Down In Front!
DOWN IN FRONT
It became evident to me long ago that there is a gulf between what the students think they are doing vs. what they actually do. Singers with dead faces are shocked to hear “Lift your eyebrows!” or “Smile while you sing!” The choir sighs as they hear “Check your posture!” for the 1,000th time. And directors think, “How do you not know this needs work?”
What these singers lack is perspective. One way to help them gain perspective is to have them sing in front of a mirror. HOWEVER, if you DON’T have a mirror in your room, you can certainly play DOWN IN FRONT!
DOWN IN FRONT is pretty simple. I ask one student from each section to come to the front of the room, facing the choir. As we rehearse, each student DOWN IN FRONT is responsible for scanning their own section, looking for the singer who is doing the BEST job. This includes posture, facial involvement, visual tracking of music, attentiveness, etc. - the whole nine yards.
Choir Bites Interactive Slides can enhance online/hybrid lesson plans or be used as supplemental assignments. Your singers’ awareness will rise as they engage with these simple, “sticky” concepts! Click here to learn more!
After a while, I stop and ask the students DOWN IN FRONT “Who’s doing the best job?” Whomever they name is now the new person DOWN IN FRONT. This serves multiple purposes:
1) Singers who excel are publicly praised.
2) Singers who watch rehearsal have a greater understanding of what the director observes. They now see the range of engagement, from the most to least involved singers.
3) There is sometimes internal competition vying for the top spot DOWN IN FRONT.
Of course there are variations: you can rotate on a strict timer, you can eliminate the “who’s best?” component and just rotate until everyone has a turn, etc. When you are finished, make sure the singers reflect on what they observed. They will never look at rehearsal the same way again, and they will talk amongst themselves, sharing their observations from their time DOWN IN FRONT.
