Since I ran long in my last entry, I stopped short of giving some additional items regarding preparing a choir to go without holding sheet music.
Consult your pastor. Make sure that you’re not just trying to keep up with the Joneses. Sometimes it’s easy to incorrectly analyze as to what makes a choir effective. While I did make the point that I usually insist on a choir not holding their music, I only do so with my Senior Pastor’s approval.
Talking with your pastor about it will help guard you against any idolatry issues with trying to do your choir just like another church’s choir. You might be able to remain just as effective with your choir members holding their music.
Maybe there are other issues at work. Are your choir members properly prepared spiritually? Do they bear evidence as to repentance and faith? Are they dealing with lack of musical confidence? Have they been taught how to watch a choir director while holding music? Have they been shown how to project good communication (body language, facial expression, etc.) while still holding their music?
You may find the same problems in your choir even with them not holding their music. In other words, if there is little or no behavior in your choir conducive to effectively communicating a song while they’re holding music, those characteristics won’t magically appear when you stop holding music. Doing away with holding music only amplifies positive behavior that they are already doing in some measure while holding it.
You may lose a little short-term. Making this change can create some stress on your choir members. Don’t be surprised if some of them have the “deer-in-the-headlights” look for a few weeks even with plenty of advanced warning. Once they get used to it, however, you should have much more upside long-term.
Wean from music in advance. Don’t wait until Sunday morning to get your choir away from the sheet music. A couple of weeks out from the Sunday that you’ve planned on presenting the special ask them to sit the sheet music aside and try it from memory a few times. That way, they (and you) can find spots that are still not as prepared and you can focus on them and, at the same time, build confidence in your choir in doing it without looking at sheet music.
Don’t draw attention to it. I have never announced to the church that “we’re trying something new today—we’re not going to hold our music!” That just will make everyone a little nervous and self-conscious. Just do it and you’ll be surprised at how many won’t notice that you’ve done it, but they will notice something has changed and was improved…they just might not know what it was.
Help the choir forget that it’s a debut. I know I’ve been successful in preparing a new choir special when the choir doesn’t realize that the special that we’re doing on a particular Sunday is that special’s first presentation. Many times I’ve had choir members ask something like “Bro. Tom, you mean we’ve NOT done this one before on a service?” (my answer—“no”) or “When did we do this one last on a service?” (my answer—“never”). The only way to get to that point is to have them listening to and looking at a new special over a longer period of time.
Bob Kauflin gives a quote by one of his college professors that I love:
“Don’t rehearse until you can get it right; rehearse it until you can’t get it wrong.”
Brother Music Minister, the better you can train and prepare your choir, the more effective they will be in communicating the music with confidence.
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