Accidentals
Identifying 1 for each song and using line space line space will work for a lot of your choir's music. That approach is reliant upon the notion that only the seven different notes in a Major scale will be included in your part.Sharps and flats at the beginning of the staff tell us what note is 1. Sharps ♯, flats ♭, or natural symbols ♮ in front of a specific note on the staff means that more than seven notes are included in this song; used in this manner these symbols are collectively called accidentals.
Just be careful. No big deal. Wait until it is played or sung before trying too aggressively.
On the other hand, Theory Alert! the note with the accidental in front of it will always be only one half step away from what the note would have been without the accidental. (A half step is the smallest increment of pitch we have; the distance from any key on the piano to the very next key.)
The trick is to figure out if it is a half step higher or lower, and the answer to that must be theory, so let's leave it for another course.
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