VIDEO: Musicianship at NYCGB

Musicianship is fun! Watch our video to find out more about NYCGB's unique training programme for members.

Musicianship (which includes rhythmic, tuning and pitching skills) is to a singer what game awareness is to a sportsperson, and any good choir relies on high levels of individual musicianship from its members.

Developing this skill set is challenging. On the one hand, most young singers are clear in their desire for assistance; on the other, many can instinctively see it as the boring bit in relation to the excitement of making music in performance. Others are keen to engage but find it hard to activate theory in practice.

The National Youth Choirs of Great Britain's Musicianship Programme was developed in answer to a request from members for integrated musicianship training as a part of their twice-annual residential courses. From the outset, it was clear that the programme had to be as fun as the rest of the week's activities, and delivered in a way that would enable singers to instantly make use of their learnings in the next rehearsal session.

Musicianship sessions are now a standard part of the daily schedule on residential courses for members of the National Youth Boys' Choir, National Youth Girls' Choir, and National Youth Training Choir. An extra Musicianship Training Day held at the start of the year provides an opportunity for new members to develop their skills prior to their first residential course at Easter, and for existing members to refresh.