Choir Directing

Directing a youth choir: Tips and song suggestions
Working with a youth gospel choir
Directing a youth choir is both an opportunity and a challenge. Teenagers are capable of so much energy and enthusiasm. If they take what they're doing to heart, there's no stopping them. But sometimes it takes some work to get them in the right emotional/spiritual state to apply themselves to the work at hand. This page takes a look at some of the issues to remember when working with a youth or teen choir. It also has some suggestions of good gospel songs for youth choirs to sing. You can c...

A Guide to Directing a Gospel Choir
How to be a great gospel choir director
These are my best ideas and tips for working with the gospel choir: how to select songs, teach the choir, work with musicians, conduct the choir, flow with a service, and do all the other things that a church choir director wants to do with excellence! There's lots of information on the internet about choir directing, but most of it is geared toward the standard, sheet-music-reading type of choir. Those of us who direct gospel choirs know that it takes a different approach to teach and lead ...

How to teach a choir song: The basics
Tips for teaching gospel choir songs by ear
This page describes the best practices for how to teach a song to a gospel choir. Teaching songs well is the most important skill a gospel choir director needs. Everyone sees you standing in front of the choir, waving your arms to give them direction, but the real work takes place before that, in rehearsal. When you're a beginning choir director, preparing and teaching songs may be an intimidating task. But with practice, it gets more natural and comfortable. (Photo of the US Navy Praise G...

Working with a choir of beginners
Tips for directing a less-experienced gospel choir
Often it takes a while for beginners to learn how to sing in a choir. Learning to sing harmony takes practice and exposure over time. Usually, the more experienced members of the choir will be role models and influences to the newer members as they learn how it all works. But in some cases, such as a brand new church ministry or when working with a youth group, you might not have any experienced members. What is the best approach for those situations? This page takes a look at strategies fo...

How to make practice CDs for a gospel choir
Step-by-step guide for recording practice CDs for singers and musicians
One great way that gospel choirs can learn complex material is by using practice CDs. If your choir members have a CD where they can hear their individual part all by itself, they can practice at home, in the car, anywhere! You'll have some well-prepared people coming to rehearsal! Quoting from my main choir directing page -- "As we all know, gospel choirs usually don't use sheet music. We sing by ear, by heart. That means that everything we sing has to be memorized!" With simple songs, choi...

20 Hand Signals for Choir Directing (and how to use them)
Using hand signals when you conduct your choir
This page talks about common hand signals for choir directing and the best ways to use those signals. When you're conducting a choir performance, the main way you communicate with the choir is with your hands. Effective use of hand signals is a vital skill for any choir director. (Photo of New Hope Choir, courtesy of New Hope Presbyterian Church in Orange, CA) This page is a part of my collection of web pages about Gospel Choir Music.

Ideas for directing a men's gospel choir
Someone asked me about songs for a men's choir . . .
"Do you have any suggestions on easy songs for a male choir?" That question was asked at my "One-rehearsal choir songs" page. As I thought about the question, my answer started getting longer and longer. So I decided to make a separate page that focuses on choosing music for a male choir. I have only once been a director of a men's choir, but I have been the musician for a lot of male choir performances, so I participated in their rehearsing and I've heard a lot of their singing. I offer m...

How to teach difficult songs to your choir
Best practices for helping your choir learn challenging material
You hear a choir song that's just fantastic, but you know that it will be a serious challenge for your choir to learn it. Can you do it? Gospel choirs love to sing songs that are easy and natural to learn, but there's a lot of wonderful music that takes more work to learn and sing well. These songs can be a blessing and inspiration in your church, and it's worth the time and effort it takes to learn them. If you, the choir director, want to teach your choir a song that's a bit difficult, yo...

Should choir members who missed rehearsal be allowed to sing anyway?
What's the best policy about attendance at choir rehearsal?
Some choirs have decorum guidelines that include strict requirements about rehearsal attendance. If you miss the rehearsal, you can't sing at the performance. Other choir directors try to "play it by ear" and let the choir member decide whether he or she is prepared to sing. What are the pros and cons of each philosophy? Let's talk about it! (photo from Wikimedia Commons)