Love the Oohs

Tonight was a real challenge for the Sopranos.  Most of the songs contained Oohs in some form or another.

Sopranos must embrace and love the Oohs, do our homework (yes, I am a Soprano!) and overcome this mental block.  They are just notes, after all.

From Now On is a sectional song we tackled from the middle: ‘And we will come back home’.

We all sing in unison, and then the tune changes slightly as it is repeated in double blocks.

Please mark your scores so you know which section is which.

The last time it is sung, the piano drops out in the previous section when the Sop 1s tune changes.

Page 4, and it is Bass’s time to shine with drinking champagne while the rest of us Ooh underneath.

They return to the song's beginning, where the Lady Tenors sing ‘From now on’ (sing ‘on’ as if it is ‘an’), and then the Oohs start. 

Getting that first note is crucial.  The rest will follow up and down on the same note if that is right.

Sops can get their first note, the same as the Lady Tenors ‘on’.

Embrace the part after the Oohs with ‘Anthem in my heart’.

Then we finished with the song's beginning, which was well remembered from last week.

Will we finish this another time?

Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat was next.  We sang this through to see what we had remembered. 

All was going well until, yes, you’ve guessed it, the Sops Oohs. 

The beginning is very spacious, with long phrases.

Please familiarise yourself with the words of the choruses as they change slightly. 

Don’t get caught out with the devil doing different things each time.

Crossing The Bar was in perfect shape. Don’t think of it as a slow song.  Keep the intensity and move forward like the flow of the tide.  On the high notes, use the sob quality of your voice.

At the end, do not breathe in the phrase, ‘When I have crossed the bar’.

What’s Up has the dreaded Oohs. I realise this is a problem for Sops only, as the Altos are very used to singing them, and they are shocked when they are given the tune to sing!

This song needs to drive forward with a funky internal rhythm.

Emphasise the Hey, yeah, yeah, eh, eh with a glottal stop on the ‘eh, ehs’

With the final ‘Hey, heys’ for everyone except Sop 1s, you are permitted to breathe between each one.  This is a rare occasion, so take advantage of it and breathe!

Sing from the top of your lungs and hit the high notes with a smile!

Eamonn did say we were making a good noise tonight, which he meant in the nicest possible way. 

Sops, learn to love the Oohs, do your homework, and all will be well.

Before next week, listen to

Make Your Own Kind of Music and

Have You Ever Seen the Rain.

More information on these songs will be in next week’s blog.

However, beware, there are more Oohs to fall in love with.