Tips & Advice On Setting Up An Online Virtual Group Singing Lessons
At My Singing Lessons taking an online choral rehearsal is very different from rehearsing in a venue with singers when you can see and hear their interactions. The variety of online meeting sites offer many things, but do not enable singers to hear themselves singing at the same time, owing to the different latency speeds of different computers. Hence, before you begin, become familiar with the mute button – you will need it!
What do I need in order to take a rehearsal (in order of setting up)?
1. A My Singing Lessons leader
2. Internet access (whole group)
3. Headphones (preferably with a microphone)
4. Sheet Music sent to each member pre the lesson
Mute
It may be tempting to ask your choir to unmute for certain sections, but it can be extremely off-putting for the singers, and is almost impossible to sing along to. If you are rehearsing with children, you will need to consider online safety, and put in place rules to ensure your rehearsal is a safe environment, (for example, requiring parents to be in the same room as their children when rehearsing.) In many or even most cases it may not be possible to have more than one leader involved in a session, but if you are in a position to have someone to help you, it will make your life much easier. An assistant can keep an eye on the singers, and help sort out any technological problems, as well as potentially fielding questions from the choir, allowing you to progress with the rehearsal. But for these purposes we will assume you are leading the rehearsal with no assistant.
Joining
Allow some time at the beginning of the rehearsal to allow your singers to join, to cater for any problems in joining the meeting which may need solving, and to allow a short while for greeting your singers – when singing as a group is not allowed, the social side to a rehearsal can be as important as the musical one.
Mute
IMPORTANT: Mute your whole choir before you start rehearsing. You can always unmute them, or they can unmute themselves later. However, do encourage them to unmute themselves to ask questions if they need to, which will help to develop the two-way nature of the rehearsal. If you have lots of singers and are worried about interruptions, consider having a number of breaks in the rehearsal when your singers can ask their questions. Some choirs will be too large to fit all the singers on one screen. Do change your screen view as you rehearse, so you can see all your singers and interact with them so that they feel involved.
Rehearsal
More than anything, planning your rehearsal is important. Do not feel that just because you have marked everything up in your score, you should not go over it again with your singers in rehearsal. At My Singing Lessons we find will still help them to work through these passages. If you are learning new music, and need to rehearse individual parts, consider allowing the other singers to join in if they wish, which will help keep up their interest. Apart from anything, it will give them a better idea of what the other parts are doing – always a good thing.
Have Fun
Don’t feel you have to aim for absolute perfection! You are rehearsing in an unusual situation – the most important thing is that your singers enjoy themselves. Once you have rehearsed your piece, consider having a sing through at the end with accompaniment for everyone to have a good sing, recap what they have learnt and reap the rewards of their rehearsing.
The Music
How should I prepare the music for the rehearsal? Once you have chosen the piece you wish to perform virtually, do spend some time thoroughly preparing your score. Obviously you would do this anyway! However, in a virtual choir, preparation takes on even greater importance. Preparing your scores can be done in a number of ways:
1. You could type up a document which clearly labels any places where singers should take care, and note any general points about singing the piece
2. You could type your comments directly on to a pdf of the score. This has the advantage that your notes are on the music your choir is singing from, and in addition you can make them clear by noting them in a contrasting colour from the music.
3. You could print off the music, mark it up in pencil and scan the marked-up copy to your singers.
Make it clear
The clearer your instructions to the choir at this point, the easier your job will be when it comes to rehearsing, and particularly if you decide to put together a virtual recording of the piece. So it is worth spending the time on it as we do at My Singing Lessons. Do put the markings in every single part they apply to – it may take some time, but your singers will really appreciate it.
The points below have been made with a view that your choir may like to record what they are rehearsing at some point. If you don’t wish to do this, then you need not be quite so detailed in your markings, but the points may still be helpful in helping you consider what you want to focus on in your rehearsals.
Things you might like to note down on or alongside your score include: Breaths. Mark down in each part where you would like breaths to be taken, and how long you would like these breaths to be. (This could be a tick, with the abbreviation ‘qu’, or ‘cr’ for quaver or crotchet above it, for example). Are there any places where you would like singers not to take a breath, where they might be tempted to? If you would like your singers to stagger breaths, remind them not to sing any consonants early. Are there any places where singers need to think about taking an early breath?
Do you want the notes at ends of phrases to be exactly as written in the score?
Pay particular attention to hard consonants and ‘s’s’ at the ends of phrases, which are very noticeable on recordings. Decide how long you would like the last note of the piece to be and note it down clearly.
How do you want your choir to sing the piece?
When your singers are recording at home, they won’t have the rest of the choir with them to encourage them, so you will need to guide them in how you would like the piece sung. It’s harder to sing stylishly when you’re singing in your bedroom or living room, so a guide before the start of the piece as to what you are looking for will help your choir.
Do the vocal parts split in the piece?
Before you rehearse, decide which singers you would like to sing which part – don’t leave it to chance. In addition, if you have strong, keen singers, in a recording situation you can ask them to sing more than one part – one of the benefits of a virtual performance is that you can have one person singing more than one part at the same time!
Warm-ups
Warm-ups work very well in an online situation. They are quick, easy, and simple to lead. Plan a few warm-ups before your rehearsal. Your singers will need them more than ever – most rooms in a house do not offer the acoustics to make singing feel easy! Anything you can do to help your singers at My Singing Lessons, warm up and relax into a rehearsal will help them.
How can I support the singers as a director?
At My Singing Lessons taking an online rehearsal can feel like a very one-way street from the conductor’s perspective. Do encourage your singers to ask questions freely – they may even have picked up on something you have missed in the score. You can even invite other singers to join in from elsewhere. This is one area where a virtual choir can offer some advantages.
There is no reason why you cannot include, say, former singers from the choir who have moved away, or new singers who may be interested in joining you. You can turn your online rehearsals into a good recruitment tool for your choir.
Think about your accompaniments
If you are using a backing track, then check that your singers can hear it clearly enough. If you are directing from the keyboard, it is less easy to see what your singers are doing when you are playing – and as you cannot hear them this is quite important. If you are rehearsing and accompanying at the same time, consider rehearsing some passages without accompaniment so you can connect with your singers a little more.
Feedback
Do encourage your singers to offer feedback on how they feel the rehearsal went, perhaps by email afterwards. Above all, be encouraging! Many choral singers are not used to singing on their own, and can feel very much out of their comfort zone when they are not surrounded with their friends from the choir. But regular online rehearsals, while they may not be quite the same as the real thing, can really help keep your choir together and even allow it to grow.
Relax
A choir can often already feel like a family – and meeting up online to rehearse can make these special bonds even stronger. Good luck and stay calm! www.MySingingLessons.co.uk
