One of the posts I found interesting when browsing the ChoralNet forums was a question about helping the members of the choir feel more like a community. Their post is here on the ChoralNet forum, but I'll summarize a little. Essentially, new members had joined the choir at the beginning of the school year, and they were having trouble connecting with the older members of the choir. They had already done "ice-breaker" activities at the beginning of the year, and still there had been no progress, which resulting in a "very quiet, shy choral sound".
This surprised me, as I never really considered how important a connection between members of the choir is, and how vital it was to the overall sound. I think it's also a different situation for high school; in university, if we don't get along with someone, we deal with it as we still have to work with them in a professional manner. However, in high school, unity with everyone is not generally a main concern - they tend to stick together in smaller groups. It's also always difficult for the new person to break into a tight-knit group, and I can understand the awkwardness this might cause amongst the members.
The comments in the post gave the teacher suggestions generally using other icebreaker activities, but I felt that maybe talking to the older students about this problem individually, or putting them in a more independent or leadership-type role involving the younger students might be more helpful. For example, the teacher could pair one older student with a younger student and have them work on their parts together, or some other such activity. This would give the older student a mentor-type role for the younger/newer choir student, and this would also allow them to get to know each other better in a smaller group setting.
What are some other methods the teacher could use to improve the overall morale of the choir members, beyond that of the general "icebreaker" type activities?
What are some other methods the teacher could use to improve the overall morale of the choir members, beyond that of the general "icebreaker" type activities?
Good suggestion, Janelle. Your idea of a mentor/buddy system could certainly help. Remember that this is an intermediate choir and so the members are probably all about the same age (12-15). Rather than pairing students by ages (older with younger), consider pairing them differently at each rehearsal by birthday months, what colour they are wearing, favourite band, etc...anything to get the singers interacting with those they don't know. I think it's good if these 'mixers' can be used during the rehearsal rather than just at the breaks or at the beginning of the rehearsal. When working with the Newfoundland Symphony Youth Choir, I was always surprised how many choristers didn't know the singers who didn't sit close to them....and I thought we were a big, happy family. It takes a lot of focused attention to break down groups at this age....there is great security in being "in a group", even if it's a group of new singers.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that comes to my mind to help new members become more comfortable in a situation like this is to break the choir up into small groups. Similar to what Ki has already said, break the choir up into small groups at every rehearsal and base these groups on different criteria each time. This will ensure that the groups change from week to week, which in turn will ensure that people who did not know each other before becoming part of the choir interact and become more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the ideas listed by Ki and Sascha. One thing I would do (that hasn't been suggested yet) is to have, if possible, gatherings outside of rehearsal. Any kind of social event, like supper or coffee for example would do. This opens the door to the opportunity for choir members to get to know each other much more personally. Random chitchat over super can go a long way to "break the ice" and help groups/clicks come together and bond.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very real issue with students at this age (intermediate level) as they do tend to form very tight knit groups like you said. I agree with all of the above listed ideas to help make more of a community atmosphere within the choir. I think that special events outside of rehearsal or choir/class trips can definitely present new opportunities for members to get to know each other. It has worked very well in my experience with youth bands in the past.
ReplyDeleteThe mentor/buddy system has been used extensively by many great choral directors. I know definitively of two - Kellie Walsh and Erkki Pohjola (founder of the Tapiola Children's Choir). For minor issues, Kellie has created a situation where she has hardly to deal with them - her mentors and senior members of the choir nearly govern themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe situation on ChoralNet that you brought to our attention is one result of failing to implement structure such as this. There is an almost hostile atmosphere within the choir, where newer members are afraid to express themselves. This is unfortunately, entirely what choir is all about. While this situation I believe is somewhat impossible to avoid at first, a good buddy system seems to me the quickest and easiest way to take care of this. Good suggestion Janelle.