Sing out, boys!

It's so difficult to get boys to come to the school choir. I try to select songs that aren't too girly, and include drums and body percussion where possible. However, we still have a ratio of girls to boys of about 10 to 1.

Our rehearsals are held at lunch-time, which I'm sure is part of the problem. Boys have other things to do at lunch-time and don't want to be cooped up inside.

I know one music teacher who had a good idea for getting boys involved at her child's high school. Every member of the rugby team had to also participate in the choir. It was called the "rugby choir". Suddenly choir was cool.

Once you actually get the boys to turn up, you often have the "bull-frog factor": they sing in a low-pitched drone, emulating the male performers they hear on the radio. To improve their pitch, they need to find their "head voice". There are lots of fun exercises to help with this - "siren" warm-ups for example.

Sometimes, just when a boy is really starting to enjoy singing, their voice starts to break and they are again discouraged from singing out. We need to help them re-learn the art.

I believe it's really important to help boys discover the joy of singing when they are little, before they have learned to be self-conscious. Then at least when they're bigger, if they won't sing in public, they can do it in the shower!

Please leave a comment if you have any other thoughts/ideas on how to get the lads involved.

Image 1: 'So happy =)'
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Image 2: 'Three'
www.flickr.com/photos/11741717@N03/1332038002