When singing in a group it is important that you listen to yourself, the singers around you, the choir as a whole and the piano. It is also possible that the MD might give you some verbal instructions just before you are about to sing. Be attentive at all times to the whole process.
The best way to hear yourself is to cup a hand behind your ear making sure you touch the bone behind your ear. Sound enters your brain via the ears and via the bones in your head. Do you blend in with the whole sound? Are you too loud or too soft? Are you in tune with the others, are you singing the same notes as your section?
You need to be able to listen with “soft” ears which means you need to be able to listen to everything at once and not focus in on one thing to the detriment of listening to the other things. This is another reason why singing is so good for you as you have to do so many things at once and this is just listening.
Listening to the piano is very important as it gives you a sense of pitch, rhythm, speed and short interludes that help you know when to come in if you have actively listened to them.
Sometimes a choir as a whole decides on a tempo and doesn’t listen to the piano nor watches the MD for their guidance on tempo. Once this has been established it is very hard for the choir to change and sometimes the MD will allow the choir to sing at their own tempo and adapt to the choir.
Sometimes we can also listen to sounds within the audience that can distract us. It is important to learn to ignore those and to focus on something else that helps rather than hinders.
Exercise
When you are at a rehearsal focus on what you actually hear and what it is you are listening to or for. What is the tempo of the piece? Can you hear when to come in? Counting is always good but hearing your entry is better.
