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Alright...I still have to jump through the special technical hoops, but...

I have been given the go-ahead to start up and direct a choir at my old middle school. And of course, besides doing a little happy dance at the thought of adding even more choir to my schedule, I had to pause and worry for a sec. Which is why I bring this to you, my wonderful fellow choir nerds!

I already have decided to stick with only the 7th and 8th graders - I figure by that age, you have a better idea of what you want to do and what your passions are, so they might be a little more commited to the idea of practicing every week for a choir and so on.

I'll probably be using music from the high school, which I can borrow. I want to do the cool SATB arrangement of "Moon River" we have (it's fairly simple, and has a chance for solos, which is nice for the kids), and I lean towards doing a couple of other songs (Amazing Grace, All The Pretty Little Horses) for the same reason. The only problem is I'm a beginning student on the piano, and a conductor can't also be an accompanist. Any ideas?

Lastly, I need to get word out there! I need to let kids know that there's a choir at Mark Twain, get them excited, and hopefully not scare them by saying there's practice two days a week after school for an hour and a half. Yet again, any ideas on how I can go about this?

I seriously have no idea what to do, so any help would really be appreciated. To recap, the things I need help with are:

~Musical arrangements/accompanists
~Getting the word out

Thanks a million bazillion!

You'll find that in most schools there will be students who are capable of playing the accompaniment. It's prefectly okay for you to not be able to play the piano well (Our choir director SUCKS at piano, and our choir's one of the best in the county)... this is where a good singing refference comes in handy. Actually, I'm considering teaching my little choral group with a guitar instead of the piano, because I, too, and teh suck at the piano.
s'all good ^^

Wow, thank you guys! It's looking like I have an accompanist in two weeks (and a couple of backups), so all I have to do is get them interested now!

Mel, that song sounds really fun. I've been planning on using music from the high school, but all but a few might be too tough, you're right. And thank you times about a million for the site! It's really useful!

And rhapsody, thank you for the suggestion! I'll talk to the school and a couple of the teachers about an assembly, or going to classes to talk to kids or something.

Okay. First performance was last night. Oh my goodness, they were AMAZING. We did Amazing Grace a cappella, and...just...woah. Not only were they loud enough that my friends in the way back could hear them, but they blended, and they were together, and...and...

I'm gonna stop gushing, because I actually did have a serious request. I've taught them to blend, and this is all well and good. But they still don't seem to quite understand that blending means sounding alike, not going off on your own solo. So, I need your help.

Are there any songs you've heard with absolutely awful blend? Do you have a recording of your choir singing something with god-like blending skills? I could really really use them. I just need this stuff by Friday. Thank you thank you!!