The One Required Activity That Can Derail Your Choir Rehearsal: Taking Attendance

As choir directors, we all do it. Taking attendance is a necessary part of every rehearsal, but if we’re not careful, it can completely derail our focus and waste precious time.

Many choral directors don’t give much thought to how they take attendance, and that oversight can create a period of distraction and chaos. Some directors start their rehearsals by calling out names, which causes the first five minutes to be a scramble of students settling in, looking for their seats, and not paying attention. Others might try to sneak in attendance midway through the rehearsal, pulling students out of engagement and back into distraction. Then, it takes time to reel them back in.

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Is This REALLY a Problem?

It sure is. Whether you notice it or not, a lack of an efficient attendance procedure is likely giving your students control of your class without you even realizing it. Our goal is to keep students focused, engaged, and ready to make music. When we fumble around with attendance, we’re handing over our authority and allowing students to disengage.

Beyond just losing focus, sloppy attendance-taking can lead to students not taking their seating seriously, and that starts a whole other wave of chaos. If a student doesn’t know where they belong, they’re not mentally prepared to start rehearsal. And the last thing we need is to start off on the wrong foot.

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But Here’s the Good News

The great news is that there are endless solutions to this problem! The first step is simply admitting that this is an area where we can improve. If you don’t have a fast and efficient way to take attendance, you’re inadvertently impacting the flow of your rehearsal. But don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to streamline this process.

Here are a few methods that I’ve used (and loved) throughout my time as a choral director:

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1. Number Your Chairs – Take Attendance After Warm-Ups

This is one of the simplest solutions. Number your chairs, and all you have to do is glance at the empty seats to know who’s missing. It’s a no-fuss way to keep track of everyone without calling out names.

The key to making this work is ensuring your students know exactly where to sit. I recommend assigning seats early in the year and being consistent. Post the seating chart on Google Classroom, outside the choir room door, and write it on the board whenever you make changes. The less talking and explaining you do about seating, the smoother your attendance will go.

Once the warm-ups are complete, simply glance at the empty seats and mark down who’s missing. To make this even more seamless, try having a “Do Now” activity during this time—like having students look at the sight-singing example on the board for 30 seconds or allowing officers to make quick announcements.

2. Count-Off with a Metronome

Here’s a fun way to combine rhythm practice with attendance: a count-off. On day one, assign each student a number, and every day, run a quick count-off to a metronome. This gets your students used to keeping time and keeps everyone engaged from the start.

If a student is absent, there’ll be silence during their number, so you’ll know immediately. With a metronome set at 60 bpm, you can take attendance in about a minute. Plus, you can speed up or slow down the tempo to keep it fresh. It’s an efficient and engaging way to do something mundane like attendance while subtly reinforcing musical skills.

3. Section Leaders Take Attendance

For many years, I had my section leaders take attendance within their groups. Each section had fewer than ten students (S1, S2, A1, A2, etc.), so it was quick and painless. The best part? It happened during warm-ups, so I didn’t have to worry about it disrupting rehearsal.

Section leaders would mark who was there and submit their forms to the secretary, who then provided me with a complete attendance sheet. It was efficient and kept me out of the process entirely. However, my school started requiring attendance earlier in the period, and while the section leaders handled it well, it involved too many students during an already tight time frame.

I still think this can be an effective method for many choirs, especially if your school allows more flexibility. It promotes leadership within the choir and encourages responsibility among your singers.

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4. Use Cell Phone Pockets

If you have a no-phone policy in your choir room, this is an amazing solution! Use cell phone pockets, and assign each student a numbered slot. When students walk in, they place their phone in their numbered pocket, and at a quick glance, you can see who’s present. Empty pocket? That student’s absent.

It’s an easy and visual way to take attendance without interrupting the flow of rehearsal. The number on the pocket can also serve as their choir number, making it useful for other organizational tasks like music distribution and grading assignments.

Final Thoughts: Your Rehearsal Flow Matters

Creating flow in rehearsal comes from being intentional about every action that takes place. It’s not just about the music—it’s about how students enter the room, how they find their seats, how class begins, and yes, even how you take attendance.

When you streamline processes like attendance, you reduce chaos, keep students engaged, and make the most of your rehearsal time. If you’re interested in diving deeper into strategies like these, I offer an online course, CHOIR CRASH COURSE: 1st Days of Choir (and Beyond) Prep, where I go step-by-step through the process of creating smooth, productive rehearsals. I also personally mentor choir directors, helping them build the perfect classroom flow with engaged and focused singers.

Don’t let something as simple as attendance-taking steal the momentum of your rehearsal. Make the change, and watch the difference it makes!

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Learn the Ins and Outs of Choir Classroom Management