The tenors are flat. Ugh.

You had a wonderful Thursday night rehearsal, and had fixed every problem! But, now it's Sunday. And you're back to square one.

Sound familiar? For a director of a volunteer choir, I know it does!

We are always repeating instructions. Fixing the same problems. Starting again and again from the same spot. Why?

Because volunteer singers, don’t have the time, space, or access to the personalized instruction and daily practice that results in permanent skill formation.

Does that mean all directors are stuck with the current skill level of their volunteers? Stuck with the same pattern of repetitive problems?

Nope.

You don’t have to backslide every week. Really.

You don’t have to accept repetitive problems.

You don’t have to back slide every week.

You don’t have to keep fixing the same leak a thousand times.

The choir model is failing you. There's a (much) better way.

Rehearse once a week. Backslide. Fix the same problems repeatedly. In ten years, your choir program will be roughly the same level.

That's the model. Been going strong in community and church choirs for centuries.

But if you're seeking excellence? There are two paths in the old model: recruit highly skilled singers to work for free (good luck!) or spend your way out of the problem hiring professionals (not an option for 90% of programs).

There is a more effective and insanely more affordable solution: asynchronous training.

Leverage modern neuroscience with evidence-based pedagogical techniques, to create permanent skill formation in your singers. How?

Use daily, bite-sized, asynchronous trainings for your volunteers.

Then your singers benefit not only from additional learning, but also brain encoding, reinforcement, and permanent skill formation.

Want your same results? Stick with the old model.

But if you want excellence, you have to make a choice. What are the levers you can pull, that will move the needle towards excellence? There aren't that many, because it all comes down to one thing: the skill level of your singers.

So spend $100k a year on professionals. Spend 500 hours a year giving your volunteers 1:1 lessons. Recruit professionals to work for nothing.

Or, try the new model: asynchronous, daily bite-sized trainings.

I created Choir Snacks because I did this with my own choir, and achieved twice the impact at next-to-zero cost.

Try it for free. Or get creative and make your own version of Choir Snacks!

But whatever you do, don't settle for mediocrity: your volunteers deserve the best.

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