A to Z: Must-Haves for Your Choir and Ensemble Rehearsals

Church Music

Aug 12

Yellow pencils on white background | A to Z Must-Haves for Your Choir and Ensemble Rehearsals

It’s back-to-school season, which means it’s time for all things Fall, new school supplies, and the start of a new academic year.

If you’re a planner like me and like things to be organized, you probably spent some time this summer cleaning out folders and boxes, straightening up counters and rearranging chairs, getting the piano tuned, and planning music for the Fall semester.

You may have even spruced up your choir room with a new bulletin board, fresh dry-erase markers, sharpened pencils, highlighters, and a blank calendar.

What’s missing?

Whether you’re working with an adult choir, youth choir, children’s choir, or instrumental ensemble, there are a few things every rehearsal should have. Here are a few recommendations, from A to Z:

26 Choir and Ensemble Rehearsal Must-Haves

Disclosure: some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase through any of them, I will earn a small commission. This helps support the blog and allows me to continue creating free content. Thank you for your support!

A is for art.

This might be a photograph, an inspirational quote, or a music-inspired painting—something to help make your rehearsal room a welcoming, inspiring place. Gliss Prints has a range of options in a modern graphic design aesthetic.

B is for bulletin board.

If you don’t already have one, buy a bulletin board (or look for a used one on Facebook Marketplace) to hang on one wall. Even a small bulletin board can hold things like a sign-out calendar (so you know who’s out of town when), a list of upcoming performances, an inspirational quote or photo, and important announcements.

B is also for boxes—one for each choir or ensemble member—to hold things like their folder and music, an extra pencil, and a pack of tissues or cough drops, if needed.

C is for clock.

Make sure to start and end your rehearsals on time. This communicates respect to the members of your group and lets them know you value their time.

Hang a clock on the back wall, so you can see it as you rehearse. Consider hanging one on the front wall, too, so everyone can make sure they’re in their seats and ready to go at the start of rehearsal.

D is for dynamics poster.

A dynamics poster illustrates dynamic range for singers from pp to ff and provides a visible reminder of these musical markings, as well as crescendo and decrescendo. A useful educational resource for choirs and ensembles of all ages.

E is for encouragement.

A big part of your job as music director is to be a cheerleader. Make sure to encourage your ensemble members regularly, and remind them you are grateful for their commitment and participation. Send periodic notes of encouragement to build them up and help them feel confident in their abilities.

F is for folders.

Simple black choir folders with elastic bands or 3-ring inside are lightweight and easy to hold. Make sure you have one for each choir member, plus several extras, in case a new person shows up to rehearsal, one wears out, or one gets misplaced.

For instrumental ensembles, choose a black folder with interior pockets and an elastic closure strap.

If you number your music and choir boxes, F is also for folder list. If your choir wears robes, you can add robe numbers to this, as well. Post a copy by the robe closet and one next to the folder boxes.

G is for gratitude.

Gratitude for your singers and the community you’re building, for the music you’re learning and preparing, and for the opportunity to make music together each week. Thank soloists or section leaders and acknowledge volunteers with a handwritten note.

H is for highlighters.

Keep a set of highlighters in your rehearsal space in case anyone needs to mark a part, highlight something in the text, or emphasize important markings in their music.

H is also for honesty. I’m a big proponent of not sugar-coating things in teaching. For instance, don’t tell your group, “That was great!” if it really wasn’t. Don’t say, “That was really beautiful singing” if it wasn’t. Instead, find a gentle way to inspire them to do their best, concentrate, take ownership of their voice and their part, and listen and evaluate things for themselves.

I is for independence.

As music director, one of your goals is to develop independent musicians (rather than ones who are solely dependent on you). You want your choir or ensemble members to think for themselves, take responsibility for their part, listen to each other well, and make musical decisions. Make sure you’re building in opportunities for them to take ownership of some of these things during rehearsals.

J is for jokes.

It’s important to have a sense of humor and to keep things light. Make rehearsals a fun place to be! Take a minute or two during rehearsal to share a funny joke and get people laughing.

K is for keyboard (or piano).

This may go without saying, but having a keyboard instrument in your rehearsal space is imperative, especially for choirs. If you don’t have a piano, consider using a full-size keyboard with weighted keys (one with graded hammer action would be best).

L is for lighting.

This might be somewhat out of your control, but if your designated rehearsal space doesn’t have adequate lighting at night when you have your rehearsals, you might consider bringing in some extra lamps, offering clip-on lights for those who need them, or moving to a different space. Good lighting is important for music-reading, and if you don’t have it, it may contribute to headaches or fatigue in some of your ensemble members.

M is for melody cards.

This laminated set of melody flashcards by Hal Leonard is a great educational resource. Each flashcard shows a common melodic pattern on one side, organized by level of difficulty (starting with simple intervals and building through pentatonic and diatonic scales). The back side of each card is a blank staff, perfect for writing custom exercises with dry-erase markers.

Give your ensemble members hands-on engagement creating a melody together or developing their sight-reading skills.

N is for new music.

An important part of being a director is searching for new music. Attend reading sessions and browse new releases from your favorite publishers. Talk to your choral or instrumental friends and share repertoire ideas. New music is a great way to continually challenge your ensemble members (and yourself), explore new styles and musical voices, and find new forms of artistic expression.

Make sure you’re choosing a variety of music for your group to learn this year—some fun, upbeat pieces, some reflective, lyrical pieces, some arrangements of familiar songs, and some modern settings.

O is for organization.

I get it—not everyone is a Type A personality. But, organization in this case means some sense of order. The degree to which your choir room or rehearsal space is organized is up to you, but here are a few things I’d recommend:

Sort music by season and voice type and file alphabetically
Number all music copies and folders/boxes
Label instrument storage
Put choir robes in height order and number from shortest to longest
Publish a list of important rehearsal dates and any extra events at the beginning of the year

P is for pencils (and a sharpener).

Every ensemble member should have a sharpened pencil in their folder at all times. Encourage them to use it during your rehearsals: Ask them to write in breaths, circle consonants that need extra articulation, and mark places where they need to look up and watch you for a cut-off or cue. Keep a jar of sharpened pencils on the piano and a sharpener close by.

Q is for quick pace.

Ensemble members tend to follow your lead. If you go in with a plan and a commitment to getting work done, they will often follow suit. If you spend too much time talking or going off on tangents, they will lose focus. Keep things short and to the point and keep them actively making music as much as possible. Challenge them to think their parts or listen critically to vowels or breath or phrasing while you work with another section. Try to keep them actively engaged as much as you can.

Q is also for questions. I ask lots of questions in my teaching. This is a great way to keep everyone engaged and thinking during rehearsal and to give them that important sense of ownership in the process.

R is for rehearsal plan.

A rehearsal plan is simply an outline of what you intend to accomplish in rehearsal. Spend a few minutes during the week planning out what you'll rehearse, when you'll rehearse it (beginning of rehearsal, middle, or end), and how long you'll spend on it.

Start with warm-ups and sight-reading, and include at least five pieces each week. Looking for more tips? See How to Plan a Productive Choir Rehearsal.

P.S. Download a free rehearsal plan template here.

S is for seating chart.

Or, at least a general idea of where you want each section to sit.

For choirs: Do you want the men in the middle? In the back? Do you want the Tenors on the front row? Do you want the Sopranos behind the Altos? For more on choral voicing, see Best-Kept Secrets of Choral Voicing.

For instrumental groups: Do you want the brass in the back and the strings up front?

There’s no right or wrong way to do it, but if you haven’t explored other seating options in a while, now might be a good time to mix it up and try something new for a few weeks.

T is for TV monitor.

Having a TV monitor in your rehearsal space is a great tool for displaying sight-reading exercises, watching performances, and reviewing important concepts (vowels, consonants, note-reading, expressive markings).

T is also for talk break. Every choir I’ve ever been a part of loves to talk—and that’s a good thing! You want a group that enjoys spending time together and likes each other enough to want to talk and catch up at rehearsal each week. However, when you're there to rehearse, you need everyone to listen and pay attention so you can sing and get things done.

Give them an incentive (and a mental break) by letting them talk to their neighbor for a few minutes in the middle of the rehearsal.

Related Post:
How to Build Community in Your Choir

U is for undivided attention.

Turn off notifications, put your phone and other devices on silent, and be all there in rehearsal. Encourage your ensemble members to do the same. Practice being present, not multitasking, and set yourself up for a distraction-free rehearsal so you can get your best work done. Consider including a phone caddy with numbered pockets in your rehearsal space to corral devices during rehearsal.

V is for vowels.

This probably comes up in every rehearsal. If you’re working with an elementary choir, consider hanging a vowel chart in your rehearsal space. If you’re working with youth or adults, give them a refresher course on how to sing pure vowels this year with this handy guide:

The Church Choir’s Guide to Vowels: Part I
The Church Choir’s Guide to Vowels: Part II

W is for whiteboard (and markers).

Hang a whiteboard on the front wall and keep a jar of dry-erase markers nearby to write out the order of pieces as you plan to rehearse them. This will help your ensemble members organize their music before you begin rehearsal.

W is also for water. If there’s not a water fountain nearby, consider having a water station in the room or down the hall, so people can grab a drink before or during rehearsal if they need one.

X is for “x”-tra copies

Keep extra copies of music, fliers, registration forms, and a performance schedule on hand throughout the year.

Y is for you.

Bring your true, authentic self into the work you do: your voice, musicality, leadership skills, teaching skills, and sense of humor. Show your group who you are and let them get to know you, and they’ll do the same with you.

Z is for "zing-a-zing-a-zah" and other warm-ups.

Warm-ups are a practical way to warm up the voice, but they're also a good way to get everyone focused, improve listening skills, and prepare or reinforce new concepts. Looking for some ideas? See 50 Awesome Choral Warm-Ups.

I’d love to hear from you:

What are your choir room and rehearsal must-haves?

A to Z: Must-Haves for Your Choir and Ensemble Rehearsals

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In my experience, most piano students love the chance to perform together, and even small churches have at least one person in the congregation with some playing experience. Often, people just need to be asked and invited to participate.

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Making progress, learning, improving. A sense of accomplishment and achievement.

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Am I right?!

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choir roomchoir rehearsalorganizationgetting organizedchoir yearmusic ministryessentials

Ashley Danyew