This year, I've instituted The Mulligan in my rehearsals, and it has really changed how they go.

Mulligan (noun): a free shot allowed to a player to recover from an error, usually in golf.

For example, you shoot your golf ball way in the wrong direction off the tee. A Mulligan would allow you to put down a new golf ball and try again, with no penalty and without counting the first shot in your score.

As conductors or singers, we know that many of the mistakes we make on the first time through a piece could be corrected just by singing it again. And that's the Mulligan.

We sing or play through the piece and, come hell or high water, we get through it (or at least a good chunk of it). Then we go right back to the beginning and run it again.

Resist the urge to Rehearse anything! Not yet!

If there are still mistakes during or after the second run, then we can stop and fix it. But with the Mulligan, everyone knows that the first time through is a freebie, a chance to remember what we're doing and how it goes, and that there is no penalty for making mistakes. [There should never be penalties for making mistakes in choir, but I know the perfectionists in the choir will instill penalties on themselves…I think the Mulligan helps ease that pressure on everyone.]

Of course, it could go perfectly on the first run through! Bonus!

But if it doesn't, then I call out "MULLIGAN!" and we start again, with smiles and a fresh slate.

Try it out in your rehearsal and let me know how it goes!

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