Just because your ensemble is defined by singing doesn’t mean you have to be singing when you rehearse.
I watched a choir rehearse in silence this morning.
It was the All-State Musical Theatre Ensemble preparing for their performance this evening. After a few hours of blocking and singing, they needed to rest their voices for a few minutes but continue to move forward.
So they did a complete run of the piece in absolute silence except for the accompaniment. (Actually, a few well-placed closing consonants still popped out!)
It’s a great way to lock in the work you’re doing without further using the voice. And it’s not just for musical theatre – you can do the same thing with any type of ensemble. A silent run of a choral piece before festival might be a good way to lock into the musicality you’ve been working on, when everyone’s too tired to sing more. It’s a great way to practicing staging for your a cappella group, too.