Gospel Choir

What it is

A choirmaster takes the group into singing gospel, which has a precise structure: a soloist launches a phrase and the choir takes it up. You work the whole time on the alternation between whoever is leading and whoever is answering, and at the end the group sings together.

Gospel is a musical genre born in African American Christian Methodist churches. It is therefore closely tied to the experience of slavery and of work in the fields. Far from being weighed down by that, though, gospel became over the years a bright and lively kind of singing. And it stays tied throughout to the ideas of work, of the team and of the leader.

Gospel’s structure is solo versus choir. One member of the choir performs a short sung phrase, and the rest of the choir answers by taking it up. What happens in another musical team building, the Percussion Orchestra, happens here through voice and singing.

With the Gospel Choir too, the music lets you see the dynamics of teamwork and of leadership at work. Most of us carry a certain social conditioning, a fear of exposing ourselves or of feeling vulnerable in front of others, and it keeps us from enjoying our own expressiveness and singing freely. This activity takes that fear apart, letting everyone find their own space inside the group and feel like part of a larger thing and an important cog at the same time. The day after, the team has heard what it sounds like when one person starts a phrase and everybody answers.

Are there links between music and wellbeing?

But what happens if we have to sing in front of other people?

Which abilities get put to the test?