Sing to me : learning to direct community choirs

Abstract

This study explored the process of learning to become a community choir director. While numbers of community choirs continue to grow in Australia, limited training and literature relevant to directing community choirs in Australia makes it difficult for novice community choir directors to learn their craft. A design-based research methodology guided the investigation into the approaches and strategies used by experienced community choir directors in their practice and the interrogation into how a novice community choir director (the researcher) could apply the approaches and strategies to her own practice through iterative cycles of design, implementation and evaluation. Nine experienced community choir directors were observed in their practice with their community choirs and/or choir workshops in Australia (most in the greater Sydney region, and one in Melbourne) and ten were interviewed in professional conversations about their practice between 2013 and 2014. This has documented the tacit knowledge of community choir directors in Australia in order to make it available for experienced and novice community choir directors to learn from. Three main approaches were identified in the directors' teaching: aural transmission, visual transmission and physical transmission. Within each of these approaches, specific strategies used by the directors were identified. Classifying the practice in this way was useful for shaping discussion of what the director was doing in each circumstance, and therefore what the learning director could try to do in her own practice. The novice community choir director applied the approaches, strategies and philosophies gleaned from the observation and interview using the structured process of the design-based research model. In each iteration of the design-based research cycle the effectiveness of each strategy's application was evaluated through reflective practice and reflexivity. The study found that through learning by observing and speaking to experienced community choir directors and applying the knowledge to one's own practice in a structured way, a novice community choir director can learn skills for directing community choirs. These skills include: aural transmission (singing, instruments, recordings, speech); visual transmission (visual reference, teaching gestures, visual modelling, movement); and physical transmission (rhythm, embodied singing, breath support, tone, pitch, vocal placement and technique, feel, movement). Also learned are: repertoire selection; composing and arranging for community choirs; director's preparation for teaching; warming-up; teaching parts; female director teaching men or male director teaching women; teaching songs in foreign languages; rehearsing; pitch; tone; balance; blend; diction; conducting; teaching musicianship; the role of the director; and director style. From the study issues of: working with low energy of the choir and/or director; troubleshooting; maintaining interest throughout the rehearsal; single-gender choirs compared to mixed-gender choirs; teaching workshops compared to rehearsing regularly with a choir; and managing and organising were also drawn. The study also noted that the novice community choir director moved beyond the novice level to competency through this learning, over three years. This research is of interest and use to individuals aspiring to become community choir directors, as well as to practising community choir directors. It also has the potential to shape training or professional development for community choir directors.

Date of Award	2016
Original language	English