Sunday, May 24, 2015

Musical Monday - Oh the Joy of Choir

Tonight's practice was just that - an absolute joy for all of us.  We are singing the Sunday service at Knox Church to thank them for our practice space.  We have pulled out some "chestnuts" to sing that we haven't done for some time and are also singing some that we have practised and really enjoy but haven't had the opportunity to sing publicly yet.  Well the result was yummy!!
So what happens in your choir when they sing really well.  Here is what we did.

1.  Let it be - Check out the song on Fun Friday this week.  We are singing that very song.  At rehearsal, we sang it first and it was quite good despite a ragged entry.  The rest of the piece came together really well and the dynamics were especially good.
Instead, of going back right then and fixing the entry, we let the great sound we finished with stand.  We went back to it at the end.  99% was marvellous.  Let it stay and fix the one spot later.

2. Push the envelope a bit - Every piece they sang was really well done.  The one thing we haven't done is to sing a Capella.  We always said that we wanted to.  After singing so well, and having that great feeling of accomplishment, I knew they would be able to tackle a Capella with confidence.  We sang the Parting Blessing (Irish Blessing) with piano and then a Capella.  Kristy played the chord at the end and they were bang in tune.  We built on the great work that they had done through the practice and they extended their comfort zone.  Yes!

3. Leave them wanting more - We did a quick sing through of the medley we are singing for the Embro Fair in September but just that.  We sang through a couple of the pieces for the service as well before doing our Parting Blessing and then we went home.  We all kind of floated out on a feeling of solid accomplishment.  We stayed and chatted a bit and all parted looking forward to Sunday.  If we had tried to do more, I think that great sense of contentment might have been compromised.

I am still grinning.  What a treat!


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