25 Sept Update

WEEK 4 of 7 (half term 1)

This week's update is guest edited by our lovely choir member, Clara - while your usual scribe is unwell. As usual, we have a rehearsal update and a reminder of the dates for your diary.

Rehearsal

Warmup: This week Elena led us in a warm up that involved singing scales while taking a forceful step forward on one bended leg as if we were suddenly tripping or about to fall forward. As we stamped our foot forward, we increased the volume of the final note we sang. This was done with a lot of energy, as if we were scaring ourselves to make a very loud and forceful sound (some people may have even done jazz hands at this point in the exercise). Later, during rehearsal, Elena explained what octaves were and how they are used in California Dreamin.' We learned that most pianos have 5 octaves.

Songs we covered:

• California Dreamin' - for one of the full run-throughs of the song, Elena asked us to sing with more timbre in our voices as if we were singing solos, rather than as part of a choir. This led to a much louder performance from everyone, but also much hilarity among the Soprano 2 group who belted out 'on such a winter's day' repeatedly.

  Elena explained that, when performing as a choir, we would normally not sing with so much timbre in our voices; we should aim for a volume somewhere between singing as if we were performing a solo (so each section can be heard clearly) and the more measured volume of collective choir singing (so the whole group blends together).

*Timbre in musical / singing terms means the colour, tone, quality and resonance of our voices.

• Keep on Movin' - This song led to us all feeling some nostalgia about boybands and songs from our youth. Although it did become apparent that at least one member of the choir was born after Keep on Movin' was released! This was a really jolly and fun song to sing and everyone seemed to enjoy practising it. The song has 2 different alto sections and 2 different soprano sections, so everyone gets the chance to sing all sections of the lyrics at some point. We also get to clap in this song, which is fun, but perhaps a test for those of us who are more rhythmically challenged [basically me - Clara!].

Lyric & Audio Library

All song lyrics and recordings are in the Lyric & Audio Library .

DATES FOR THE DIARY

SATURDAY 29th November - Maple Road Market (Penge) 

We will be singing at Maple Road Market* which, for the month of November, will be held in Anerley Town Hall. We will be singing 2 slots - most likely the first will be around 12 till 12.20 - then we'll have a 45 min break with the second performance at 13.15 (TBC). Our repertoire will be Christmas songs - list is also TBC (we'll be asking for suggestions at future rehearsals). Depending on the weather, we may be singing indoors or outdoors.

We'll share more information (and a registration form) as soon as we have it.

*The Maple Road Market is a volunteer led independent local market that was originally started in 1921. It stopped trading in 2010 but was brought back with help from the local community and Bromley council. It's held on the last Saturday of each month and features a mix of vendors and activities, ranging from art & craft to kids activities and hot food to health and wellbeing.

FRIDAY 19 December - Stanley Arts Christmas Concert

Following on from the last 2 years, we’ll be singing as part of the Stanley Arts Christmas concert. We are asking the choir for Christmas song suggestions, which we will start rehearsing after our half-term break in October.

More details to follow!