Repertoire Rehearsal Calculator + Scheduler

“Just 5 more minutes. Seriously,” I texted Charlie as I was racing to finish recording a piece for one of our gospel choir clients.

To me, it was a completely appropriate time estimate. Just keep the kids in the basement for five more minutes while I bust out these last parts–high B flats for eight sustained measures. No big deal.

Well, you can probably guess how that went.

Ten minutes later and I still wasn’t done (and the kids were clamoring up the stairs–their screams seeping into the recording. #momlife). I should have known that my perfectionist tendencies would not have allowed me to accomplish such a feat in that amount of time.

Do we ever learn?!

Hopefully, yes.

What does this have to do with you?

We get it. We really do. You are an AMAZING choir director with big dreams.

Dreams of impacting the community for good through music.

Dreams of forging lifelong relationships with singers.

Dreams of performing at ACDA.

Dreams of singers LOVING choral music so much they can barely stand it–like these guys:

Dreams of working less than 60 hours a week (you love what you do, but you need time for you too).

And with these dreams comes an even BIGGER heart. For your singers, and for the world.

The way you impact the world is through music. It’s what you were made to do.

But rehearsal after rehearsal you find yourself teaching notes and rhythms… again. You’re sick and tired of plunking out parts on the piano–you want to CHANGE the world.

At the end of rehearsals like this, you’re left wondering where the time went, and if that was really the BEST use of the time you had with your choir.

See–we all tend to have a misconception about time. How much time we have (in life!) and in rehearsal to accomplish what we want.

We want you and your singers to create what only you can, when you come together. To do that, you need to have a realistic understanding of the time you have, and how best to spend it.

So, we’re sharing one of our VERY favorite resources that will help you get a better understanding of how much actual time you have with your choir before show time (virtual or otherwise), so you can make the most of that time, intentionally.

Hover over the + signs to see how to use the tool!

What is the Repertoire Rehearsal Calculator and Scheduler?

As you can see, it’s a fillable Google sheet that will help you understand (down to the minute) how much time you can afford to spend on each piece you’re rehearsing, so you never say “where did the time go” or wonder why you never got to bullet point #14 in your rehearsal plan again.

This free tool allows you to calculate to the MINUTE how much time you actually have during a semester/given period to focus on actual REPERTOIRE before your concert.

The calculator uses the number of rehearsals you have and automatically deducts 20 minutes per rehearsal for warm-ups, sight-reading, and/or technique work. It also accounts for one full rehearsal week of “wiggle room,” because, stuff happens. (In Carrie’s high school show choir, a fervent tenor jumped off the stage and broke his ankle… we know you’ve been there!)

Finally, the scheduler lets you list each piece you’ve planned for your choir for that concert, and distribute the total minutes you have for repertoire between all of those pieces, however you’d like. You can give more rehearsal time to harder pieces and less to easier pieces.

Why should I be using this for my choir(s)?

These days, we have an app for almost everything. We love to automate, schedule, and take the “thinking” out of life if we can, and it is no different for us choir directors! This tool takes the load off of YOU (and onto Google–they’ll be fine) so that you can create a schedule that works for you and your choir and make the most beautiful music in the time you ACTUALLY have (not the made-up amount of time we all assume we have!)

Download this FREE tool now and calculate how much rehearsal time you actually have–so you can make the most of the time you ACTUALLY have–and make beautiful music with your choirs!

How do I use the Repertoire Rehearsal Calculator and Scheduler?

1. Click the button to have us send you the Repertoire Rehearsal Calculator and Scheduler!
2. Check your email for the Repertoire Rehearsal Calculator and Scheduler.
3. Download the file. Open it and make a copy for each choir you direct (File > Make a Copy).
4. On the Calculator tab, enter in the five pieces of information on the right side of the Repertoire Rehearsal Calculator section.
5. Move to the Scheduler tab.
6. Input the song titles for your choir in the corresponding column.
7. Allocate your given minutes to each piece of music.
8. Save and print! Keep this in your director’s folder for reference.
9. Repeat for each choir you direct.

Now that you know how many minutes you ACTUALLY have to rehearse each piece of music, use your favorite rehearsal planning method to allocate minutes for each song throughout your rehearsals. Each rehearsal, keep track of how many minutes you’ve “spent” per song so that you always know where you stand.