More than 10 million people use Zoom every day - working and meeting friends online has swiftly become a way of life. For choirs, having online rehearsals has become a necessity, and choirs have quickly adapted to having “virchearsals” and practising together, but as individuals. For choir leaders everywhere, this takes a lot of organization - there is certainly no winging it! When you are taking a choir rehearsal, the background to your Zoom meeting can be a really fun way of engaging your group and bringing interest and a bit of fun to your rehearsals. A backdrop is also a good way of keeping your home anonymous and hiding personal effects.
A choir mural
Even though you aren’t practising in the same room as one another, that doesn’t mean that you’re not a proper choir. Your group is a mini community, and it is not just the singing that brings you together. So many choir members form friendships with one another, and this only serves to strengthen the group. Putting together a mural of everyone’s faces would make a great backdrop to your Zoom rehearsals, and would be appreciated by everyone. Ask everybody in your choir to do a self-portrait for the mural. They don’t have to be masterpieces: a drawing of a simple face is perfect. You can then put these faces together as a digital image using editing software. You can even use your backdrop mural to create new choir t-shirts for everyone, or posters for your next virtual concert.
Music fundamentals
It is likely in most choirs that not everyone reads music. Even if you can’t read a score proficiently, it can still be helpful when learning a song. You can follow the shapes of the notes to help with the melody, count through the bars and take note of the musical markings for dynamics. For your choir rehearsals, it may help choir members to have a backdrop showing a few common note lengths to help them with rhythm. You could also use a chart outlining the basic Italian terms, such as f for forte and p for piano.
Inspiring musicians
Zoom does offer a number of set backdrops for your meetings, but you can also download your own images to use in your rehearsals. You can have a bit of fun with your choir members each week to see if your choir can recognize musicians and singers through the ages. It can also be a good opportunity to set them a little homework in between rehearsals. For instance, use a picture of John Rutter as a backdrop, and then ask your choir to listen to “For the Beauty of the Earth.” It can inspire them to expand their listening repertoire.
Your Zoom background can be a bit of fun and a real talking point in your rehearsals. It can also be used to help your choir members with musical fundamentals or inspire them to listen to other musicians.
