We live in a small Wiltshire village, and for the past

three years we have gathered up anybody who wants

to form a choir to sing at our carol service. It has been a

great success and singers of all abilities have practised,

performed, and enriched our worship. Ruth is the

musician and has led choirs, run vocal workshops

and taught singing for the past 25 years. Keith has

recently retired from being Principal of Sarum

College where his special area of interest and

teaching has been leadership.

As a topic for research and teaching, leadership

has been like a quickly changing landscape. Initially,

it was the people in charge who had to be good leaders,

but now organizations want everybody to be leading,

right through their structures and functions. The

definition from Marcus Buckingham is to our mind

one of the best – ‘leadership is about rallying people

to a better future’. This brings us to the idea that

people know when they are being well led.

You may think you are a great choir leader but it

is the people in your choir who really know whether

you are or not. To pick up on the definition from

Buckingham, they will be thinking about two things.

The first, emphasized in the word ‘rallying’, refers to

all those things we include when we think of team

spirit. Is this good fun? Do we know where we are going

and do we think we have a chance of getting there?

What are our levels of enthusiasm when choir night

comes round? Do we feel we are doing something that

is worthwhile and do we feel encouraged and inspired

at practice and performance? Do we get on with one

another and know how to resolve petty disagreements

and envies? Do we have confidence in our choir

leader, and can we trust her?

These are the things that are true about leadership

everywhere and usually include the technical

leadership words of vision, inspiration and motivation.

They include matters of character, and people will only

follow when they feel some connection with their

leader. In study after study this raises issues about the

leader’s humility, sense of humour, integrity, passion.

In today’s world, research shows that we are more likely

to follow a leader who we think is more or less like us.

People on pedestals, and who overemphasize their

superiority in knowledge or experience, do not score

well in leadership feedback surveys.

The second aspect of Buckingham’s definition

focuses on a ‘better future’. So the collection of

villagers who gather in December for four rehearsals

and a carol service need to think that it is worth it and

that what they do at the service will be better for the

rehearsals. They want to think that their singing

together will be better blended, more robust, more

technically accurate, more in tune than it might have

been if they just turned up on the night. They may not

have expected it, but they always report afterwards that

singing together has lifted their spirits, and each year

they ask for some kind of carrying on afterwards.

The ‘better future’ means that the leader has to ensure

that strategy is effective, and in the midst of strategy

is the need for specific skills. Being the Principal at

Sarum did not mean that Keith had to be a specialist

in running hospitality, kitchen, building, IT, bookshop,

finance or library. He did have to be strategic, but

mostly in the service of the other people who did know

how to do what they were asked to do. The main role of

leadership was to shape a future that people could see

would be better for the college. But for Ruth, and all

choir leaders, the skills of singing and voice training

are essential.

First and foremost the choir leader must have a

knowledge of how the voice works and how to produce

LEADING THE CHOIRK E I T H & R U T H L A M D I N

LEADING THE CHOIR 29

Research shows that we are more likely to follow a leader who we think is more or less like us.

it, not merely in theory, but understood physically and

personally, probably through singing lessons, practice

and performance. She needs to appreciate not only her

own vocal problems, but also those problems that she

is fortunate not to experience.

For instance, she may always sing perfectly in tune

herself, but she needs to know why others do not, and

how to help them to achieve better intonation. Merely

shouting, ‘You’re flat again, sopranos,’ is an inadequate

strategy! It only demoralizes the choir and removes

their hope ‘for a better future’.

A reasonable level of musical theory is needed to

induct the choir into the tonal and harmonic landscape

of each piece. And a perceptive ear is of course crucial.

Good sight-reading ability and a method for teaching

it are really important as well.

Those are just some of the skills a competent choir

leader needs to have cultivated. Enthusiasm and

encouragement then need to be added to expertise

and experience.

There is, of course, no standard church choir. They

range from the pseudo-cathedral choir through the

auditioned group to the come-all-ye, from the semi-

professional to the only-just-able, and from young

children to the fairly ancient.

Perhaps what a choir leader needs more than

anything is realism! If anyone is welcome to join,

it would be foolish to set one’s sights on choral

evensong with a tricky anthem on one half-hour

rehearsal a week!

That is not to say that the leader should not have

high standards. She must have a clear image of what

can be achieved and then know how to get there. The

repertoire must be carefully chosen. If there are only

two men with no sight-reading skills and little

confidence, then a four-part anthem is out of the

question. If everyone is over 80, the sopranos should

not necessarily be expected to sing above an F, and

probably an E is safer. Transposition may be necessary.

But with simple and effective warm-ups, and specific

technical tips or exercises interspersed at difficult

points, every choir can improve. Even some sight-

reading hints may be tucked in.

A well-planned rehearsal is essential, with tricky

spots anticipated and exercises ready to deal with

them. A balance of singing through, working on

different voice parts, focus on detail, and so on, will

keep the attention and interest high. And we must

always remember that choir practice is not just about

the music. It is a social activity as well as an emotional,

spiritual, intellectual and respiratory workout.

A choir leader should not be an autocrat or the

sole source of knowledge. She must be always asking

for feedback, checking that there are no problems,

making sure everything is understood. Jargon should

be avoided, questions welcomed, no one made to look

stupid. Members should always feel better when

they leave than when they came in.

This last sentence summarizes the essence of

leadership. It is not a matter of personality but

of trustworthiness and hopefulness.

A choir leader must have a clear image of what can be achieved and then know how to get there.