Look Out for Specs!

Specs, I see no Specs?

It's only two months until our Summer Concert, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.  We have all the material that Elliot arranged and taught us, some of which Eamonn has not heard us sing yet, as well as Eamonn’s four new songs and some old ones he will be bringing back (although these will be new songs for a lot of us who haven’t sung them before)

We went through Without or Without You this time to the end of the song.

It is critical to know when to come in for the Altos and Sops, so listen for a little ripple in the base at the end of the bar, and that is your entrance.

Altos; ‘See the stone set in your eyes…’ and Sops & Altos: ‘Sleight of hand and twist of fate…’

‘Through the storm ….’ The Tenors and Basses are together until a split ‘..and I’m waiting for you’ so don’t be tempted to carry on singing the same tune together.

In the section ‘and you give yourself away…..’, the ‘gives’ are all off the beat and need to have a little push on the sound, apart from the last ‘give’ (which has a pair of specs over it ), which is on the beat.

Give ‘give’ some looooooove.

Listen to each other even though you are singing different notes. Primarily through the section with a call and response: ‘My hands are tied, my body bruised’

Tenors, think of ‘My body bruised, you got me with’ as one long phrase.

DO NOT BREATHE: ‘Nothing to win and nothing left to lose’ It is a long phrase, so drive through it to the end to create endless tension.

Ultimately, the pattern of notes remains the same; they begin as ‘Aahs’, but the last pair is ‘Oohs’, which provides a softer ending. Sop 1s, start your ‘Aahs’ a little louder and confidently.

Sop2s and Basses, the phrases you sing over the Aahs and Oohs seem quick by comparison, but keep the momentum going

Every Time We Say Goodbye is a song we have previously sung, although this is an updated arrangement, so ensure you have the 2025 version.

This is a popular jazz song with lyrics and music by Cole Porter, published in 1944.

The lyrics celebrate how happy the singer is in the company of the beloved, but suffer equally whenever the two separate. Describing it by analogy as a musical "change from major to minor", Porter begins with an A♭ major chord and ends with an A♭minor chord, matching the mood of the music to the words.

Sopranos 1's and Basses are together.  Love the long notes in this, especially on ‘time’ and ‘bye’

Basses watch out for the specs in your music  showing where you are not on The Tune, but have your own tune to harmonise; ‘Why the gods above me…’

Tenors you are on and off the tune, so just learn it as Your Tune.

‘...must be in the know’  , the ‘muuuuust’ is a long vowel sound.

Any Dream Will Do was sung through. Eamonn will go through this again.

Next week we will go through Cloudbusting, With or Without You. 

Look out for anything new in Dropbox and keep practising EVERYTHING. 

Let the hard work begin!

And looking towards the future, The Sound of Silence. A real favourite.