10 Considerations to Take Your Vocal Group to the Next Level

I was recently in Russia to be a judge at a vocal group festival called "The Moscow Spring A Cappella Festival." The festival was large—180 groups in attendance! A colleague of mine and I were asked to deliver a workshop there, and for my portion of the workshop I shared 10 key points that I think are of value to singers and directors, and I’d like to share those with you:

1. If it seems like it’s not right, it’s not right.

If a chord sounds like it might be a little out of tune and you have to stop to consider whether it is or isn’t, then it probably isn’t! Similarly, if you’re working with rhythmic music and the pocket doesn’t quite feel right yet, then it’s not right yet and needs attention. The bottom line: if something doesn’t seem right, then don’t settle for ‘good enough:’ keep working until you are sure.

2. Do your homework.

Of course it goes without saying that we need to learn all the notes and rhythms in the arrangements. And with that in mind, I suggest this experiment: challenge singers to practice with the goal of singing their part to every song a capella, all the way through—correct notes, correct rhythm, correct musicality, and in tune. And if they can do that, fantastic! If they can’t, then certainly it needs further practice.

3. Don’t underestimate the pocket!

The rhythm, the groove, the feel. In jazz (or any type of groove music), it really needs to feel good, rhythmically. If it doesn’t, you’ll want to figure out why. It’s easier said than done, and it takes a deep level of musical maturity to feel a pocket really well because each different groove has a different relationship to the steady beat. Tempo also comes into play. There’s a lot to the pursuit of a great rhythmic feel and it’s a subtle thing, but it’s worth pursuing to become a master so that everyone listening to you can’t help but tap their foot.

4. Listen more, sing less.

A fairly common phrase and worth repeating here! What happens when we do listen more and sing less? Our awareness level goes up, we get into the present moment and we start to notice things. Almost immediately when a vocal group member begins to listen more, they tend to pull back on their volume, blend better, and tune better. It’s actually kind of a good rule of life in general—to get out of our bubble and be more generally aware of the world outside ourselves.

5. There is no substitute for performance experience.

Your choir can rehearse—and should rehearse—but there’s no substitute for getting out there and performing. A choir will grow in a different kind of way the more that it performs. Is it easy to find performance opportunities? No, not always; but opportunities can be created with a little bit of thinking outside the box and a few phone calls.

6. Convey the mood and attitude.

Be sure to look, feel, and be like the mood and the attitude you want to convey in your music. We don’t want a mismatch between what’s on the singer’s face and what they’re ‘talking about’ in a song. Also, body language telegraphs a lot about how a person is feeling, who they’re being, and what’s going on inside, so it’s important to make sure that there’s a connection between body language, facial expression, and emotional mood. It shouldn’t feel forced, but the singers should be looking for the path toward feeling the soul, the sadness, the joy of the music—personified in their physical presence.

7. Make music out of everything.

This of course is the overarching goal with anything your choir is singing. Special attention may be needed for certain musical passages, for example when there are backgrounds. People will tend to go to sleep and phone it in on backgrounds. Obviously it’s best to avoid that! Singers should stay awake, keep it alive, stay in the present moment, and always be thinking, “How can I feel the pocket a little better? Do I need a little crescendo in here? What do I need to do to make music out of my part?”

8. Tell the story of the song.

It doesn’t matter what language. Whether it’s Hungarian, Russian, Chinese, whatever—don’t forget to tell the story of the song. There’s something that’s being said in that song, and when we rehearse a song for dozens of hours, it’s too easy to forget that the songwriter was trying to express something with the lyric. Make sure to come back to awareness of the story of the song so it can be communicated during performance.

9. Use quality literature.

Every single voicing should be solid, and revisit rule #1: “If it seems like it’s not right, it’s not right.” Seek out arrangers that you really like and that you trust are writing good compositions or arrangements. Consider writing your own things! Be picky and don’t let anything slide. Every single chord voicing and rhythm should have some purpose and contribute to a better musical whole.

10. Remember—it’s not about you.

It’s not even about your group. It’s really about everyone within the sphere of the performance. It’s about you, the person next to you, the person directing the group, the venue that is hosting the performance, and most importantly, it’s about the audience. We want to create a sharing spirit with the audience. Sing the music because you love the music. No one owns the music. It’s a joy to sing with a strong spirit of giving . Share your song with audience and invite them to come into your joyful place and share your love for the music. They will appreciate you that much more, and the music will be that much more inspiring.

Watch Michele’s video blog of this article , including clips of choir performances from the Moscow Spring A Cappella Festival, and visit michmusic.com for additional videos and educational resources!