We made joyful noise with percussion instruments for our small group song African Noel! It's coming along nicely. We added Sharon and Lorraine to the noise, and it was cool! Of course the star of the show was Jenn's Djembe, a big beautiful drum with a big beautiful sound.
Our warm-up when everone was assembled was done with the song Home by Phillip Phillips. Gentle movement, singing and clapping, and harmonizing were explored. When you're alone in the car or in the kitchen, listening to music, sing along. And, try to sing harmonies when you hear them, and try to make up harmonies when there aren't any. Sing above the melody if you're a soprano, like a descant maybe. Sing below the melody like altos. Play with your voice.
We also worked on volume with our Wow! and What! rollercoasters. We also had funny wow moments when the Blue Jays scored.
1. Let there be Peace: We did it! The whole thing. We learned parts on page 6, starting at the bottom of 5, and the ending! We're singing it as written. The one thing we're leaving out is the top note in the Tenor line at "begin". Second sopranos and tenors move on the word begin (3 syllables: be-gi-in). Please push that extra syllable, drop down strong on "in". Altos, you move like that in the ending too. Lots of drama there please. Something to note if you weren't there: At the top of page 6, there's a breath mark before "in peace" and you'll notice that the timing there is special: "in peace" is quick. At F on page 5, start soft, quiet, and gradually get louder. We'll work on the dynamics, but just remember to watch me and I'll let you know when to be soft and when to get louder. With so much drama here, it's important to watch and move together.
2. For Unto Us: Wow! We started at the beginning but our focus was the soprano melisma. The big bunch of 16th notes on the word "born" at the bottom of the first page, which is followed by the bass melisma at the top of page 2. Something that helped was Donna playing the first of each set of 4 notes, so we had a good landing place. Michele pointed out to me afterwards that since there are pairs of these sets of 4, the same starting note twice, it's easy to count 7 of these pairs to keep track of them. We spent extra time on the last one that ends on the second page. Don't hold that last note more than one count. There's a rest before the altos come in. When the basses come in they get their 7 sets of 16th note things. Linda shared with me that she learned to think of them as ho-hos, like laughing ha-ha-ha-ha, but ho-ho-ho-ho, just not like Santa please, but light and bouncy. That might help us sound less like mosquitos and bees. We sang all the way to "prince of peace" on page 4. Remember that Peace is our theme. Whenever we sing "prince of peace", it's big. We should feel awe and gratitude for that gift of peace personified among us, for us, which is what we need to celebrate and remember at Christmas (not Santa, again).
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| Soprano Melisma |
3. Somewhere in My Memory: Yay! Lots of you remember this very well. We just sang it through once so that we can see how much or how little we need to re-learn/learn. Not much! This is so pretty and not very difficult. The tricky parts are the key changes at 38 and 46, and the ooh-la-la section at 30. There are recordings for parts on the website, in the Music Library.
4. In the Bleak Midwinter: We started on the second page, page 4, where we all sing in 4 parts. Again, I was pleased to hear that a number of people remembered their parts from past years. For those of you who had never seen it: BRAVO! It's not easy, but you all did really really well. Look at where your part moves when the other parts don't, and emphasize those notes, lean in to them. The first page and third page are 2 solos. They're written as soprano and tenor, but we've had them both as soprano and both as tenor in the past. Let me know if you'd like to try one of those solos. We have recordings of all 4 parts in our music library.
5. O Holy Night: We learned parts on page 9 where the verse is sung by the choir in 3 parts. This is a special moment. Up to now, soloists sang the verses, building up to the chorus, with one voice, two voices, three voices. Now we're all singing and the words are important. Here is where we get our message of peace. The message we're pushing is peace. It's a timely message. And at 101, we're spelling out what I think Christians should be hearing from the Prince of Peace. The 3 soloists come back at 110 to remind us that we've received the message with joy and gratitude and we need to sing it out. The holy name that I have in mind when I sing "praise his holy name" is Prince of Peace.
What we talked about:
Angels Among Us: I'm looking for two soloists. These are big solos. Remember Song for a Winter's Night, when the choir didn't come in until page 9. It's like that, only we come in for the chorus in between. So, the first verse, all the way to the bottom of page 4 is one voice. It makes sense when you look at the words. We all come in on "Oh, " at bar 17 singing the chorus that is marked at bar 18 with a segno. Another soloists starts at bar 28. "When life held troubled times..." and sings until the top of page 9 "single ray of hope". We all come in on "Oo" and sing the chorus/at the segno on page 5 again. At the top of page 6, we continue at the Coda, with tenors and basses leading us to the last section and ending. Donna has recorded parts. Soloists, just ignore where she says there's a little duet. It's all you. I recommend listening to this video by Demi Lovato. I'm not crazy about her voice or style but it's sincere and clear.
We talked about Home. I chose the song Home because I like it, I like the oohs and ahhs especially but also the drums, and I like the message. Know you're not alone, and people make a place a home. This time of year, in our town (In our town in October, friends and family...) people are celebrating the Jewish New Year and Sukkot, the Chinese Moon Festival/Mid-Autumn Festival, Thanksgiving coming up this weekend, and Diwali is coming up on Oct. 20. Lots of people going home, gathering for special meals and other traditions.
When we sing Shine Hanukkah, African Noel, and Mele Kalikimaka, we will be reminded of In Our Town in December, and our diverse neighbours. Peace in every house and peace in the community, and radiating out into the world.
Next Week: Tuesday, October 14th
6:30 Small Group: Mele Kalikimaka
- 12 Songs of Christmas
- Angels Among Us
- Do You Hear What I Hear?
- In the Bleak Midwinter
- O Holy Night
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