The difference between foreign song lyrics and made-up sounds

How important is it that the words in songs mean something, or can they be meaningless sounds?

Many choirs sing songs in languages they don’t understand, so does it matter whether lyrics are in a real language?

What to do if you don’t like your choir leader

Not every choir leader suits every singer.

Here are some questions to help you work out what to do if you don’t like your choir leader.

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything

I always, always plan my rehearsals and workshops in great detail, including the warm ups.

But invariably the unexpected happens and my plan goes out the window! Nevertheless, here’s why planning is still vital.

5 ideas for when your mind goes blank in front of your singers

It’s happened to us all: you’re mid-rehearsal and suddenly your mind goes completely blank.

Instead of panicking, here are some things you can do.

The more trust there is in your choir, the more trustworthy people become

Can you trust that your singers will do their best in the concert? Do you trust your choir leader to not harm your voice?

Rather than wait until you feel somebody is ‘trustworthy’, assume that you can trust everyone in your choir and they will rise to the occasion.

We all want to be seen and heard – so join a choir!

One of the most powerful human needs is to be seen and heard.

We all want to feel valued, important and that we matter. Being in a choir does all that and more.

Are only ‘singers’ allowed to sing?

Following on from last week’s post (Can only singers lead choirs, only music readers arrange songs and only musicians be songwriters?), it’s time to consider ‘singers’.

 

I think most of you know by now that I believe that everyone can sing. I’d like to delve a little deeper into whether you need to be a ‘singer’ in order to sing.

Can only singers lead choirs, only music readers arrange songs and only musicians be songwriters?

Many choir leaders demonstrate and teach songs by singing them. But can you lead a choir without being able to sing? Similarly, do you need to be able to read music to be a song arranger, or be a musician to write songs?

 

The simple answer to these questions (I believe) is “No.” Here’s why.

Why you can only focus on one thing at a time when singing

Singing can be daunting at first because there are so many things to remember: posture, breathing, smiling, tuning, balance and so on.

But if you try to focus on all these at once, it will end in disaster (especially in performance). Here’s what you can do instead.

How to ensure that your choir is inclusive as Covid restrictions start to lift

Even though we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, some countries are slowly beginning to lift Covid restrictions to varying degrees.

When your choir is finally able to rehearse indoors once again, how can you stay safe, but ensure that you’re as inclusive as possible?

The healing power of choirs: how singing together is good for your mental health

I’ve written before about the general and well-known benefits of singing in a choir: Why you should start the year singing – and then sing some more!

In this post I’d like to look at how singing together can benefit your mental health and how and why that works.

How to be a really successful singer or choir leader – deliver more than expected

If you want to be a real success, it’s not enough to just do the job at hand. You need to deliver more than is expected.

What does that mean for singers and choir leaders?

Finding positives from the pandemic when your choir finally gets back together

It has been said that every setback is an opportunity in disguise. Singing together has had many setbacks during the pandemic and choirs have been affected badly.

Here’s how you can turn those obstacles into positives.

Skills you’ll need to brush up when your choir rehearses again in person

Here in England, we’re limited to a maximum of six singers rehearsing indoors.

photo by allan harris

When restrictions are finally lifted (in three weeks we hope), many choral skills will have gone rusty over the last year or more.

Honouring the song 6: summing up and further resources

This is the last in my series of how to honour the source of a song.

photo by WorldFish

I’m going to sum up briefly give an overview of the process and point you to some further resources which might help.

Honouring the song 5: who wrote or arranged the song?

I’ve written before that even if it’s a folk song, somebody wrote it.

 

The identity of that individual may have been lost over time, but to honour the song, you still have the responsibility to try to find out who it was.

Honouring the song 4: what is the cultural and historical context of the song?

Just because we can sing a song, doesn’t mean that we should sing it.

It is important to honour the cultural and historical origins of a song so we know whether it’s appropriate to sing it in a different context or not.

Honouring the song 3: can you teach or perform the song accurately?

When using songs from cultures different to ours, we have the responsibility to teach or perform them as accurately as we can.

 

We honour the song by being as authentic as possible when pronouncing the words, and reproducing the melody and harmonies.

Honouring the song 2: what does the song mean?

When you learn a song — especially if it’s by ear — you take on trust what you’re told about the song’s meaning. This is particularly relevant if the song is in a foreign language.

 

But meaning is a slippery thing. Incorrect meanings get passed on like Chinese whispers. Some inexperienced song teachers even make stuff up if they’re not sure (see Bele mama from last week’s post).

Honouring the song 1: where does the song come from?

When honouring the origins of any song, you need to be as precise as you can about where the song came from.

 

It might be hard to find out, but there is no excuse for being lazy and saying something like “This song is from Africa.” Here are some things to consider when tracing a song’s origins.