If You're Focused and You Know It... Clap Your Hands!

I find that rehearsal goes much more smoothly when the singers are focused. It makes sense. One of the main goals of a choir is SSS - Start together, Stay together, Stop together. I often explain to my choirs that we can do anything we want, as long as we are all doing it together. We have to be unified in purpose - no multitasking. Now we warm up. Now we rehearse. Now we have a short break and can talk to each other. Now we do a worksheet. Now we sight-read. One activity, one purpose, one goal, one choir.

The toughest time to pull the choir together is at the start of class. I like to start at the bell, but even my best students seem to not recognize the bell as an auditory signal for "time to work!" Over time, I developed a couple quick activities to help me grab everyone's eyes and ears in a hurry. They are two minor variations on clapping, and I tell the class we can't begin until we have three stunning, unison claps minus talking noise.

My preferred option involves a ball - something not too hard... a tennis ball or nerf ball works best. I toss the ball in the air and say "clap when I catch the ball." Eyes are on the ball, claps must be together. In the early stages, the clapping is almost always ragged, but that's another opportunity to learn the value of unified technique! I EXPLAIN HOW TO CLAP. Sounds silly, but it works. Many students stand with their hands together or at their sides, and then are late to clap. I show them to have hands apart, ready to go. It cleans things up. Sometimes I pass the ball to someone in the class (clap), they pass it back (clap), and so on. It's fun.

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The other option is less fun but always available: clap when I clap. Same principle.

Even a simple trick like this can help quiet a noisy room (just start tossing the ball and hear the claps supplant the talking), and pull your choir together. Rehearsal getting wobbly? Out comes the ball - back on track! There's a lot of ways to pull your choir into focus, but I say... IF YOU'RE FOCUSED AND YOU KNOW IT, CLAP YOUR HANDS!