On Music-Team ‘Refresher’ Spots

Usually my first blog post of November is about LABBS Convention, but this year it has been queue-jumped by a question from a conductor I’ve been working with, namely the use of members of the music team to lead short spots in rehearsals. This post is partly for him, to help him work with his team, partly for his team to help them understand what this would entail and why, and partly for anyone else in the world who has rehearsals to run.

There are two things to clarify here: why it is valuable to have different people lead short spots in rehearsal, and what you might do in them.

In my title I’ve termed them ‘refresher’ spots; in other contexts I’ve called them Music Team spots, or ‘wildcard’ slots. All three titles capture elements of what they do: refreshing attention, making use of the team, and – by giving someone other than the MD the decision about what to do in them – bringing a little spritz of unpredictability to things.

I’m not sure which of these are most important. It is easy to think you can’t spare five minutes to do something that isn’t directly goal-related when you’ve got performances coming up, but a change of activity and a different face out front do great things for the brain and will enhance everyone’s learning thereafter. And having a structure whereby music team members get regular practice out front ensures that their musical leadership skills grow – both through their own practice and by experiencing each other’s approaches.

This means in turn that if the MD can’t be there at short notice, you have already built working relationships between chorus and team. The chorus will always pull together to help things work in unforeseen circumstances, but they do it more confidently when they share experiences with the team already. And it is likewise good for the MD to practice letting go and leaving other people to lead so they don’t have to feel quite so anxious about that as and when life forces their hand to do so.

So, what might these spots include? The idea is to have something that can be a complete experience in 5 mins. So, typically something short and uncomplicated that can be taught by ear. Things that include silly words, silly actions and/or opportunities to make silly mistakes are good to get laughter flowing, though things that bring calm and stillness can also add valuable emotional variety to the session.

Examples could include (and indeed have in my experience included):

• Rounds or canons. There is value in doing ones people already know, and there are loads on youtube for new ideas
• Partner songs, i.e. melodies that can be sung in combination with each other - again youtube is your friend
• Game-ifying standard songs. Examples include My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean, with changing instructions about what to do on words beginning with B (raise/lower arms, miss words out), or two halves of the chorus taking turns through a song phrase by phrase, then in shorter phrases, down to alternating words
• Clapping games (see my recent posts on learning syncopated rhythms)
• Songs with actions (skill-building for choreo as well as superb for cognitive health)
• tongue-twister songs, escalated to increase speed (excellent for work on clarity and precision of articulation as well having a laugh)
• Woodshedding (i.e. group improvisation of harmonies to a known song)
• Singing a simple known song in different characterisations

With any of these, or whatever else you might think of, the thing you learn through experience is gauging challenge level. If people are finding it harder to learn than you expected, cut it down and attempt less. If they learn quicker than you expected, find a way to escalate the challenge (speed it up or slow it down, sing it different dynamics, do it to a bubble it, toggle it).

The key thing, though, is not to sweat it too much. If something doesn’t work, you can still have a laugh with it, and you will still have got the benefits to people’s cognitive flexibility through the attempt. Just having a different face out front to smile at lifts both the emotional tone and the attentional resources in the room.