We had another very busy Tuesday evening learning our music for our May concert. I try to remember, whenever we're not perfect, that we have more than 2 months of rehearsals left. We're doing great!
We were at Trinity United Church on Main Street in Newmarket last night because our room at the regional building was needed, so we were bumped. It was a little tricky finding parking once the few spots at the back and in the library lot were taken, so if you were not early, you ended up being a little late. No worries. It was expected. Thank you to those of you who did arrive early and helped to set up chairs, and thank you to everyone who helped put them away and get the equipment and all of us down the stairs at the end of the night. Teamwork, that's what a choir is all about, right?
We had a productive Soprano Sectional Rehearsal at 6:30. It is always nice to have extra time for one section to focus on their parts, and it's good to have a different "teacher" sometimes, with maybe a different way to tackle tricky bits. Thanks to Lauren for arranging that! We really missed her, but we managed. Next week, small groups start rehearsing in that 6:30- 7:15 time slot. I'll set up the groups in Events on the website. And, I'll announce them here and on the home page of the website every week.
Our warm-up included a breathing and gratitude exercise that I saw. It's supposed to be calming and energizing at the same time, and I think it worked. We then did lip trills, which some of us still cannot do. We talked about putting aside your usual sense of self (who you are, eg "ladylike") and letting loose with a different version of you when you're doing this kind of exercise and when you're singing. It came up again when we talked about posture and breathing to support your voice at the edges of your vocal range. If you're interested in the theory behind this idea, look up "ego permeability". This ability to stretch your identity is also key to learning new languages (which is how I was introduced to it, studying second language aquisition). "Put on your performer panties."
1. Canon of Joy: We tried to get this to sound fresh and inspiring. The message is that we sing an everlasting song of joy despite our trials and tribulations, but we sound like this song is a trial and tribulation, which, to be fair, it kind of is. The challenge here is not the notes. The notes are not difficult. The challenge is to sound pretty and positive, joyful even, when you're singing a boring part. Try to sing page 5 a little differently each time. When pianists have to repeat a note several times, they use different fingers on the same key, called finger switching, instead of hammering that key with the same finger. It creates interest because different fingers can have different intensity and it saves muscle strain. Think about how you can hit the notes differently to create interest and save boredom. The phrasing is a bit difficult, keeping smooth without big gaps of breathing is not easy. We need to use the technique called staggered breathing. It's a key teamwork thing in choirs. We breathe at different times from our neighbours so that the sound can continue without gaps. The other way that we work as a team is that we listen for the other parts, to hear whether we need to be louder or softer in relation to them. It's also my job to let you know when your group needs to adjust your volume. I was mentioning trying to sound like a cello instead of a trumpet, and we can all use that kind of thinking here. Think of Pachelbel's Canon at a wedding, played by a string quartet, all pretty and light, and when the Beethoven comes in, it's also one of the string instruments and not a brass section of an orchestra. When we're all singing the Beethoven, we're still a pretty string quartet at a wedding, with passion, but peacefully, not with agression.
2. Here's to Song: We had our first good look at this new piece, and we learned most of it. We learned the chorus, not perfectly, but we got through it and it's repeated a few times, so that's most of the song. The most difficult part is the second verse, and we will spend considerable time on that, starting next week. We're going to simplify the piece the same way we did with Song for a Winter's Night when we first got it. We gave two verses to soloists, focused on the chorus and spent time on one verse in 4 parts. So, with this song, the first verse is clearly a solo, the second is the 4-part choral verse, and the third is a solo with oohs which we're going to skip, and just keep the solo like the first verse. Very manageable. I have Winston in my head for the solos, but please let me know if you would like to try one or both of those. This can be anyone, and we can have two soloists. And, I'll need back-ups in any case. We will have lots of opportunities for back-ups to sing the solos at seniors homes- we'll have 5 or 6 in May and June.
3. It's a Grand Night for Singing: Our second brand-new song! And, it's also chorus-heavy. It's actually just the chorus two times with an "interlude". We got through the chorus pretty well for our first time looking at it. Watch out for rests. We must observe the rests, so that we can breathe, and so that the timing and enunciation are sharp.
4. Hymn to Freedom: We just reviewed those jazzy ahs. We sang page 7 and 8 only.
5. Thank you For the Music: We sang all the way through from the beginning to the end, but the focus was on the chorus. The soprano section reviewed parts during the sectional rehearsal, and it seems we can use more time for the altos again to review that. We heard Robyn and Cathy on the solo, but didn't learn the ahs below the solo. Coming in at the bar before the segno is easy when we're not singing our ahs. We'll continue to work on that transition, but make a note that right after the solo ends, we go to the bar before the segno "so I say", not overlapping. The soloist gets to hold that note one extra beat, at least, maybe more...
Next week, Tuesday February 17th
6:30 Small Group: My Heart Will Go On (please sign up on the website to join this group)
- Here's to Song
- Hallelujah
- One Voice
- Why We Sing
- Thank You for the Music
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