Is it and Oh or is it an Ooh?
- Trills on a Tuesday
- Feb 12
- 4 min read
We were fortunate to be able to rehearse on Wednesday this week, so we didn’t have to miss out. Richard was there to lead us, giving us hints and tips on head and chest voice and hitting high notes.
We started with a song most of us had sung before, You’ll Never Walk Alone. It is amazing how muscle memory kicks in, and we can produce a reasonably good sound before going through it meticulously.
Hankies at the ready. You’ll Never Walk Alone is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings You'll Never Walk Alone to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the male lead, stabs himself with a knife while trying to run away after attempting a robbery with his mate Jigger and dies in her arms. The song is reprised as an epilogue in the final scene to encourage a graduation class of which Louise Bigelow (Billy and Julie's daughter) is a member, as the Starkeeper is about to give them a graduation sermon. The now invisible Billy, who has been granted the chance to return to Earth for one day in order to redeem himself, watches the ceremony and at the end of the Starkeeper's homily is able to silently motivate Louise and Julie to join in with the song as the whole congregation unite in singing along with them urged on by the Starkeeper as he ascends to paradise.
The song is also sung at association football clubs around the world, where it is performed by a massed chorus of supporters on match day; this tradition developed at Liverpool F.C. According to former player Tommy Smith, lead vocalist Gerry Marsden presented Liverpool manager Bill Shankly with a recording of his forthcoming cover single during a pre-season coach trip in the summer of 1963. "Shanks was in awe of what he heard. ... Football writers from the local newspapers were travelling with our party and, thirsty for a story of any kind between games, filed copy back to their editors to the effect that we had adopted Gerry Marsden's forthcoming single as the club song." The squad were subsequently invited to perform the track with the band on The Ed Sullivan Show, with Marsden stating, "Bill came up to me. He said, 'Gerry, my son, I have given you a football team, and you have given us a song'.
The Altos start us off using their chest voice. Even though it is marked as ‘piano’, sing out boldly so you can be heard.
Sops, when you join in keep it smooth and don’t breathe in the middle of phrases.
Sop 1s also have the very high notes, so look up and engage the muscles at the side of your neck and smile. This will help to keep you in tune. When Eamonn returns, he will remind you to squeeze the oranges under your arms and engage your back muscles too. Again, be bold and don’t be tentative as that will guarantee you will not hit the note!
Ensure you sing, ‘Walk on, walk on (slight gap) with hope in your heart…’ and Basses remember you only have The Tune for part of it, when you reach ‘you’ll never walk alone….’ You have a harmony.
Make sure the ‘ooohs’ are ‘ooohs’ and not ‘ohs’, as they are very different sounds.
A lovely cover by Josh Groban
Another one from our back catalogue was next, Vincent, a song by Don McLean, written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. Its commonly known opening lyric, "Starry, Starry Night", is a reference to Van Gogh's 1889 painting The Starry Night.
McLean wrote the lyrics in 1970 after reading a book about the life of Van Gogh. It was released on McLean's 1971 American Pie album. He said, "In the autumn of 1970, I had a job singing in the school system, playing my guitar in classrooms. I was sitting on the veranda one morning, reading a biography of Van Gogh, and suddenly I knew I had to write a song arguing that he wasn't crazy. He had an illness, and so did his brother Theo. This makes it different, in my mind, to the garden variety of 'crazy' – because he was rejected by a woman [as was commonly thought]. So I sat down with a print of Starry Night and wrote the lyrics out on a paper bag."
The Tenors and Basses sing together mainly in this song, with the ‘Oohs’ coming in on the second verse, so don’t be tempted to join in straight away. Your tum will come!
Tenors and basses start us off but sing gently and quietly. Even if you think you are not making a lot of noise, it will sound beautiful. Watch our for the tricky timing e.g. ‘blue and grey’ which is ‘blueand grey’ and not blue - and - grey’ with a long ‘and’
The Alto line is split, so the Sop 2s take the higher part.
The line, ‘They would not listen, they did not know how…’ should be fortissimo and really build up until the quiet ‘perhaps they’ll listen now’
You’re the Voice is much more percussive than the two previous songs. Again, Altos are using your chest voice.
‘We can write what we wanna write….’ Basses, you are on one note, don’t be tempted by the Tenors to change notes!
Make sure you are singing ‘Ohs’ in the chorus and not ‘oohs’.
It was suggested that some Sop 1s learn the Sop 2 part for the chorus, so the harmonies are not overwhelmed by the tune. Richard may suggest this to Eamonn, but it will be his decision when he returns. Perhaps Sop 1s can practise just in case!
American Pie. Another from Don McLean, a little more upbeat.
Prehaps one to suggest to Eamonn
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