There seems to be a pattern of behavior in most large choirs that, over the years, has evolved into stereotypes associated with the different SATB voice parts. You’ve sung, I’m sure you’ve seen it. Basses – The pachyderms of the group, often need a little boost to catch up with the beat and would really […]
One of my favorite corners of the inter-web-thing is www.Librivox.org. It’s a site built and maintained by volunteers that has over 8,000 audio books that are free to stream or download (and they’re adding 100 or so every month). All are in the public domain and read by volunteers using texts from the Gutenberg Project, […]
Warning: rant ahead. I write the blog so give me a little leeway here. Imagine you were sitting in a beautiful venue listening to one of the Windward Choral Society’s semiannual major concerts. The sound surrounds you and you feel a great sense of wonder and peace. ..and next to you a family of four […]
Coming to a Windward Choral Society rehearsal always involves the same process: sign in, grab any new music that might be handed out, greet all the gang and settle in to make some music. There’s always a laugh or two and it’s dang near impossible to find someone who isn’t smiling. Try adding an internalized […]
How big is a “big” choir? At 100 voices or so, the Windward Choral Society is mighty large, especially considering the size of the community. At John McCreary’s memorial service there were hundreds singing together to honor his memory as Susie directed, though I don’t know if that could officially be considered a choir. (It […]
I sat down next to the best guitarist I’ve ever met and asked him what his number one piece of advice would be (this would be right after I figured I should just wrap my trusty Taylor around a tree after hearing him play) and he answered, “buy a guitar stand, take your guitar out […]
“When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume (that’s a fancy word for “include”) yourself into a group consciousness because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That’s one of the great feelings – to stop being me for a little while and to […]
In May of 1975, my parents … (Wait…that’s 40 years ago? I’m really old.)…as I was saying, my parents saw Frank Sinatra in concert. He was just a few days shy of his 60th birthday so the pipes weren’t what they used to be, but, as you might imagine, he packed the place. At the […]
Because the Blogmeister is having that kind of day… “All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.” – Louis Armstrong “Do it again on the next verse, and people think you meant it.” – Chet Atkins “My singing voice is somewhere between a drunken apology and a plumbing problem.” – Colin Firth […]
“Oh, but I can’t sing.” I bet you’ve heard that once or twice. I’ve mentioned the Windward Choral Society to a lot of folks who are fun to be around, thinking they’d fit right in, and out it came, “I can’t sing” or my personal favorite, “you don’t WANT to hear me sing”. Actually, I’d […]