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Learn and Smile

Trills on a Tuesday

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!








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Where:

Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club

Old Deer Park

Twickenham Road.

TW9  2SB

                                        

         When:

         Tuesdays 

         7.30-9.30pm

 

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