Little Things Mean A Lot

We were certainly put through our paces last night, covering half the concert! 

We are now at a stage where learning songs and individual parts is complete, and it's a matter of embedding these into our brains so they become second nature.

By now, you will know where your weak spots are and only you (to quote a song from our repertoire) can make them right!

Just remember how far we’ve come.  We have done the hard work of learning new songs (or refreshing old ones for some of us).  Now we are focusing on the little details to bring these songs to life, making them interesting for us to sing, but more importantly, to tell the stories to our audience.

The secret key to this is simple: just watch Eamonn!

It is not quite as simple when he is playing the piano as well as conducting us, but he does his best with nods of his head, a hand gesture and, of course, the famous Eamonn glare and snarl!

Once we have a pianist, which will be the two weeks before the concert, as well as the day of the concert, Eamonn can give us all his attention, as indeed, we should be giving him all of ours!

Some general hints and tips from last night to work on:

DO NOT breathe in the middle of long phrases; but I need, The air that I breathe. Learn to take deep breaths and control them

Mark your music score where you mustn’t breathe, as well as the rare occasions where you can take a quick breath!

Where a word ends in an ‘s’, ensure you make the cut off clean with no hissing and sounds of deflating tyres!

At the top, high notes (especially Sopranos), smile and squeeze the oranges under your armpits and keep it bright.

Be prepared when your part arrives; don’t let it catch you off guard so you miss the first notes.

Watch Eamonn; he will indicate when your part comes in and ends, where it slows down, when it needs more energy and especially for the gaps (dunce holes).  There are plenty of these in The Sound of Silence, and the gaps are not all the same length!

Eamonn keeps the tempo – he’s the boss, so keep watching him!

Please consider the style of music for each song and lean into it, allowing yourself to feel it. E.g., the "do do do do" in Matthew and Son; the relentless positive energy in "Walking on Sunshine," etc.

Know when your part is essential and sing it out, but take it back a notch when you are the backing singers and let the other, perhaps more critical parts, be heard.

Some songs are slow, but not necessarily sad, like "Everytime We Say Goodbye." It is a love song, so keep it moving forward.

With Eamonn taking on some of Elliot’s arrangements, he has made just slight changes:

Peace in the Valley – ‘Oh, yes’ is now short with a crisp ‘s’

Walking on Sunshine – the end will have a slightly longer ‘good’.

Walking on Sunshine is a challenge for Eamonn as well as us!  The music under the singing gives the driving force for us to sing over, but it doesn’t help with the notes we sing!  We need to build and drive on regardless with no dip in energy, even if you are feeling tired; keep going! 

It may be the last song of Act One or Act Two, so you’ll have time to recover when you’ve finished singing it!

Once Eamonn has a pianist to play, he can then concentrate on keeping up our energy. Can I suggest Eric Morcombe, priceless!

Peace in the Valley – Basses need to work on ‘there will be no sadness and no (‘no’ is long) sorrow’, so it can be heard as you are the only ones singing at that time and it gives emphasis to the song, so it is important to get this right!

It's just a case of practice.  If you know your part, you will sing out confidently and be heard, which in turn gives confidence to others in your voice part, and they, too, will sing louder. As each voice part gains confidence, we can then listen to one another and hear the beautiful blend and harmony of our In Flagrante Choir!

The best thing about harmony is that you can’t sing it alone!

Do Do Do- Learn them by Heart

With Eamonn supercharged, the keyboard connected to speakers, the music is much louder; therefore, we need to sing out and project our voices to be heard!

We are now at the stage where we have all the music for the concert, and we will be going through as many songs as possible on Tuesdays from now on. Please keep them all fresh in your minds and build up your muscle memory, so there are no surprises when we sing through them.

Everyone should now be familiar with their respective roles.  So SING OUT!

If there are areas you are unsure of, concentrate on those with your voice part in Dropbox. 

Eamonn will now concentrate on performance, bringing the songs to life with dynamics, from loud to soft, and an ebb and flow, knowing when to breathe and when not to.

This may sound daunting to some of you, but be comforted by knowing that if you watch Eamonn, he will guide you.  He is not called the Musical Director for nothing! He is encouraging us to tell the story and make it interesting for our audience.

The key to watching Eamonn is to know your music so well that you don’t need to keep your eyes on the score all the time; instead, have the confidence to look up and follow Eamonn’s instructions.

Cilla Black or Shirley Bassey. You decide? Eamonn is challenged with some of the songs as he has inherited arrangements from Elliot. Fortunately, he likes the arrangement of "Anyone Who Had a Heart," which has a strong rhythm, is relentless, and sounds as if it is going to stop but then carries on; drive through this.

The Doo doo be doos should be punchy and Halloween like and then the contrast of ‘Anyone who ever loved, could look at me ….’ Would be buttery and silky.

Be melodramatic!

In the section where Altos, Tenors and Basses sing, ‘Anyone who had a heart. Anyone who had a’; do NOT breathe after heart; join ‘heart. Anyone together.

Please note that the ending has changed with a slight pull back on ‘why won’t – you’ with no big gap between ‘won’t’ and ‘you’.

Every Time We Say Goodbye has very long phrases.  Do NOT breathe after goodbye which will help to emphasise ‘die’.

There is only a light pull back the first time we sing, ‘major to minor’

The humming section is hard work, so smile and open up the inside of your mouth so the ‘hum’ resonates and can be heard. It should be like the string section of the orchestra.

‘Goodbye–oh’ does not slow down and do NOT breathe!

Matthew and Son, another relentless song that needs drive, punchiness and attack giving the feeling of being overworked and underpaid!

Keep ‘years’, ‘dares’, and ‘arrears’ short.

Altos takes ownership of your ‘do do dn do do’s at the end.  Make them sassy and lean into them and feel it! Learn them by heart.

Side By Side was magnificent apart from the Doo, doo dah doos by the Altos, Tenors & Basses. 

Feel that internal pulse and keep the rhythm. Learn them by heart.

The Sound of Silence is not like the original.  There are gaps where you least expect them.

Mark your music score so they are not a surprise! 

Believe me, you do not want an Eamonn glare in the concert if you fall into one of his dunce holes, and there are plenty in this song!

At the end, ‘sounds’ slows down, but ‘silence’ is back on tempo.

Cloud busting is nearly there.  Ensure that when you get to ‘But every time it rains….’ It comes in like a thunderbolt and with pizzazz!

Walking on Sunshine is to be reviewed with a slightly different arrangement, so put this one on hold and keep an eye on Dropbox. Should we send this version to Eamonn?

There are a lot of Doos, dahs and doo be doos in several songs.  Learn these by heart so you can feel the pulse of them and look up a watch, Eamonn, enabling us to all come together crisply and cleanly.

Keep up the good work, and we will create a beautiful sound.

Why Don't You

It’s always a little disconcerting to rehearse in a different room, which sometimes means sitting next to someone who may be singing a different voice part from you.  However, it is beneficial to listen and adjust.

That seemed to be Eamonn’s theme of the night as he was going through the parts of our songs.  We were so enthusiastic we just wanted to sing along straight away, but were told in no uncertain terms to ‘Shut up and just listen!

We revisited Side by Side, which has the last ‘side’ pushed.  You are allowed to take a quick breath after, ‘just as long as we’re together,’ and before, ‘it doesn’t matter at all.’ Keep ‘all’ short, so you can go straight into ‘When we’ve all had our quarrels…’

Altos as you start your solo part, ‘Through all kinds of weather….’ ‘Through’ is the same note you’ve just finished on with ‘side’.

In the ‘doo dah doo dah’ section, feel it rather than trying to read the music (and especially if you can’t read music!).  Learn it by heart, and then you can watch Eamonn, and he will guide you.

There should be absolute silence between the doo – dah - doos so it is crisp and clean.

Altos after your ‘do dah doo’ go straight into ‘We all forget about moonlight….’

Watch Eamonn for the ending, and he will direct you on the length of the notes.

Next, we tackled the relentless Matthew and Son.

Matthew and Son is a song written and released by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens in 1966. Matthew and Son had been inspired by one of Cat Stevens's girlfriends at the time, who, according to him, worked for a large firm, and he didn't like that she had to spend so much of her time working. In a later interview, Cat Stevens recalled that this was a form of "social commentary" about "people being slaves to other people".

Lyrically, Matthew and Son acts as a criticism of employers of the working class. The titular Matthew and Son aren't characters but a business that provides their employees with a substandard work environment.

It is among the few songs from his early career that Cat Stevens still performs; notably, it was performed in a surprise set at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival.

The Altos start us off with the refrain ‘can’t be late’, he won’t wait’, and are syncopated.

The end of ‘Matthew’ is long like, ‘Mathyoooo and Son’, quick breath, ‘he won’t wait’

Altos on your ‘Oohs’, you only have two notes, but you do have permission to slide!

Again, with the ‘Do do do’s. Feel them, keep them light and get in the groove.

When everyone else is singing ‘Matthew and Son’, altos are grooving with their ‘do do’s, which are in pairs, and the first pair is on the beat of ‘Matthew and Son’.

Remember, 'And So It Goes' is a tender song of heartbreak, not a heartbreak of a tender song!

Homework is especially needed on "With or Without You," "Only You," and "I Got Rhythm."