Technology Tips for Choral Directors

The choral rehearsal, for most of us, has not evolved much from the times of our predecessors. However, as we dive further into the fast-moving informational age, a myriad of new apps and programs have become available and could improve and even revolutionize chorus rehearsals as we know it. If you are a more “experienced” teacher, like me, you may not be aware of all that the digital age has to offer to choral directors. Writing this article helped me learn about some new software available and I hope it will do the same for you. Perhaps it is now time to open the door to the idea of adding one of the programs below to your tool box. It could potentially save you tons of organizational time, leaving more available for other fulfilling choral tasks.

I challenge you to read through this very basic and easy-to-understand list of some modern technology available to you to help make rehearsals run smoother and/or become more effective. I know some may twitch even thinking of the word “technology” but many of the programs below are easy to use and have truly improved the modern rehearsal.

Perhaps there is something in this blog which you hadn’t discovered! Although I do not claim to be an expert on this subject, below is a compiled list of some apps that I have researched, which may be worthy of a second look.

Class/Choral Room Assistants

1. Google Drive, Classroom, and Sites

If you or your school district have not yet explored the wonders of Google, I would highly recommend taking the time to do so. The best feature, besides having an online storage facility for documents, recordings, and pictures, is that users have the ability to share live documents with others, who can adjust or edit them in real time. Google Classroom allows students to input assignments to a teacher, where the teacher can then comment and grade, and Google Sites allows you to create a free website, shareable to whomever you wish. All of these apps are downloadable to your phone, making it ultra-convenient. The best part? All free.

2. Remind

This is an app that makes it easy to send information quickly to your choir members. The information is sent directly to the cell phones of all who have subscribed and it is useful for sending quick reminders such as, “Don’t forget to wear your choir shirts tomorrow.” I would recommend using this app with a desktop, as I have often found the smartphone version can be glitchy.

3. Attendance2

For use with your smart device, this app helps streamline and simplify the attendance-taking process. The app allows you to import a list of student names through CSV files and not only allows you to track attendance, but you can set dates and times of classes, import photos to display next to each students’ name, and even supply students with their own QR code to scan to record a person’s attendance status. You can create custom reports to track students’ attendance vs. missed days to identify at-risk students.

Practice and Performance

1. SmartMusic

SmartMusic is a subscription-based platform that is user-friendly and a great way to have your students practice along with an accompaniment at home or in the classroom. The platform features built in practice tools such as a metronome, and provides immediate feedback for students on pitches and rhythms. The teacher is able to create custom sight-reading exercises, track how the student practiced, how many times, etc., making SmartMusic a powerful assessment tool. The SmartMusic library for choral works has increased in recent years, allowing it to be much more useful in the choral world. It also includes essential resources like Sing at First Sight and Vocalize!

2. Finale

Finale is the industry standard when it comes to music notation software. You can easily create professional lead sheets, arrangements, and scores. Notes can be inputed using a computer mouse, through a MIDI device, or even played into a computer microphone from a keyboard. You can make printed sheet music, audio files, pdfs, and more; whatever it takes to produce the best performance.

2. Notateme and Photoscore

Notateme is an app for a smart device that can translate handwritten notation to computer-generated notation. With Photoscore, it then can be emailed to colleagues or students, or turned into PDFs to make printable sheets of music. There are innumerable uses for these apps as a choral director, from writing out individual parts to creating practice sheets. With Photoscore and Notateme, the possibilities are endless!

3. Total Energy Tuner

Although there are plenty of tuning apps out there, T.E. Tuner is said to be one of the best, boasting its usefulness individually and in large groups. The app is not only a tuner, but a metronome, recording device, and tone generator. It is definitely useful for any serious musician or director.

4. Smart Notebook (for use with SMARTboard)

This invaluable program is used in conjunction with a Smart Board and is great for projecting music and images as a large scale visual. Smart Boards are great in the choral rehearsal especially when the director needs to show choir members universal specifics in the music, or when the director would like the choir to all see the same music at the same time. If you are lucky enough to have a SMARTboard in your classroom, its uses are innumerable.

5. Loopy

Whether your chorus is predominantly a cappella or you like to offer a variety of genres to your students, the Loopy app is great for recording your students’ voices and looping the tracks, allowing for layers of harmonies, beatboxing, or additional instrumentation to your arrangement. It is also a great tool for choral improvisation and the cost is a nominal, one-time charge.

The future is upon us. Technology continues to evolve and improve. Where there was once a problem, there are modern gadgets, gizmos, and apps to make life easier and simpler, even with regard to the choral rehearsal. If you are like me and nearing the age of a fine wine, technology can be intimidating and overwhelming. Although the above list is merely the tip of the iceberg of what is available to directors in cyberspace, I hope it has given you a taste of ways to use technology in your rehearsal, and possibly the encouragement to look further. You may begin to realize that technology can be a friend even to the easily intimidated among us.