Monday, June 02, 2025

Think it's all going wrong? Spoiler: nobody's noticing!

I had a bad workshop experience the other day. I felt that the whole day had gone wrong and I wasn’t up to snuff.

Yet loads of people came up to me afterwards to tell me how much they’d enjoyed it. What’s going on here?

Monday, May 26, 2025

Magic words that will help you become a better singer or choir leader

We’re all very good at sabotaging ourselves. You know the kind of thing: “I can’t do that” or “That was a disaster.”

However, there are some simple and powerful phrases that can help us overcome these self-doubts.

Monday, May 19, 2025

Why learning harmony arrangements of pop songs is hard

I led a Beatles a cappella singing day last week. As usual, it attracted people who love to sing pop songs.

Everyone enjoyed it, but many pointed out afterwards how hard it had been to learn the songs.

Monday, May 12, 2025

Why do humans sing?

A guest video from Michaela Bartoskova reminding us all of why we sing.

“We sing to taste the freedom that music brings.”

Monday, May 05, 2025

Are you cleaning your water bottle enough?

As singers, we’re encouraged to keep hydrated by bringing a water bottle to rehearsals and workshops.

photo by Basile Morin

But did you know that harmful bacteria can easily build up on reusable water bottles? It’s important to clean them often, especially as warmer weather arrives. Here’s how.

Monday, April 28, 2025

Vocal range 1: 5 relevant reads

This is one of a series of summary posts around a specific topic, bringing together five relevant posts from the past.

This summary is all about vocal range: how it’s relevant to being in a choir and how you might go about finding where you fit.

Monday, April 21, 2025

Become a better choir leader by taking classes unrelated to singing

As mentioned, I recently started going to line dancing classes.

What I hadn’t expected is that I’m learning so much about becoming a better singing workshop leader.