Tag: Singing

I sing

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What do you do to be involved in the community?

I’ve been in a couple of local community choirs for several years. Not church choirs, or ones where you have to audition or read music, but natural voice choirs where you choose where you want to sing depending on your voice. Sometimes I sing really low notes but sometimes I join in with the high parts if there is a shortage of sopranos.

I’ve got involved in local pantomimes and community plays as a Chorus member and even had a few roles in plays as a singer. It’s good for community cohesion and helps me mentally especially when I’m feeling down. It drags me out of the house when I would just like to ignore the world. I try and persuade people to join me as it’s been a big help to me over the years. It doesn’t solve all the issues but it ameliorates them.

If you want to be involved in the community I would recommend choir singing as an activity. Music helps calm you and can be very meditative.

I didn’t know you could sing like that?

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What was the best compliment you’ve received?

I was with a friend on a training course once. We were in a hall with a piano and she decided to play. I started singing along, ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’.

Part way through another friend came in and complimented my friend for her singing, assuming that it had been her voice not mine. She pointed out it was me. He said something like, ‘oh I didn’t realise you could sing like that!’ and ‘you were very good!’. I wasn’t sure how to take it. Should singers look a certain way? But I think it was the best compliment because he judged it on my voice, not my appearance.

Singing cheers me up

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I was at choir practice yesterday and today. It cheered me up. I have to say I feel much better when I do go. I believe it helps to release endorphins in your brain? I know that when I’m feeling really down it helps so much. I would suggest if you can join a choir do it! A lot of choirs don’t have auditions, and are taught be repetition of the musical phrases rather than using sheet music. That’s how we are taught, the choir master sings a line and we repeat it. Gradually building up the song. We sometimes have the words printed off phonetically. We’ve learnt French, Zulu, Maori, Spanish, Bulgarian and many other languages learning that way.

I know this is a bit random, but I think its a great way af helping your mental health and also a good way of socialising.

Singing for health

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I went to choir this morning. It’s one for lung health but I go because my friend goes and more and more for my mental health too.

I’ve been through a lot of crisises lately and I feel like I’m in the middle of a crescendo of music at the moment, will the wall of sound collapse and calm down, or turn into a tsunami of torment? Awaiting test results to find out.

I finally got a long awaited hospital appointment through, I’m hoping something will be sorted out, but I’m nervous of the outcome.

Meantime? I will keep singing at choirs, trying  to keep my spirits and endorphins up. I will try and keep calm in the middle of a whirling cacophony of worry!

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.

Five things?

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Share five things you’re good at.

Cooking. I don’t follow recipes but I can cook reasonable food. I like experimenting with flavours and my favourite treat is trifle,

Driving, I’m pretty good at driving, although developing cataracts may change this. Aging is such an annoying thing. I have good road awareness but I think I might go for an automatic car if I get another one.

Art, if you follow ti’s blog you will be aware of the art work that I do. I mainly use acrylic on canvas, but I sometimes paint in oils and watercolours and then digital art.

Reading? Is reading a skill? I’ve got over a thousand books on bookcases around the house. Reading helps keep my mind working. I don’t like reading devices, I prefer real books.

Singing, I have been a member of different choirs for several years now. It helps me take my mind off my worries. I have a quite deep speaking voice and sing low (alto/bass), I love singing in harmony. Life is making what you can of your talents.

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.