Last night, I stepped out of my comfort zone, off my podium and joined in with some singing with another choir! Anyone who knows me knows my fascination with the lower edges of singing – those bass notes, those rumbling deep tones and so off I went to sing with the Bestwood Male Voice Choir.
They read proper sheet music (something that my choir doesn’t) and have to behave themselves (I’m saying nothing….). I sang the tenor 1 part luckily next to a very accomplished singer. I don’t read sheet music myself for singing, or at least I didn’t think I could but it’s surprising what you can work out. I play the piano and have a good understanding of the theory of music so was able to keep up. Luckily, most pieces only went to the D below middle C which is right at the bottom of my guttural range so I managed OK.
The song choices weren’t what I usually teach to sing either and yet the lovely pretty arrangements of some of the Christmas songs made me feel quite warm inside. It was great to hear the different 4 parts harmonies sung by all men. I love the depth of tones that male voices bring to singing. They also sang to a proper real life accompanist which was really lovely! We do everything to iTunes backing tracks and the live aspect really brought the singing to life.
There were some similarities though! The MD Mirek Rus had similar issues as I do with long sounding ssssss’s and was very particular about the timings! (and rightly so) The gentleman created some really polished aspects to their pieces and it gave me a lot to think about. The dynamics (volume) and the light and shade we are able to create with our voices are what sets choirs apart and makes them special – there was a lot of work in this area.
Thanks for having me guys – I’m looking forward to what the future holds…..
Recent Comments