Mouth the words

My students just had a big Christmas performance and they were singing a bunch of different Christmas songs.

I wasn’t singing with them, but I wanted to make sure that they knew where they were. So I mouthed the words.

This might be something that sounds like common sense, but I think it’s worth pointing out because it can be so incredibly helpful for student singers. It’s especially useful for students who aren’t very experienced with singing in performances. Some older choral students may not need the extra help, but younger and less experienced students definitely need it.

Mouth the words as if you’re singing. If you can mouth them slightly before the beat then that can help the students even more because you’ll be able to give them a hint of what to sing right before they need to sing it. This can help them make sure that they sing the correct words on the beat, rather than slightly after the beat.

ISJ