Putting your house in order or how to clear up after a busy choir season

The choir season is over and the holidays are here. If your workspace is anything like mine, you’ll have sheet music scattered over the floor, piles of random notes from choir sessions, possible songs for the new season, CDs out of their cases, and various other flotsam and jetsam liberally sprinkled around the room.

photo by Jeffrey Beall

Time to get things sorted!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Many thanks to all of you who read this blog regularly. I couldn’t do it without you!

photo by Mark McLaughlin

I hope you find something of interest here. If you do, please let others know about it!

10 tips to get the whole family singing this Christmas

’Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la ... Instead of slumping in front of the TV this Christmas, why not get the whole family singing?

photo by Spinndoctor

Here are some tips for creating the perfect Christmas family sing-along.

Looking after yourself in a busy concert season

For many of us, this time of year is just one concert after another. It’s great to be doing so much singing, but it can have its downsides.

photo by Jonathan Lundkvist

If we overdo it, we can get ill or lose our voice. How can we take care ourselves during a busy concert season?

One unkind word can put you off singing for ever – how to protect yourself

There have been a lot of UK television programmes recently which have involved solo singing auditions: The Voice, X Factor, The Choir. Comments about the standard of singing have sometimes been off-hand, sarcastic, and even cruel.

photo by keith ellwood

A comment about your singing voice can be taken as a comment on who you are as a person. How can you avoid taking criticism of your singing voice too personally?

Should you have auditions for a workplace or community choir?

Gareth Malone is back on UK television with a second series of The Choir: Sing While You Work. The choirmaster goes into five different organisations to form workplace choirs which then go on to compete against each other.

photo by DianeSunshineCoast

He auditions staff to create the choirs, but is that necessary to form a workplace choir?