You’ve formed your group, you’ve held auditions, you’ve had your first group social. Now it’s time to get down to business and rehearse!
But how do you begin? It might seem pretty simple - you pick a song and start practising, surely? It might seem as straightforward as that, but there are lots of things to think about before you start rehearsing that will help you to make the most of rehearsal time, to keep your group members happy, and to build successfully toward your end goal, whatever that end goal may be. We’ve outlined a few different types of rehearsal that you can use to help focus your efforts.
The Learning Repertoire Rehearsal
(usually led by the Musical Director)
This is the first rehearsal of a new arrangement and is the time to focus on the foundations of learning a new piece of music. There are a number of different choices that you can make to set expectations for this rehearsal, depending on your group’s methodology and level of expertise.
Sending out teach tracks: this works well for singers who don’t read sheet music or who aren’t confident in their sight-reading skills. It’s also helpful for kinetic & auditory learners, as they can listen to and learn their part whilst doing other activities. However, this can be very time consuming for the MD who will need to learn, record and edit lots of tracks.
Learning music before the rehearsal: this is less time-consuming for the MD but can be difficult for those who don’t read music. However, it does eliminate the risk of singers learning to sing their part exactly as it is sung on a teach track, so allows for more versatility in adding dynamics and other points of musicality.
Note-bashing: if your singers are not particularly confident in learning the music by themselves, this is a great way to learn as a team and level the playing field for all of your singers. The downside is that you may lose out on time to work on other
aspects of the music.
As you can see, there’s no “right way” to learn a new piece with your group - there are pros and cons to all of these methods. The only “right” thing to do is to assess the skills and needs of your group members and choose a method that will work best for them and help your group to succeed.
The Musicality Rehearsal
(usually led by the Musical Director)
Now that your singers all know their parts, it’s time to give some life to the music. These types of rehearsals are likely to make up the bulk of your rehearsal schedule, and will cover everything from dynamics, to pronunciation of words, to vowel-matching (e.g. making sure everyone sings a British ‘ah’ instead of an American ‘a’) and more. You’ll use these rehearsals to get down to the nitty-gritty of the music, and may need to discuss any details with the arranger to ensure you make the best choices for the piece. Some of these rehearsals may involve working with the soloist to match their musical choices with the backing parts. Generally the Musical Director should consult anyone who may help to contribute to these rehearsals beforehand, and use their input to make the overall decisions and lead the rehearsal.
The Choreo or Movement Rehearsal
(usually led by the Choreographer, Performance Director, or Movement Director)
Now, you may be thinking, “But my group doesn’t dance at all!”, but even if you don’t have “choreography” as such, your performers will need to know how you would like them to stand and move on stage. Here’s where your Choreographer, Performance Director, or Movement Director should step in and take over from the MD.
If you have dance moves, this is the time to teach them and perfect them, and even if you don’t have moves, you’ll need to figure out what formation you’d like your group to stand in, what kind of expressions they should be making with their faces, if you’re allowing some natural hand movements or if they should stand still, how they should walk onto the stage and how they should exit - there’s a lot to think about!
The Personal Connection Rehearsal
(usually led by the Musical Director)
A lot of groups miss this step, and I’m here to tell you that it’s a crucial part of performance that not only brings your group to the next level, but brings joy to both your audience and your performers.
You know the music backwards and forwards, you’ve got the choreo or movement down to a T, but have you thought about why you’re singing? Often the reason for your performance can get lost in all of the practise and perfecting, so it’s really important to spend some time with your group talking about what the song means to them, how they can find a personal connection with the lyrics, and what they want the audience to feel whilst watching the performance.
This doesn’t have to be carried out for every single song, but for important performances or meaningful songs, then it can really bring out something in your performance that no amount of practise could ever create.
The Competition Rehearsal
(usually led by the Musical Director, Performance Director, Choreographer)
Efficiency. This is the only word that matters. You’ve already spent weeks learning the music and the choreo, infusing musicality and meaning throughout the music, and making sure your walk on and walk off is perfect, but you have one last rehearsal before the big day. Everyone is stressed, everyone is tired, and some people might even be grumpy or scared! This is the prime time for disagreements, arguments, and wasted time, so you want to do everything you can to reduce stress and complication.
Feel confident in the artistic choices you’ve made (it’s not usually a good idea to change your performance at this stage!) and make sure that your group members feel confident in them too. Make a plan for this rehearsal beforehand so that you know exactly what you want to achieve, how you’re going to approach it, and how much time you’ll give to each section. Make sure you use the time well, but also ensure that you’re not rushing through in a panic - everything should be as calm as possible. Schedule in food breaks, water breaks, periods of rest, and extra time for any questions.
And most importantly, make sure you leave some time at the end of this rehearsal to congratulate your group on their hard work and to encourage them to be proud of what they’ve achieved, no matter the outcome. This small pep-talk moment can help to give your group some perspective and leaves them feeling proud and confident before you all walk on stage for the competition.
Performance as Rehearsal
Sometimes, the best way to practise is to just do it! Busking is the perfect example of performance as practise - you can get out in front of people to conquer your stage fright, see if your performance is getting the reaction you anticipated or if it needs adjusting, and work out any kinks before bigger performances. Sometimes you can lose perspective just rehearsing to yourselves in a rehearsal room, so getting out there in front of people in low-stakes situations can really give you a boost.
Hopefully this article has given you the tools to make the most of your rehearsal time with your group and achieve your goals. These aren’t rules, just options for you to consider, and you can add to these or adjust them as you like to get the best out of your singers.
