Notice! Next week's rehearsal is at Trinity United Church in Newmarket again.
We got bumped, and my church is welcoming us again. Enter by the side/Park Avenue doors. If they're locked, they'll be unlocked soon, but you can text me or Lauren and we'll send someone down to open the doors. If those stairs look like too much of a challenge that night, let me know and I'll get the key for the elevator and I'll take you up (and down again if necessary). I'll have my cell number on a sign on the door.
It was so good to be back, and a number of people were also back after various viruses and illnesses. Yuck!
After a brief warm-up, we stood and sang our national anthem. After watching some of the recent Winter Olympic medal ceremonies, we were disappointed to see so many athletes neglect to sing their national anthems, and we were proud of our men's team for singing ours proudly and energetically on the ice! We are happy to be prepared in case we ever find ourselves on a gold medal podium, except, maybe some of us will have to think twice to remember to sing the melody so we don't accidentally launch into our parts. But, at least we'll be seen mouthing the words, right?!!
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| O Canada! |
Small Group: My Heart Will Go On is excellent! Next week we'll just polish it.
1. O Canada: watch out for the ending. We decided to sing it as written, including the extra note on "for". I'll probably slow it down too, so watch and don't improvise.
2. Song for Canada: we are still getting a little lost in the ahs under the second/French verse. We spent quite a bit of time reviewing parts. Please take some time to review on your own if you're having trouble still. We have recordings for you to practise with. There are short ones, just for the ahs. We're still getting lost at the ending, and we'll need to do that together. The French team was in good form last night!
3. (It's a) Grand Night For Singing: I moved this in my binder to "G" instead of "I". We learned the Interlude, pages 6-8. We sang from the Interlude through to the end. Now, we've looked at the whole song, since the whole thing is just chorus, interlude, chorus. We took note of the rests everywhere. In many places, the rests make sure that you're able to enunciate ends and beginnings of words clearly. On page 7: light'-- too lovely (not li-too lovely). Page 8 something to do'-- with you (not doowith) We also talked about how to pronunce "grand night" since there's a tie from grand night, so we can't stop to make a clear d at the end of grand. In this case, you have to squish your d into night. So we have graaaaandnight, noticing the t is strong and quick with a rest after it. Look at "moon is flying high". That rest makes sure you can be clear on moon, and separate it from is. So it's moon'- -iz, not moo-niz. Page 4 starz'-- are, not star-zar. We have links to recordings on YouTube for you to practise parts with.
4. Here's to Song: We also finished learning this song! What?!! Yes. We learned the second verse, the tricky one, and we've already learned the chorus, so that's it. We have solo-chorus-verse2-chorus-solo-chorus-ending/chorus. The third solo will be without oohs, like the first. We have enough oohs and ahhs in other songs this year. We'll learn those oohs another time. We had this strategy with Song for a Winter's Night, and it worked well. That second verse is pretty fancy, and the chorus is big, so we've asked Donna to record parts for us. However, we will be reviewing the whole song. Fear not.
5. We Rise Again: mm-oo-aah, we decided to do the oohs and ahhs under the solos in this song. I was willing to let them go, but those who spent years learning them want to make sure they can use them again. So, please sing them loudly to help your new neighbours to learn them. There are only a couple tricky bits here, most of the time, Second Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses are all singing melody, the chorus in unison. The first sopranos have the hard part, like a descant on top. We have recordings of parts so you can listen to your oohs and ahhs. This is a very rewarding song to sing! I love the big ending.
Soloists: make sure I know what songs you're willing to sing, and which ones you want the most (some of you are willing and able to do any and all). I have to determine who the soloists and back-up soloists are on all of our songs. I will consider your voice style and range, and need to try to be fair. I have received emails from a few of you.
enter by the side/Park Ave doors. Parking is an issue. Give yourself extra time to find a spot.
6:30 in the music room: My Heart Will Go On
7:00 in the music room: Song Sung Blue
7:30 everyone in the Fellowship Room (big room with sofas, opposite washrooms and music rooms. You can arrive early, after 6:30 once the room is available, and start setting up the equipment and chairs)
- Hymn to Freedom
- Grand Night for Singing
- Song for Canada
- Thank you for the Music
- We Rise Again
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