N MY CAPACITY as a volunteer choir director, I have trained several crops of young singers. While I cannot claim to have advanced scholarly knowledge of music and choirs, I possess real, first-hand knowledge of what it is like to train a choir of children. I firmly believe children make the best choristers, because of their quick ability to learn, to say nothing of their curiosity and interest in new things. Below are my top repertoire recommendations for easy, attainable hymns. Some are SATB, which can be used to combine your treble voices with your main choir. Scroll down to read about what to expect when training a children’s choir.
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* PDF Download • Easy Chant for Beginners
—The LEMMENSINSTITUUT provided this organ accompaniment.
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Rehearsal Setup: • Rehearsals for a children’s choir can be once or twice a week for 30 to 60 minutes and up to 90 minutes for teens, without breaks. It depends on the ages of the kids, but teens can go much longer than 5 year olds. I do not recommend starting kids younger than reading age. My minimum requirement is that the child be an emergent reader, even if they are not reading fluently yet. But if they can read “cat” and “dog”, that is good enough for me. The age of the children will determine how quickly they will be ready to sing at Mass. Assuming a once a week 60-minute rehearsal, this is how long it might take to prepare kids of different ages to sing at Mass.
Ages 5-9: It can take months to prepare young children to sing even one song, especially if your standards are high, but they can do it. Plan on once-a-week rehearsals for at least 3 months before they are ready to sing an entire hymn alone. I do not let them sing at Mass until it actually sounds passably good. Singing at Mass isn’t about giving cute little kids a chance to show off. It must support the sacredness of the Mass, and if they are not singing cohesively and in tune, it is a distraction. Another factor that will affect how quickly they will be ready to sing is whether the music is in English or Latin. It will take longer if the hymn is in Latin. For this age range, a 30-45 minute rehearsal is long enough. There is much foundational information to cover with the littles, that is why it will take longer to prepare them. There is a lot they do not know yet because they are so young. It will also take more time if the music is in Latin because you must cover pronunciation and meaning. You may want to first attempt just teaching them a short refrain so they can get started singing quickly. Older kids can sing the verses, and littles can join in just on the refrain. If all the kids you accept can already read words at a basic level, you will be at an advantage.
Ages 10-14: These kids will learn a lot faster. They can conceivably be ready to sing several new chant hymns within four to six weeks. Some of them may have already had music lessons, and there will be a little less foundational instruction needed. But don’t feel bad if it takes longer than that. Every group is different, and the individual musical aptitude of the kids will be a factor.
Ages 15+: The older the kids are, the faster they catch on. This group could conceivably be ready to sing with just a handful of rehearsals, especially if they already have had exposure to reading music, which many kids these days do have. If they have been attending traditional Masses, then they will already be familiar with some of the repertoire you introduce. The ideal chorister, in my opinion, is an older teen – they learn quickly, can develop a real passion for sacred music at this age, and have beautiful, light voices.
Special Note on Discipline in a Children’s Choir
Never, under any circumstances, should the kids be allowed to personally correct each other. For example, one singer turns to another and says, “You are singing out of tune!” Or, “That isn’t the way the song goes!” This will foment self-consciousness on the part of the corrected singer, bad feelings among the pupils, and a desire to leave the choir. Correction only comes from you, the director. At most, you might ask the kids to point something out for the sake of the learning process. But no personal criticism or correction should be allowed. Middle school aged children, especially girls, will be most sensitive to this criticism. I know this from experience.
While singing should be a lot of fun, there are ways to create a fun environment without sacrificing focus. How you want to create the fun is up to you, if you so choose to take that approach. The interactions should be primarily between you and the children and less so between the children themselves unless a game is involved. There may be some chatting and laughing permitted, but most of the focus should be on you and your instruction. Commentary from the kids should be kept to a bare minimum and corrected immediately.
In my children’s choirs I never really made up games or tried to make it fun. I have always exacted from my young singers a lot of hard work, focus and much repetition of even just a few notes. This repetition is necessary. While it may not be the definition of “fun”, the children quickly find the achievement to be its own reward. There are some things that are more valuable to children than “fun”, as you will discover. They are thrilled by the accomplishment and it will keep them coming back week after week. And you, as the director, will very quickly begin to see the fruits of your labor. Enjoy the process!
Final Treat:
Very fun arrangement to sing (SATB with organ): O God Beyond All Praising, Ausburg Choral Hymn Series • This one is not free, it is about $2.75 per copy—but well worth it because it’s ever so much fun to sing! It has a wonderful Alleluia section that is an absolute delight and not difficult to sing. Below is my choir rehearsing it before the wedding of one of our altos. Children can sing together on the soprano and alto lines:
Note: It’s very helpful to have assistance with conducting your choir sometimes. In this clip, singer and music teacher Analí Rosales is conducting.
