On average, choir directors should be asking for more and less about the same amount of time.
That, of course, is not the case. We’re constantly asking for more – more dynamic contrast, more facial commitment, more physicalizing of the rhythm, more listening vertically, more emotive phrasing.
Why always more and almost never less?
I think it comes down to psychological safety and, especially, learned behaviors in school.
Giving more than the people around you puts you out on a limb – one that might be embarrassing to you in your group. So you give a little less than you think is required, so that you’re not giving more than the person next to you. The social pressure to conform is powerful.
Meanwhile, we’ve learned from years of school that giving too much at first is an invitation to do extra work that you might not want to do. I remember finishing a sixth grade computer project faster than my classmates, only to be required to do a much less fun assignment while they finished. Most students learn to go slower in that situation. Or I heard of a middle school student who learned that the teacher always required three revisions of essays…so he intentionally added glaring errors into his first draft, so he would have easy things to “revise” on his way to his second and third drafts. Doing too well the first time is usually rewarded with harder work, so why do well the first time?
That’s a pretty difficult learned behavior to overcome. And so, teachers continue to ask for more, more, more and encourage their singers to move past these subconscious or unconscious choices.
And, if you’re like me, you take a little time to “look under the hood” and help everyone see how their brains are approaching situations.