The secret world of … Basses

This is a series of five posts looking in a light-hearted way at the different types of singers in a typical community choir. 

I've covered Sopranos, Altos and Tenors. For the last SATB section, here are the Basses. Enjoy! In my final post I deal with Floaters.

When men and women sing the same harmony part

Often, when I’m teaching a song, a man might ask to sing the tune, or a woman might ask to sing the bass.

photo by Keith Hamilton Putnam

I usually say no, as I don’t like mixing men’s and women’s voices in the same part. Why is that?

How to know which harmony part to sing – a guide for new singers

Many people who attend my choirs and singing workshops have either not sung since school or have never tried singing in harmony before.



I am often asked “Which part should I sing?” Here are a few ideas which might help new singers.

What is harmony singing?

I had several new members join a singing project recently. I quickly realised that they didn’t really know what they’d let themselves in for!


It’s so easy to bandy words around without realising that they have a particular meaning and are ‘jargon’ to anybody outside the singing world. In this post I’ll consider our use of the word ‘harmony’.

How men sing (Part 5) – amazing examples from across the globe #getmensinging

This is the fifth in a series of posts which features amazing examples of men singing. Here are Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

men sing while waiting for the women to arrive at the Bona-na festival in Ladakh

My hope is that if men see a huge variety of different kinds of men singing together, they might be inspired to get off the sofa and go and try it themselves.

How men sing (Part 4) – amazing examples from across the globe #getmensinging

This is the fourth in a series of posts which features amazing examples of men singing. Here are Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.



My hope is that if men see a huge variety of different kinds of men singing together, they might be inspired to get off the sofa and go and try it themselves.

What to do when only one man turns up to your mixed choir

There’s a mixed voice singing workshop with plenty of women singers, but only one man turns up. A new community choir starts and only one man comes to the first session, vastly outnumbered by the women.

North Walsham Community Choir, Norfolk, UK

How do you deal with the massive imbalance? Here are a few ideas.

Neither fish nor fowl – why most singers don’t fit neatly into SATB boxes

You know the situation: one harmony part goes too high for you, but the other option goes way too low.



The fact is that most of us don’t fit neatly into SATB boxes. What are we to do?

Why can’t I sing low notes with more power and volume?

Many men (and some women) complain about not having much vocal power on low notes.

photo by GigNroll.com

If you have good power, control and volume in the rest of your range then there’s an easy explanation.

Effective ways to recruit more men for your choir #getmensinging

Lots of mixed choirs don’t have enough male singers, and many established male voice choirs are not managing to find younger recruits (see my series of three posts Men and singing).



Here are some ideas to help you recruit more men and to get men singing in general.

How men sing (Part 2) – amazing examples from across the globe #getmensinging

A while back I shared some amazing examples from all over the world of men singing together.



I thought it was about time I shared some more!

How men sing (Part 1) – amazing examples from across the globe #getmensinging

Many choirs have a shortage of male singers. Most of my singing workshops attract just 10% men. Is it just a problem here in the UK?

photo by Matthias Zepper

In an attempt to get more men singing, I’m going to share some amazing examples of men singing together from all over the world.

Is one of your choir sections thin on the ground? 10 ways to find more singers to fill the gaps

Many of us are in choirs where a particular section needs bolstering. In my case it’s a lack of altos, for others it might be too few tenors.



Here are 10 ideas for beefing up a particular voice part.