Lead on...

I LOVE to sing! But I know not all of you feel that way. Lots of people I’ve worked with have fears and doubts about their voice and musical skills but despite this, they still provide great opportunities for their pupils to sing together and the result is BRILLIANT. So, from my desk to yours, here are my top tips for leading. Good luck and keep singing!

1. Encourage a sense of fun and community

Singing can be a great bonding experience so try team-building games and develop an identity for your group (eg. name, costume, special folders). Singing with others should also be fun and your enthusiasm will inspire, so start with songs you really like (I can see clearly now is a favourite of mine). Leading is a two-way street though, so you should also let the group have a say in what they sing and how they develop.

2. Break it down and build it up

As you’ve probably discovered, call-and-response is a great way to teach a song (you can also use the echo tracks on the Song Bank). Once your singers have learnt the tune and sing it together well, there are all sorts of things you can do to progress their skills: adding held notes or simple repeated riffs (ostinati) and echos (eg. Raise my voice), using partner songs (eg. Gospel medley), trying a two- or three-part round (eg. I love the flowers) and, finally, songs with harmony lines. I always have to fight the temptation to launch straight into harmonies, but I’ve learned to hold back and build up the skills of healthy unison singing first. If you get the basics right (sound quality, diction, pitch, rhythm, posture, performance) then they’ll never fall into bad techniques as the music gets more challenging.

3. Listen

It’s important to build in time to really listen to your group singing. Until I attended a training course with Sue Hollingworth, I always used to sing along with my groups thinking I was supporting them with my voice. Then I’d wonder why their confidence would drop when they sang alone. But, of course, they hadn’t got used to hearing their own voices. (I would also apply this to singing along with a backing track with vocals.)

Having another voice sing along can be helpful initially, but the quicker they can hear themselves, the better. What really works is to allow individuals to listen to the whole sound and give feedback. As long as you and your group have agreed what you want to assess on: Can you hear all the words? Is everyone singing in tune and at the same time? Is everyone smiling and having fun? The final advantage is that taking time to listen gives your voice a rest!

4. Move it

I believe that singing is a whole-body experience and that actions and movement can help free the voice. Again, keep it simple: gestures on particular words can be just as effective as whole dance routines and, if you’ve never experienced it, signed singing is an amazing thing to be part of (search for signed songs under the SEN/Accessibility tab on the Song Bank eg. Chocoholics).

5. Adapt for different learning styles

However your students learn best, I’m sure you agree that applying a variety of learning styles can help engage students. This can include: actions, pictures or storyboards, graphic scores, notation – even if you or the children can’t read it you can still follow the pattern of the notes – changing your position in the room and listening to recordings of the songs (use the performance tracks from the Song Bank).

6. Discover and use what you’ve got

I’m always amazed at the talent that reveals itself in groups. If you find musically gifted/ confident children, develop their leadership skills or get them to listen to and help others. You may find other staff, or even parents, with musical skills who could support your work. By exploring links with local choirs, Music Services and secondary schools, you might find opportunities like performances or training – so you don’t have to do everything on your own.

7. Communicate

When I first started leading a new community choir, it took us a couple of weeks to establish our signs and signals. The first time I sang a phrase and gestured to them they just stared at me blankly because I hadn’t shown them what that meant (that it was their turn to copy what I’d sung). How could they know, until we’d developed a common language? So we agreed signs and signals (my turn, your turn, coming in, last time, when to stop, louder, quieter, repeat, chorus, verse) and even explored words to describe the different voices eg. nasty witch or meow (for twang), hot potato or Santa (open round sound), yoo hoo or a whimpering dog (head voice) – I’m sure you and your group will be able to think of loads. Once you’ve got these, it also makes it easier for the young leaders to step up and it means that the group have some vocabulary for self-assessment.

8. Get inspired

As your leading progresses, it’s important that you feel creative, too! Adapt and change exercises to suit your needs, take small phrases or rhythms from the song you are going to do and use them in the warm-up, observe other leaders, watch some of our training films (eg. Introduction to Beatboxing with Napoleon Maddox) and attend training courses.

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