Reframing Right and Wrong
I strive for excellence. I want my singers to do the same. Unfortunately, many singers are afraid to "sound bad in front of everyone," and as such they don't fully engage their singing. They hang back and sing timidly, waiting for the time they feel confident enough to sing out. They genuinely believe that until they can be 100% successful (they get it RIGHT), they don't want to be heard being WRONG.
My position is that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If a singer holds back, trying not to be heard, there are many problems that arise, including:
-Lack of proper breath engagement
-Lack of proper embouchure
-Inability to hear one's own voice for purposes of tuning, blending, synchronization, etc.
-Inability of the director to hear the voice to offer feedback (too high, too low, too fast, too slow, spread vowels, whatever)
By trying to HIDE to avoid being WRONG, they have created a sound that is not desirable AND is almost inaudible. The patient is sick, is not talking to the doctor, and is doomed to remain sick. Doctors (and directors) are not psychic. We must assess.
One thing that has helped my choirs is to REFRAME right and wrong. I tell my choirs that if they are trying their best and doing the task at hand, they are RIGHT. There is no WRONG other than to be off-task (looking around the room, talking to their neighbor) or to not do their best. Then, I can hear what's happening and I can offer them HELP to do the RIGHT thing EVEN BETTER.
To reinforce this, I praise mistakes. I say "thank you for letting me hear that!" When I offer feedback I say things like "it would be better if..." and "you'll find it easier when..." and "this way is more efficient."
Music is ART, and is subjective. Of course there are still such things as wrong notes and rhythms... but if we can reframe RIGHT to mean "best effort on task" then we can reveal areas in which singers need guidance. And there's nothing wrong with that.
