Finding a choir mentor: The 5 “T”s that you need
Did you ever wish you had a choir mentor?
I’m not talking about a conducting teacher or someone who gives cool warm-ups.
I’m talking about a secondary-level choir mentor…
I’m talking about someone who is there to guide you through recruiting, making your class “cool”, behavior management, rehearsal management, choosing repertoire, writing a handbook, giving grades, preparing for a concert, speaking with parents, planning a trip, all while creating a healthy work/life balance?
What do you need from a choir mentor?
Sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what we need; we know we need help, but we don’t know how we can be helped.
As a result, I’m going to share with you the 5 “T”s that your mentor must have in order to be able to help you.
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Here are the 5 “T”s that you need in a choir mentor:
A mentor needs to have the:
- Track record – they’ve done it themselves
- Training – they have mentored others before
- Tools – they know what you really need to do
- Time – to be by your side whenever you need them
- Trust – you can tell them anything and they are there for you unconditionally
Track-record – a true choir mentor must’ve had a successful choral program themselves. This is one major issue with using many college professors as choir mentors. They focus on advanced choral skills and these skills don’t relate to the actual jobs most of us have.
Training – a choir mentor must be able to offer an effective process for what they do. It’s one thing to run a successful choral program; it’s another thing to be able to break those skills down and show another person how to do it themselves.
Tools – a choir mentor must not only have a process to share, the process must be aligned with what you need. It’s not enough to have a plan. A choir mentor should have the ability to adapt to your situation and find the right tool that is needed to guide you every step of the way.
Time – a choir mentor must have the time to help you. They can have the track-record, training, and tools, but if they are unavailable, they aren’t going to be much help…..especially when you need them most.
Trust – a choir mentor must present a no-judgment zone. We all make mistakes and if we can’t openly communicate with them, they won’t be able to help us most effectively.
These 5 “T”s are necessary for mentors in all disciplines, not just choir teaching.
My quest to create this Choral Clarity website lacked a mentor…..
When I began Choral Clarity, I constantly looked for a mentor.
- who has written a successful blog about music education?
- how do I build a website?
- who has self-published sheet music on their website?
- how do I get sponsors?
- who do I hire when the website crashes?
Believe it or not, I could not find a mentor.
The successful people either didn’t have the time to help me or didn’t want to share their secrets. In the end, I had to go about it alone, building this platform without anyone to guide me.
The truth is, without a mentor in any field, the learning curve is STEEP and everything seems overwhelming every step of the way.
Sure, you can get bits and pieces of advice from many people, but only a mentor sees you through your the entire experience.
Did you ever see the app or website where you are asked to create a face by picking all the facial features independently: you pick the perfect nose, eye, mouth, ears, eyebrows, etc.
You know what happens in the end?
You get one weird-looking face.
Why is that? Because all the perfect features have to relate to one another.
That’s like getting bits and pieces of advice from different, well-meaning people.
As steep as the Choral Clarity learning curve was for me, you know what was even more of a challenge?
I didn’t have a Choir Mentor when I started teaching….
More than twenty-five years ago, when I began my career, my classroom management skills were SO POOR, I almost lost my job in year 1. I still have the written observation to prove it.
But it wasn’t my fault I was so terrible:
Whose fault was it?
Of course: it was clearly the STUDENTS’ fault!
In fact, I taught as a leave replacement at two schools prior to arriving at this job in the Fall of 1998, and guess what? It was also the students’ fault at the previous jobs too!
Where could I find good students?
If I had better students, I could teach them what I know.
Since I had no mentor, I truly believed this!
I had solid conducting skills and knowledge of vocal technique and yet, I was sinking fast…..
That’s when I purchased as many VHS courses (back in 1998-1999) and read as many books as I possibly could about discipline and classroom management.
These courses didn’t exactly relate to choral directing, but they did do enough to let me know that the issues were within my ability to solve.
This is how my journey began, WITHOUT A CHOIR MENTOR.
I spent the next 10+ years using trial and error and after a decade, I really got into a groove. 10 years of pain, frustration, losing momentum, not getting them to BUY-IN, refusing to sight-sing, etc, etc. etc.
Now, I’m beginning year 26 at the same high school and the choir basically runs itself.
What would I have given to not feel like I was drowning for more than 10 YEARS?
In those early years, I took over 90 graduate credits at Columbia University – Teacher’s College. In today’s world, 90 credits would amount to $180,000.
Yes, I learned some things, but NOTHING that actually helped me to fix the issues in the classroom. Music education programs generally do not prepare teachers to be successful in the classroom.
So, where can you find a choir mentor?
Where do you find someone who REALLY, TRULY is there to help you become successful? I’m not talking about some online course or master class where you’re offered ideas; I’m talking about an ongoing mentorship where you are learning, reflecting, and being coached throughout the entire year on your current job.
Mentorship is similar to the student teaching experience, only now it’s your classroom, your students, and your curriculum. It’s all up to you to succeed.
You can study privately on an applied instrument…….Where are the choir mentors?
You can always find a private teacher to help you progress in piano, voice, woodwind, brass, percussion, harp, and guitar. You can even find teachers for composition and conducting.
WHERE DO YOU FIND AN ON-GOING CHOIR MENTOR WHO SHOWS YOU HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE CHORAL DIRECTOR: someone who teaches you what you really need to know?
Most of us teach in isolated bubbles where we see and hear nothing but ourselves. There’s no other choir teacher to interact with. In some cases, there’s not even another music teacher to interact with.
Our bosses are NOT our mentors. Our experienced colleagues have their own things to focus on.
With that said, I have created a solution.
I’ve created a CHORAL CLARITY MENTORSHIP that is revolutionizing the success of choral directors with year-long mentorship.
With this program, you will improve all year long.
You will not give up on your management plan by November or have your graduating members bringing down your ensemble the entire second half of the year.
This mentorship program offers so much value and is run directly by me.
Our mentorship program is perfect for high school and middle school choir directors who are:
- Starting a new choral position and want REAL MENTORSHIP so they are successful from DAY 1 and look and act like a seasoned teacher.
- EXTREMELY MOTIVATED to get massive results out of their stagnant program.
- Needing practical help in fixing troubling aspects of their choral program.
I offer no-cost 45-minute strategy sessions to get to know you and your program. Based on our conversation, I provide a course of action.
This opportunity is NOT FOR EVERYONE, and is VERY LIMITED. With that said, I want to meet with everyone who is motivated to improve and make that investment in themselves!
Click here to book a no-cost strategy session! This is not a sales call. In fact, I only offer the mentorship to choir directors who I believe can truly benefit from it.
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There’s no prize for doing it alone!
Many people don’t realize how impactful a choir mentor can be. They feel as if they should be able to accomplish everything on their own.
Well, you can accomplish a lot on your own, BUT you don’t get any reward for that. In fact, the amount of time, effort, and stress needed to accomplish goals without support can be substantial.
Whether you have a personal trainer, a life coach, or a choir mentor, you will see better results than doing it alone. In fact, in many cases, results will be life-changing.
I’m not a personal trainer or a life coach. I am a choir mentor.
If you want to have the best year of choir teaching, improve your work/life balance, and significantly upgrade the experience for your choir members, click here to book a time to speak!
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