Guidance

Our sixth meeting in our Climate Network series (original event 2 December 2024) discussed some of the latest success stories from our member groups who have implemented more sustainable practices into the ways they work.

The speakers for this event were:

Your number one question: how do I find new members for my group, and how do I keep them?

In November, our CEO Barbara Eifler was invited to do a Pecha Kucha presentation on this topic, that is, a seven-minute slideshow using only images.

The result of this challenge is the video below, which will help you get started on the journey of finding and welcoming new members to your group, and describes the major milestones that journey might encompass.

This guide will help you begin reading sheet music in a choir.  

In written music, all the symbols contain information about what to sing and how to sing it. There is a lot of information on the page - over time all of this will be useful but don’t worry if it takes time to get the hang of it. 

Many choirs use sheet music as a tool to learn their repertoire, but needing to read sheet music is a barrier to many people looking to join a choir. This resource will help choirs support new and potential members learning to read sheet music.

Written music is a symbolic language that provides a lot of information in a small space, but this can make it confusing if you haven’t come across it before. However, it is a skill that can be learnt, especially with the encouragement and structure of a music group. 

This agreement, reached between the Musicians' Union and Making Music in 2017 (updated in 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024) provides guideline minimum rates for groups when engaging freelance professional musicians. 

We are very pleased to have renewed our agreement with the Musicians’ Union which is now in its seventh year.  

Using good-quality images in your marketing is an effective way to attract attention, drive engagement, and boost ticket sales and membership; however, it’s essential to ensure you have permission to use them to avoid copyright infringement. 

Making an arrangement of a piece of music is fairly common practice among leisure-time music groups, but there are a number of things to consider before you can make one.

Some data

From our Big Survey 2022, we know performing groups commission at least 1430 arrangements each year. 

But we think this might be the tip of the iceberg and there is much more work being done by very skilled professionals.  

The Making Music members’ insurance scheme is run by Finch, specifically for our members. It is offered to those members of Making Music which operate on a voluntary (ie non-professional) basis, for ‘activities associated with the general promotion of music and the performance of musical works’.

What your music group chooses to wear on stage is part of how you present yourself to the world - but care must be taken not to have it become a barrier that might lead to exclusion.

A group's performance wear - their 'uniform' - is the first thing an audience will see, which is why many groups choose to specify what their members wear while performing. This can be a good thing; uniform can bring a sense of belonging to people and help them feel part of a team. If you’re trying to present a unified sound, it can also be effective if you look uniform too.

Recruiting for a new musical leader is an important moment for a music group. This resource will take you through the process from defining the role to making an offer. Groups use different terms for their group's musical leader role, but in this resource we will use Music Director (MD).  

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