Excellence through Group Singing: Learning Process

This section looks at the activities that lead to the learning. These fall neatly into musical outcomes and other than musical outcomes.

Throughout Youth Music Voices the young people attended a series of residential rehearsals - lasting between four and ten days - which the whole choir attended. Between residentials there were regional rehearsals for members of the choir from geographical regions to meet for additional practices. The residential-focussed approach was chosen to provide opportunities for dedicated learning as a group. In Youth Music Voices, we found that both musical and other than musical outcomes are well supported by the use of residential rehearsals.

An observer’s description of the first Youth Music Voices residential:

“Following a registration process and lunch, the young people met together for the first time as a choir. Having introduced the staff, the project aims and the schedule, the young people took part in a group rehearsal followed by sectional rehearsals according to voice type.

"This pattern was to become the model for much of the residential activity; a series of rehearsals and breakout sessions, closely structured activities with some opportunities for social time at the end of the day. Within the first residential, an informal performance was given to parents so as to create an early opportunity for the young people to reflect on the quality of sound that they were able to produce as a choir.”