Children's Choir Getting Started

from: http://www.choristersguild.org/faq.html#2

Children's Choirs-Getting Started

QUESTION: I am just starting a children's choir and want to know how to recruit. How do I get the choir off the ground?

ANSWER (provided by Michael Wustrow): It is important to establish a contact with parents as well as the children when recruiting. Contact people in your church who already work with the children, or maybe even some music teachers in your area (piano teachers, school teachers), and ask them to suggest names of people who might be interested. This will help you set up a list of priority children to target. Send a letter of invitation (maybe signed by your pastor, or tell them they were "recommended") and follow it up with a phone call to the parent to discuss the whole concept of what a children's choir is and what it can do for their child. If necessary offer a pick-up service at the schools for children who otherwise could not come. Once you talk to a few parents, word of mouth will spread the news and your choir will be off and running. Good Luck!

QUESTION: How can I get parents to better support my choral program?

ANSWER (provided by John Witvliet): Invite them to attend a rehearsal. Children will enjoy impressing their parents with what they've learned. And you'll have an opportunity to show how important music can be--not just talk about it. Statistics now prove that participation in choir, band, or orchestra raises a student IQ and increases their ability to think and reason. These same students also had higher SAT scores. The longer students participated in music programs, the more impact it had on their learning. This information passed on to parents should help increase their willingness to have their children in choir.

QUESTION: How can I motivate the children to keep coming back to choir week after week?

ANSWER (provided by Judy Henneberger): Always have a surprise or a new approach or teaching strategy in each rehearsal. Keep the rehearsal pace moving along with no big time gaps. Know the music so you can "eyeball" the children. Do not spend a lot of time "drilling" a piece. Think of different ways to repeat the difficult passages. Sing and play musical games more - talk less. This helps to maintain the interests of the children as they anticipate and look forward to the next rehearsal.

QUESTION: Give me some tips about how to keep children engaged during the rehearsal.

ANSWER (provided by Madeline Bridges):


Keep them singing. The more we as directors TALK, the more easily the kids get "off-task." The more they are involved in making music, the less time they have to become unfocused
Have a seating chart. In my opinion, this is a must. Many directors use folders w/ names on them placed in the chairs. Others put name tags on the chairs. I do not recommend putting girls on one side of the room and boys on the other. Mix them up. However, I avoid putting a boy between two girls.
Post an agenda. Have a chorister cross off each item on the agenda as it is completed. Engage children in the joy of accomplishment.
Frequently call on individual children to sing an echo pattern, a line of an anthem, or anything. Move quickly from child to child. It's amazing how quiet they will get to hear one of their peers sing. PLUS we know that children learn so much about how they sound when they sing alone. I had my choir assistant count how many times I called on an individual child to sing something in a recent rehearsal--it was over 25 times. (I don't mean one child sang 25 times; rather, 25 times I asked one of the children to sing something back to me, etc., by him/herself.) Music and Materials Resources