Welcome


Welcome to Renate's Baton. This blog is mostly for and about my choir, The York Region Community Choir.

But, While I'm holding the baton, I'm in charge. So, if I want to talk about other parts of my life, I will. :)

The choir itself is a community and I'm discovering that we have a lot in common with one another besides our love of music and singing.

When I go off on a tangent, there is always a crowd coming along. Join us!

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

YRCC Rehearsal Review 28-OCT-2019

6:30 Randomnotez Quartet rehearsal

Warm-ups were brief with a quick physical warm-up to release the stress of our day, and then some vocal exercises starting with low notes.

1. Magic of Winter: A perfect warm-up song! Only, we're still far away from winter, right? I love using this song for the beginning of seniors' residence visits. Make sure to sign up to sing for seniors this season. We've added a Thursday afternoon to sing at the home where Enid is staying.

2. Your Song: We learned the ending, the Coda, from page 10 to the end, and sang the whole thing all the way through. Here's an inspiring performance to listen to.

3. Let it Snow: We did the ending of this one too, starting at the return to 4/4 time at 104. We got to the end, but ran out of energy to go back and put it all together. We're almost done!
Here's a link to the recording with the music to follow along with. And, here's another with an inspiring performance. Don't forget to listen to your part on our website to really get it in your head.

4. All I Want for Christmas: We reviewed the beginning and started the new section at 43. We noticed that (or, Teija pointed out that) we were singing everything in straight quarter notes. There are two things to look out for:
    1. notes that don't fall on the beat, like the ones in bar 16.
    2. notation that tells us to swing, like at bar 11. Oh, my! We're supposed to swing the whole song.
Here's some inspiration: a video of young choir rocking this arrangement.

You can start getting your friends and family to set aside the date, Sunday, December 1st for your concert. We sing from 3-5, so you could plan an evening get-together for after at a local restaurant or bar maybe. Or, invite everyone over for hot chocolate and pizza after?
We've got a poster almost ready, and you're going to love it.

Next week: Monday, November 4th
6:30 Evening Prayer small group
Break time: Blair and Marlene The Prayer ( it's a theme?)

  • All I Want For Christmas
  • Let it Snow
  • Somewhere A Child is Sleeping
  • Your Song
  • Little Tree


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