Hi

I have been approached about taking a small primary school choir. I haven't said yes yet, but I am very excited about the thought of it and although I do have a lot of experience in church choirs and other choirs, I have none really with a choir of children other than the local Brownie unit.

Can anyone recommend any good books that are particularly about managing children's choirs?

I am not looking for books of music (although any suggestions would be much appreciated) so I guess I am looking for material that deals with topics like auditioning, warm ups, conducting and generally how to deal with a choir of children to get the best out of them.

I have seen a few books on the internet but didn't want to buy anything before I asked here in case somone can make any recommendations

Thanks

elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth, having recently got into just the same thing for the first time myself I have found "Voiceworks" a brilliant series. I use "Young Voiceworks" for my lower juniors and they love the warm ups in there. They even ask if we can do them & have favourite warm ups.

Hope this helps!

Good luck

'Kick-Start Your Choir' by Mike Brewer (Faber, I think) is an excellent little book...

Thank you - that is one of the books I have on my amazon wish list just waiting for someone to recommend it!

Elizabeth



Thanks for this recommendation Cyrilla. I also plan to use some of my new Jolly Music books!!

Elizabeth

Ooooo!!!!!!!!!

Er - they're really for younger children and not for choir purposes, but I hope you do find them helpful in some contexts...

Oh, and I heartily recommend 'Voiceworks' too - and the Sing for Pleasure Junior Song Books...

The RSCM probably has some appropriate material.

I know they are not for choirs as such, but thought there was some potential applications as one of the "choirs" I will be taking is in the 4-6 age group. I will have one choir of age 7-11 and the other "choir" I am being given is perhaps more of a "pre-choir" - a music group with whom I want to foster a love of and confidence for singing so that they can progress to the more senior choir when they turn the right age or develop the ability.

Certainly in the very early days I thought I could use the book I could use to to encourage them to start and sing "out loud" both in a group and on their own. Am I completely barking up the wrong tree with my idea - my original post didn't give info on the groups I will be working with. Do you think there is potential now that I have given more detail about the more junior group?

Elizabeth

Yes, definitely! Sorry, I was thinking more of a 'conventional' junior-aged choir.

JM has lots of material and activities that will help develop the children's pitch-matching skills as well as their confidence in singing on their own - also developing their understanding of basic musical concepts.

Let me know how it goes and if I can help in any way!

Thanks Cyrilla

I use the 'Sing Up' website for my choir, its free to listen, download all the music and lyrics. Just be careful what you choose but you can search by subject, key stage etc.

Tasha

Hi again Elizabeth... make sure you do "warm up and stomp canon" from "Young Voiceworks" it's fab - my classes absolutely love it! Let us know how you get on!

Looking forward to getting this book to see this as several people have mentioned it.

Just on a related topic. ..... due to the short time span between now and several Christmas concerts, I am going to continue with the class I am have been working with, but after Christmas I need to audition children for the senior primary choir (age 7-11).

Having never done this before (... the many choirs I have sung in have all been "turn up and sing" choirs !), I am looking for advice on the best way of doing this. I have a few ideas about what I would like to do but I know there are tests that instrumental teachers use (can't find the name of them despite having searched but can't seem to find the right key words!). Perhaps someone could pop up with the name? Would they be suitable for this situation? Even if they are not suitable for this setting I would like to be familiar with them.

I plan to use some sort of a brief comments sheet for each child - just in case someone comes back to ask why their child wasn't selected. Is this a good idea? Are there formats already available? I am sure someone will point me in the right direction ....? I already am familiar with several good singers in the class but I need to formalise the assessment in some way to make it fair and transparent.

It's late and my head is buzzing but any advice on the best way to proceed with voice auditions in this age group would be very very helpful. I ordered a couple of books but they haven't come yet and I am also interested in personal stories of what works and what doesn't.

Thanks

Elizabeth

Do you absolutely have to audition them? With this age group, I've found that by far the most important criterion is that they are keen and committed enough to turn up on a regular basis.

I think it's very sad if a child's first experience is being told, however nicely, that they are not 'good enough' for the choir. This rejection can stay with them for a very long time, as I'm sure many of us who also teach adults can testify. It can be a good idea to take more children than you need initially, as you can almost guarantee that some will drop out after a few weeks. Also, some very musical children don't necessarily 'auditon' very well at that age for whatever reason, so there's no very reliable indicator. I would be inclined to let them have fun and find their confidence in a group first.

As well as 'Junior Voiceworks', I would also recommend Lin Marsh's 'Earth, Sea and Sky' books, and also her 'Spooky Songs'.

I totally agree - I really wouldn't audition pupils. If they haven't done a lot of singing, then just being in your choir will help them improve. I do have a bit of a "Barry White" in my lower junior choir (!) but he is not loud enough to put anyone off & sings with such enthusiasm - I would never deter anyone from coming. I say get them all involved!

I agree with HelenVJ and Ivories about the auditioning - I used to do it but not any more.

I think a choir at this age in particular should be open to anyone who wants to join. At my previous school I had a top-notch choir who sang at RFH, Albert Hall and Fairfield Halls many times - if I had someone whose pitching wasn't great and detracted from the overall sound of the choir, I just told them that they weren't quite ready to do concerts - and would give them extra individual help (they would still attend all rehearsals - you don't learn to ride a bike by sitting and looking at the bike!).

By Y5/Y6 I very, very rarely had anyone who couldn't pitch well enough to sing in these concerts.

And - yes, Lin Marsh's music is wonderful!

Yes, I am not totally convinced with the auditioning myself in this age group and with not having experience with this, it's great to get advice here. The school principal is adamant that he wants the pupils auditioned so I am on a fact finding mission to see my options before I go back to him with a game plan. It has been worrying me about telling children that I can't take them because I know there were a few children upset about not getting an instrument in the recent peripatetic testing.

I do agree totally that having a greater number of keen pupils who are "learning" to sing as a group is more important than having a select few who can already sing...... so I could have a bigger main choir and then if I wanted a smaller more select group for something more specific or for a particular verse of a song, then I could have options there without upsetting children. That way everyone gets a chance to sing.

Elizabeth

That's a great way to describe him!

I agree, children who sing will be able to sing, children to don't, won't. Get everyone involved and the sheer act of taking part will help any children with pitching difficulties improve.

We had to so choir in secondary school and a friend of mine who is not blessed with accurate pitch improved dramatically over the years. Now after twelve years without singing, she is back to her original "unique" (!) style of singing.

Enjoy it, it sounds like great fun!