Tag: Choir

Memory and singing

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Five or six years ago our choir learnt ” I walk to Jo-berg” to sing at a choir festival. It’s a good song, full of different sounds, English and Afrikaans words. Someone in the choir requested that we learn it again.

Not all the old choir members are still with us, but within minutes we knew what bits to sing. WE WERE SINGING JAZZ TUNES we hadn’t sung in years. It was fascinating how we could recollect it. You scratch your head and think I’ll never remember that, and then it’s coming out of your mouth without you having to struggle! We were singing in four part harmony and building up sections. We had a great time and we really enjoyed it.

Recent studies have shown that learning a new musical instrument or learning to sing can improve mental acuity and memory. And it’s fun!

New choir

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I missed choir last night so I was pleased to go to a brand new one tonight! It’s monthly on the third Wednesday of the month in a local library. They have got funding to run a choir for at least a year. My friends from the Boat Band, who run other choirs in Stoke on Trent were leading it.

It was a cold and frosty night but 16 people turned up! Three of us were choir members but the rest were new to singing and wanted to see what it was like. We learnt by repeating phrases and didn’t use sheet music and it was…. Amazing,

We managed to sing in two parts, then three, we managed to sing low and high harmonies. By the end of the evening everyone was buzzing, we even thought of giving the group a name! Me? I loved it. I hope it gathers force and keeps going X

Singing

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I went to choir practice tonight. It was with trepidation and I was very nervous, but I’m glad I went. Breathing in and out, stretching my lungs, concentrating on the words and the emotions of each song. Gradually I felt a bit more like myself. It was scary and upsetting to start off with but by the end of the session I had relaxed a bit.

The only problem was that when I got home with a friend man in high vi’s trousers was wandering in the middle of the road. He watched us as we got out of the car, so we stood outside and loudly discussed if “Tom” or “Pete” were still up. Pretending someone was already in the house. Then I looked at the man and said I would ring the police. He wandered off and my friend sat in her car for five minutes watching out for me. Anxiety is a bad thing.

Singing at a lights switch on

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Our choir sang at the switch on of Christmas lights tonight. We sang for about twenty minutes and included traditional carols and other seasonal songs.

The only problem though was the traffic! It felt like hundreds of cars were on the way to the venue. Everyone was driving in the right hand lane as we had to turn right at a roundabout onto the venue. Our choir leader had a asked for designated parking, but was told there would be plenty of spaces. Unfortunately half the city seemed to be fighting for them!

We were dropped off while my friend went to find somewhere to park the car. We had to fight our way through a packed crowd to get to the stage, so when we had finished our set we decided to listen to a couple of songs from the next act, then get going. Unfortunately this meant walking to the far end of the site and climbing over a low fence. When we finally made it to the car all the vehicles around us were in a stationary queue. The cars were moving a foot or two every few minutes. I think we would still be there if a man controlling the traffic explained there was a back road off the site! It took us one and a quarter hours to drive 400 yards!

Despite the traffic chaos, I think we did a great job, we were well appreciated and I’m glad we did it.

Mystery singers

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It’s coming up for Christmas and once again the Clay Chorus choir has transmogrified into the Mystery Singers.

We met last night for our second rehearsal and it was straight into various carols and wassails that we perform in a trip round Penkhulls’ pubs in a few weeks time.

We sang ‘while shepherd’s watched their flocks by night’ Cranbrook arrangement, ‘Good king Wenceslas’, ‘Sweet Chiming Bells’, and several other favourites.

Old friends come and add to the choir numbers. We sounded good last night. I hope we learn some new songs too x

River River where do you flow….?

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Words and music by John Warner.

One of the loveliest and unusual songs we sing at choir practice is River River.

These are words from memory but I think they are pretty accurate. I had to look up the writers name as we didn’t have it. I hope I’m not breaching copyright by writing out the lyrics? I will delete ths post if here is a problem?

River River where do you flow
With your water the colour of tea
Gold and red in your sandy bed
Do you flow to the wide green sea?
No said the river I flow inland
Sink down deep beneath the rock and the sand.
Under the Geeji  and the Mugar tree
Where the desert people can find me
Earth belongs to all, she belongs to no one, she belongs to herself
Earth belongs to all, she belongs to no one, she belongs to herself…..

I was answering someone’s question about how it goes because they recently joined the choir, and I see an image a bit like my drawing in my mind when I sing it.

Artist, illustrator, singer

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List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

Basically I would work for free if money wasn’t an object. I’m not bothered about sales, it’s the joy of getting my hands on paint, paper, canvas or pen and ink.

If I wasn’t creating art I would join a choir that travelled round and just did spontaneous performances of cool songs. Simply to make people feel better. I would do it without pay, just for the pleasure of entertaining people.

All I would need is enough money for food and shelter. Certainly I would try and share with other artists if money were no object. I would set up a small gallery near the coast and talk to people who visited it, but not as a salesperson, but to discuss art and creativity. I don’t enjoy selling, I’m an artist, not a seller. X