CHAPTER XI
FULL PRACTICE
Practise soft chords with crescendo and diminuendo.
Arrange work before starting.
Allow boys and men to sit down occasionally. Too much standing is fatiguing, and one does not get such good results towards the end of practice.
On trying new music, it is advisable to take it at a slower tempo than indicated, and without regard to expression, etc., to begin with.
Begin practice with uninteresting items, as the choir is fresh, and, let us hope, keen.
Never repeat a piece in practice without giving a reason. Do not go through the whole composition to correct a single error.
Practise hynms piano, except where a special effect in expression is required. It saves the voice, and good piano singing is a rarity.
Psalms. In very few churches in America are the Psalms sung regularly, but in many the Canticles are chanted, especially the "Venite." It is a good plan to read over the preface of the Psalter to the choir. The most important point is, that all the words in front of the accented note, called the "recitation," must be sung evenly
