I’m often surprised at how limited our North American view of a choir can be. In North America, we have a very narrowly defined view of choir: SATB with many voices on each part, always with a choir director standing up front. OK, that works, but it’s not the only way to do a ward choir. You’ll find the “Guidelines from the Church Handbook of Instructions” written on that assumption, but you’ll find no such constraints. Read it. You’ll see. 
From the Guidelines:
Ward choirs and other special choirs can teach and inspire Church members.
Here are some examples of ways this can be met:
You can fulfill that role in a variety of ways. You don’t need 20 singers, 4 each on the SATB parts. If you have only one or two willing singers, you can fulfill the purpose of a ward choir. Really. Simply have those two sing once or twice a month (the suggested frequency for ward choirs). You don’t need special arrangements. Underscore the role of this “choir” by having them first sing from the hymnal always (though that is certainly not an imposed constraint, according to the Guidelines).
I know a ward in my stake that has a handful of really talented singers, but they are not organized into a ward choir. They believe that they don’t have anyone capable of leading the group, so they do nothing. What a loss to that ward! Instead of a “choir director,” the bishopric could call a “choir coordinator”. The singers can gather, practice, and stand and sing without the traditional leader. That’s made even easier if they have a really competent pianist who can set and hold tempo for them, etc. Are you missing a Bass voice? Then omit it! The piano will carry it.
Can’t find any consistently willing singers to form a “duet choir”? Then use a “hymnal choir” once a month. Designate a well-known, well-loved hymn as the chosen piece. When it’s time for the “choir” to sing, invite anyone interested in singing to come up from the congregation. Then sing the hymn. After you do this a few times, you can even indicated that the women will sing one verse alone. Simply say it into the microphone as they come up to the stand (rostrum). Even if you have a successful choir, this can add variety and allow more people to participate in music. It does help if you have a least a handful of singers who will sing, just in case no one else comes up. If your congregation is particularly resistant, you can have they hymn practiced in Relief Society and Priesthood meetings for a week or two beforehand, and encourage them to join you when it’s time.
Don’t have any singers? (I don’t believe you, but for the sake of argument….) Then have the ward pianist/organist play a solo hymn once a month. Or have the primary sing once a month. The primary children are always willing to sing!
Expand your vision further by using the “special choirs” idea from the Guidelines. Schedule the Priesthood, Relief Society, Young Women or combined Youth, and Primary organizations to sing regularly. It really can be a simple hymn. It is enough to meet the goal and accomplish the purpose.
There really is something that you can do. There is a lot that can be done to meet the goal of ward choirs and worship music without having the traditional SATB choir.
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These are great ideas. We are fortunate to have a lot of willing talent in our ward and the support of our bishopric. But, it’s great to get new ideas for involving all of the ward members in various special musical numbers.
Thanks!
Loved your ideas! Vision is what it’s all about when we serve in music callings in the church. Just one thought: I have encouraged wards to stay away from the hymnbook choir idea for a couple of reasons but mostly because too often I see it being used in place of the choir and because the choir did not prepare. In some cases it seems to undermine the value of a choir and give the impression that participating in choir rehearsal isn’t really necessary after all. Anyone else feel that way or am I being overly concerned.
So i’m 18 months later answering. Sorry. In my former blog setup, I didn’t see comments easily. In my new blog platform, it’s much better.
I don’t it’s a matter of being over-cautious or not. It’s a matter of judging the dynamics and needs of your own congregation. In my congregation, where we have a small but steady choir, we’ve found the hymnal choir to be a means of providing a different musical experience, to involve many former (elderly) choir members who no longer feel “qualified” to be in the choir but who still love to sing, and maybe to help others discover that they like it enough to try coming to choir.
Great ideas. I have a website with help for ward choir directors: wardchoirhelp.googlepages.com.
Karen – I like the web page very much. Thanks for linking!
Hi..I’ve had my calling for a year now as choir director..and I’ve been lost and unconfident all this time..just doing songs to get by…but glad to have found your blog and will be tuning in for learning, ideas and helps.
Hi Jen – If you’re still serving in the calling, drop by and give us an update! I’m back on the blog circuit now and hope to bring some more ideas.
Wow! These are such fun ideas! I’m newly called as RS Music director and am definitely going to use some of these ideas—especially in the “Practice Song” time! Thanks! Also, do you know if there are any great forms to use when planning the weekly music? I’d like to have a more organized way of keeping track—mainly so I don’t repeat my personal favorite hymns! Great blog; thanks again!
Hi Celctic – agian my apologies for answering 18 months later. I’m doing better by you all now! I’m not aware of any forms for tracking hymns. I think I’ll take your question and post it as a blog entry today. Come back and see!
Great ideas. This is my 3rd time as choir director, this time for 2-1/2 years. Most of my Church experience has been as a Priesthood leader (ward and stake). May I add a word of caution to all choir directors? Sacrament Meeting is under the direction of the Bishopric. We, as choir directors, should NEVER sing a song that has not been approved by our Bishopric advisor (both words and music). Also, we should NEVER assume to approach the microphone without specific permission to do so—and the Bishopric member should know what we are going to say. I have found that if there is direction about the choir number that needs to be conveyed, it is best to have the member of the Bishopric who is conducting give that direction. As a Priesthood leader, we taught Bishopric members to NEVER turn the meeting over to anyone but a speaker. Thanks for listening!
Thanks, for commenting, ‘cksedg’. It’s true in any church responsibility; we work under the direction of the Priesthood. Usually, however, relationships of trust can often be established that make it easy to work in this structure. I’ve rarely had to work in a formal setting where each selection had to be approved, but I yield readily to that structure when it’s needed. Most of the time, the local bishopric trusts my judgment, and if they question something, they often come to ask my input rather than dictate. In my own situation, my bishopric tends to approve some music that I would not approve! Opposite your comment, I have to support their decision for something I think doesn’t belong in the meeting. But the principle still holds; music in our meetings happens under their direction.
Thanks for generating some very practical ideas, Max. Being a composer/director in every ward/branch I've lived in since I was 16 makes me really relate to what you describe, and it really drives creativity.
Now, as always, I am a choir director, and we have our share of no attendees, three people in the choir seats when we are supposed to perform, and more. However, being flexible is the key. There should always be a Plan B, and my motto is, "Plan B can be wonderful."
I've subbed for the pianist there wasn't one, having the choir sing without a director. They surprised even themselves.
I don't know if this will help, but here is a link for an article I wrote called "Learn to Read Music in 10 Minutes" and is a technique I've used in all my choirs, workshops and seminars. I offer in case it may be of help to those who read your blog.
Here is the link:
http://www.dancarterrealmusic.com
Click on the "Page 2" hotlink at the top, and the article link is at the very bottom of the page.
Thanks again. I'll check in when I can.
Daniel Carter
Awesome… really fantastic issue. I’m goin to write about it too!!