Growing up, I always loved to sing. I began by singing hymns during church and singing along to Paula Abdul cassette tapes on my way home from there. I joined choir in sixth grade and have been singing in ensembles ever since. I am currently pursuing a licensure in music education with the hope to become a music educator in a secondary school setting, and so it's inevitable that I write something to correlate with my biggest passion, music.
1. Eye contact is necessary for a meaningful conversation.
A wise man once stressed that the perfect rehearsal or performance is like a meaningful conversation. It's not possible to do this without full attentiveness. While it is possible to be fully attentive without maintaining eye contact, it definitely helps a thousand-fold. For music that isn't memorized, a singer in a choir should maintain eye contact with the director in order to ensure that the line of communication is present. This applies to every person you talk to, be it your teacher, boss, or peer.
2. Every person has a special contribution to make.
No two singers sound the same, which means that no two choirs sound the same. Each person within a choir contributes something wonderful to the characteristic sound of the ensemble, which means that everyone there is important. This concept obviously stretches much further than the limits of the choir room. Every single person you meet or becomes a part of your life does so for a specific reason. It also takes a contribution from everyone in a team to complete a well-rounded project or goal. In case anyone forgets to tell you, you are important.
3. "I speak six languages!"
I don't actually know how to communicate to anyone in a language other than English. I can fingerspell ASL and am one-percent fluent in Spanish according to Duolingo, but if you hand a choir kid a piece of music written in a foreign language, there is a very good chance we can pronounce the text very clearly. If we haven't been acquainted with that language yet, hand us an IPA guide and be impressed.
[If ju kæn rid ðIs], [ðɛn ju hæv bIn reIzd rɑIt]. The International Phonetic Alphabet is a very useful tool for ensuring that your choir is singing the same, properly-aligned vowel sets. It's also very useful for passing notes in class and taking notes in that class where the professor's accent is just too thick.
4. It's the imperfections that reveal true beauty.
The beauty of live performance is that it is not going to be perfect. This is essential to understand because everybody makes mistakes, and that is okay; it enriches the human experience. One day, you might even find that all of the insecurities you have are what your significant other loves most about you.
5. Live life to the fullest.
I only feel like I'm able to be myself fully when I'm singing. Music has the power to express emotions that one cannot instill in words alone. If done right, the choir is such a safe space for anyone to be themselves and express themselves in a collaborative setting where everyone is very supportive of another.
Singing with others has been and will always be a favorite thing of mine to do. No other experience can quite capture the range of emotions that music can provide. If you've never sung in a choir before, there is no time like the present to start singing. God, or someone at least, gave you a voice to be heard, so sing!
