Tips to Inspire Your Young Choir to Sing with More Passion and Feeling

Pressure! There are a few weeks to go before the big concert. You are feeling the crunch time nerves and common thoughts that rattle in the brain of a conductor under concert season stress. “Will they be ready in time?” “This group is not singing up to their potential.” “What more can I do to encourage them to sing with more thoughtfulness?” Stress, BE GONE! I am here to show you a few tips and strategies to help your young school choir perform at the next level and sing with more warmth and expression than you ever thought imaginable.

Now that your frustration has been acknowledged, let’s pretend that the stage has already been set for your choir. Your students have had a decent diet of music education prior to becoming a choir member. How do you get them engaged and connected to the songs you have chosen? How do you inspire them to shape the lump of clay on a turning wheel into the most beautiful and delicately molded vase? The next few steps will help ensure that your students are as engaged as possible to guarantee that they are singing with every ounce of commitment, emotion, and accuracy.

Before we get started, let us assume you already have the following set in place:

Trust and Respect

First, your students must trust and respect you. It is important to earn this respect by being kind and seeing them as good people. Have fun and be lighthearted yet do not settle for less than what you want as a conductor, and set clear expectations for choir members. Once you have developed a rapport with your students, high expectations will not be met with disdain. I find that students truly love to make real music. If they know you will not settle for less, they will often rise to the challenge.

A Healthy Repertoire Regimen

What you choose for students to sing can be the single most important part of the process and can indeed make or break your choir. Stay away from “candy” repertoire as much as possible. “Candy” is any song that has little to no opportunity for musical exploration. As much as students might argue this, if you choose candy, you will secretly lose your students’ trust and respect in the music-making process. Your repertoire should include a healthy regimen of music including challenging languages, harmonies, articulations, and genres.

The "Tricks of the Trade"

Once your students are on your side and the repertoire is like a fresh basket of fruit, each piece juicer than the next, then you will be ready to use a few “tricks of the trade” to insure your students stay engaged in the most fulfilling musical experience possible.

1. Apply the “Used Car Salesman” Approach

Sell! Sell! Sell! Your repertoire—unless already familiar—will not necessarily grab your students on the first day, so it is important to be like a car salesman and show off the power windows and leather seats! Teach the most melodically interesting part of the song first. Tell the unique history of the piece. Share the translation and play a choir singing the piece artfully. Speak of your excitement related to the piece and why you chose it for them.

Let me share an example of this salesman technique. In my program for an upcoming concert, the fifth graders are working on a particularly tricky version of “Old Dan Tucker.” When first introduced, the words were apparently too “absurd” for the most “refined” 11 year olds. The song was being met with eye rolls. However, when I spoke of how the rhythm and intertwining countermelodies simulated folk instruments and then played an instrumental arrangement of the song, they were hooked. Of course some work still needed to be done to hone in the sound, but I was happy to have piqued their interest.

2. Paint a Musical Canvas

Students want to make music, not just sing notes. In my experience I have found that a student’s favorite piece is often the one that requires the most artistry and shaping. Let your students paint the most beautiful canvas of color and design!

“Homeward Bound” (by Marta Keen / arr. Jay Althouse) is a perfect example of stunning artwork at its best. Not only is this song beautifully composed with a gorgeous, lush vocal line, but the phrasing and potential for artistry is great. In our last concert, this song was the favorite from most of my fifth graders. The lunch workers and other passersby couldn’t help but compliment us during rehearsals. They often said they loved listening to them sing this piece and could tell they truly enjoyed singing it. Who wouldn’t?

3. Take 5 and Discuss

Sometimes the most poignant moment in a rehearsal happens when the students are not even singing. We are often pressed for time, so stopping to discuss a composer’s or poet’s intentions with a piece can often make a conductor squirm. However, time taken to find a deeper understanding in a piece is time well spent. Speak about the meaning of the poem or the English translation of a foreign language. Explain why the composer chose a particular dynamic or articulation at a certain moment. Or better yet, ask them! These five-minute explanations often feel hard to “give up” in a rehearsal, but are sometimes the most invaluable in terms of connecting to the music. This is even more important with today’s students, where connection can often be limited.

One day, in the beginning of rehearsing a piece, I could tell that the students weren’t engaged. I was stressed because their crescendos were not beginning quiet enough, their vowels were not as round as I would have liked. I sat them down and asked for the song’s meaning. I was surprised by how little they understood. Finally, when accepting some suggestions I explained that this particular piece was about knowing when it was right to leave a place or situation and that no one should hold you back from where you belong. I then asked them to connect the lyrics with a person who may have, in their own way, returned. When they stood to sing again, their crescendos were gradual and fulfilling. Their phasing made more sense, their vowels rounder. All because they connected. They never looked back.

4. Create a Connection

Do not shy away from speaking about how a particular piece connects to your life or the life of someone else. Ask how their own life relates to what they are singing. You will be surprised how it connects you to your choir, but also how it connects your students to each other. Provide them with that human experience.

I was lucky enough to attend a choral reading session with Andy Beck. He took out the piece entitled “In the Arms of an Oak.” He spoke of how he was commissioned to write this piece for Shelly Engfer-Triebenbach and the Greater Minnesota Children’s Choir. After he agreed, he heard of Ms. Engfer-Triebenbach’s battle with illness and it inspired him to write this for her. When introducing this piece to my choir, I told them the story of how this song was created. Then I read the words of the poem:

"…Roots are greater than the limbs we see in the arms of an old oak tree. So calm and steady. So sure and strong, you’re always ready when storm clouds roll along."

I asked the students to think of their oak tree in their life. Some students spoke of parents, some of siblings, aunts, and uncles. Eventually, this inspired an idea to add it to the piece. During the concert, we decided as a team to hum the melody in the middle of the song. During that time, one person left the risers and spoke in the microphone about their oak tree…then another…and another. We then went back to singing the song. It was a very special moment and I am sure each and every student was connected and engaged because it meant something to them personally and they had a responsibility to the group.

5. Treat Students Like Shareholders

Have your choir become a part of the decision-making process, a bit. Let them choose a song between two of your pre-selected choices. Have them decide which dynamic marking sounds best while modeling the two choices. Let them decide concert order or choose a certain instrument they prefer for an already determined percussion section. In other words, when applicable, let the students feel like they are part of the process and part of a team effort. Often times they will decide the same way you would.

6. When in Doubt, Bring on the Spectacle

Young choirs will work hard to earn the chance to have a prop, or say or do something special during a concert piece. It is definitely a crowd pleaser, and yes I will say it is something you can dangle like a carrot over them to get them to work harder for you.

Once, I started teaching a choral arrangement of the Nicaraguan folk song called “Banana” to my fourth graders. After a few weeks rehearsing the song, I decided to let them in on my plans for the end. I told them that I was going to pick two confident and hard-working students to dress up and perform some choreography at the end of the piece. The energy of the room instantly increased and the excitement for the song multiplied!

Teaching young singers is challenging in today’s day and age, where almost everything a child could desire is at their fingertips. I have noticed in recent years a change in the patience and work ethic of children and it is an even harder job as a choral director to sustain the interest of young students during the learning process. I hope with the tools given above you will feel more confident in your ability to tighten up your choir and sand down any jagged edges. Although the instantaneous gratification of today’s society challenges us more than ever, it is not at all impossible to connect and find deeper meaning within the context of music. We can do it. Your students still have all the potential to become more passionate and eager to make beautiful music well beyond their years. A master choral director knows that a choir that is special runs seamlessly as one; one heart within the pulse of music. Happy concert season!