Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
TV Theme Medley and homework
I don't want to give too much away on this public site, but I've posted a few of the songs in our TV theme medley since not everyone was familiar with all of the shows. When in doubt, Google and YouTube are great resources!
If you have some time in the next few weeks, work ahead on the ABBA medley with your CD, and look at the TV medley too. Even if you don't read music, get those words down -there are some sections that are fast- and that will help. If you do have access to a keyboard and can take a look at your part and learn it, that would help all of us immensely.
Review that songs that we know well, Wonderful World, etc, with the accompaniment CD so that you feel really comfortable with them.
New folks, we don't spend much time on these so be sure to look at: Wonderful, Hallelujah, Wind, True Colors, Blue Skies, Do Re Mi, People.
If you have some time in the next few weeks, work ahead on the ABBA medley with your CD, and look at the TV medley too. Even if you don't read music, get those words down -there are some sections that are fast- and that will help. If you do have access to a keyboard and can take a look at your part and learn it, that would help all of us immensely.
Review that songs that we know well, Wonderful World, etc, with the accompaniment CD so that you feel really comfortable with them.
New folks, we don't spend much time on these so be sure to look at: Wonderful, Hallelujah, Wind, True Colors, Blue Skies, Do Re Mi, People.
Bonanza Theme Song!--By Ben Cartwright
Our words to this are very different, but the melody is the same. This will help.
Laverne & Shirley Show Opening
I couldn't believe that there were people who didn't know this one! Loved this show!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Keeping time, singing together, counting
Hello Everyone!
This week, I only introduced the topic of counting, and even here I'll just begin to show what's involved. As usual, I'll give you links to stuff online that will help you too.
At choir, I mentioned that in 4/4 time we count quarter notes 1 2 3 4,
eighth notes are 1+2+3+4+,
and sixteenths are 1e+a2e+a3e+a4e+a (one- ee- and- ah).
So, that's basically how we name the beats.
I can name a specific beat to tell you when to come in at the beginning of a song.
For example, in True Colors you start on the + (and) of 3. So, you wait for beats 1+2+3 then sing +4+1 3 (You with the sad eyes)
Notice the whole bar and half note and quarter note rests at the beginning. You can count those in your head and then sing: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 You with the.
If you're just looking at the rhythm to learn the song you count the rests too and whatever parts of the previous beats will help you: 1 2 3 4 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
Look at the next 2 lines after sad eyes. Count the phrase like this:
1 + 2 + + 4 + 1 + 2
(don't be dis-cour-aged oh I realize)
To make sure you hold discouraged and realize long enough, you can think of it as:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 +
For the next phrase, you come in on the + of 4. You have just an eighth note rest to take a quick breath and then you come in.
+ 1 + 2 + 3+
(it's hard to take cour-age)
Then, you have sixteenths:
+a1 +a3 +
(In a world full of strangers)
Here comes the phrase we had trouble with:
1 + 2 + 3 + +a1 + + 3 + 4 + 1+ +
(you can lose sight of it and the darkness inside you makes you feel so small)
Notice the eighth note rest on beat 4 of bar 12. The word it is short.
See how cool counting is! I can tell you exactly where I want you to look on the page.
There are some good lessons online.
Here is one that reviews the value of notes and rests, and shows the values very clearly in a chart and gives you examples of rhythms to listen to.
Here is a site with links to worksheets with good explanations. Click on and read the first 4. Very cool. I highly recommend these.
We'll talk more about counting, and look at different time signatures too.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
This week, I only introduced the topic of counting, and even here I'll just begin to show what's involved. As usual, I'll give you links to stuff online that will help you too.
At choir, I mentioned that in 4/4 time we count quarter notes 1 2 3 4,
eighth notes are 1+2+3+4+,
and sixteenths are 1e+a2e+a3e+a4e+a (one- ee- and- ah).
So, that's basically how we name the beats.
I can name a specific beat to tell you when to come in at the beginning of a song.
For example, in True Colors you start on the + (and) of 3. So, you wait for beats 1+2+3 then sing +4+1 3 (You with the sad eyes)
Notice the whole bar and half note and quarter note rests at the beginning. You can count those in your head and then sing: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 You with the.
If you're just looking at the rhythm to learn the song you count the rests too and whatever parts of the previous beats will help you: 1 2 3 4 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
Look at the next 2 lines after sad eyes. Count the phrase like this:
1 + 2 + + 4 + 1 + 2
(don't be dis-cour-aged oh I realize)
To make sure you hold discouraged and realize long enough, you can think of it as:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 +
For the next phrase, you come in on the + of 4. You have just an eighth note rest to take a quick breath and then you come in.
+ 1 + 2 + 3+
(it's hard to take cour-age)
Then, you have sixteenths:
+a1 +a3 +
(In a world full of strangers)
Here comes the phrase we had trouble with:
1 + 2 + 3 + +a1 + + 3 + 4 + 1+ +
(you can lose sight of it and the darkness inside you makes you feel so small)
Notice the eighth note rest on beat 4 of bar 12. The word it is short.
See how cool counting is! I can tell you exactly where I want you to look on the page.
There are some good lessons online.
Here is one that reviews the value of notes and rests, and shows the values very clearly in a chart and gives you examples of rhythms to listen to.
Here is a site with links to worksheets with good explanations. Click on and read the first 4. Very cool. I highly recommend these.
We'll talk more about counting, and look at different time signatures too.
Yours in harmony,
RenateRhythm Counting
This video is pretty cool. There's the big visual representation and then they show you how it looks in music notation. It gets pretty complex pretty fast but it's really worth a look.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Some of a Choir Librarian's Work
Hello Everyone!
Here's a little behind-the-scenes look at the work of a choir.
The picture above is of a table in the basement of our Music Librarian's house. That's well over a thousand dollars worth of choral music!
This is just a little snapshot of what Trix goes through taking care of our music library.
Trix picked up the music that Heather ordered- new music and more copies of music that we already had but didn't have enough of- from the music store downtown (St. John's Music) and got it all out of the boxes and started organizing it before I offered to help her out. She created a great system so that we could work together to deal with all the different music. We stamped, numbered, and 3-hole-punched all the music, got it ready for individuals to pick up the various pieces that they're missing, got the new music ready to hand out to everyone, and filed extras. It looked like a huge job that would take all day, but the time flew by and we were done in less than 3 hours.
It was fun working together. We talked and laughed a lot and Trix fed me a delicious lunch when we were done. Working on choir things with choir friends is always accompanied by good food and great conversation.
The choir will be so happy to have all their music, especially the new pieces!
Thank you, Trix, our hard-working Music Librarian, for making sure we can all sing together!
Yours in harmony,
Renate Monday, March 19, 2012
Repeats. Where do I go? What's a Coda?
Hello Eveyone!
Today's lesson at choir was on bar lines and repeats.
We started off looking at single and double bar lines and the skinny-and-thick end-of-the-piece double bar lines. If the double bar lines are both skinny, it's just the end of a section.
Then we looked at what the repeats look like. Here's a good little chart that shows you.
We looked at first and second endings, when they mark the repeat like that up there. And, we looked at an example of a D. S. al Coda. Where they don't mark the repeat with the special double bars with repeat marks, but write the words with or without symbols. The symbol for that Sign/Segno is cool. Coda just means ending, and it has a cool symbol too. Check out the symbols in the chart below. Fine means the end of the song. Do you get the difference between ending and end? So you go back to the special sign and then skip to the ending when it tells you to (it'll say to Coda or al Coda). Then you sing that special ending part to the end. So it's like you've got 2 verses, and they're almost the same except for the last part which is fancy for the ending.
There's a really good animation that shows you how it works here. You can follow along while it plays the music and describes what it's doing. Try it!
D. C. al Coda works the same way except you go back to the beginning. C stands for Capo, head in Italian, meaning the beginning.
When you get a new piece of music, it's always a good idea to look at the whole piece first to see if there are any repeats. I don't recommend making dog ears on your music. Use a sticky note or just make a big circle around the beginning of a repeat with a pencil. That way, when it's time to flip back, you know where you're going.
We have lots of repeats in our music this season. Look through the pieces you already know and see how much you already know about repeats. Then look at the pieces you don't know or have forgotten and apply your new understanding of repeats to them.
You're reading music!
Your's in harmony,
Renate
Today's lesson at choir was on bar lines and repeats.
We started off looking at single and double bar lines and the skinny-and-thick end-of-the-piece double bar lines. If the double bar lines are both skinny, it's just the end of a section.
Then we looked at what the repeats look like. Here's a good little chart that shows you.
We looked at first and second endings, when they mark the repeat like that up there. And, we looked at an example of a D. S. al Coda. Where they don't mark the repeat with the special double bars with repeat marks, but write the words with or without symbols. The symbol for that Sign/Segno is cool. Coda just means ending, and it has a cool symbol too. Check out the symbols in the chart below. Fine means the end of the song. Do you get the difference between ending and end? So you go back to the special sign and then skip to the ending when it tells you to (it'll say to Coda or al Coda). Then you sing that special ending part to the end. So it's like you've got 2 verses, and they're almost the same except for the last part which is fancy for the ending.
There's a really good animation that shows you how it works here. You can follow along while it plays the music and describes what it's doing. Try it!
D. C. al Coda works the same way except you go back to the beginning. C stands for Capo, head in Italian, meaning the beginning.
When you get a new piece of music, it's always a good idea to look at the whole piece first to see if there are any repeats. I don't recommend making dog ears on your music. Use a sticky note or just make a big circle around the beginning of a repeat with a pencil. That way, when it's time to flip back, you know where you're going.
We have lots of repeats in our music this season. Look through the pieces you already know and see how much you already know about repeats. Then look at the pieces you don't know or have forgotten and apply your new understanding of repeats to them.
You're reading music!
Your's in harmony,
Renate Saturday, March 17, 2012
St. Patrick's Breastplate
Part of this song is from St. Patrick's Breastplate, a hymn 700 years old.
I took that part and jazzed it up, added a rap (also from the original) and hand motions (obvious) and sang it with kids at church! I was inspired by my gospel weekend. And, I like to do songs that link to the lesson at church or to other events.
What do we know about St. Patrick's Day except that people dress in green, drink beer, and act crazy? The beer and crazy thing is all about the feast day falling in Lent, the sober season of fasting and abstaining. I'm always learning. St. Patrick gave us the clover representing the Trinity, and this really big hymn/prayer called a breastplate because it's a prayer of protection. It's really long. The stuff here is just a small part of it. Google it. It's really cool.
So, here's what we sang and what we'll sing again tomorrow at church:
Christ above me. (same melody, but punchy, so it sounds like: Christ! Above me.)
Christ beside me.
Christ within me, ever guiding.
Christ behind me.
Christ before.
Christ, my love, my life, my Lord.
Christ to my right; Christ to my left.
Christ when I stand; Christ when I sit.
Christ when I sleep; Christ when I wake.
Jesus Christ is my breastplate.
Christ above me.
Christ beside me.
Christ within me, ever guiding.
Christ behind me.
Christ before.
Christ, my love, my life, my Lord.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
I Powered Up with the Toronto Mass Choir!
Did you know that there was an annual Gospel Music conference in Toronto?
Did you know that there's a Juno Award for Gospel Music?
The Juno Award for "Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year" has been awarded since 1994.
In 2003, the Toronto Mass Choir won it. They've been around since 1988.
I had no idea.
Hollie gave me her hairdresser's business card with information about the TMC and PowerUp, their annual music conference, written on the back. She thought I might be interested. I went to the website.
Nothing re-ignites the passion for music more than finding out something new about it. Learn techniques you have never explored before; discover sounds and ideas you’ve never encountered.
There was a workshop especially for choir directors, and something called "Vocal Boot Camp" that I was really interested in, and the conference was taking place at York University. I hadn't been there since I graduated. I would have the opportunity to learn choir stuff in a classroom! Almost everything I've learned about choir conducting and singing, I've learned informally from fellow choristers. My musical background goes way back to band class in high school, where I did learn quite a bit, including basic conducting, and I did sing in the jazz choir. But, high school was a very long time ago. I signed up.
The weekend was amazing! I learned so much! And, it was so much fun!!!
York University looks nothing like it did when I was a student there. It's much more beautiful now. I loved being back in school.
The workshops were great! I was surprised each time that the description of the workshop was different from what I experienced, but what I experienced was excellent. The workshop leaders were all superb.
My first workshop was with Professor Karen Burke, the director of the TMC. What luck! She is such an inspiration! Smart, talented, passionate, energetic, and filled with God's light and love, Karen fills a room with her shining presence and has that gift of making you feel like she's speaking to you alone. Each rehearsal was like a continuation of that first class, because Karen explained what she was doing as she conducted. And, it felt like she was doing it just for me.
The Vocal Boot Camp classes were the most fun. Cassandra Sommers was beautiful and brilliant. We warmed-up and stretched our voices with all kinds of exercises and had a really entertaining group activity where we created and performed fun new versions of well-known melodies using techniques we learned.
I am still suffering from the effects of my Gospel Dance/Hip-Hop class. I expected to learn some basic steps that I could share with my choir. and maybe get some advice on how to get everybody moving together, how to clap and sing at the same time. I don't really know what I expected. But, I did read in the description that there was no performance for the basic level class. Well, that was true for the Friday class, but I took it on Saturday and we had to perform a dance! I also didn't expect the class to be full of young people. In a class of about 20, I was one of 3 who were over 30, and the oldest by far. I loved it. It helped that the young instructor, JJ Gerber, with his beautiful eyes and encouraging smile was charming, talented, and very patient. Dancing hip-hop and learning a dance routine so quickly was an exciting challenge and I was determined to go through with it. It cost me though. I could hardly walk the next day, and standing up and sitting down still hurt now 3 days later.
The best thing about the classes was meeting the wonderful people, singers and choristers on the journey together, warm and kind.
The best thing about the weekend was singing in the choir. The rehearsals were excellent. I really learned the most during the rehearsals. The Sunday night concert was thrilling! The TMC performance was slick, high-energy and awe-inspiring, and the York University Gospel Choir was excellent and adorable, as was the Youth Choir. (I think I would have hated it if someone called me adorable when I was in high school and university, but at my age, they look so young. And, I adored them.) I loved the band! I loved singing with a band. Wow! The energy is incredible. Singing in the choir was so joyous, exciting, satisfying, intoxicating that I didn't want the night to end.
The most important lesson that I took home with me was that a choir is a community built on love. Sounds cheesy but it's true.
Did you know that there's a Juno Award for Gospel Music?
The Juno Award for "Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year" has been awarded since 1994.
In 2003, the Toronto Mass Choir won it. They've been around since 1988.
I had no idea.
Hollie gave me her hairdresser's business card with information about the TMC and PowerUp, their annual music conference, written on the back. She thought I might be interested. I went to the website.
Nothing re-ignites the passion for music more than finding out something new about it. Learn techniques you have never explored before; discover sounds and ideas you’ve never encountered.
It’s time to ignite your passion for Gospel Music! Join Professor Karen Burke and the Juno-Award winning Toronto Mass Choir and experience the joy of singing high energy, dynamic and spirit-lifting music in a gospel choir. Spend time learning great gospel music and meeting people with the same passion.
Everyone who loves to sing is invited to enjoy high-energy, spirit-lifting, hand-clapping, toe-tapping gospel music. Join us on March 2-4 and experience the power!!!There was a workshop especially for choir directors, and something called "Vocal Boot Camp" that I was really interested in, and the conference was taking place at York University. I hadn't been there since I graduated. I would have the opportunity to learn choir stuff in a classroom! Almost everything I've learned about choir conducting and singing, I've learned informally from fellow choristers. My musical background goes way back to band class in high school, where I did learn quite a bit, including basic conducting, and I did sing in the jazz choir. But, high school was a very long time ago. I signed up.
The weekend was amazing! I learned so much! And, it was so much fun!!!
York University looks nothing like it did when I was a student there. It's much more beautiful now. I loved being back in school.
The workshops were great! I was surprised each time that the description of the workshop was different from what I experienced, but what I experienced was excellent. The workshop leaders were all superb.
My first workshop was with Professor Karen Burke, the director of the TMC. What luck! She is such an inspiration! Smart, talented, passionate, energetic, and filled with God's light and love, Karen fills a room with her shining presence and has that gift of making you feel like she's speaking to you alone. Each rehearsal was like a continuation of that first class, because Karen explained what she was doing as she conducted. And, it felt like she was doing it just for me.
The Vocal Boot Camp classes were the most fun. Cassandra Sommers was beautiful and brilliant. We warmed-up and stretched our voices with all kinds of exercises and had a really entertaining group activity where we created and performed fun new versions of well-known melodies using techniques we learned.
I am still suffering from the effects of my Gospel Dance/Hip-Hop class. I expected to learn some basic steps that I could share with my choir. and maybe get some advice on how to get everybody moving together, how to clap and sing at the same time. I don't really know what I expected. But, I did read in the description that there was no performance for the basic level class. Well, that was true for the Friday class, but I took it on Saturday and we had to perform a dance! I also didn't expect the class to be full of young people. In a class of about 20, I was one of 3 who were over 30, and the oldest by far. I loved it. It helped that the young instructor, JJ Gerber, with his beautiful eyes and encouraging smile was charming, talented, and very patient. Dancing hip-hop and learning a dance routine so quickly was an exciting challenge and I was determined to go through with it. It cost me though. I could hardly walk the next day, and standing up and sitting down still hurt now 3 days later.
The best thing about the classes was meeting the wonderful people, singers and choristers on the journey together, warm and kind.
The best thing about the weekend was singing in the choir. The rehearsals were excellent. I really learned the most during the rehearsals. The Sunday night concert was thrilling! The TMC performance was slick, high-energy and awe-inspiring, and the York University Gospel Choir was excellent and adorable, as was the Youth Choir. (I think I would have hated it if someone called me adorable when I was in high school and university, but at my age, they look so young. And, I adored them.) I loved the band! I loved singing with a band. Wow! The energy is incredible. Singing in the choir was so joyous, exciting, satisfying, intoxicating that I didn't want the night to end.
The most important lesson that I took home with me was that a choir is a community built on love. Sounds cheesy but it's true.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Teachers and Nurses
Hi there!
You know how I noticed that so many of us choristers like to bake?
I noticed another thing about the people in the choir, and people in other choirs I've met. There seem to be a lot of teachers and nurses, more teachers and nurses than any other professions.
I don't think it's just because there are more women than men, because there are men who teach or have taught in choirs too. And, there aren't many men. Hmmmm.
I met a really wonderful person at the Power Up conference this weekend, (Lots actually, but this one stood out. I adored her.) and she's a nurse, and a really good dancer and a figure skater and of course a choir member, but I forgot to ask her if she likes to bake.
I'll have to remember to ask in the future. "So, what do you do when you're not singing? And, do you bake?"
I think that it's just another way that we can see that choir members are people who are creative and caring.
I love my choir.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
You know how I noticed that so many of us choristers like to bake?
I noticed another thing about the people in the choir, and people in other choirs I've met. There seem to be a lot of teachers and nurses, more teachers and nurses than any other professions.
I don't think it's just because there are more women than men, because there are men who teach or have taught in choirs too. And, there aren't many men. Hmmmm.
I met a really wonderful person at the Power Up conference this weekend, (Lots actually, but this one stood out. I adored her.) and she's a nurse, and a really good dancer and a figure skater and of course a choir member, but I forgot to ask her if she likes to bake.
I'll have to remember to ask in the future. "So, what do you do when you're not singing? And, do you bake?"
I think that it's just another way that we can see that choir members are people who are creative and caring.
I love my choir.
Yours in harmony,
Renate What kind of rest is this?
This is all you get for a review this week because I covered rests in my post from last week. To review last week's lesson click here.
So, what's the value of the rest in this joke? Ok, I'll make it easy and give you suggestions:
- eighth note
- quarter note
- half note
- whole note
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Cyber Conductor
Not as funny as Bugs Bunny, but really cute. I love hearing how much English is in the German, "volume control" for example, and "dinner parties". Hee hee!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Reading music: weekly lessons started. How many beats?
Here's a chart of note values to help you remember what we learned in Heather's music reading lesson before choir this week.
Remember that the value of a note depends on the time signature:
4/4 means there are 4 quarter notes in a bar. This is called Common Time, used for marches in particular, and common for most music. So, a whole note gets 4 beats.
We count 123412341234...
2/2 means there are 2 half notes in a bar. You're thinking that in 4/4 we can have 2 half notes in a bar. Right. But, 2/2 is faster. A half note gets 1 beat. We count 121212121212...
3/4 means 3 quarter notes. This is used to give a dancing feel. So, a whole note gets 3 beats.
We count 123123123...
2/4 means there are 2 quarter notes in a bar. And, it ends up sounding like cut time
We count 1212121212...
6/8 means 6 eighth notes (Lots of music is 6/8). A whole note gets 6 beats.
We count 123456123456123456...
Or, we can count 121212...
Or, sometimes, 123123123123...
We can divide the bars in half depending on the tempo.
Each note has a corresponding rest. Here's a chart of rest values.
Heather also taught us about dotted notes and then we had several examples in our music. Remember that a dot makes the note longer by 50%. (A second dot, which not very common, adds half of that, so another 25%.) Here's a chart to help you with dotted notes.
Often, the use of dotted notes gives a swingy feel to the music, bum ba-dum.
There's a lot of stuff about music theory on the Internet.
I'm looking forward to hearing more of Heather's music lessons. Can't wait to see what she teaches us next week. I'll follow up with a review here after each lesson.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Baking
Hi Everyone!
Is there a connection between baking and singing?
It seems to me there must be. So many of us in the choir enjoy baking and are pretty good at it too.
We just had a sweet executive meeting. Sandra, who hosted, baked several yummy things and a couple of others contributed as well. It's always like that. And, our coffee nights at choir always have scrumptious home made sweets as treats. Then, there's the bake sale at our concerts. Wow! You've never seen such an amazing selection of home made treats! We always have Donna's famous butter tarts, Heather's famous short bread, Sylvia's famous squares (I'm waiting for their return), and there's always something new that people want the recipe for.
I think it might be a general inclination towards creative expression. But, why is it that we choose to express ourselves with cookies and choir, muffins and music? Are we doing other creative things too, or is this enough?
Are there painters, poets, scrapbookers, knitters and sewers among us as well? And, in such great numbers?
What do you think?
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Is there a connection between baking and singing?
It seems to me there must be. So many of us in the choir enjoy baking and are pretty good at it too.
We just had a sweet executive meeting. Sandra, who hosted, baked several yummy things and a couple of others contributed as well. It's always like that. And, our coffee nights at choir always have scrumptious home made sweets as treats. Then, there's the bake sale at our concerts. Wow! You've never seen such an amazing selection of home made treats! We always have Donna's famous butter tarts, Heather's famous short bread, Sylvia's famous squares (I'm waiting for their return), and there's always something new that people want the recipe for.
I think it might be a general inclination towards creative expression. But, why is it that we choose to express ourselves with cookies and choir, muffins and music? Are we doing other creative things too, or is this enough?
Are there painters, poets, scrapbookers, knitters and sewers among us as well? And, in such great numbers?
What do you think?
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Accolades
Hi Everyone!
I'm really lucky being the conductor. Since I do the talking, people come and talk to me.
Whenever we go out performing, I get all kinds of wonderful positive feedback. It feels great. I'm already high from the performance, and then people come up to me all excited and grateful and full of kind praise. Heavenly.
When we meet next, I tell the rest of the choir. But, it's not the same. In the moment it's thrilling.
Now, whenever I go to see someone perform, if I have the opportunity, I tell them that I enjoyed the show and try to give them some specific piece of praise too. I know how good it feels.
We had some very nice feedback about the show we did for Probus on Thursday. They were a great audience, weren't they? We did do a great job :)
Thanks to everyone for coming out on a weekday morning. I know that several of you had to take the morning off of work. What a great team effort!
I love my choir!
Yours in harmony,
Renate
I'm really lucky being the conductor. Since I do the talking, people come and talk to me.
Whenever we go out performing, I get all kinds of wonderful positive feedback. It feels great. I'm already high from the performance, and then people come up to me all excited and grateful and full of kind praise. Heavenly.
When we meet next, I tell the rest of the choir. But, it's not the same. In the moment it's thrilling.
Now, whenever I go to see someone perform, if I have the opportunity, I tell them that I enjoyed the show and try to give them some specific piece of praise too. I know how good it feels.
We had some very nice feedback about the show we did for Probus on Thursday. They were a great audience, weren't they? We did do a great job :)
Thanks to everyone for coming out on a weekday morning. I know that several of you had to take the morning off of work. What a great team effort!
I love my choir!
Yours in harmony,
Renate Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Warming Up
Hi Everyone!
I recently joined a group on Linked In: Choral Enthusiasts. There are some really good discussions going on and the one I'm most interested in is the one on warm-ups.
I know they're important, and I like to explain why we do what we do as we're doing it, but I do feel that some people might think we're wasting our time. When people consistently arrive after warm-ups, it bothers me a bit. I try to think positively and assume that they're late because of a long trip home after work, traffic, or something like that :)
There's a really good blog about warm-ups that you should read. (just click on that highlighted part) The writer compares warm-ups to breakfast. We all know that we shouldn't skip breakfast, but it happens. And, lots of people continue to skip breakfast by choice.
One thing that she mentions is that it sets the tone of the rehearsal, even establishes the choir's identity and goes so far as to say that "To miss the warm-up is to withhold your full participation in the choir’s moral order."
I like that. We do establish that we want to have fun and relax, get the kinks of the day out, and that we're serious about our music too by the exercises we choose and how we do them and by laughing heartily.
I'm going to spend some time looking at that blog. It's called Helping you harmonise.
See you next Monday!
Yours in harmony,
I recently joined a group on Linked In: Choral Enthusiasts. There are some really good discussions going on and the one I'm most interested in is the one on warm-ups.
I know they're important, and I like to explain why we do what we do as we're doing it, but I do feel that some people might think we're wasting our time. When people consistently arrive after warm-ups, it bothers me a bit. I try to think positively and assume that they're late because of a long trip home after work, traffic, or something like that :)
There's a really good blog about warm-ups that you should read. (just click on that highlighted part) The writer compares warm-ups to breakfast. We all know that we shouldn't skip breakfast, but it happens. And, lots of people continue to skip breakfast by choice.
One thing that she mentions is that it sets the tone of the rehearsal, even establishes the choir's identity and goes so far as to say that "To miss the warm-up is to withhold your full participation in the choir’s moral order."
I like that. We do establish that we want to have fun and relax, get the kinks of the day out, and that we're serious about our music too by the exercises we choose and how we do them and by laughing heartily.
I'm going to spend some time looking at that blog. It's called Helping you harmonise.
See you next Monday!
Yours in harmony,
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Winterfest was fun!
It was great to be on the new outdoor stage at the new park in downtown Newmarket. The skating rink was right there and it was magical having people skating to our music, and even nicer when they stopped skating to listen to us. We did have to wait for the zamboni to finish before we started singing. That was a first for us!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Newmarket Winterfest
Here's what we're singing:
- What a Wonderful World
- You Raise Me Up
- True Colors
- Hallelujah
Wear dark coats and pants and your scarf on top.
Meet near the stage.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Learning about other choir opportunities
Hello Everyone!
An article in the Toronto Star today made me do some reading about a couple of other choir groups. It's really interesting to see how people are getting together to sing. It's really great that others have discovered what a joy it is to sing together in a choir!
I've got to digest what I've read and think about my reactions before I can share my thoughts about this.
I really want to share this with you right away. So in the meantime, check these out:
My Pop Choir
Choir!Choir!Choir!
Yours in harmony,
Renate
An article in the Toronto Star today made me do some reading about a couple of other choir groups. It's really interesting to see how people are getting together to sing. It's really great that others have discovered what a joy it is to sing together in a choir!
I've got to digest what I've read and think about my reactions before I can share my thoughts about this.
I really want to share this with you right away. So in the meantime, check these out:
My Pop Choir
Choir!Choir!Choir!
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Our Calendar
Hey, Everyone!
Have you started using our Calendar yet?
Go to the 'links' box on the left and click on YRCC Calendar. You'll get a pretty bare looking calendar, so go to the 'month' view (top right) and click the arrows at the top left near the date to scroll through the months.
When you click on an event, a pop-up appears with all the details. One of the details is the location. Click on 'map' and you get a Google map of the location. I've included the list of music we're going to sing at Probus. Check it out!
If you have a Google calendar, the whole thing can be copied onto your calendar. You can invite people to events through the calendar and there are many more features that I'm just learning about.
Visit this blog page regularly for information about our choir. For a quick look, go to the right panel and look at 'Nota Bene' and 'Schedule" to see if there's anything new you need to know about.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Have you started using our Calendar yet?
Go to the 'links' box on the left and click on YRCC Calendar. You'll get a pretty bare looking calendar, so go to the 'month' view (top right) and click the arrows at the top left near the date to scroll through the months.
When you click on an event, a pop-up appears with all the details. One of the details is the location. Click on 'map' and you get a Google map of the location. I've included the list of music we're going to sing at Probus. Check it out!
If you have a Google calendar, the whole thing can be copied onto your calendar. You can invite people to events through the calendar and there are many more features that I'm just learning about.
Visit this blog page regularly for information about our choir. For a quick look, go to the right panel and look at 'Nota Bene' and 'Schedule" to see if there's anything new you need to know about.
Yours in harmony,
Renate Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Singing together every Monday in Newmarket
Hello and Happy New Year, Everyone!
It's great to be back after the holidays. It's great to be singing again and spending time with the great folks in the York Region Community Choir.
There are a few new faces in the choir, which is wonderful. It's exciting to hear that people are hearing about us and loving what we do so much that they want to join us. I know that they weren't disappointed. I could hear the smiles in the voices. We had fun.
We've got some great music to learn this season, and some of it will be very challenging, but some of it will be easy too. Our theme is Stage and Screen, so we'll be singing music from the opera to Broadway to Glee and it's sure to be entertaining- for us and our audiences. I know our families will love the May concert.
We are making connections with the community again, this time with a Probus Club in Newmarket. A couple of them are members of the choir. They've asked us to sing at their anniversary meeting in February. It's a bit of a big deal for us. For one thing, it's on a Thursday morning. Many of us work, but somehow a good number of people are going to make the time to be there. It's also very early in our season, so we're going to do a bit of scrambling to get a program ready. It'll be fine. We're good under pressure. And, we're a great team. People have been approaching me with all kinds of good suggestions for what to sing and how to pull it off.
Everyone is looking forward to having CD's to help them learn their parts again this season. Sapphire and I got together over the holidays and did a bunch of recording. We've got a couple more recordings to do and then we'll make the CD's. Besides helping us learn our parts, the recordings are very useful for when Sapphire can't be with us. She and Jonathan will be travelling again at the end of the month, so we're going to make good use of the recordings this season.
I'll try to keep posting regularly, but, as I told Sophie on Monday, this blog is not so much about my posts as it is a place to find information about the choir. The link to the calendar should see good use, and for quick reference, look at the boxes that are marked Nota Bene and Schedule on the right. Those boxes will have the places, times and dates you need to know.
See you next Monday!
Yours in harmony,
It's great to be back after the holidays. It's great to be singing again and spending time with the great folks in the York Region Community Choir.
There are a few new faces in the choir, which is wonderful. It's exciting to hear that people are hearing about us and loving what we do so much that they want to join us. I know that they weren't disappointed. I could hear the smiles in the voices. We had fun.
We've got some great music to learn this season, and some of it will be very challenging, but some of it will be easy too. Our theme is Stage and Screen, so we'll be singing music from the opera to Broadway to Glee and it's sure to be entertaining- for us and our audiences. I know our families will love the May concert.
We are making connections with the community again, this time with a Probus Club in Newmarket. A couple of them are members of the choir. They've asked us to sing at their anniversary meeting in February. It's a bit of a big deal for us. For one thing, it's on a Thursday morning. Many of us work, but somehow a good number of people are going to make the time to be there. It's also very early in our season, so we're going to do a bit of scrambling to get a program ready. It'll be fine. We're good under pressure. And, we're a great team. People have been approaching me with all kinds of good suggestions for what to sing and how to pull it off.
Everyone is looking forward to having CD's to help them learn their parts again this season. Sapphire and I got together over the holidays and did a bunch of recording. We've got a couple more recordings to do and then we'll make the CD's. Besides helping us learn our parts, the recordings are very useful for when Sapphire can't be with us. She and Jonathan will be travelling again at the end of the month, so we're going to make good use of the recordings this season.
I'll try to keep posting regularly, but, as I told Sophie on Monday, this blog is not so much about my posts as it is a place to find information about the choir. The link to the calendar should see good use, and for quick reference, look at the boxes that are marked Nota Bene and Schedule on the right. Those boxes will have the places, times and dates you need to know.
See you next Monday!
Yours in harmony,
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by the YRCC
This is a beautiful video made by Robert Heron when he was in the audience at the In Harmony With The Community concert hosted by the York Regional Police Male Chorus at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Newmarket in November 2011. Now Robert sings with us!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Christmas rushing
Hello Everyone!
What a busy time! There's so much to do that it's overwhelming.
I've just finished writing my Christmas cards, and I think I'm done with the decorating now. I've just started doing my Christmas baking and shopping. Some people are already done!
There are choir performances, church events, friends and family to see, and just way to much to do!
We're right in the thick of our performance season, and I have to think about our next season too. I have to have everything ready for when we return in January. Both Sapphire and I are going away over the holidays, so we have to get together before Christmas to do the planning and recording. We've got a theme picked out: Stage and Screen. We're going to be singing some fun and beautiful music. But, just as it's hard to think of Christmas over summer, it's hard now to think of anything else but Christmas now!
I wanted to sit down and write about our concert right away. I was so happy with how everything turned out! It really went well, didn't it? But then, we had our first senior's visit on Monday. Then, right after that we had our choir party and that was very nice too. We had so much delicious food and the company was so nice that we just ate and talked and forgot about singing. That's the first time we've been together without singing!
Tomorrow, we're all going to Sunrise in Aurora. Something to remember: it's hot. Seniors' residences are always too hot. Seniors do a lot of sitting still, so they get cold. We're going to be hot, so wear lighter white tops-even sleeveless is ok, and light-weight black pants or skirts. It's quite a bit more casual than a concert.
I'd like to blog more often, but I'm just not finding the time. No time for Farmville either. I've been trying to keep the Choir Calender up-to-date, but that's about it.
I hope I'll find another quiet moment over the next few weeks to share some more with you. But, if I don't, I'm sure you'll understand.
Have a very merry Christmas! I wish you lots of joy and precious moments of peace and tranquility too.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
What a busy time! There's so much to do that it's overwhelming.
I've just finished writing my Christmas cards, and I think I'm done with the decorating now. I've just started doing my Christmas baking and shopping. Some people are already done!
There are choir performances, church events, friends and family to see, and just way to much to do!
We're right in the thick of our performance season, and I have to think about our next season too. I have to have everything ready for when we return in January. Both Sapphire and I are going away over the holidays, so we have to get together before Christmas to do the planning and recording. We've got a theme picked out: Stage and Screen. We're going to be singing some fun and beautiful music. But, just as it's hard to think of Christmas over summer, it's hard now to think of anything else but Christmas now!
I wanted to sit down and write about our concert right away. I was so happy with how everything turned out! It really went well, didn't it? But then, we had our first senior's visit on Monday. Then, right after that we had our choir party and that was very nice too. We had so much delicious food and the company was so nice that we just ate and talked and forgot about singing. That's the first time we've been together without singing!
Tomorrow, we're all going to Sunrise in Aurora. Something to remember: it's hot. Seniors' residences are always too hot. Seniors do a lot of sitting still, so they get cold. We're going to be hot, so wear lighter white tops-even sleeveless is ok, and light-weight black pants or skirts. It's quite a bit more casual than a concert.
I'd like to blog more often, but I'm just not finding the time. No time for Farmville either. I've been trying to keep the Choir Calender up-to-date, but that's about it.
I hope I'll find another quiet moment over the next few weeks to share some more with you. But, if I don't, I'm sure you'll understand.
Have a very merry Christmas! I wish you lots of joy and precious moments of peace and tranquility too.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Monday, November 21, 2011
Our Busy Time is Here!
Hello Everyone!
This is it. We've been working hard for this. We're starting our performances.
This Thursday, the 24th, from 11:30-1:00 we're singing at the United Way Craft Sale in the Great Hall of the Administrative Centre. Be prepared to sing anything and everything, including Christmas carols.
This Saturday, the 26th, starting at 7:30, we're participating in the St. Andrew's Presybterian Church "Come in from the cold" Coffee House. We are singing only 3 songs: Peace on This Silent Night, Little Tree, and You Raise Me Up. If they want an encore, we'll do Hallelujah.
Monday the 28th is our run-through rehearsal at Trinity United Church in Newmarket. We'll see how we fit in that space and how to get in place, etc.
Sunday, December 4th is our big "Concert of Peace and Joy" at Trinity Newmarket from 2-4, but be there at 1:00 for a warm-up and sound check. And, we'll need some people to set up the bake sale. Don't forget to bake!
Monday, December 5th is our Christmas Party, a pot-luck and sing-along, karaoke night in our room at the Admin. Ctr. But, first some of us will go out to sing at Eagle Terrace.
There are two more seniors visits which you can look up on the calendar. Keep checking the calendar for details. You'll find it in the Links list on the left.
Check your emails on Mondays before heading out, just in case there are any changes. It's that time of year when weather and viruses can change our plans in the last moment.
The executive is working hard to make sure everything is in place. Let's all work together to make this a fun and successful end of season.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
This is it. We've been working hard for this. We're starting our performances.
This Thursday, the 24th, from 11:30-1:00 we're singing at the United Way Craft Sale in the Great Hall of the Administrative Centre. Be prepared to sing anything and everything, including Christmas carols.
This Saturday, the 26th, starting at 7:30, we're participating in the St. Andrew's Presybterian Church "Come in from the cold" Coffee House. We are singing only 3 songs: Peace on This Silent Night, Little Tree, and You Raise Me Up. If they want an encore, we'll do Hallelujah.
Monday the 28th is our run-through rehearsal at Trinity United Church in Newmarket. We'll see how we fit in that space and how to get in place, etc.
Sunday, December 4th is our big "Concert of Peace and Joy" at Trinity Newmarket from 2-4, but be there at 1:00 for a warm-up and sound check. And, we'll need some people to set up the bake sale. Don't forget to bake!
Monday, December 5th is our Christmas Party, a pot-luck and sing-along, karaoke night in our room at the Admin. Ctr. But, first some of us will go out to sing at Eagle Terrace.
There are two more seniors visits which you can look up on the calendar. Keep checking the calendar for details. You'll find it in the Links list on the left.
Check your emails on Mondays before heading out, just in case there are any changes. It's that time of year when weather and viruses can change our plans in the last moment.
The executive is working hard to make sure everything is in place. Let's all work together to make this a fun and successful end of season.
Yours in harmony,
RenateTuesday, November 15, 2011
A Thrilling Concert: In Harmony With The Community was awesome!
Hello Everyone!
Well, I was super-stressed. But, it was soooo worth it!
The York Region Community Choir can be very proud of our performance at the 19th annual In Harmony With The Community concert! We did exceptionally well.
The other choirs were so good and sounded so beautiful that we were inspired to do our best, to give every last bit of ourselves. It was our best performance ever!
Conducting the mass choir was thrilling! What a power trip! Close to 200 people following my baton and watching me was a huge responsibility and really made me sweat, but it was also great fun!
Singing with more than 200 choristers was also thrilling. I loved it! I was so happy that Sapphire and I chose to sing the songs that we weren't leading. Singing is a great release of stress! It felt soooooo good, especially, to belt out the very high notes in Who Are The Brave.
The whole experience is something I will never forget.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Well, I was super-stressed. But, it was soooo worth it!
The York Region Community Choir can be very proud of our performance at the 19th annual In Harmony With The Community concert! We did exceptionally well.
The other choirs were so good and sounded so beautiful that we were inspired to do our best, to give every last bit of ourselves. It was our best performance ever!
Conducting the mass choir was thrilling! What a power trip! Close to 200 people following my baton and watching me was a huge responsibility and really made me sweat, but it was also great fun!
Singing with more than 200 choristers was also thrilling. I loved it! I was so happy that Sapphire and I chose to sing the songs that we weren't leading. Singing is a great release of stress! It felt soooooo good, especially, to belt out the very high notes in Who Are The Brave.
The whole experience is something I will never forget.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wordlady: Sing a long what?
Hi Everyone!
One of my other interests is grammar and spelling. Through my job at Victor Travel, and my friends there, I met Canada's Wordlady, Katherine Barber.
She does Ballet Tours with Victor Travel.
I actually met her at my book club, or Reading Group, as we called it.
I like to follow her blog, and this time I thought I'd share it with you. Click on the link below to read about a spelling issue that concerns us. While you're there, click on "For Ballet Lovers" at the top. It'll take you to her Tours en l'air page.
Wordlady: Sing a long what?
Yours in harmony,
Renate
One of my other interests is grammar and spelling. Through my job at Victor Travel, and my friends there, I met Canada's Wordlady, Katherine Barber.
She does Ballet Tours with Victor Travel.
I actually met her at my book club, or Reading Group, as we called it.
I like to follow her blog, and this time I thought I'd share it with you. Click on the link below to read about a spelling issue that concerns us. While you're there, click on "For Ballet Lovers" at the top. It'll take you to her Tours en l'air page.
Wordlady: Sing a long what?
Yours in harmony,
Renate
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Small Group Breath of Heaven
Hi Guys,
I'm attaching the accompaniment for Breath of Heaven so you can rehearse at home.
I didn't know I could do this, but Trix asked me to and offered to help if I couldn't figure it out. Sometimes you just need to be told a thing is possible to make it so.
It's taking me forever. I'm not the tech wiz that Trix is. She said it would be easy, but I didn't manage to figure out an easy way. So, this is what I ended up with, a video.
I love this song. Thank you for agreeing to sing it for us.
We're going to have another amazing concert.
Don't forget to let all your friends and relatives know about the concert so they can set the date aside. December is a busy time. December 4th at 2pm at Trinity United Church in Newmarket.
You can invite them to your house after for a light supper. You won't need much because you'll be encouraging them all to indulge at intermission and have lots of sweets!
Let me know if this video is helpful.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
I'm attaching the accompaniment for Breath of Heaven so you can rehearse at home.
It's taking me forever. I'm not the tech wiz that Trix is. She said it would be easy, but I didn't manage to figure out an easy way. So, this is what I ended up with, a video.
I love this song. Thank you for agreeing to sing it for us.
We're going to have another amazing concert.
Don't forget to let all your friends and relatives know about the concert so they can set the date aside. December is a busy time. December 4th at 2pm at Trinity United Church in Newmarket.
You can invite them to your house after for a light supper. You won't need much because you'll be encouraging them all to indulge at intermission and have lots of sweets!
Let me know if this video is helpful.
Yours in harmony,
Renate
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