If some singers want more and some want less, then you must be doing something right!

• Posted by Chris Rowbury August 29, 2018 - Filed in Choir Post - 669 views

  [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]

   

  I aim to please everyone in my choirs and singing workshops. I know it’s an impossible task (see Keeping a choir happy – you can’t please everyone), but I try.

   

  

  photo by DurhamDundee

   

  How do you know when you’ve got the balance right and you’re keeping the majority happy?

   

  I always ask for feedback at the end of my singing workshops and I occasionally hand out feedback questionnaires to my choirs.
  
  Here are some typical responses:

  • the warm ups are too long/ too short
  • the harmonies are too hard/ too easy
  • you are too strict/ too laid-back
  • I want more/ less songs in English
  • you teach too many/ too few songs
  • the sessions are too long/ too short
  • we end up sitting down too much/ not enough
  • you teach too fast/ too slow
  • we have too many/ too few breaks

  
  Usually the extreme responses come from just one or two people. If they balance each other out (i.e. come equally from both extremes) then I reckon I’ve got things right.
  
  But if there is a bias towards one extreme or many people make the same comment, then it’s time to re-evaluate and make changes.
  
  How do you work out if you’ve got the balance right?

   

   

   

   

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  Chris Rowbury

   

  website: chrisrowbury.com
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