearsal for about 15-20 minutes. It is easy to do this by yourself by using the recording of your latest singing lesson as a warm-up for your choir rehearsal. The exercises in your voice lesson are tailored to your voice type and skill level, so are best suitable for your voice. Another solution is using a personalised warm-up file, this takes out the talking from the lesson.
Voice type
Many voice types and levels come together in a choir, so it can be quite the challenge for the director to create a coherent sound with all those voices. Sometimes a director needs more singers of a certain voice type than are available in the choir. Example: if there are many sopranos, but not enough altos, the director have some sopranos, who can sing lower notes, join the altos to reinforce them. The same happens quite often with tenors singing in the baritone section.
It can be quite a strain on the vocal cords when you, as a singer, have to sing in a voice group that is not ideal for your your voice. The singer has to use more force to reach the desired volume. When you sing in your ideal reach, your voice has more presence of its own accord and singing becomes easier. During a rehearsal of a few hours your voice has to work harder and becomes tired and hoarse more easily.
We singers often have the habit of preferring to sing a bit lower when we are insecure about our voices, do not know the song very well or do not apply the right technique to tackle the high notes. Do not be discouraged when high notes appear very high in the beginning and you would rather sing with a lower voice group. Sometimes a higher voice section is really more suitable for your voice type and there might be a way to reach those high notes with more ease with better technique. When you are hoarse every time after a rehearsal, it might be best to ask your choir director if it would be possible to join a voice section that suits your voice better.
Technique
You are not familiar with the song yet and are a bit insecure about your singing the right notes. Maybe better to sing very softly? The other singers around you sing very softly as well…. you do not want to stick out singing full force singing the wrong note and others are able to hear that!
It is a bit of dilemma, because singing softly with too much air is not great for your vocal cords. You will have more control over your voice and have purer notes when you sing with less air. That does not mean automatically that you have to sing loudly, but it means that you have to sing with better closing vocal cords. Difficult? Ask your singing teacher for help, they can can teach you how to sing softly without all the air.
That way you can sing those “pianissimo” parts with ease and offer support to your less secure neighbour during a choir rehearsal.
Have fun singing together!
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