Know your music inside and out well ahead of coming to the first rehearsal.
Start learning your music well ahead of the first rehearsal (thinks months, not weeks, not days).
Do a little bit everyday so that the music becomes ingrained and second nature to you.
Do not simply read through; really learn every single note, every measure, every phrase.
Learn the music yourself—do not use CDs or MIDI files to sing along. Otherwise you will always depend on an outside source and will not be a reliable singer.
Only use a recording once you are 100% sure that you know your music perfectly, to make sure that you can get your entries securely. If you “miss a beat”, go back to your individual learning.
This is the most important part of the whole process. If one comes to rehearsal without complete mastery of the music the brain has to process too much information and the result is an unmusical performance—which is not acceptable at Musikay.
Come to the first rehearsal “performance ready”, with notes, rhythm, words, and entrance all rock solid. Be ready for any tempo. This means memorize your music. Only use the score for a quick reminder while your eyes are on the conductor and your ears are open to the rest of the group.
At the first rehearsal, we will go through all the music and cover how the pieces need to be sung: tempi, dynamics, phrasing, etc.
Between rehearsals, you are responsible to incorporate this new information into the music and details so that we continually make progress.