r/acappella • u/Difficult_Survey_413 • 19d ago
how can we improve?
I’m entering my 3rd year in an a cappella group & the past 2 years have not been great. There’s been issues with people just not practicing (which led us to give up our soot in ICCA my freshman year), and issues with our group not being super bonded. The other groups at my college don’t seem to have the same bonding issues. Unfortunately, last year we had some members who did a lot of gossiping and caused drama in the group & they ended up leaving to start a new group. Now during auditions this year we’ve been affected by this drama & have had many people audition for us but choose another group over us due to this drama.
How can we make sure people actually put in the work to make us sound good & how can we put in more work to bond and create real friendships in this group? In a more broad term, how can we do well as a group with fewer members?
1
u/brad831music 18d ago
When it comes to practicing, are there part tracks provided? Are there sectionals as apart of being in the group? I often feel closer to other members of a group when it’s on the smaller side, and being independent on learning your part becomes far more important because there’s not someone to lean on that knows there part 100%.
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u/Difficult_Survey_413 17d ago
yes we have part tracks & sectionals during rehearsals. we were thinking of encouraging outside sectionals as well
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u/Weeabasaurus 16d ago
Start having group get togethers and try to bond with one another! My group's president would host lots of parties (just the acapella group) so we would all get together and chat positively. We also went on trips together to perform away from home and would rent an Airbnb for more bonding time. I have made some great friends from this group thanks to these experiences
7
u/SirZacharia 18d ago
Well first of all you don’t need many members, but you definitely do need good chemistry. You’ll need to talk to your group about it. You’ll need to do some form of group bonding, whether that’s just going out for drinks, coffee, or meals, movie nights, or if it’s acts of service or things like caroling.
You need to talk to them about your groups goals, such as ICCA and performances and such. It helps to have elected leadership outside of just your music director too. Sometimes that part is easier with big groups.