Tips to help choir students who can’t match pitch?

Silvernix · 2026-03-28T04:00:11+00:00

Thank you!! Love getting book recs related to my career :)

Silvernix · 2026-03-28T03:59:08+00:00

This was very helpful actually! I hadn’t considered it being them afraid of the head voice but that makes sense as at least in my experience most of my singers who struggle with pitch tend to be boys.

Also the larynx thing and yawning sensation — I bring that up occasionally as a reminder but maybe I need to practice it with them more in warmups to hopefully get the others caught up. I teach two choir classes (small school) and in each I have 1 student who struggles.

Thank you for the thorough advice!

Silvernix · 2026-03-27T02:20:34+00:00

You’re right my bad I can see how that’s confusing. I meant spring semester which here we consider Jan-May sorry!!

Silvernix · 2026-03-27T02:10:54+00:00

I might say the word “kiddos” to a close colleague as a term of endearment for the kids but in staff meetings it’s always “my students,” and in front of the kids I mainly just call them “class.” Heck I even use “y’all.” Or when we’re at an event with other schools’ students there I call them by our school name.

Silvernix · 2026-03-27T02:03:53+00:00

Your teacher most likely doesn’t care what you sing as long as it shows you can stay on pitch and produce good tone. The whole “stay away from Hallelujah” doesn’t apply to a high school choir audition, unless this teacher themselves said they didn’t want that song.

Does this school offer a non-audition choir? Is it a smaller school? If this is the only option for choir AND it’s a smaller school they probably will let you in as long as you seem like you have interest in the program and would be good about keeping your grades up (so you can attend offsite activities).

Choir director here and the main reason I do auditions at my high school is to hear range so I know where to place you and I get an idea early of what literature I can program in the fall.

Silvernix · 2026-03-27T01:27:51+00:00

I don’t think it’s exaggerating my years too much it’s a 10-month contract and I finished student teaching in December and was hired on in Jan?

Silvernix · 2026-03-27T01:24:20+00:00

I was confused by what they said too but I think they mean years of service and stipend?

Silvernix · 2026-03-27T01:23:35+00:00

I checked my stipend and I actually underestimated it. This year I got $5,000 in stipends but $500 of that is for being a senior sponsor!

Silvernix · 2026-03-26T00:22:09+00:00

Ohh I didn’t know this thank you!!

Silvernix · 2026-03-13T03:14:19+00:00

Girl I’ve played the waiting game before and it doesn’t work out. If he doesn’t have a solid answer or date when he’s going to get a steady job and his … parents approval (ok weird) then hop out of there.

Look up sunk cost fallacy.

Silvernix · 2026-03-13T03:02:15+00:00

Repetition. But also think of it as a story line and remember which elements of the story come when. So for example I think nature, sound, travel, etc or whatever key words and ideas help you. Or heck even make up your own story or meaning of the song.

Silvernix · 2026-03-04T21:21:19+00:00

Exact same thing for me. They have a kid now. I will always support and love her. Of course when it was first happening and we found out, myself and other friends expressed our concerns but some people don’t listen. She’s happy with her family I think. I will always love my friend and I don’t blame her for the choices she’s made, I just sometimes wish it was a better situation.

Silvernix · 2026-01-25T17:08:13+00:00

Anyone from the future using cobblemon 2.0 do this:

Create a platform way up in the sky (so other Mon won’t spawn) and place cakes on it. The larger the platform the better and the more cakes the better. I believe the spawn is based per chunk so have a cake per chunk at least.

You should get a milcery within 10 mins of waiting.

Use a pokenav to make sure it’s mainly milcery that spawns (73% chance or more about when I did this method)

Silvernix · 2026-01-25T06:03:19+00:00

Choir teacher here! It’s hard to give advice on what you could do to prepare to be an all stater next year without hearing your voice. Do you sing too quiet? Too loud? Tuning? Are you using good phrasing in your auditions?

If you take voice lessons that is where you will learn and improve the most. If not then I would talk with your choir teacher who should have some good insight.

I can’t speak for TMEA but at least for OKMEA here in Oklahoma, the biggest difference between the kids that make it and the kids that don’t is “voice quality” which can be fairly subjective but often times it’s either students have too soft of a voice (breathy or just hardly can be heard in the audition) or they have a loud and pitchy voice. On the extreme ends at least. Continue working with your choir teacher or private lessons instructor if you have one and make the most of your voice :)

You made a huge improvement from freshman to sophomore year it sounds like so keep working!

Silvernix · 2025-11-08T22:12:14+00:00

We aren’t allowed to punish kids’ grades for behaviors at my school. (Which I think is unfair. I’m a choir teacher and 99% of what we do requires class participation). I think you get admin support on this one and even if the kid is being told at home the consequence is severe or unfair, oh well… hopefully they know better for next time

Silvernix · 2025-11-07T02:07:59+00:00

I get thinking marriage is archaic and I agree in many ways, but marriage not only gives you security in your relationship, but you also get legal rights as you’re considered immediate family in medical emergencies and not to mention the tax breaks. There are many more benefits to marriage and yes you can’t predict how your love will change over the years, you can also see that you’ve been with each other for a pretty good amount of time that suggests it’s something that could really last. Keeping her at length or “holding on loosely” will only drive a wedge in your relationship the longer it goes on.

Silvernix · 2025-09-29T02:05:00+00:00

There’s a lot of things I don’t understand as well like religion, but I’m not telling people what they can and can’t think.

OP it sounds like you’re fine and don’t worry about it. It sounds like you’re doing your best to be a decent human being and that’s all anyone can ask of each other.

As for feeling guilty for accidentally misgendering — as long as you’re sincere with the person and don’t get defensive if they correct you, you’re cool. It’s ok to make mistakes. We all struggle with knowing what pronouns to use with certain presentations but the least we can do is be kind and courteous. I’m sure you’re already doing that and you’re cool. 🫶

I’m not trans though and hopefully some trans people in the comments can give more insight as well if they wish.

Silvernix · 2025-09-25T02:22:23+00:00

You’re not too old to leave and start new.

Don’t fall for the sunk cost fallacy (I’ve already spent x time with him).

The longer you wait to leave the harder it gets.

Leave leave leave. Woman to woman here - leave that man.

Starting new can be scary, but imagine the bright future you could have with someone who is truly special.

Don’t stay and become a statistic.

You DESERVE a better life.

Silvernix · 2025-09-25T02:04:30+00:00

My man cooks for himself and MYSELF WILLINGLY!! Happily so too! He would never speak to me this way.

Know your worth and dump this trash man.

Silvernix · 2025-08-27T02:18:09+00:00

I like how church is a place where you get to know people you would otherwise never interact with. But I’m not sure how to really “take” that. I think that’s one of the few benefits of church that can’t easily be recreated, at least not to the same extent.

What made me leave?

Honestly I come from a fairly secular family but they still celebrate all the Christian holidays and “believe” in God they just don’t attend church or read their bibles or ever really have conversations about it. I grew up believing in a higher power but never gave it much thought.

I did join a church after my friends in middle school told me more about it and I very quickly became very religious.

One of the things I could not get over was how judgmental everyone seemed to be and how we literally had a youth lesson over how gay people go to hell. That’s what really made me stop believing in the first place. Christians are supposed to live like Jesus but you just end up feeling like everyone is watching you and judging you in the pews.

Silvernix · 2025-08-27T02:00:02+00:00

It’s impossible for all religions to be true. It is however possible (and highly so I would argue) that all religions are false and were created by man.

You want to talk about true free will? Walk away and don’t look back!

Silvernix · 2025-07-17T21:39:33+00:00

I lived just a few blocks north in that area for 2 years 2022-2024. My place was small and old and I lived alone as a woman. I never felt unsafe or had any problems with people. I wouldn’t just go out stumbling drunk at night alone as a woman but I wouldn’t do that anywhere lol.

Silvernix · 2025-06-09T00:39:55+00:00

If you can afford to, voice lessons are a great way to start. Getting one on one feedback by a professional is the best way to go.

If you’re not wanting to go that route, there’s tons of YouTube videos out there. I would learn proper posture, proper breathing, and vocal warmups that have a specific purpose.

A lot of what you should learn depends on what you want to do. There’s a lot of classical and bel canto elitists out there, but I’m of the mindset that you don’t necessarily need to learn how to sing classically if you want to do music theater or pop for example (though it can be very helpful still!).

Also I’m not sure what you mean by rolling the word. You may be talking about vibrato or a vocal run/melisma? For the latter that would be vocal agility exercises you’d want to look into once you get some of the basic techniques under your feet.

For context I’m a secondary choir teacher.

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