[Trombone-l] Rules for Rehearsal - looking for some help

[Josh Kane]

Choir Team Rules

Personal Qualities

A choir is like any team: it only works when everyone pulls together,  
this means making every effort to attend all practices and concerts,  
getting to practices on time and letting the choir know if there is  
any reason why you are absent or late.The choir demands that its  
members show personal characteristics that good choristers throughout  
the world need to show:-

Good Attendance
Are you 100% reliable? (You won't be any use if you only come some of  
the time)


Punctuality
Are you consistently on time?


Behaviour
Are you well behaved at choir rehearsals and events?


Enthusiasm
Do you take an interest in what you are doing?


Responsibility
Do you take care of yourself and those younger than yourself?


Concert Rule
No fidgeting when the choir is on stage (whether it's singing, or not!).


Rehearsal Rules

Be quiet
A raised arm means be that everyone should be quiet. Don’t talk to  
those around you in rehearsal.
Be alert
You need to be ready to start and stop singing with everyone else.
Listen for...
... what piece the Choir will practise next
... where in the piece we are going to start
... any special problems to look out for
Take care...
...of the sheet music -
don't play with it,
damage it,
crease it,
chew it(!), nor
leave it lying around.
Go to the toilet...
... before you come in to the practice
Follow
If someone else is singing, try and follow the music - you will learn  
something




And now the conductor rules


A Player's Guide for Keeping Conductors in Line

by Donn Laurence Mills
If there were a basic training manual for orchestra players, it might  
include ways to practice not only music, but one-upmanship. It seems  
as if many young players take pride in getting the conductor's goat.  
The following rules are intended as a guide to the development of  
habits that will irritate the conductor. (Variations and additional  
methods depend upon the imagination and skill of the player.)

1.Never be satisfied with the tuning note. Fussing about the pitch  
takes attention away from the podium and puts it on you, where it  
belongs.

2.When raising the music stand, be sure the top comes off and spills  
the music on the floor.

3.Complain about the temperature of the rehearsal room, the lighting,  
crowded space, or a draft. It's best to do this when the conductor is  
under pressure.

4.Look the other way just before cues.

5.Never have the proper mute, a spare set of strings, or extra reeds.  
Percussion players must never have all their equipment.

6.Ask for a re-audition or seating change. Ask often. Give the  
impression you're about to quit. Let the conductor know you're there  
as a personal favor.

7.Pluck the strings as if you are checking tuning at every  
opportunity, especially when the conductor is giving instructions.  
Brass players: drop mutes. Percussionists have a wide variety of  
dropable items, but cymbals are unquestionably the best because they  
roll around for several seconds.

8.Loudly blow water from the keys during pauses (Horn, oboe and  
clarinet players are trained to do this from birth).

9.Long after a passage has gone by, ask the conductor if your C# was  
in tune. This is especially effective if you had no C# or were not  
playing at the time. (If he catches you, pretend to be correcting a  
note in your part.)

10.At dramatic moments in the music (while the conductor is emoting)  
be busy marking your music so that the climaxes will sound empty and  
disappointing.

11.Wait until well into a rehearsal before letting the conductor know  
you don't have the music.

12.Look at your watch frequently. Shake it in disbelief occasionally.

13.Tell the conductor, "I can't find the beat." Conductors are always  
sensitive about their "stick technique", so challenge it frequently.

14.As the conductor if he has listened to the Bernstein recording of  
the piece. Imply that he could learn a thing or two from it. Also  
good: ask "Is this the first time you've conducted this piece?"

15.When rehearsing a difficult passage, screw up your face and shake  
your head indicating that you'll never be able to play it. Don't say  
anything: make him wonder.

16.If your articulation differs from that of others playing the same  
phrase, stick to your guns. Do not ask the conductor which is correct  
until backstage just before the concert.

17.Find an excuse to leave rehearsal about 15 minutes early so that  
others will become restless and start to pack up and fidget.

18.During applause, smile weakly or show no expression at all. Better  
yet, nonchalantly put away your instrument. Make the conductor feel  
he is keeping you from doing something really important.







Hope this all helps,

Josh Kane


On Dec 5, 2006, at 6:14 AM, Richardson, Timothy Mr. DAC USAG Ansbach  
DPW wrote:

>
> I'm having a problem with a church choir/praise team I work with,  
> and I know
> some of you are involved in similar settings, but it may apply more
> generally to any rehearsal setting.
>
> This is a mix of adults and young people largely without a  
> conventional
> music background, and we're having discipline problems and of  
> course the
> hurt feelings that result.  (but sadly aren't enough to make the  
> offenders
> quit.  Hee, hee)  I think that part of the problem is they just  
> have no
> shared set of rules, even obvious stuff like maybe you shouldn't  
> start a
> conversation during the downbeat, etc.
>
> Didn't somebody here have a list of rules for rehearsals, or rules for
> church choirs, or something?  My thought is a written list of  
> procedures
> that everyone has a copy of may go a long way to ending the confusion.
>
> Wouldn't hurt to have a list for conductors, either.  I certainly  
> have some
> pet peeves about what they do wrong.  <g>
>
> Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
>
> -
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