Look Out for Specs!

Specs, I see no Specs?

It's only two months until our Summer Concert, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.  We have all the material that Elliot arranged and taught us, some of which Eamonn has not heard us sing yet, as well as Eamonn’s four new songs and some old ones he will be bringing back (although these will be new songs for a lot of us who haven’t sung them before)

We went through Without or Without You this time to the end of the song.

It is critical to know when to come in for the Altos and Sops, so listen for a little ripple in the base at the end of the bar, and that is your entrance.

Altos; ‘See the stone set in your eyes…’ and Sops & Altos: ‘Sleight of hand and twist of fate…’

‘Through the storm ….’ The Tenors and Basses are together until a split ‘..and I’m waiting for you’ so don’t be tempted to carry on singing the same tune together.

In the section ‘and you give yourself away…..’, the ‘gives’ are all off the beat and need to have a little push on the sound, apart from the last ‘give’ (which has a pair of specs over it ), which is on the beat.

Give ‘give’ some looooooove.

Listen to each other even though you are singing different notes. Primarily through the section with a call and response: ‘My hands are tied, my body bruised’

Tenors, think of ‘My body bruised, you got me with’ as one long phrase.

DO NOT BREATHE: ‘Nothing to win and nothing left to lose’ It is a long phrase, so drive through it to the end to create endless tension.

Ultimately, the pattern of notes remains the same; they begin as ‘Aahs’, but the last pair is ‘Oohs’, which provides a softer ending. Sop 1s, start your ‘Aahs’ a little louder and confidently.

Sop2s and Basses, the phrases you sing over the Aahs and Oohs seem quick by comparison, but keep the momentum going

Every Time We Say Goodbye is a song we have previously sung, although this is an updated arrangement, so ensure you have the 2025 version.

This is a popular jazz song with lyrics and music by Cole Porter, published in 1944.

The lyrics celebrate how happy the singer is in the company of the beloved, but suffer equally whenever the two separate. Describing it by analogy as a musical "change from major to minor", Porter begins with an A♭ major chord and ends with an A♭minor chord, matching the mood of the music to the words.

Sopranos 1's and Basses are together.  Love the long notes in this, especially on ‘time’ and ‘bye’

Basses watch out for the specs in your music  showing where you are not on The Tune, but have your own tune to harmonise; ‘Why the gods above me…’

Tenors you are on and off the tune, so just learn it as Your Tune.

‘...must be in the know’  , the ‘muuuuust’ is a long vowel sound.

Any Dream Will Do was sung through. Eamonn will go through this again.

Next week we will go through Cloudbusting, With or Without You. 

Look out for anything new in Dropbox and keep practising EVERYTHING. 

Let the hard work begin!

And looking towards the future, The Sound of Silence. A real favourite.

Keep it Fresh

Sea Fog Rollin'

We recapped Sea Fog, which needed a minor reconstructive surgery!

It is important to have the right rhythm so the words fit the notes.

Do not breathe after ‘wings’ or ‘stone’

This song has long phases, so keep them going to the end, especially after ‘tomorrow’

 It is important to keep this one and all the songs we have previously done fresh in our minds, as we won’t have time to go through them all each week. Eamonn can then tweak them as he perfects them for performance.

Cloudbusting, a very challenging song, was next. Although it has a tick-tock rhythm, it is not melodic, and to make it interesting, it needs a sense of drama.

You have permission to breathe after dream, but only a quick, short breath!

Make your ‘YO, Yo’ sound like something important and top secret.

Enjoy the long notes; ‘rain’, ‘head’, ‘out’ and ‘Ooh’

Altos & Basses ensure you sing the three notes on ‘when’

There is a spacious sound to the music under ‘On top of the world’, but it doesn’t slow down (no matter how tempted you may be!)

‘Government’ is a very long note which crescendos, so sing it right through to the end, getting louder with a clear ‘t’ sound.

Sops, smile when you ‘Ooh’ to keep it bright.

With or Without You is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is on their album, The Joshua Tree, and was released as their lead single on 16 March 1987. The song was the group's most successful single at the time.

Ostensibly a song about troubled love, the track's lyrics were inspired by Bono's conflicting feelings about his life as a musician and a domestic man. While writing the lyrics, he realised that neither facet of his life defined him, but rather the tension between the two did. He explained that the final lyric is about torment and how repressing desires only strengthens them.

The rhythm is syncopated with only four chords, so you should be able to find the right note, even if it isn’t the right note for your voice part!

There is quite a long gap before singing ‘Sleight of hand…’

No chewing sound when singing ‘without you’ keep a soft ‘t’ sound so it doesn’t sound like ‘withoutchew’

Beware of the difference between singing ‘Oh’, which is more expansive, and an ‘Ooh’, which is softer.

Mark your music score accordingly so you know which one to sing.

Again, this song has long phrases, so sing them to the end without fizzling.

While learning new songs, you may be doing nothing until your part is taught. However, it is important to listen to the other parts, as a lot of the intonation, rhythms, etc., will be the same for you, so you can still learn while listening and patiently waiting.

Please listen to your parts at home.  Practice and be ready for next week.

Remember to keep all songs fresh in your minds.

Micro connections: How to feel more socially connected and happier..

The concept of social ties can be divided into two categories: strong ties and weak ties. Strong social ties are characterised by deep connections with individuals who share significant life experiences, such as family members, close friends, and work colleagues. In contrast, weak ties refer to acquaintances and familiar faces, such as friendly strangers or individuals with whom one may interact briefly. Though often overlooked, weak ties can enhance our happiness and sense of belonging. Influential sociologist Mark Granovetter highlighted the importance of these seemingly minor interactions in his research on employment networks, demonstrating that weak ties can facilitate connections to new networks, people, and information.

Research conducted by Gillian Sandstrom, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Essex, indicates that individuals with a larger network of weak ties tend to report higher overall happiness. Her findings suggest that when participants engaged in more casual interactions with weak ties, such as baristas, neighbours, or fellow members of clubs, they experienced increased feelings of happiness and belonging. Additionally, belonging to various clubs, associations, or teams, such as choirs or book clubs, contributes to a stronger sense of security and meaning in life.

Don't Worry! Watch closely, or you may miss the brilliant Robbie Williams.

Surprise, Suprise

After a two-week Easter break, we were back together. Firstly, we heard Alan wearing his author’s hat, giving us an interesting background of his journey to writing his first published novel. For those of you who do not have a copy, Alan is happy to order one for you. Just add your name to his list, or alternatively, you can purchase it on Amazon, and, if you ask politely, Alan will sign it for you. Then, surprise, surprise, we returned to the painful tongue circles and discovered how our voices need training again.

We started with True Colours, the song we learned just before Easter. 

The Altos started us off beautifully, remembering to come in after the little ‘ping’ of the piano.  All went well until we reached the ‘Oohs’. No surprises there!

‘Like a rainbow’ should be gentle.

Our audience is surprised when we sing the ‘Aahs’ with a smile and wide-open mouths, making it sound bright and shiny.

‘Like a rainbow’ at the end doesn’t slow down, even though it is repeated. 

Please mark your music score that this is the song's end, so you are not tempted to turn the page and spoil the wonderful, gentle ending.

Donald Sutherland faced the challenge of getting his cloud machine up the hill, aided by Kate Bush, and Flagrante Choir faced a similar challenge with “Cloudbusting,” a song by Kate Bush inspired by Peter Reich's memoir, "A Book of Dreams." The song recounts the close bond between psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich and his son, Peter, set on their family farm, Orgonon. It describes their experiences "cloudbusting" with a machine designed by Reich while highlighting the pain of Peter's helplessness when his father is arrested.

The music video, directed by Julian Doyle and conceived by Terry Gilliam and Bush, features Donald Sutherland as Wilhelm Reich and Bush as young Peter. It showcases their attempts to make the cloudbuster work, interspersed with flashbacks of their time together, culminating in Peter’s successful activation of the machine as his father is taken away.

The song’s rhythm is steady and gentle, with a dramatic flair needed for certain words, especially "dangerous." In the chorus, Basses and Altos harmonise, while Tenors provide essential notes. It’s important for everyone to practice at home to master their parts for a successful performance next week.

Now for the King of country and western

We sang Someone to Watch over Me for the first time for Eamonn. We haven’t sung this for some time, but it wasn’t a bad rendition. The main comment was, no surprise, do not breathe in the long phrases.

When we sing the echo of ‘watch over me’ for the second time, make it a little jazzier-sounding. At the song's end, ‘me’ should be soft and not have a hard-sounding ‘ee’.

Down By the Riverside was also well remembered, and Eamonn will decide when there should be dunce holes and will direct us accordingly, so keep watching him!

Next week, we will work on Cloudbusting, but be prepared to sing anything we have already covered. Just keep the words fresh in your mind so that we can surprise Eamonn with our knowledge and technique.

Earworms, what might you ask, are Earworms, and what does this have to do with us?

Earworms are short snippets of songs stuck on repeat in our minds. As Kylie Minogue sings, “I just can't get you out of my head.” If you can hear only Kylie, you may ask yourself how songs become earworms. What makes some songs mentally irresistible? Look at the features of pop songs that get stuck in people’s heads. And they are songs that are at a certain tempo range, are sort of more likely to get stuck with people. These tended to be around 124 beats per minute as an average tempo; obviously, there was some range around that. Music at that speed seems to get stuck in our heads more often. It seems like this kind of inherent link exists between our body rhythms, the music rhythms in our head, and so on.

I double dare you to listen