What to rehearse before you rehearse

You have organised some musicians to get together and rehearse your songs.

That in itself is no mean feat - organising people’s schedules and a rehearsal space is a big task.

But what else do you need to do in order to be prepared and utilise the rehearsal time as efficiently and effectively as possible?

1. Choose your songs

Think about the purpose of the performance you are preparing for. It may be that you are pulling together a set of music for a lowkey performance where repertoire can be chosen just because you like it. But you may have other factors to consider - are you trying to show people your vocal prowess? Do you want folk to get up and dance, or sit and listen intently?

Is there a specified length of time for your performance, and so you need to ensure you have enough songs to fill the time?

(For more thoughts on this, have a read of this blog post)

2. Learn your songs

You don’t want to arrive to rehearsal without knowing the songs that you want to run through - time is money!

The melody, the words, the structure and the key are all things to be sure of before you meet up with others. Being able to ensure you can highlight and help fix errors if they arise is important, so knowing the harmony of the songs is also a really helpful thing to be confident of.

(This blog post can help you to check whether you know your song thoroughly)

3. Practice your songs

The rehearsal is not the time to fix vocal mistakes or work on your vocal technique. Make sure you do this ahead of time so that the session can be focussed on the things you can’t work on in your own time.

(Need help with those tricky sections?)

4. Decide the order of rehearsal

Much like choosing the order of your set list, choosing the order you rehearse songs in is important - and isn’t always the same order as the performance you’re rehearsing for.

It’s a good idea to start with an arrangement/song that isn’t too challenging for the group; use it to settle everyone into playing together and create a feeling of productivity and momentum.

Place your most difficult songs next - remember, that means difficult in terms of the arrangements and putting things together, not the most vocally challenging.

Finish up with songs that again are less challenging and that can restate a feeling of productivity and accomplishment. If your rehearsal time is limited, you’ll want to make sure these songs are the ones that you can skip full rehearsal of, if you’re desperate. Often, ‘sketching out’ song forms can save time and still provide huge benefit. That means looking at introductions, endings, and any standout moments within the song that require special mention and skipping over repeated verses/choruses that don’t do anything unexpected!

5. Warm up

You might not want or need to give a full vocal performance during a rehearsal, but you will still be using your voice a considerable amount. Warming up immediately before your session (and cooling down afterwards) will be vital to make sure that you are taking care of your voice while ensuring your voice can do what you need it to during rehearsal.

(I have a lot of resources about vocal warm ups linked here)

For more singing practice tips you can follow me on social media @TessaSmithMusic, or explore thesingersguide.com where there are resources all about optimising your singing practice.