SUMMER WORKSHOP No. 2 🎶
 

Wow! What a phenomenal one-and-a-half hours (well... nearly two!) of singing. You

worked SO hard, and I hope you feel it was worth it!

Each week I’ll be posting the session recordings and some notes, which I hope will be useful to everyone — not just those who came along to the workshops.

 

Our concert is in November, which might seem ages away, but remember that we’ll
have three new songs to learn when we return in the autumn. So the aim is to get these songs well and truly into our memory banks now, so that we can sing them again and again — and, importantly, sing them with confidence.

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🎶 PART 1 — Jolene (and a baby sardine!)
After some vocal warm-ups and some very fetching/funny faces, we had fun singing a

lovely new round called A BABY SARDINE.

I couldn’t resist it! And singing in a round is always a great way to warm up our voices — but, perhaps more importantly, it wakes up our brains! We have to concentrate on our own bit while listening to everyone else. Excellent brain gymnastics. 🧠🎶

 

REPETITION, REPETITION, REPETITION!

 

It really is the best way to get those tricky bits learned.

We also need to really listen when we’re learning — especially when we’re learning harmonies for songs we already know well. Our brains are very clever, but
sometimes too clever, and they just want to go back to singing the version they already know!

So please do listen through the recording several times and sing along with it. We spend quite a bit of time working through the trickier sections, so it’s a great opportunity to practise.

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Jolene
 

We really did take a fine-tooth comb to Jolene today! We worked on:

• the tricky timings and rhythms

• the harmonies

• telling the story of the song

• learning the words

• and adding our sprinkling of ‘twang’ / ‘vocal cry’ that we practised in the warm-up.

 

Remember those fists together to remind us how to support and hold those notes that need a little extra scaffolding.

The more securely you know the words, the more freedom you’ll have to
actually perform the song — and Jolene is definitely a song where I would love to see NO FOLDERS...Yes. I really did just say that. 😁
We still need to give that very last line a few more goes so that the ending leaves the

audience thinking, “WOW!”
But honestly — you took this song to a whole new level today. Hats off to you! 👏

 

🍓 PART 2 — Forever Country
After a much-needed break involving strawberries and the best ginger cake in the

world...
Yes, folks. If you weren’t there, you really did miss out. 😉

We carried on with a few of the little bits that didn’t quite come together last week in Forever Country.

The main thing we worked on was timing, particularly for the middle voices in the middle section of the song. This is where watching me is really important — lower voices too!

“But above all this...” a little fluttering ‘buttabove’! 🦋.... if you know, you know.
We also worked on the ending. Give it just a little more work next week and I think we’re there.

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🎶 NEXT WEEK — WORKSHOP No. 3

⏰ NEW TIME: 1.30–3.30pm. Yes, we’re going for the full two hours, because, quite

frankly, one-and-a-half hours just isn’t enough! 😂

We will be dissecting HARBOUR, if you haven’t already booked we have just 5 spaces remaining. I’ll be bringing my beautiful tone chimes, so some of you will get to have a little play with those as accompaniment. So... a slightly different tone next week!

We’ll then tidy up some of the odds and ends from Weeks 1 and 2 before having a sing- through of all three songs to keep the momentum going.

 

🏠 TAKE-HOMES

If you only remember a few things from today, remember these:

🔁 REPETITION — listen, sing along, repeat!

🎵 VOCAL TWANGS — sprinkle them in where we’ve practised them.

👀 WATCH ME! — especially in those fast-moving sections.

📖 LEARN THE WORDS — the more securely you know them, the more you can perform the song.

 

And finally...

Jolene and Forever Country are FAST-moving songs with lots of counter-rhythms.

There is a reason I wave my arms around like a windmill! 😂
So please keep listening, keep singing and keep practising. Every time you go through these

songs, another little piece clicks into place.

And remember — you’re doing brilliantly. These are not easy songs, and the progress you’re making is fantastic. Keep going! ❤🎶