The Most Important Summer Prep for Choir Directors Isn’t Repertoire
The Most Important Summer Prep for Choir Directors Isn't Repertoire [...]
Great Senior Classes Don’t Build Great Programs
Great Senior Classes Don't Build Great Programs Every year, I [...]
The Problem with “Great Job”
The Problem with "Great Job" "Great job." Most teachers say [...]
10 Ways to FIND Choral Repertoire for High School
Choral Repertoire is Plentiful and also Impossible to Find Between [...]
Student Leadership in Choir: The Power of Saying No
Student Leadership in Choir: Why Great Choir Directors Learn to [...]
Change With the Seasons (Or More Frequently): How to Prevent Complacency in Your Choral Program
Change With the Seasons (Or More Frequently): How to Prevent [...]
How To Build a Successful Choral Program: A Step-by-Step Framework That Works
How to Build a Successful Choral Program: A Step-by-Step Guide [...]
The Power of Empowerment Is Within Us
The Power of Empowerment Is Within Us When we talk [...]
How to Get Students to Accurately Self-Assess
Giving self-assessment assignments, for many choral directors, seems like a [...]
Why Intentionality Replaces Perfection in Your Choral Program
Why Intentionality Replaces Perfection in Your Choral Program Perfection chases [...]
From Chaos to Buy-In: The Proven Sequence That Transformed My Choir
From Chaos to Buy-In: The Sequence That Transformed My Choir [...]
Start With Your Mission, Not Your Rules
Start With Your Mission, Not Your Rules We all know [...]
Surviving 27 Years as a Choir Director—Without Burnout
How I Avoided Choir Teacher Burnout After 27 Years in [...]
The No-Prep Approach to Sight-Singing: Building Independent Musicians
The No-Prep Approach to Sight-Singing: Building Independent Musicians Sight-singing [...]
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Teaching Sight-Singing
5 Things You Didn’t Know About Teaching Sight-Singing For more [...]
Conferences: Why Inspiration Alone Isn’t Enough
Conferences: Why Inspiration Alone Isn’t Enough I’ve always loved [...]
Why YOU Have Senioritis in Your Choir — And How to Fix It for Good
Why You Have Senioritis in Your Choir — And How [...]
“I Treat All Students Fairly” Is the Wrong Approach: Why Equity Matters
Rethinking Fairness in Education: A Choir Perspective "I treat all [...]
The Essential 4Bs Every Choir Director Needs To Master
The Essential 4Bs Every Choir Director Needs To Master If [...]
Overworked & Burnt Out? Choir Directors, You Deserve Better!
Overworked & Burnt Out? Choir Directors, You Deserve Better! If [...]
Preparing for Your Concerts: THE BIG KEY TO MINIMIZING STRESS!
Preparing for Your Concerts: THE BIG KEY TO MINIMIZING STRESS! [...]
WHAT TO DO IF REHEARSAL BEHAVIOR IS OUT OF CONTROL……
What to Do If Student Behavior Is Out of Control [...]
How I Streamlined Sight-Singing Homework Using Sight Reading Factory’s Auto-Assessment
How I Streamlined Sight-Singing Homework Using Sight Reading Factory’s Auto-Assessment [...]
How to End a Rehearsal Effectively: Make the Last Moments Count
How to End a Rehearsal Effectively: Make the Last Moments [...]
The One Required Activity That Can Derail Your Choir Rehearsal
The One Required Activity That Can Derail Your Choir Rehearsal: [...]
The 2-Minute Rapid-Fire Sight-Singing Drill!
Do you have 2 minutes a day to devote to [...]
Sight Reading Factory’s Auto-Grading Tool – HERE’S THE TRICK…
Sight Reading Factory’s Auto-Assessment Tool - HERE’S THE TRICK... Before [...]
Why I Ditched FINALE for FLAT.IO
Before we start this blog post...... The post is 2 [...]
Choir Ice-Breakers: Why So Many Fail……..
Do ice-breakers really break the ice? Ice-breakers are a great [...]
How to Voice Your Choir Quickly & Effectively
Voicing can be done quickly and effectively in 3 minutes [...]
11 Things to Avoid Doing at the First Choir Rehearsal
11 Things to Avoid Doing at the First Choir Rehearsal [...]
One BIG Advantage of Choir Over Band and Orchestra
One BIG Advantage of Choir Over Band and Orchestra In [...]
The First Step to Building A Successful Choral Program
The First Step to Building A Successful Choral Program The [...]
First Day Advice for the New School Year: 3 Tips for Setting the Stage for Success
First Day Advice for the New School Year: Setting the [...]
You Can Teach INTRINSIC MOTIVATION To Your Students!
You Can Teach INTRINSIC MOTIVATION To Your Students! In [...]
Do THIS When Asking Questions: Clarity over Context
Do THIS When Asking Questions: Clarity over Context In our [...]
18 Tips To Prevent Choral Teacher Burnout
It's so easy to be so invested in our school [...]
8 Reasons I Repeat the Same Holiday Choir Music Every Year
There's plenty of great choral music available for the holiday [...]
Should Choir Members Be Forced To Sing Solo?
Should we force our choir members to sing solo? [...]
The 6 Choir ROUNDS I Use Every Year – and WHY!
Rounds are an excellent learning tool and performance vehicle for [...]
How To Find a Choir Mentor: The 5 “T”s that you need
Finding a choir mentor: The 5 "T"s that you need [...]
The 2 Guidelines Every Choir Director Should Have
The 2 Choir Guidelines Every Director Should Have Every [...]
Ditch your Choir “Rules” and lose the “Consequences”
Choir Rules A decade ago, one of my colleagues asked [...]
The Power of Positive Planning for Choir
The Power of Positive Planning & Posting for Choir: Positive "Ways [...]
Your Choir Won’t Thrive Without These 12 IMPORTANT Things!
Each of the 12 things I list here are integral [...]
14 “Secrets” Indicators Your Choir is Outstanding (#1 may surprise you!)
14 "Secret" Indicators Your Choir is Outstanding How do [...]
Choir Elections Are A Bad Idea. Here’s an Alternative Approach…
We live in a democratic country, but that doesn't mean [...]
Here’s Why My 3-Year-Old Son Appears Tone-Deaf….
It is a real challenge that young girls can successfully [...]
Concert Success without Stress: 3 Ways Singers Take Ownership!
As we get close to our concert, the pressure starts [...]
How to Nail Your Choir Rehearsal Observation – 8 Simple Steps
A rehearsal observation can be really stressful, even for seasoned [...]
How To Give A Killer Choir “Demo Lesson” – 14 Things To Avoid
If you've made it past the interview round, there's a [...]
How to Grade a Concert Performance
Concert performances can be assessed in a multitude of ways; [...]
Your Singer MISSED the Concert….What to do? – Use the 5 “E”s
Your Singer MISSED The Concert....What do we do? - Use [...]
Here’s the Ultimate Substitute Choir Lesson Plan when YOU are Absent:
In this blog, I'm going to introduce the ultimate substitute [...]
Hocus Pocus: 12 Tricks for Rehearsal Focus
It’s so easy to allow daily rehearsals to become repetitive [...]
Simply Assess Choir Rehearsal Participation Using the Four “P”s
Choir rehearsal participation using the 4 Ps. Many students will [...]
Choir Quiz #2 – Here’s The One I Use Every Year!
I give the same first two quizzes each year; as [...]
Choir Quiz: Here’s The First One I Give Every Year
Choir is an academic class and should have academic expectations [...]
Your Star-Spangled Banner Arrangement Is Too Difficult!
How do I know? Well, I don't REALLY know this, [...]
7 Reasons Why Ordering Most Choral Sheet Music Is Ridiculous
7 Reasons Why Purchasing Most Choral Sheet Music Is Ridiculous [...]
It’s Christmas (Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa) in July!
We wish you a Merry Christmas all year round. Music [...]
Basic Math or Matching Pitch: Which Skill Is More Important?
Imagine if learning to match pitch was treated like learning [...]
Self-Selected Choir vs Non-Auditioned Choir: 12 BIG DIFFERENCES!
What is a self-selected choir? A self-selected choir is any [...]
The Fastest “Tone Deaf Quiz” You’ve Ever Given!
I am convinced that 4-5% of the population, who are [...]
The Moral Dilemma of Allowing “TONE DEAF” Singers into our Choir
There was a time where pianos were commonplace in homes [...]
Get Anyone to Match Pitch: 5 Minutes & 5 Easy Steps
Anybody can be taught to match pitch, almost instantly, in [...]
7 Reasons ALL Choirs Should Sing Rounds!
Rounds are an excellent learning tool and performance vehicle for [...]
Ditch Choir Auditions: Everyone can sing!
When did our culture stop singing, and what are we, [...]
4 Definitive Steps to Assess & Develop EVERY Singer’s Ear!
There are 4 tangible steps that can be taken to [...]
“Tone-Deaf” is an Excuse….not a Diagnosis
"Tone-Deaf" is an Excuse....not a Diagnosis.....and I blame the person [...]
8 Keys to Turn Sight-Singing Fear into Fun!
Turning Fear into Fun My 3-year-old daughter, Lyla, and I [...]
The Best Ear-Training Exercise You Will Ever Use
Kodaly & Me I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm [...]
The Erosion of the Choral Middle-Class
My previous post describes the traditional Choral Caste System which [...]