Teaching Listening Skills to Improve Choral Blend | Conducting Tips

There are numerous reasons why you should teach your choir to listen to one another as they sing. Improving their listening skills will have an effect on the quality of sound your choir produces. Specifically, the choir that learns to listen as they sing will be a well balanced and well blended group. So, teaching listening skills as part of your choir rehearsals will be of great benefit.

Teaching Listening Skills | Hearing vs Listening

Just asking people to listen as they sing assumes that they truly know how to listen. The art of listening is not the same as hearing. They may seem to be similar but they are vastly different. Both hearing and listening involve the use of your ears.

While hearing is the passive reception of sound, listening is the active process of tuning in to those sounds we wish to receive while screening out those we do not wish to receive. Listening involves the perception of both external sounds as well as those of our own voice. Paul Madaule

For example, you hear sounds everyday, all the time. You have no control of the sounds happening all around you. So, hearing is truly involuntary and happens subconsciously whether you like it or not.

Listening, on the other hand, is a learned skill. It seeks to understand the sounds you hear. The key here is to use these listening skills while singing. The more your choir is aware of the sounds around them the better their tone, balance and blend will be. So, developing listening skills is important to the overall ensemble.

Let’s look at some ways teaching listening skills can be adapted into your choir rehearsals.

Encourage listening to their individual sections (soprano, alto, tenor, bass)

There are many advantages of listening to those around you as you sing. This assures that you’re singing the right part and helps you to sing better in tune. In addition, you will be able to sense when your singing too loudly or softly. Being a good listener will also help your voice blend well with other singers.

Some questions for your choir to think about while singing.

• Am I singing in tune?
• Could I be singing too loudly?
• How well am I blending well with others.
• Am I singing the right part?

Listening to those in your section is just the beginning of being a good listener. To produce the best sound you have to listen outside your section. So secondly,

Focus on listening to the other parts while singing

Here is where the overall sound is shaped and harmonies are realized. Generally, we hear the voices beside us and behind us most clearly. So, to make listening to other sections easier, you might consider strategically placing singers with good tone.

Hindrances to listening

It’s important to realize that if the basses always sit behind the sopranos, they never hear the sopranos. If the tenors always sit behind the altos, they will never hear the altos and so forth. Therefore, it is extremely helpful to vary what voices are heard from behind.

Suggestions to try

• Sing at least one song with all the singers standing and facing the center of the choir loft. Obviously, each singer will hear different voices and/or voice from behind.
• Occasionally, reverse the process and sing with backs to the center of the loft.
• Have the singers face the back of the loft and sing.
• If there’s room, sing in a giant circle, from the aisles, or scattered about the auditorium.

Conclusion:

All of these techniques develop the discipline of listening and typically produce positive results. Teaching listening skills to your choir will be challenging but the results will definitely be worthwhile.

What are some other effective ways to help your choir listen better to one another? Leave your comment below.