Finding song information – Chinese whispers, wishful thinking and the oral tradition

I was choosing songs for a project the other day when I remembered one that I really liked from way back.



However, with a bit of further research I discovered that it was a very lewd song and not suitable. So how come girl guides all over the world are singing it?

Tell your choir leader what you’re struggling with, otherwise they can’t help you

Sometimes one section of the choir struggles with their part. I ask what the problem is, but am faced with a sea of blank faces.

photo by CollegeDegrees360

If I don’t know what the difficulties are, I can’t help. Why won’t singers say why they’re struggling?

Where are all the birthday songs?

Today happens to be my birthday. Which got me thinking: how come most people in the world sing the same birthday song?

photo by Ed g2s

Where are all the other songs for birthdays?

Can you ‘be in the moment’ yet plan for the future?

There’s a lot of talk about ‘mindfulness’ these days. Of being present and in the moment.



But if you are truly in the moment, how can you think about the future and plan ahead? Let’s look at this apparent contradiction.

Taking stock – self-reflection for choir leaders and singers

In order to develop as a singer or choir leader it’s important to take stock from time to time.



People often use the New Year as a time for reflection, but you can take stock at any time.

Christmas comes but once a year — so when to learn all the carols?

Christmas is coming. Time for concerts liberally sprinkled with seasonal songs.



But when do you start learning your Christmas repertoire? It takes a lot of work to add songs to the repertoire and then might only sing them once!

Have you become too dependent on your choir leader? You might be denying your own abilities

I’ve been noticing something interesting recently: when I move away from a part when I’m teaching them a song, they tend to fall apart.



Since I’m not actually doing anything for them at this point, I wonder what’s going on.

Choir anniversaries – and how you might celebrate them

I’ve just realised that this blog is 12 years’ old! Amazing how time flies. I was wondering how I might mark the occasion.



Then I realised that I’ve been hearing a lot recently about choirs who have been celebrating their own anniversaries. Which got me thinking: what’s the best way to celebrate a choir anniversary?

The hardest thing about going to choir is leaving the house!

Humans – dontcha just love ’em?! They say they really want to do something, then they don’t turn up.



What is that about? How come it’s so hard to leave the house when it’s choir time?

Singers, don’t be afraid to make mistakes – it’s the only way to learn

Many singers hold back because they’re afraid of getting it wrong.



But if you never make mistakes, you’ll never learn what getting it right is.

What to do if you think someone in your part is singing it ‘wrong’?

There are times when you hear someone in your part singing something different from you. Especially when you are learning a new song.

photo by Peter O'Connor

What’s the best thing to do in this situation? Let’s look at some of the options.

How to work with a mixed group of music readers and non-readers

I always teach songs by ear. As a member of the Natural Voice Network, our ethos is to make singing accessible to as many people as possible. This means we never assume any prior musical experience or knowledge.



But, sometimes there are music-readers in my singing groups who ask for the sheet music. How can you accommodate these demands whilst keeping the work accessible to everyone?

Why do I sound much lower (or higher) than the person next to me when singing the same part?

In choral singing, you often hear the term blend. Much attention is given to the shape of vowel sounds to help achieve blend.



However, the timbre of voice is perhaps even more important than vowel sounds. Why do two singers sound so different when singing the same thing?

How to find the balance between easy and challenging songs in a drop-in singing group

A drop-in singing group is exactly what it sounds like: singers don’t need to make a regular commitment, but can drop in any time they want to.



I’ve written about before the pros and cons of these kind of groups. But here is what I’ve learnt from leading a monthly drop-in group for the last few years.

How to cope with too many male singers (a rare and unusual problem!)

It’s very common for choirs to be short of men. Most of my singing workshops attract far fewer men than women.



But sometimes – very occasionally – loads of men turn up unexpectedly. Which can be a problem too. Here are some ideas for what to do.

Why you need many different ways of telling your singers the same thing

As I started yet another singing workshop, I realised that I say pretty much the same thing in the introduction each time.



That got me thinking: if singers hear exactly the same thing too many times, they’ll just zone out. How can we avoid that?

Why are some ‘easy’ songs hard (and vice versa)?

Sometimes I start a singing session off with what I consider to be an easy song.

photo from Wellcome Images

But the group end up struggling and it turns out to be really hard! What’s going on here.

If you’re a man, do you have to be a ‘bloke’ in order to sing?

There are plenty of opportunities for men to sing together these days. They are called things like “Sing like a bloke” or you can even go to ‘BlokeFest’.



Does that mean that men have to be ‘blokes’ to sing? Of course not!

New singing weekends and new website!

I'm delighted to announce that  a brand new, full responsive version of my website will go live tomorrow, Tuesday 25 September 2018:

chrisrowbury.com

This will coincide with my twice-yearly newsletter going out to my mailing list where I'll be announcing all my singing weekends up until next June 2019.

The weekends will go on sale on my new website the same day.

If you'd like to go on my mailing list, just pop over to my website to sign up: sign up to Chris's mailing list.

I'd be grateful for any feedback you might have about my new website. It's lovingly hand-crafted by me from a responsive template that I bought. I hope it's easy to navigate and look at on mobile devices.

Do let me know if find anything clunky or can think of any improvements.

Many thanks.

Chris Rowbury

Website: chrisrowbury.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury

Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
Monthly Music Roundup: Tinyletter.com/ChrisRowbury

How to bring harmonies to life when teaching a song

To teach a harmony song to a group, you don’t want whole sections standing around waiting their turn.

photo by COD Newsroom

Not only should you break the song into chunks, but you should build the harmonies as you go along. Here’s how.