Music Is Not for Insects

So I’ve given you my bias about the cover of this book…I think it’s goofy. I must have picked it up and put it down 3 or 4 times before I bought it and brought it with me to read at the beach on vacation…
But what’s inside is what you need to read before you start up with your ensembles this fall. Dr. Timothy Seelig former opera singer turned conductor and former Artistic Director of the Turtle Creek Chorale may look silly on this colorful cover, but everything he says about rehearsals is worth your time. Consider this from page 5:

“Some think the most important thing [we do as conductors] is the performances! Or contests!…We only hear (and talk) about the destination, not the journey…Have you ever read a review of a rehearsal in the local paper? Much has been written about choral performances…But who is writing about the rehearsals?…Our papers have endless coverage of training camps for every possible sport. They talk about the players who make up the team…They talk about the coach. How is he running things?…But the same thing does not happen in what we do. They only care about the performance. The reality is, most of the sports media has a good idea during training camp what the team is going to be like. So should we. Perhaps the music critics should somehow turn the clock back and become a fly on the wall at our ‘training camp.’ Most likely, they would be able to tell what the performance was going to be like by observing rehearsals.”

He goes on to say “Ponder how many hours are spent in rehearsals as compared to performance. Regardless of whether you conduct a choir in a school, church or community setting, the number of hours in rehearsal vs. performance is at least ten hours for every one hour of performance time. For most choruses, 40 hours is a more accurate number.” These stats got my attention. Rehearsals are the most important thing we do as conductors, but often I’m so obsessed with the performance, I don’t put the time into planning a great rehearsal each week.
He follows up this section with a Seelig Signpost of Significance (my goofy creation, not his…)

” Guarantee: Rehearsals will change the lives of our singers. No Guarantee: Performances will change the lives of the audience.”

I had to read this several times before it really sank in…maybe too much sun sitting on the beach. But the truth of these statements hit me square in my beach chair: “Dude! You suck at planning consistent rehearsals each week. How dare you when rehearsals are so important to your singers mindset and how they will actually perform at the concert.” True confession time; haven’t you felt this way at one time or another in your career?

There is so much practical wisdom in this book to help you plan great rehearsals. But beyond that, Seelig presents the information as a tour guide planning a trip (hence the “It’s a Trip” reference on the front cover…) and asks some very significant “why” questions before jumping into a lot of Do’s and Don’ts.

It’s a great read that will inspire you no matter what level of group you conduct and rehearse. And just like the guide book we keep picking up and putting down here on our vacation, you will dog- ear pages, underline sections and share the great insight with friends and colleagues from “The Perfect Rehearsal: It’s a Trip! Everything you wanted to Know About Rehearsals.” By Timothy Seelig. Published by Shawnee Press, Inc.
Now if hurricane Felicia doesn’t throw off our flight plans, I’ll be able to try these ideas with my ensembles soon enough…

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