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 

Be Brave and Be Heard

It's like singing the tune when you don't have the tune! Or playing the right notes in the wrong order.

It was great to be back in the room this week and to be joined by our Treasured Treasurer, although it appears about 20 naughty singers have yet to fill her coffers! Please remember to use the new bank details that were sent to you.

As this was our last rehearsal before our two-week Easter break, we went through Sea Fog, which we started last week.

This song has a lot of space in the verses, so Basses mainly, don’t get carried away and get ahead of everyone else when Tenors and Altos join you in ‘Maybe we’ll get to spread our wings….’

Aim for the ‘morrow’ on ‘tomorrow’

Keep that in mind, and feel your pulse. If you can't feel it, you should be worried! Sorry, the pulse!

Only breathe where it is marked on the music score with a rest, not anywhere else!

In the chorus, put a definite ‘k’ on ‘dark’ before taking a quick breath. Then, into ‘I hear your voice, it makes things easy. '  Join ‘voice’ and ‘it’ as if it is one word, and then you will naturally sing it without breathing.

‘Fight’ is long in ‘And I won’t fight through the rising tide.’ while ‘the rising’ is quick.

'Ng' is with an open, smiling mouth with the sound resonating in the back of your closed throat. Just think, sing without the 'si'

It is a much richer sound than a hum.

In the ‘Sea fog rollin’’ part, sing ‘rollen’ rather than ‘rollin’.

This should sound like waves crashing onto the beach.

Sop 2s have a lovely counter-melody at the end; be delicate, and do not breathe before the last note!

We then introduced Eamonn to Peace in the Valley, who immediately noticed breathing by some after ‘peace’, which produces the dreaded hissing sound.  Do not breathe during ‘There will be peace in the valley…’

He thought, generally, it was not bad!

We then finished True Colours. This song's vocal lines are very low, allowing the altos to shine, as it is the right range. 

Altos have the all-important start. They must listen to the three notes on the piano and be ready to come in with ‘You with the sad eyes’, as there is no piano underneath.

You must be brave as this happens again when you sing, ‘like a rainbow’. 

Also, make sure you sing the three notes on ‘rainbow’ so they can be heard.

Altos and Basses take a big breath after ‘…. in a world full of people’ and do not breathe again until after ‘…feel so small’

When you sing ‘beautiful’, replace the ‘t’ with a ‘d’ so we don’t sound like a Kew Choral.

Just because it is the Easter holidays, you still have homework! 

Please keep all the songs we’ve done fresh in your mind by listening to the tracks on Dropbox.  Every person has a voice, and if you know your parts, you can sing them out boldly and be heard. This will give confidence not only to you but also to your fellow singers.

Lovely acoustic version. Listen to the original of Cloudbusting so it is familiar to you, although Eamonn will have made some adjustments in his arrangement.

Have a great Easter break, and we will see you all on 29 April, early if possible, around 18:50, for Alan’s book launch, ready for a 19:30 start for rehearsals with Eamonn.