- Trills on a Tuesday
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
This week we focused on our head and chest voice. Jan explained how we can tell the difference. Eamonn backed this up and told us that Altos and Lady Tenors will mostly use their chest voices, while the Sops will mostly use their head voices.
Altos need to belt it out and get that effect by saying’ Hey!’ as loud as possible from their chest voice.
Sops, on the other hand, don’t belt it out, but sound twangy or ethereal with their head voice.
For Gents, it is slightly different as they have their falsetto voice for the higher register instead of a head voice, which uses the vocal folds.
Eamonn wanted to hear as many songs as possible to see what shape they were in starting with Vincent.
Stretch the rhythms of the phrases and look up for the endings e,g, ‘night’, ‘hills’ which are short.
Chill out when you are the backing vocals in the ‘For they could not love you…’ section so the Sops can sing out without being too polite and be heard!
There are many ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ in this song – keep them bright and love every one of them.
You’re the Voice needs to start with super exciting ‘Oohs’.
Smile and be happy with this song.
‘How long’ – ‘long’ is shorter than you expect. ‘..can we look at each other’ with ‘other’ being slightly longer than you expect. Watch Eamonn and he will guide you with the timing.
Sops remember there is a slightly different tune the second time you sing. ‘down the barrel of a gun’
Sops use your chest voice for ‘We’re all someone’s daughters…….’
The echo on ‘This time’ – don’t rush it!
This is a relentless and repetitive song and will probably be the last song of the concert!
Here Comes the Flood should be flowing with no breath in the early phrases.
You can be more robotic in the ‘When the flood calls…..’ section.
The ‘up’ in ‘Drink up dreamer….’ is short
Do not breathe at the very end.
The House of the Rising Sun when the Altos come in with, ‘O Mother tell your children….’ Use your chest voice, but take your time, especially on ‘children’. Don’t rush it as if you want to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.
At the very end, Sops, Altos and Tenors sing ‘Ng’ instead of ‘Mmm’ and keep it going until Eamonn tells you to stop!
Irish Blessing Sops sing the whole of the first verse which needs to be learnt by heart!
This way you can look up and engage with the audience and watch Eamonn.
‘Until we meet again…’ keep ‘again’ going until the end of the note. Don’t let it fade away.
Altos and Tenors give texture and interest to the second verse. Chest voices for richness and warmth.
A quick breath after ‘palm’ but no breath during ‘of hiz hand’
The Rhythm of Life was in a much better place than expected. It takes stamina.
Altos come in boldly (think Hey!) with your chest voice to set the tone of the song. Make sure you breathe in the right place before start singing, so the first words don’t get lost.
Drive through, ‘Flip your wings and fly to Daddy…….’
Sing, ‘Yeah’ right through to the end of the note.
You’ll Never Walk Alone. Sops are definitely using their head voice. Check the tune and make sure you are singing it correctly at the end.
Next week we will go through: The Impossible Dream, The Logical Song, All My Trials, California Dreamin’ and any others Eamonn may choose.
Be prepared
Altos practice your ‘Hey’ chest voice and impress Eamonn next week and be heard loud and clear.
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Mar 14
- 4 min read
Another week with Tim who took us
through The Rainbow Connection, a song from the 1979 film The Muppet Movie, with music and lyrics written by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher. The song was performed by Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog during the film's opening number, where it opens with Kermit sitting alone on a log in the swamp, playing the song on his banjo. The song is an integral part of Kermit's character's arc, since it establishes his dream of "making millions of people happy", which motivates his journey to Hollywood throughout the film.
Jim Henson told them that the opening scene should feature Kermit the Frog by himself, singing and playing the banjo. Williams and Ascher wrote most of the song quickly at Williams's house but got stuck trying to think of appropriate words for the part in the chorus that eventually became the phrase "the rainbow connection"; they were looking for a way to tie in the chorus to the song's theme of rainbows. As they sat down for dinner with Williams's then-wife, Kate Clinton, they explained to her their predicament of looking for a phrase that would provide "a rainbow connection", then realized, while explaining the problem to her, that the phrase "the rainbow connection" would itself be a good fit. Williams and Ascher used "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio as inspiration for the song.
Williams has said that his favourite lyrics in the song are in the second verse, which begins with "Who said that every wish / Would be heard and answered / When wished on the morning star?", because they imply that "there's power in your thoughts". He also noted that the lyrical phrasing was written weirdly with Kermit's speech patterns in mind.
This song should be flowing and smooth even though there are so many short phrases; don’t make them choppy. Especially in, ‘So we’ve been told and we choose to believe it…..’ Keep it long and legato and make sure you have enough breath for the long ‘see’. Ensure ‘see’ is kept going and builds up to a crescendo and doesn’t die before you get to the end!
Sop 2 on the ‘So we’ve been told…..’ section you are all on the same note all the way through apart from ‘told’, ‘...lieve’ and ‘see’
The ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aahs’ should have a soft sound with no glottal stops. Think about how you say ‘yoghurt’ and incorporate that soft sound.
‘What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing...’ put the emphasis on ‘star’
When it gets to the key change singing ‘….magic’ make it bright with a feeling of anticipation and lifting it to another level.
All the voice parts are singing different things at different times. Think of it as a beautiful tapestry.
Do watch out for the dunce hole (this is a feature of many of Eamonn’s arrangements) after ‘the lovers, the dreamers’ (gap) ‘..and me’. There will be no particular count for the length of this gap, it will be determined by Eamonn, so watch his direction or be prepared for The Glare if you mess up!
Keep the flow from ‘… dreamers (gap) and me’ into the ‘La da dee da da….’ Until the final ‘dum’ which is more like a ‘dm’ with a smile. Imagine you are Kermit with his banjo smiling as he finishes singing this whimsical song
This song needs to tell the story of lovers and dreamers and me, so feel the flow of emotions.
Paul Williams also wroyte the lyrics to 'Evergreen.'
The House of the Rising Sun we had previously sung through with Eamonn, so was fairly familiar to those who haven’t preformed this song before.
Again, you need to tell the story by keeping it flowing and not choppy.
Basses, keep the tempo going at a consistent pace while the other voices are singing their ‘Oohs’ underneath you. You must keep the momentum going.
The ‘gamblin’ man…’ phrase has ‘ga-a-m blin’ man’ so a long two notes on ‘ga-a-m..’
The ‘Oohs’ need to have that soft, yoghurty sound; be laid back and relaxed and keep it in the back of your throat to give it a dark sound. Remember you are the backing vocals, so don’t drown out the tune.
There is the dreaded timing of ‘suitcase’, which drives Eamonn crazy when we get it wrong. Tim gave us a tip of throwing up a ball and catching it. So, think of ‘suit’ as you throw it up and a longer ‘case as you catch it. Don’t snatch at the ‘suit’ and make it very short, but remember to make ‘case’ long.
At the very end of the song there is one note on the last page. Please physically write that one note on the penultimate page and write ‘Do not turn over’. It gives a very unprofessional look if some people turn the last page over unnecessarily. Anyway, you shouldn’t need to look at your music score by this time and be looking up at Eamonn for the crisp ending in unison.
Impossible Dream finished our rehearsal. Again, the Basses shine and start us off and the Altos join in with their Oohs followed by the Sop 2s joining them. If possible, stagger your breathing so it flows and sounds seamless. The ‘oohs’ should be dark and resonant.
Link the consonants onto the next word e.g. ‘this is my quest..’ would be ‘this is my ques……tto follow’ and ‘To fight for the righ….twithout question or pause’ I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it and this technique seems to come up in many of the songs we sing, not just this one.
Emphasise ‘no’ in ‘no matter how far’ and ‘to’ in ‘to fight for the right…’
The section, ‘willing to march into hell ….’ Make this flow and not be choppy and sound like a stalling car!
Emphasise the ‘sc’ sound on ‘scorned’ and ‘scarred’ ‘That one man. (quick breath) scorned and covered with scars…’
Next week we will have Eamonn back. He may send out a list of songs; he may not. Bring everything just in case.
Always check Dropbox regularly as more songs are dropped in.
Eamonn is aware the vocal lines to California Dreamin’ are missing and he will rectify this in due course.
Term dates for those who are uncertain.
We finish on 24 March
We resume on 14 April
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Mar 4
- 3 min read
We were led by Tim Jasper, our guest Musical Director this week. Some of you may remember him as our pianist for our Winter 2024 concert. He will be our pianist for our Gala Summer Concert on 16 July 2026.
We recapped the beginning of Here Comes the Flood and then went on to complete the song.
It needs to be a relaxed feeling and not staccato and choppy. Aim for the heavy beat in the music.
The dynamics of this song need to be heard with the chorus being loud and dramatic up to ‘it’ll be those who gave…’ and then go very quiet ‘..to survive’.
Do not breathe in the phrase ‘Don’t be afraid to cry at what you see’
Join the last part of the word on to the next one
e.g. ‘what we used to be’ would sound like ‘what we you stooby’
The Rhythm of Life was next. This is a song from the 1966 Broadway musical Sweet Charity, written by composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Dorothy Fields.
In the musical, the song is performed by the character Big Daddy, the leader of an alternative "hippy" religious group/cult called the "Rhythm of Life Church." In the 1969 movie musical adaptation of Sweet Charity, directed by Bob Fosse (who also directed the original Broadway production), the song is performed by Sammy Davis Jr., who co-stars as Big Daddy in the film.
For those of us who have not sung it before, it seems to be very complicated at first. However, we all get to sing the different lines, but not at the same time. It can be useful to mark your music score with your vocal line, so you know what to sing and when.
It does make a glorious cacophony of sound and the audience loved it the last time we performed it.
Be patient, it will all fall into place and once it is sung at a faster speed, believe it or not, it is much easier to sing.
Some parts of this song need to be smooth as in the ‘Daddy go….’ Section while the ‘Oh, the rhythm of life is a wonderful beat….’ is more staccato. Best example of Staccato, Money, Money Money.
This is not a competition as to who sings the loudest! It is very tempting to sing your part as loud as possible to drown out the other parts around you, but everyone needs to sing at the same level to create that cacophony of sound and so all the words from every voice part can be heard by the audience.
At the end, ‘Flip your wings and fly to Daddy…’ is a different tempo to the rest of the song as it is swung and as the other voice parts join in, it crescendos to a very loud finale!
You’ll Never Walk Alone needs to be sung with sincerity and love. Think of it as a fragile crystal sphere as the singing starts. It should be delicate and peaceful.
Sops – no breath after ‘storm’ and make ‘golden sky ’ sound like ‘galden sky’.
Be very precise with ends of words with ‘d’, ‘t’ and ‘k’ etc.
At the end it should be very loud until you reach ‘one’ of ‘alone’ and then it is very quiet.
You’re the Voice still has a timing issue. ‘Oh, woah’ count 1&2 before coming in on ‘We’re all someone’s daughter…’
The ‘w’ on the ‘woah, whoa’ should be clearly sounded
Tim is with us again next week, so bring all the music with you and he will go over some of these songs and maybe start work on others. Be prepared!
Just a reminder we break up for Easter on 24 March and resume again on 14 April
