8 May Update

Week 4 of 6 (Half Term 1)

In this week's bulletin, we have:

• Coffee Notices

• A rehearsal recap

• Registration opens - 7th June Winsford Gardens

☕ Coffee Notices

Our performance at Winsford Gardens is fast approaching - registration is now open (see the Performing page for more details). Please sign up for the event as soon as you can. We’ll be singing alongside other local music groups, so it should be a really lovely experience for everyone.

If you’re new and worried you won’t know all the songs, don’t be – you’re always welcome to join in with the ones you do know. We also have our Music Library, where you can practise any of our back catalogue (password is COTH1).

🎤 Rehearsal Recap

Warmup

This week we began with a quick body warm-up. Singing is a full-body exercise, so it’s just as important to keep your joints supple and your muscles loose as it is to keep your voice warm and ready to sing.

These gentle rotation exercises are useful beyond choir too – most of us would benefit from taking a bit of time to stretch and relax at the start and end of each day.

Elena then took us through a set of exercises known as ‘sirens’. Keeping the mouth in a ‘Pingu’ or ‘fish face’ position, with gently pouted lips, helps to focus the sound. Engaging the cheek muscles prevents air escaping at the sides, allowing you to feel the vibration travelling across the upper lip and front teeth. Using a ‘vee’ sound should create a strong sensation across the cupid’s bow. We used a sliding arpeggio to create the ‘siren’ effect.

This exercise helps improve control, tone quality and range, allowing you to access notes beyond your usual comfort zone. We also placed our fingers just below the cheekbones to feel the muscles and joints working, and made a conscious effort to sing each note of the arpeggio clearly and cleanly.

Songs

What Happens When A Woman

Elena has explained that the strength of WHWAW comes from connecting with the audience. With that in mind, we’ll gradually work towards singing without lyrics. We know this can feel a bit daunting – it’s not something we often do as a choir – so we’ll take it step by step.

To support this, we have created a picture-based ‘cheat sheet’ as a helpful transition away from full lyrics. Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the key, along with the new layout.

Walking on Sunshine

See the revised lyric sheet here. It includes the following performing notes:

• The verses are all sung in the main melody together

• The altos sing all chorus sections in harmony

• The grey sections are sung by the sopranos only

• On page 1 there is a very short musical interlude between ‘and don’t it feel good’ and the 2 lines of ‘walking on sunshine’.

• We sing the last part of the song through twice (as shown on page 2).

Dates for the diary

7th June - Winsford Garden Party

We have also been invited to sing at the Winsford Garden party - an event that will include other vocalists and musicians. Our performance will be sometime between 12.15 -1.30pm. Here is the poster advertising the event from the organisers.