[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]
“I hate this song!”
"Well, don’t sing it then."
“No, it’s OK, I’ll do it.”
Not everyone in a choir will like every song. I try to have a wide variety in our repertoire so that most people will like most of the songs most of the time.
But there will always be one or two which bring groans from a few people:
“Oh no, not this one again!”
So I say:
"You don’t need to sing it. If you really don’t like it, don’t sing it. There are plenty of other people who do like it. Why sing it if you don’t like it?"
“No, it’s OK, I’ll sing it” they reply grudgingly.
Why??!!
Surely if you really don’t like a song, then you’re not going to enjoy singing it and you won’t be giving it your best.
Sometimes when a concert is looming I find a few people who are really struggling with a particular song and just haven’t quite nailed it.
“You don’t need to sing it” I say. “There are plenty of other people who know it.”
“No, you’re all right, I’ll sing it. I’ll just wing it”.
Oh, no you won’t!
If we’re doing a concert I want us to perform as best we can. I don’t want people ‘winging it’, I want people to really know every song they sing and to give it their best.
I always make it very clear that if someone doesn’t know a song then they don’t have to sing it. It’s not a problem.
I don’t want to put pressure on people to perform. After all, it’s meant to be a pleasure!
Have you come across this behaviour in your choir? Are there songs that you hate, but sing any way? Why??!!
Do leave a comment and share your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you (and find an explanation for this phenomenon!).
Chris Rowbury
website: chrisrowbury.com
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