CHOIR ISN’T JUST SINGING TOGETHER...
 

Chris Manu, a wonderful and highly respected musical director, reminds us that choir is about so much more than simply singing the right notes. He says:
"Effective choral singing is not just about accuracy, but continuous adjusting to others and recalibrating in real time. This rests on the trust that a coherent whole will emerge. Choir is less a collection of performers and more of a system of relationships. The sound lives between the voices, not in them."
He goes on to say:
"At its best, choir is a community continuously negotiating sound in real time... that negotiation is the music. When that contract is clear and is taught, the music becomes something no individual voice can create alone."
This really sums up so much of what we're trying to achieve, especially as we work on Fleetwood Mac's The Chain. This song takes much more than simply learning the notes – it's about working together with every singer in the room. We worked hard on this tonight and will continue to do so. Our listening skills really need to come to the fore so that we're aware of what everyone else is singing around us.
Next week, we're going to revisit the same section, but we'll be moving around the room to help us hear how all the parts fit together. Don't worry too much about the words – just feel the music.
We then made good progress with You Are the Reason. After spending some more time on the tricky little section in the middle, we made it to the end for the first time! We haven't actually worked on the final section yet, so we'll start there next week. There are still a few places where fitting all the words into a flowing phrase feels a little challenging, but we're really getting there now, and some of the harmonies are sounding absolutely sublime.
After all that hard work I thought it would be fun to have a quick sing through of Forever Country, which started brilliantly... we won't mention the ending! 😂 Still, through a bit of adversity, we carried on and got there in the end with smiles and laughter!
The weather has been pretty shocking recently, so because of that I decided we'd revisit the beautiful arrangement of Summertime to finish off our evening of singing. There are learning tracks on the website, so do have a listen when you get a chance.
I absolutely love this song, and if we're able to arrange a visit to Mary's workplace, Lakeview Grange, it would make a lovely addition to our little set list.
Another great session, so thank you, as always, for your hard work, enthusiasm and smiles.
 
See you next week 😊 Bx