Clapping round2 minutes. Learn a pattern of 8 beats together: clap, clap, pat, pat, snap, snap, pat, pat. Row 1 starts. Row 2 starts the same pattern 2 beats later, then row 3, then row 4. Keep it going 4 times through. It is a round with no notes in it.
Big face, small face30 seconds. Make your face as big as it goes: eyes wide, eyebrows up, mouth open in a silent ah. Now make it as small as it goes, scrunched toward your nose. Switch on the director's signal 6 times. Finish with the face you would wear in a concert.
Chew the toffee30 seconds. Pretend you have a huge piece of toffee in your mouth. Chew it slowly with big, loose circles of the jaw, lips closed, for a count of 10. Now it has stuck to your teeth: clean every tooth with your tongue. Swallow, and let your jaw hang loose.
Couch, concert1 minute. The director calls one of two words. On couch, slump as if you were watching television. On concert, snap into singing posture: feet apart, knees soft, shoulders down, eyes up. The calls come faster and faster, and now and then the same word comes twice.
Folder lifts1 minute. Hold your folder flat in both hands at your waist. Lift it slowly to shoulder height, then overhead, and lower it the same way, taking 4 counts for each move. Do it 4 times. Elbows stay in front of you, so nobody bumps a neighbor.
Folders up as one1 minute. Hold your folder closed at your side. With no signal and no counting, the whole choir lifts folders and opens them at the same moment. Watch each other from the corners of your eyes. Close them as one. Try it 3 times: it takes the same watching as starting a note together.
Open the book30 seconds. Press your palms together in front of your chest with your elbows touching: the book is closed. Open it slowly until your elbows point out to the sides as far as your row allows, then close it. Open and close 6 times, 4 counts each way.
Row by row wave1 minute. The front row raises its arms and lowers them. As they come down, the second row goes up, then the third. Send the wave to the back and forward again. Next, send it from left to right along each row, one singer after another.
Sign your name with your nose30 seconds. Imagine a pencil on the end of your nose. Write your first name in the air with it, in small, slow letters. Then draw a slow circle one way and a slow circle the other way. Small moves only: your shoulders stay still.
Soft knees, tall spine30 seconds. Stand with your feet under your hips. Lock your knees straight, then let them go soft, and feel the difference. Keep them soft. Grow tall, as if a string lifted the top of your head, and let your shoulders drop. Stay like that for a slow count of 10.
Sway as a row1 minute. The director sets a slow beat. Each row shifts its weight from the left foot to the right in time, shoulders moving together like one person. Feet stay planted. Odd rows start to the left and even rows to the right. On a signal, every row switches.
Tap yourself awake30 seconds. With loose fingertips, tap along one arm from the shoulder to the hand and back. Change arms. Tap across your shoulders, down your sides and down each leg as far as you can reach with your feet still. Finish with a quick, light tap all over your scalp.
Yawn and slide30 seconds. Stretch your arms up and out as far as your row allows, and open your mouth in a real, wide yawn. As your arms come down, let your voice slide from high to low on a sigh. Do 3, each one a little quieter than the last.
Breath and sound 8
Consonant drum kit1 minute. Three sounds make a drum kit: p is the bass drum, k is the snare and t is the hi-hat. The director gives each row a sound. Row 1 says p on beats 1 and 3, row 2 says k on beats 2 and 4, and row 3 says t on every half beat. Then swap.
Hiss the count1 minute. Breathe in through your nose. Hiss on one steady sss while the director counts aloud to 8. Take another breath and hiss to 12, then to 16. Keep the hiss even from start to finish. Stop as soon as you want air: this is not a contest.
Hum and feel the buzz30 seconds. Hum one comfortable note on mmm with your lips just touching. Rest a fingertip beside your nose, then on your lips, then on the top of your head, and notice where you feel a buzz. Change to nnn, then to ng, and check again.
Lip bubbles30 seconds. Blow air through loose, closed lips so that they flutter, like a motorboat. Add your voice and slide the sound up and down. If your lips will not flutter, press a fingertip lightly into each cheek. Follow the director's hand for 3 slides.
Short and smooth1 minute. Staccato means detached: short notes with silence between them. Legato means tied together: smooth, with no gaps. Sing ha, ha, ha, ha staccato on one note. Then sing one long legato haaa over the same 4 beats. Switch each time the director's hand flicks or glides.
Sirens30 seconds. On an oo, slide your voice up and down like a siren, following the director's hand. A high hand is a high sound and a low hand is a low one. Nobody has to hit a note. Stay in the part of your voice that feels easy.
Ta-ka drill30 seconds. Say ta-ka-ta-ka with the tip and the back of your tongue, lips loose, 8 times slowly. Then 8 times fast. Change to pa-ta-ka, three sounds in a row, and speed up until it falls apart. Slow down to the fastest speed that stays clear.
Whisper the words1 minute. Take the piece on your stand. Whisper one phrase of its text in rhythm, with every consonant twice as sharp as usual and no pitch at all. The back wall should catch every word. Then speak the phrase at full voice and keep those consonants.
Rhythm and beat 9
Beat or rhythm2 minutes. Pat the steady beat of your piece on your legs. On a signal, switch to clapping the rhythm of the words instead. Switch back. Then split: odd rows pat the beat while even rows clap the rhythm, and trade on the signal without stopping.
Clapping round2 minutes. Learn a pattern of 8 beats together: clap, clap, pat, pat, snap, snap, pat, pat. Row 1 starts. Row 2 starts the same pattern 2 beats later, then row 3, then row 4. Keep it going 4 times through. It is a round with no notes in it.
Follow the pencil1 minute. One singer faces the choir with a pencil for a baton. The choir says ta on every beat the pencil shows. The conductor speeds up, slows down, makes the beats bigger for louder and smaller for softer, and stops without warning. Change conductors after 30 seconds.
Four-row groove2 minutes. The back row taps one heel on beats 1 and 3. The next row pats its legs on 2 and 4. The next claps on every beat, and the front row snaps on the half beats between. Add one row at a time. When all four are in, drop them out in the same order.
Offbeat claps1 minute. Count 1, 2, 3, 4 aloud together and clap on 2 and 4 only. Stop saying the numbers and keep the claps. Now move every clap to the and between the beats: 1 and 2 and. Each row takes a turn while the other rows keep the count.
Pass the clap along the row1 minute. One clap travels along the front row from left to right, each singer clapping once. At the end it jumps to the row behind and comes back the other way. Time the whole trip. Then send a second clap 4 beats after the first, and keep the two apart.
Rest catcher1 minute. The director claps a pattern of 4 beats with one silent beat in it. Clap the pattern back, and catch the rest in the air with a closed fist, without a sound. The rest moves to a new beat each time. After 6 patterns, a singer claps and the director echoes.
Silent numbers1 minute. Count aloud together from 1 to 8, over and over, with a clap on 1. Each time around, one more number goes silent, starting with 8: think it, do not say it. Keep going until only the clap on 1 is left. Is the last clap still together?
Twos, threes, fours1 minute. Rock gently from foot to foot on the director's slow beat. Clap 2 even claps to each beat. On a signal, change to 3 claps to each beat, then to 4, then back down to 1. Your feet must never speed up.
Listening and pitch 11
Body scale2 minutes. Sing up the scale on do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do, with a place on your body for each step: knees, thighs, hips, waist, chest, shoulders, head, hands in the air. Sing back down. Then the director touches a place in silence, and the choir sings that note.
Drone and wander1 minute. Odd rows hold one note on oo and do not move. Even rows start on the same note, slide slowly up and away from it and come back, listening for the moment the two sounds lock together again. Swap jobs. The second time, wander down instead of up.
Echo me1 minute. The director sings a pattern of 3 or 4 notes on loo. The choir sings it straight back, matching the notes, the loudness and the length of each one. Patterns get one note longer every second turn. A singer who wants to may lead the last two.
Find the one note1 minute. Look at the floor in front of you. Each singer hums any note at all, very softly. Keep humming, listen, and move your note slowly toward the sounds around you. See whether the whole choir can drift onto one note with no signal. Hold it for a count of 4.
Louder, softer hands1 minute. Hum one note. As the director's hands move apart, grow louder: a crescendo. As they come together, grow softer: a decrescendo. The director tries to catch the choir out with sudden small moves. The sound follows the hands and never gets ahead of them.
The missing note1 minute. Sing do, re, mi, fa, sol and back down. Sing it again and leave mi silent both times: hear it in your head, and come in on the next note in tune. Next, leave out two notes. Finish by singing only do and sol and thinking the rest.
Say it at the marking1 minute. The director calls a dynamic marking, and the choir speaks one, two, three, four at that level. Pianissimo is very quiet, piano is quiet, mezzo piano is moderately quiet, mezzo forte is moderately loud and forte is loud. Call them in order first, then mixed up.
Silent run-through1 minute. Pick 8 bars of the piece on your stand. Sing them in your head only, mouthing the words, while one finger taps the beat on your folder. The director claps once where bar 8 should end. Check whether you arrived there at the same moment.
Silent vowels30 seconds. The director mouths a vowel with no sound: ah, eh, ee, oh or oo. Copy the shape of the mouth exactly, also in silence, and hold it. On a nod, everyone speaks that vowel once. A row whose mouths all match gets a thumbs up.
Three-row chord1 minute. Everyone hums do. On the first signal, the middle row slides up to mi. On the second, the back row moves up to sol. Hold the three notes together and listen across the rows. On the last signal, everyone slides back to do.
Which note changed?1 minute. The director sings 3 notes, then sings them again with one note changed. Hold up 1, 2 or 3 fingers to show which note was different, all on a signal, so nobody copies. After 5 rounds the patterns grow to 4 notes.
How it works
These choir brain breaks fit a rehearsal on risers. Each is done on the spot: no step, no jump, no song to learn. They loosen the body, wake up breath and consonants, lock in the beat or tune the ears.
Read the full guide
Between two pieces
1. When a piece ends and attention has gone, press Pick another brain break.
2. Read the line to the choir.
3. Start the timer under the button. It is set to that break's length.
4. At zero, go straight into the next piece.
A break with no singing
The menu that reads All brain breaks has a choice called No singing: stretches, clapping patterns, spoken drills and silent listening tasks. Use it late in a long rehearsal or in the week of a concert.
Rows stand in for voice parts throughout, so the breaks fit any mix of sections.
Before Three-row chord, sing the scale once so that do, mi and sol are in every ear.
Questions and answers
What are choir brain breaks?
A minute or two between pieces that resets a choir without leaving the risers: a stretch, a hiss on a count, a clapping round, a listening game. Each one uses a skill the rehearsal needs anyway, such as watching, counting or tuning.
Do these work as middle school choir brain breaks?
Yes. They were written with a middle school choir in mind: nobody has to sing alone, and the slides and hums have no set notes, so each singer stays where the voice feels comfortable.
Can every break be done on risers?
Yes. Feet stay where they are in all 40, and none needs closed eyes. The most a break asks is a shift of weight, a raised folder or a hand touching a knee.