You have to be playing two strategies at once when you play Scrabble.
Of course you have to practice Rack Management. If you don’t have the right letters in your rack, you can’t play the right words. That’s the part most people are extra mindful of.
But positioning is just as important. Players must create opportunities on the board with their plays, and see the opportunities that exist across the board. It doesn’t matter how good the letters are, if we can’t find the right place to play them.
Getting the right tiles in your rack is music programming. Your choir can’t soar without the right music.
But programming will only take you so far. Just as important are the opportunities you create to learn and perform that music, the learning that you engender through the music, and the hearts and minds you shape through exposure to great art.
We spend a lot of time thinking about one. (Witness the vast majority of discussion threads on Choralnet or the “I’m a Choir Director” Facebook group – all about programming).
But we must put just as much effort into positioning. Only then can our programming reach its potential and allow our choirs to shine.