I've run into numerous choir directors, just in the past couple of weeks,  all describing the same problem--singers that won't sing out!   The directors have tried everything, and are at their wits end.  What do you do???

This episode is a replay of Episode 62--I feel like I have a fresh perspective on the problem, and there are choir directors that continue to struggle in diagnosing the true root of the problem.  In this episode I discuss the five potential causes of this issue, and I provide practical solutions to tackle each one.  At the end of the original episode, I also jump back into the discussion with some new quick tips that you might try as a way to get started diagnosing the true cause and solving the issue for good.  By the end of this episode, you'll have a whole toolbox of strategies to encourage your singers to unlock their true vocal potential!


If you want to dive deeper into topics just like this one, then you should really check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

I've had choir directors ask about a "Beginning of the Year To-Do List", but our jobs as directors can differ greatly, just because of the particular school district or organization we work for.  However, I do believe there are some universal key elements that help us to give ourselves, and our singers, the best possible chance to be successful.

In today's episode of the podcast, I'm focusing on 11 key elements to consider at the start of your choir year.  If you haven't incorporated any of these into your program, that's okay!  There's never a bad time to start making these elements an important part of your program.  By doing so, you will be setting your choir program up for a successful year!

Here are a couple of the resources that I mention in this episode:

Choir Stations PDF Handouts: choirdirectorcorner.com/stations

Choir Director Bootcamp--Laying the Foundation: choirdirectorcorner.com/bootcamp

OR.....you could just become a member of the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

In order to market your choir program to prospective singers, you need to get the heart of what motivates singers to join your program, as well as the obstacles that prevent them from joining your program.

When you talk to prospective singers about why they haven't yet joined your program, you'll hear a lot of different reasons--we call these objections.  Once you have a better understanding of what those objections might be, you can then go about addressing them, and helping prospective singers overcome them.

One great way that you can address some of the objections that prospective singers might have is by constructing an "Objection-Conquering Article"! You can then use this Objection-Conquering Article to market your program to prospective singers in lots of different ways.  In this article you'll discuss all of the best aspects of your choir program, while at the same time addressing some of the challenges and obstacles that your prospective singers are facing.  I'm sharing all of it in Episode 89 of the podcast--the process I went through to construct my article, a quick and simple article outline, some of the benefits and challenges that I discussed in my article, and more! 


Want it all done for you?  I'm sharing the template for my Objection-Conquering Article, as well as the template for my Choir Program Marketing Brochure, inside of the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

While it's always a good time to recruit, the end of the year is the perfect time to recruit more singers to your program.  Students are making plans for the following year and finalizing their schedules, so now is a great time to get potential singers to consider joining your program.

In this last month of school we are making a "recruiting push" for our program, and in Episode 88 of the podcast, I'm sharing with you three things that we are doing to bring more singers into our choir community.  Not only will you get some recruiting ideas from this episode, but there's also resources available that will do all of the organizational work for you!


If you want to dive deeper into topics just like this one, then you should really check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

Every year when warmer weather starts to roll in, there's one thing you can always count on at our house--multiple days of Spring Cleaning!  The dusting, the switching out all of the clothes in the closets, cleaning windows, getting out the patio furniture--you know what I'm talking about, right?

As I was switching out the clothes in my closet recently, I thought about what a "Spring Cleaning" for a choir program would look like.  And no, I'm not talking about the piles of music that need to be filed (although, you should really do something about that) or the dustbunnies that have accumulated underneath your piano.  I'm talking about taking a few moments to reflect on the year, and really giving some thought to what's working in your choir program, what needs to be tweaked, what you might want to add to your program, and what needs to be shipped out, like that old pile of clothes you're shipping off to the local thrift store.

In Episode 87 of the podcast, I'm sharing with you seven items on my Choir Program Spring Cleaning To-Do List.  I hope that my list might get your juices flowing, and help you brainstorm how you might give your own choir program a thorough Spring Cleaning!


If you want to dive deeper into topics just like this one, then you should really check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

One of the activities I started with my singers several years ago was creating a Choir March Madness Bracket of choir performances.  This activity gives my singers to listen to choral music from many different composers and musical styles, and also helps to build their "choral vocabulary"--they learn more about what high quality singing sounds like!  They also get to practice analyzing and discussing choral performances, using vocabulary and language that we talk about in rehearsals.

You can get access to my whole Choir March Madness Listening Project over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/choirmarchmadnessproject

OR......you could just join the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

I have been a fan of Pentatonix, and contemporary a cappella as a whole, for as long as I can remember.  I was a huge fan of The Sing-Off, and little did I know that years later, I would have an opportunity to talk with one of the arrangers and vocal directors on that show, Rob Dietz! 

In this episode of the podcast I'm sharing with you my conversation with Rob, where we talk about how to build a contemporary a cappella group from the ground up.  We also discuss things like rehearsal strategies, how to find appropriate repertoire, vocal percussion, and so much more.  If you've always wanted to add a contemporary a cappella group to your existing choral program, or you already have one but you want to grow it and make it better, then you are going to LOVE this episode!

To find out more about Rob and his work, head on over to:

choirdirectorcorner.com/robdietz

Ready to dive into more topics related to your work as a choir director? Then you should really check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

I had a great conversation recently via Zoom with Matthew, who is a member of our Choir Director Corner Community Membership.  He wanted to pick my brain about a couple things, and we discussed a variety of topics, including how to improve retention when it came to music literacy skills.  Matthew was doing all of the things that a choir director should do, but for whatever reason, he was still having difficulty in getting music literacy skills to stick with his singers.

In thinking about my teaching over the years, there have been times where retention from one rehearsal to the next has certainly been an issue.  But I've experienced that there are some particular tips and strategies that can help when it comes to making music literacy "stick", and in today's episode, I'm sharing them with you!


If you want to dive deeper into topics just like this one, then you should really check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

Welcome to 2023!  To get the new year started off, I'm sharing my conversation with composer and music educator Ryan Main.  I talked with Ryan about how he became a composer, his compositional process, some of his recent compositions, his work with the Youth Chorus of Kansas City, and more!  I had a great time talking with Ryan, and I know you are going to enjoy learning more about him and his work.

To learn more about Ryan and his music, head on over to ryanmain.com.


Ready to dive into more topics related to your work as a choir director? Then you should really check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership

If you are looking for a fun activity to do with your choir, Kahoot is one of the best options out there!  And in today's episode of the podcast, I am sharing with you ten of my top reasons why you should play Kahoot with your choir.  And, I am also sharing with you the Kahoots I have already created, so that you don't have to start from scratch!  Whether you are looking for a different way to do formative assessment, need a plan for a substitute teacher, or just want to change things up--this episode is for you!

For the full story, head on over to:  choirdirectorcorner.com/kahoot


Ready to dive into more topics related to your work as a choir director? Then you should really check out the Choir Director Corner Community Membership!  Inside the membership there are Online Courses, a Resource Library with over 50 PDF's and Google Docs, and "Monthly Missions" Trainings where we focus on a specific topic, and you can ask questions and get feedback on how to tackle your biggest teaching challenges.  And, as a member, you'll get access to our brand new CDC Searchie Hub, the AI tool created specifically for choir directors!

And now, when you sign up for the annual option, you'll get two months free: 12 months access for the price of 10!

Leading a choir doesn't have to be a DIY endeavor--it's better when it's done together!  Come join an awesome online community of choir directors just like you over at:

choirdirectorcorner.com/membership