- Trills on a Tuesday
- Jun 15, 2023
- 2 min read
There were less of us present last night due to illness etc. Wishing everyone a full recovery.
Eamonn sent Ricardo to take us through our paces this week. Oops!, wrong Ricardo
There were less Altos than usual, but Ricardo wanted more volume from them.
He went through their parts and checked that they were singing the right notes, which they were!
They need to believe in themselves and sing out and give more volume.
Altos you CAN do it!
Less is more. The Basses and Tenors, make more sound and need to be a little more delicate in their renditions, especially at the beginning of Daydream Believer
Sopranos & Altos build up the ‘do do dos’ to a crescendo before the louder ‘Cheer up sleepy Jean’
1st Sopranos note that the first note of the ‘Do….’ Harmony on verse two is the same note as ‘home’ in ‘homecoming queen’. Once you get that first note, you’ll be fine!
Tenors – you are NOT on the tune when you get to, ‘Oh and our good times start and end…’
The Basses also need to learn the right notes as they seem to make up their own version on page 6!
We all need to sing what is written, even if you don’t read music, you can more or less follow the notes and listen too the tracks at home and learn your parts by ear. Eamonn’s arrangements are very specific and the harmonies work if sung as composed.
Monday Monday: Tenors and Basses need to come in strongly on their first note and practice the ‘Every other day section’.
Blowing in the Wind: The Sopranos and Altos need to be aware of the contrast between soft, medium and loud.
Start with less and build up gradually to more.
More delicacy for the Tenors when they join in.
Bridge over Troubled Water: Altos give more volume
Hints & Tips
Learn your part and you WILL gain confidence
With confidence you can sing out more and be heard
More stronger voices use less volume and a more delicate sound when needed
Mark your music score in a way that is meaningful to you:
e.g. your part, when you’re not singing the tune, dunce holes, smiley faces etc
The concert is only 4 weeks away!
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Jun 7, 2023
- 2 min read
When we are happy, our natural response is to smile. But if you flip that around, does the reverse hold true? When we smile, is our natural response then to be happy? Science says yes.
Science has shown that the mere act of smiling can lift your mood, lower stress, boost your immune system and possibly even prolong your life. Just think what singing and smiling together can do for you.
A great turn out last night and, having so many people in the room, including Julia and Adie, we made a fuller and richer sound.
Now we just have to work on getting the harmonies (or your own specific tunes, as you should think of them) correct.
This can only be done by practice, not just when we are together, but also at home when alone! Now here's a suggestion?
Not sure what to work on?
Concentrate on the parts that you know you are unsure of first. These are usually highlighted on a Tuesday night. You have the backing tracks of your voice and the full version to help.
Then go through the whole repertoire refreshing your mind of the songs you know well, just to keep the muscle memory going.
Learn some phrases by heart, especially the ones at the end of a song, so you can watch Eamonn for the endings. If we don’t end a song cleanly it will not give the audience a good impression and will make us all look unprofessional!
A little done each day is more beneficial than cramming everything on one day like the night before we meet.
A few pointers:
Breathing at the right time: in all of our songs it is critical to breathe at the right time so you can enjoy the length of the phrases and the endings are sharp and together,
If you really can’t hold your breath for as long as required, leave off the last consonant of the word and take a very quick breath e.g. do not add an ‘s’ on ‘hopeless’ otherwise it will sound like a deflating tyre!
Smiling brightens notes and sounds, especially on words like ‘love’ and ‘oohs’.
Smile when singing the high notes too or on descending phases so they don’t go flat!
The Impossible Dream: Tenors be confident on your first note ‘To dream….’
Everyone sing a ‘z’ sound on the last note when singing ‘starz’. It makes it sound crisp.
Try to Remember: There is a lot of ebb and flow in this song.
‘wept’ and ‘kept’ are long sounds e,g, ‘keeept’ and ‘weeept’. Altos remember you have a different rhythm to everyone else at this point.
Tenors remember you are NOT on the tune: learn your part as if it is YOUR tune!
Nights in White Satin: Sopranos make the start a sultry sound and don’t get carried away with the top notes in the ‘oohs’ section’
Make You Feel My Love: keep ‘face’, ‘case’ and ‘embrace’ short
‘No there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do avenue’ and ‘go to the ends of the earth for you’ should have a blues sound.
listening to Elkie Brooks on that Slow Train: The first note ‘No’ is sung before the piano plays, so be ready to come in after the introduction
Eamonn adores this song and it makes him so happy, so enjoy the journey and get it right!
- Trills on a Tuesday
- May 31, 2023
- 3 min read
Get Ready! A blast from the past 1960's style .
As you all know preparation is the key to any successful event. With the concert only six weeks away we need to get ready.
The In Flagrante Look
We will wear all black (think of the New Zealand rugby team and how smart they look!)
Gents in plain black shirts and trousers
Ladies in plain black dresses or plain black tops with plain black skirts or trousers
A colourful buttonhole or corsage will be lent to you on the night.
Get ready and check your wardrobe, the shops or charity shops etc
In Flagrante Music
Everyone should have a purple folder with a complete set of music.
Beware; it is rather heavy to hold all the way through the concert, unless you have arms as strong as Penny Mordaunt at the King’s Coronation!
I usually have two purple folders and split the first half and second half between them to make it manageable.
Just remember to take the right folder into the concert!
The In Flagrante Sound
Now we look the part, we just need to sound it too!
There is no easy way to do this; work hard and practice!
Each week we will go through the songs and fine tune them and work on the performance..
The last two weeks we will have a pianist and Eamonn will conduct so he can give us clear instructions with his hands and head, especially on the cut offs and dunce holes.
Warning: you do not want to fall in a dunce hole at a concert and get the Eamonn GLARE!
In Flagrante. From Medieval Latin, literally “while the crime is blazing”, from Latin in + flāgrō (“burn”) + dēlictō, form of dēlictum (“crime, misdeed”). Counterfeiters caught in flagrante delicto
Last night we were rather bottom heavy, with very few sopranos and lots of Tenors and Basses!
Hopefully on The Night we will be well balanced.
We started on Slow Train. Remember we are the journey flowing over the chugging music underneath.
Don’t let the words become ‘choppy’. Make it sound nostalgic and like a lost world.
Enjoy the short ‘cat’ on a seat and that the second time the ‘up and no down’ are equal notes. Don’t breathe before the phrase and it makes it easier to sing.
The mid-section is tricky as the underlying music changes, so the tenors and Sopranos need to keep the words moving along. A long ‘sleepers sleep’ (watch Eamonn) before easing back into the journey.
Little gaps after ‘Goole’ and ‘from St Erth’ and ‘to St Ives’; yes, you’ve guessed it – Watch Eamonn.
So, Mind the Gap.
This announcement now plays only at Embankment station. It's been replaced at all other stations, but his widow appealed to the council, and asked them to reinstate her husband's voice at Embankment as after he died, she liked to go there to listen to his voice.
Smile was next. Eamonn was surprised it was so good.
Just a couple of things to remember:
‘What’s the use of cry---ing’ elongated and notes the same length and then pull back and be very gentle to the end.
Blowing in the Wind needs to be lyrical with long lines – don’t make it choppy.
With ‘died’ the tenors have a moving note, so Sopranos, Altos and Basses hold on to their ‘died’ as it is a long note, until tenors have finished.
Bridge over Troubled Water is all about the Altos. It is syncopation and rhythm.
A tip for the Altos: at the beginning, ‘When you’re weary’ is followed by three shut ups and a long ‘feeling’
Everyone, please learn the last four bars, so you can watch Eamonn for the timings at the end.
Impossible Dream needed a little more work. Basses be ready for your first note. Smile on ‘bear’ in unbearable sorrow.
‘try’, ‘weary’, reach’ are all open sounds so smile as you sing them.
Altos keep your ‘Ooohs ‘an open sound. Practise as if they are ‘yeahs’ to feel the openness and then sing as an ‘Oooh’ (Don’t sing ‘yeahs’ in the concert!)
Tip of the Week
Get ready for the concert and make sure you hold your purple folder up in front of you, slightly away from your body. This way you can move your head up slightly to see Eamonn and keep your throat open at the same time.
Get ready for next week, and listen to the tracks at home, when we will go through Try to Remember and Make you Feel My Love as well as anything else.
And remember, 'When you weary is followed by
and a long feeling'
