Getting your own group started.

Suggestions from Greg Bowne, Webmaster at http://www.bacs.org/

Make some preliminary decisions.

Before you get started with your group, whether you’re auditioning, or whether you have a group of people in mind to sing with. By answering some of these questions below, you’ll have a smoother transition into becoming a group with a feel, as well as having a better chance of hitting the ground running. Some questions to consider are:

Do you want a single-sex group, or a co-ed group? This will vastly affect what you do.
How many people do you want in the group? Many have suggested that an optimum group size of between 5 and 7. Any less leaves holes in the harmony if there’s a lead line (unless you’re singing barbershop). More members equals more schedules and responsibilities to coordinate. Soundstage 7 recently went from 7 to 6 and discovered that everything from musical aspects like arrangements, staging, and sound systems to real-life factors like transportation, scheduling and rehearsals were easier when there were only 6 people. But you need to make those decisions for yourself.
What will your group’s goal be? Do you want to just have fun or gig often? You need to communicate this goal to anyone else who will be in the group, or you will have conflicts down the road.
Who’s going to lead the group musically and politically? Don’t laugh! This is a serious question. Sometimes the best music director is not the right person to do other tasks. Do you want to have someone in charge of everything or divvy up the tasks? Who’s going to make group decisions or have override power? In my group (Soundstage 7), each person has a different role and responsibility, and we all have equal say in major decisions.
What are the qualifications for members of the group? Don’t set these too high or too low, or you yourself may either not be qualified, or leave for a better group.

Starting the process.

Say you have two friends who match your vocal ability and drive and goals for the group and you all sing different parts. If you’re aiming for a group of four or five, you can pretty much dictate the other voice parts you need, as well as define the group first, and add new members to fit that mold. If you’re aiming for a larger group, the newcomers are going to outnumber the initial members. You will likely have to re-think the group as it forms and solidifies and there may be some personnel changes as people decide they don’t want the group that just formed anymore. (Things happen.)

The next two steps should happen simultaneously:

Audition

Post audition notices to news:rec.music.a-cappella and news:alt.music.a-cappella, as well as to bacs.org. Plan a half hour for each audition. Some things to do in an audition are: hear their range, pitch matching exercises, hear a solo, talk about their experience, have them sing with you (if you think they’re a possible match), and singing for them. You should also explain the group goals, and what you plan to sing. (See the next step) Make sure you’re all definitely sure about taking someone, but don’t let the good ones get away. Keep in touch with them and keep the process moving. If you have an odd feeling about someone, talk about it with the other members. One good test is the van test: could you spend seven hours in a van with this person without killing them or yourself? Would you still be happy they’re in the group? If no, then maybe they’re not the right person!

Get arrangements or do them yourself

You can get arrangements from the CASA library. (See http://www.casa.org/ for information). The sooner you start learning songs, the better. You’ll need to have something to audition people on, and to let them hear what type of stuff you do as well as how you sing. As for choosing songs, sometimes it's good to bring in a recording of the song you'd like to do, and make sure the rest of the group likes it (or at least will tolerate singing it) before you work up an arrangement of it. Sometimes, however, a song that sounds great in a recording just doesn't cut it a cappella. Don't be afraid to abandon things along the way!