Admin! Lots of admin; took quite a while. (all v. busy; difficult - nay, impossible - to find a day to suit everybody for next session)

- Kathy warm-up: Funge (Nigerian). legs clap / click clap / cross arms clap / head clap
{Certainly displacement; fun - brain gym to an extent? Wish I could remember the song for a start!}
- Sandra warm-up:
"Coffee and tea, coffee's much stronger than tea - wise men should leave it alone for it makes them skin and bone. Better by far to be simply a drinker of tea!" - long, teach in small parts. (Hand signals for pitch) --> all sing with eyes closed to remember; subconsciously actually memorised it w/o realising. Much more in time when sang w/ eyes closed; I still used hand signals anyway - muscle memory useful! - but not actually necessary. {OHRWURM!!! I now often annoy my sister by singing it!}

Songs:
- Ruth: Freedom; learned M + 3H --> musicality, turn into a piece. Dynamics, rhythm / timing {groove?} oh | yes | I | know (tenuto ma detaché)
V. IMPORTANT: notes into music! (Freedom - Mandela / Westminster; Paul sang!) All performed to each other: inc. facial expressions, moving in time (not quite dancing, but swaying might cover it), etc. Good fun, and nice piece too.
{Hand signals for pitch very useful. Also, personally: more subtle to finger notes as if on vln or vla; v. useful if slightly odd. Not sure best technique as when 'performing' it to each other, not really appropriate, then found it a little more difficult. Fascinating/strange? Need another method!!!}

- Malcolm: from Guinea; call and response. (Really can't remember it, sorry.)

*For next time: a piece to develop from taught to sung musically.

Paul, Charles, Ruth, Malcolm, Kathy, Evelyn, Ruth, Sarah, Me, Susan observing I think.

Warm-ups:
- Hot potato (reminiscent of Charles' beans! SU)
- 'ng' sound: Among the young the singing is bringing the zing of the spring to the song they are singing.
- Body percussion: Hip click clap click (slow pulse)
+ scat:
bababa {3 4} Ooh-ee {3 4} yeah yeah yeah {3 4} badup dah daa {3 4}
{1 2} better get do-own {1 2} to the funky sound {1 2} better get set {1 2} let's gogo,go ...
{I will notate this somehow, by the time I properly write this session up} - Kathy. Worked out w/ Paul; discussion afterwards: gate opened, for properly teaching + confidence. Brilliant!
- song - ?

Technique: bro-air - legato (swing arms) & staccato (clenched fists) + Charles' modulations! {You may go down the octave; others May Not *pointed Look* - !!}

Songs: Teaching technique - structure, (s'thing; planning?), technique
- Nisa [Malcolm]
- Si si si (SU) [Evelyn]
- Animal Farm (SU) [Me]
- Cherokee song [Ruth] (I really cannot remember for the life of me what it was)
We split into two groups to teach the rest of our group a song; Malcolm, Evelyn and I were in a group with Charles, and the others were in a group with Paul. Then we came back together to teach our songs to the other group, though I can't remember whether anyone other than Ruth from the other group taught their song. (The above four were all that were in my notes.)

A couple of points about the songs:
- I found learning the words for 'Si si si' really difficult, getting the consonants in the right order. I was seeing the words from Evelyn's mouth, but my brain just wasn't processing them. It was really frustrating, and it wasn't a one-off; it'd be helpful to work out how to work around it other than having to write it all down.
- Teaching 'The Animal Fair' was kind of a breakthrough for me, actually. I'd been going through a rough patch, and only really prepared to teach it just in case I felt up to it, but thought I probably wouldn't. Anyway, with encouragement particularly from Charles and Evelyn, I did. And then taught it to the other group too, felt quite jellified afterwards as I'd been so nervous, but also relieved and quite proud that I'd managed it.
- Ruth's Cherokee song went down to C, and the pitch at which she taught it went down an octave below middle C, but my brain just wasn't letting me go up the octave. So I felt a bit stupid not quite being able to audibly hit the bottom note, (especially standing next to Paul) but considering how much it had taken to teach Animal Fair, it wasn't really worth beating myself up over it. That too wasn't a one-off (not being able to get my head around the octaves in order to change) but oh well.

Charles and I had a lovely conversation whilst waiting at the station for the train afterwards. He was very encouraging, saying that I have the whole package and just need confidence in my abilities. He said that people all have different styles, and although his is very energetic and outgoing, it's not necessarily better than any other style. Mine is more reserved and calm, but that just means it's different. There was something else that he said too, at which I recall being mildly surprised, but I really can't remember what it was.

Overall I went home with mixed feelings, mainly relief, delight, and tiredness! I think the main point I took from it was that despite feeling rough, I still managed to teach an entire song without too much drama - yes with help and encouragement, but it gave me the confidence that I can do it. So, hoorah! :)

This afternoon Voces8 were back at Bedford School to work with the a cappella groups in readiness for the upcoming House Singing (I can't quite believe it's been a year, which it has, to the day) and it was an enjoyable afternoon followed by a concert - even the slickest recording cannot beat seeing them perform live, and it was great to chat properly to Paul and Charles too :) However, in order to motivate myself to actually get on and write up the rest of Take the Lead, I shan't write up this afternoon until I have finished TtL. Which also makes chronological sense, so I'm happy.

I don't really understand why I haven't found the motivation yet; reliving the workshops is fantastic fun and makes me very happy, as well as accomplishing something that really ought to be done. It may be related to the fact that it takes so much brain power and I'm almost permanently tired - but I shall try.

Voces8 also have a new website (launched today); it's worth a look. Still to be found at http://www.voces8.com/web/

For now I shall just write up notes of the sessions, until I get round to fleshing out the entries - I'm aware that with my procrastinative nature, that may take quite some time, but it's better than just forgetting it all and/or just never writing anything up. So, session 7:


Sandra, Paul, Kathy, Ruth, Evelyn, Ruth, Malcolm, Sarah, Susan (no Charles?).

Warm-ups:
- Evelyn's body percussion.
Hip click clap click
Hip click clap click
Hip click clap click
Hip click clap fill (thigh-thigh - quavers)
+ improvs over the top - improv vocal percussion too

- Ruth & Malcolm
Stamp feet to pulse (bars of 4), make up rhyme for name. Say in unusual way, e.g. regional accent, sing, affectation, etc. (If no rhyme, use nickname or make up a name. Doesn't really matter!)
e.g. "my name is Ruth and I'm very aloof"
"my name is Ruth and I'm telling the truth"
"my name is Malcolm and I get a big welcome"
"my name is Paul and I'm very tall"
"my name is Lottie and I'm rather potty"
"my name is Ruth and I'm very aloof"

- Sandra and myself
My Name is Joe:
Hello, my name is Joe, and I work in the button factory. I have a wife and a dog and a fam-ily. One day, my boss said to me: 'Hey Joe! Are you busy?' I said 'no' 'push the button with your ... ' right hand / left foot / nose / left ear / etc. - cumulative!
Last time: ... 'are you busy?' I said 'YES!'

- Kathy and Ruth?
I'm a Robot


GROW model, situational leadership - inc. the coaching dance! Fascinating stuff (rather than fascinating rhythm)

Goal: Need to know at start
Reality: Where we are currently - situation-dependant
Objectives/Options: Potential paths forward in order to reach goal
Will: How do I motivate group to reach goal? Inspire/enable/enthuse

Situational Leadership (Blanchett & Herschel - why so familiar?)
Four stages of a person's development - the reality from GROW:

1. Direct
Low skill

Beginner

2. Coach
More skill + more enthusiasm

Enthusiastic Learner / Improver

3. Encourage
Usually drop in enthusiasm

Intermediate

4. Delegate
Equal level
e.g. Voces8

Advanced

{They should go into a 2x2 table, going 1-4 anti-clockwise from bottom right to bottom left but I can't work out how to do that on here without lots of complicated (to me!) HTML and that'd defeat the point of writing up just notes!}

We were at stage 1 for our first workshop; Paul and Charles were completely having to direct us.
Voces8 are at stage 4, classically-speaking (had to pretty much go through it again for pop and jazz).


Could see my own progression in this. Stage 3 was especially interesting because it rang very true. There had been a point at which I was so excited and enthused by the world that I discovered (stage 2) but then suddenly realised I was utter rubbish and was nowhere close to being competent in the field. It wasn't quite a drop of enthusiasm, but definitely a drop in confidence as I suddenly saw an enormous amount I had to learn! Just like instrumental technique (I'm probably at stage 3 with that, but there we go).


The Coaching Dance:

Coach
Encourage / facilitate
'sang that; how to improve?'
open question; reach agreement

Teach
Impart knowledge
'sang and A, not a G'
view on realities may differ; potential for conflict

dance: balance.

(More fascinating stuff!)


Songs: Split into two groups. One group learn one with a view to teaching to the other group, and vice versa. Take note of how learn!
Mercy Mercy Mercy (jazz band!)
All Night Long(?)

Relatively easy with sheet music. Play through on piano, sing along / sing after (depending upon confidence). Tricky rhythms - pulse, work them out, repeat. Line by line repeat, two lines repeat, whole piece. Harmony, not sure. One of two: Play along on piano whilst melody sung, or play harmony on piano, then sing, put together with melody on piano, put together sung. Not entirely sure - maybe both? {Found self conducting - rather fun! Quite liberating to legitimately conduct along to s'thing, especially surrounded by musos, rather than on a train!)

Felt like didn't do many different things, but got through a lot - GROW took a fair chunk of time. Definitely worthwhile - illuminating even, one might say.

Scary discovery: I can't find my notes for session 6. I hope that wasn't the one session for which we weren't sent notes via e-mail! Shall have to check very soon. Meanwhile, this'll have to do as a placeholder while I get on with the sessions for which I have notes!

The deadline for bringing this journal up-to-date is looming, yet I fear that recounting each workshop is woefully lacking non-existent. This is due to a combination of work being very busy, life itself being very busy, and intermittent fighting of moderate blues - none of which are, by themselves, conducive to long periods of concentration and wracking one's brains; the combination of which tends to result in a complete lack of any progress. Hence the current situation.

To rectify this completely in time for the deadline (16th August) is humanly impossible without ignoring the rest of my life for these coming few days. However, an intermediate compromise may be possible: writing up my notes for each workshop, with a view to elucidating and expanding each entry in the near future. Not an ideal compromise, and certainly not one with which I am happy, but a compromise nonetheless. Better than nothing, surely?


In better news, www.singup.org has been "refreshed" and, as a result, somehow I can now access all of the scores and lesson plans on the website! I also apparently belong to a school (which one, I haven't a clue), and have some random playlists on My SingUp page supposedly belonging to said school, but I'm not complaining! I've also given them my address so maybe, just maybe, I might receive a Sing Up magazine at some point? One can only hope.


Right, now to crack on.

{This is an entry in retrospect but with the date modified in order for the journal to make chronological sense.}

Team challenge was a semi-shambles, to be honest. Actually no, it was a complete shambles! The first group were very unenthusiastic, even with their teacher trying to enthuse them. I was at a loss, but with hindsight I ought to have played Splat! with them first to get them going, and then I'd probably have been more successful trying to engage them. Anyway, the humming exercise was a disaster, not least because one hummer led his follower into a patch of nettles - !!??!! I can't even begin to work out how on earth he managed to do that ... As the humming and Splat! took so long, I forgot about the triangle and stepping stones activities and went straight into Minefield. This was somewhat more successful than humming - well, infinitely more successful actually! One pair were FANTASTIC at giving instructions (interestingly, the same pair who experienced the nettle incident) and were brilliant at navigating the minefield. I strung it out as long as possible, but due to completely forgetting about the triangles and stepping stones, the timings were all naff and we ended up having to play Splat! for a while longer.

The second group ... they were even less enthusiastic than the first group, despite having just done archery. Splat! didn't even enthuse them that much; at that moment I wished I had Charles there! Anyway, humming went better, and the ideas the children were having were really rather good. I just didn't know how to adapt and incorporate their ideas; more about that later. In the interests of fairness, they only did the same activities as the first group; the only consolation was that I already knew the timings were completely out, so I was vaguely prepared to have to string things out for ages. Interestingly enough, we had one pair who were rather good, and one pair who were CATAstrophically awful at Minefield. It was absolutely fascinating! An insight into the way different minds work, really.

A few things I took from the morning:
- Safety briefings need to be better; common sense isn't as common as we think
- I need to somehow learn to adapt activities to really include the children's ideas more
- Even having a list of activities doesn't guarantee structural success (I forgot to look at the list *facepalm*)
- I need to find ways of enthusing children - maybe I'm not being barmy enough, or maybe I'm pitching the barminess wrong? (Now there's an odd concept.) Whatever, it didn't work for those kids.


In better news, I've led two caving sessions to date, and have been working as an instructor on the summer camps. The first caving session was ... not a total disaster, because the kids had fun (which was the main aim) but exceedingly stressful because I was useless at maintaining any level of control. To be honest, I think I was stressed before the session, which put me in the wrong frame of mind for a good session. That said, the other instructor with me was leading wide games for the second part of the morning, and once it was his session they still wouldn't shut up and listen to him. He's the most laid-back and easy-going of us all at Dell Farm and even he was at the end of his tether with them before he could even set up the games. So it probably wasn't entirely my fault; I suspect that group were Rather Lively anyway.

The second caving session was infinitely better. I was in a better frame of mind, remembered to emphasise and encourage the good behaviour, remembered the tried-and-tested technique of speaking quietly (so they have to shut up else they can't hear me!) and was determined it would be better anyway. Lo and behold, it was - hoorah! That group actually achieved far more than I've seen any other group achieve, out of all of the numerous sessions I've observed - I would go so far as to say that I was rather proud of them!

Next week I'm going to be leading the caving sessions (apart from one when I'll be mountain biking instead - !) so I just need to remember what works and put it into practice. And, if it does all go wrong, they're caving so they'll enjoy it anyway! They always do.


This entry and the previous two may seem incongruous with Sing Up. The main purpose of them is to record the success - or lack thereof - that I have leading groups. At the moment it looks unlikely I'll be let loose on any group of kids for musical purposes, so for now my experiences at work will have to suffice. But the techniques and principles for leading groups are similar, if not the same, for the majority of groups of children, in whatever context. Hence these entries are here!


ETA: I led several caving sessions during the Summer Camps at Dell Farm, and was a group leader for some of the ice-breaking team activities. The team activities weren't my sessions and didn't go as well as the caving, but on the positive side, the caving on the whole went rather well. So I'm not completely hopeless, which is nice to know :)

Heh, well that was rubbish! We had some time to fill with the first group after team challenge whilst we waited for the second group to finish archery, so I decided to try to teach them Kathy's body percussion / scat thing. To be honest I didn't really set it up properly and my mind kept going blank for which order the words were, and it was a total disaster. I know for if ever I do it again, to get it properly into my head first!

The humming was quite good fun actually. FAR less complicated than I was originally going to do it, but infinitely better for it. The basic premise was that we were in the team challenge paddock (which has tree stumps, planks, and the cave escape hatches to avoid) and one partner was blindfolded with the other leading them around by humming. Then they swapped over. Strangely, even though it was what we would perceive as a simple exercise, the second group particularly were rubbish to begin with. They didn't understand that stepping over obstacles was not a good idea as the one blindfolded couldn't see the obstacle ... As for the second group, they just didn't get the concept of continuous humming, and also didn't understand that er, they needed to be close enough to their partner for their partner to actually hear them. This despite having had clearer instructions from me than the first group. However, they got better after lots of work and encouragement.

It was a shock to recall how we all understood it instantly when we first did the exercise, and the stark contrast between the adult workshop (Take the Lead) and ... well, the 'front line', as it were.


In terms of just leading a group, this afternoon was definitely progress - and a lesson to me in how clear I need to make my instructions, what things aren't actually obvious and therefore need to be pointed out / discussed.

No doubt anyone reading would by now expect a long and detailed analysis of the above - you will be relieved to know that you are being spared! I just haven't the time.

I'm leading team challenge again tomorrow, though probably without anyone else for backup, which will be terrifying but it should end up being okay. As long as nobody injures themselves again!

Well well well. I almost managed to use Kathy's body percussion thing with the residential group but sort of bottled it. I say 'sort of' because 2/3 of the group were sitting on the steps outside the dining hall waiting for the other 1/3 to come in for tea. They were incredibly noisy and had no instructor to keep them entertained, and the teachers were just standing around doing nothing. So I saw an opportunity to keep them entertained and to test my own ability to actually get their attention (they're a tough group this week) at the same time. Alas, rather than just standing at the front to go for it, I asked the teacher whether I could 'try to teach them a rhythm thing' ... big mistake. She said no, they just needed to rest. I'm not going to go into a long babble, but frankly I disagreed, and I'm annoyed with myself for not having the guts to just get on and do it.

However, tomorrow will be better. I'm leading one session of team challenge, and hoping to team teach the session before that. This particular group have virtually no listening skills so I think I'll try to start off with them being in pairs with one blindfolded and the other guiding them around cones by humming. I did consider attempting a small soundscape but I'm not sure that right now I can make it work with them - at least with the humming pairs there is a tangible completion of the challenge. So ... we shall see.

It is currently Saturday 3rd July, the day following the final session of Take the Lead, and I am now five sessions and one festival behind. Conveniently, Paul and Charles happened to mention yesterday that August 15th is when they finish their manic summer and have two weeks’ holiday. So I thought maybe it would be good to set that as the deadline for having updated everything ... just because I need a deadline otherwise it’ll never be done! (The scary thing is, I do mean never.) However it suddenly dawned on me last night that actually the two weeks prior to that are the first two weeks of the summer camp at work (when I shall be working more or less full-time) and will not have the time, much less the energy, to really do much else, especially not writing up the sessions. Just before that is the Twickenham District Convention when I won’t have any time/energy to do anything else (even if I wanted to), so really Wednesday July 28th is my deadline if I’m to reach the August deadline ... that’s 2 ½ weeks away, and next weekend is Coventry District Convention – this could be INteresting!

So. Enough babbling; nothing like a deadline looming to help one find some motivation! :)


A little aside: I've just decided to listen to 'Aces High' on my new laptop, which has decent sound (rather than my old laptop / my mp3 player / car CD player) - and MY GOODNESS it's even better!!! I am truly astonished, and very pleased indeed! I can even hear the dipthongs ;)

As it's not really Sing Up, I won't write about the Voces8 launch concert here, but a public post can be found in my other journal here if anybody's interested.

(My being absurdly excited was richly rewarded!)

I wouldn't normally post about a session before I could properly update, but tonight I need to get some things off my chest.

I can't explain it but I'm buzzing differently tonight from after every other session - not because we've been running around and making total idiots of ourselves, like session 2; although we did a bit of that - it just feels different. Probably a contributing factor is that there were only eight of us, which by the nature of these workshops, completely changes the dynamic and the songs and warm-ups we can do. I shall elucidate in the actual write-up, but I do prefer smaller groups. (I can hear better too!)

- I talked to Susan before the workshop began, and got to know her a little. I also asked her about Sign Up, and she said I'd be most welcome! (I would like to point out that when I discovered Music and the Deaf [capitals theirs; I'm not going into that!] and Sign Up, I almost fell off my seat with excitement! I was bouncing for days afterwards, even more so than when I discovered Sing Up. I was and am still ridiculously excited ... but Sign Up shall have to wait for a separate entry. Possibly after Monday.)

- We did some technical things! Hooray!!! I've been trying to explore my voice, working out what sounds it makes and how, and the different registers - and the natural thing to do is to look on the internet (with discretion; I'm not totally stupid) and attempt to begin to make sense of it all. But it doesn't really work when one has no idea what each different part of the vocal system (for want of a better word) is or does. I haven't even worked out what the registers are, come to that - I know some (chest voice, falsetto, whistle) but there seem to be different terms encompassing different registers ... so confusing. Hence I've given up for now, and am sticking to working out what my voice does. So, for Charles to do some technical work with us was brilliant.

- Wir haben progress on the volunteering front :)

- Bean casserole!


I think I'm currently more excited about writing up this session than I am about the (*ahem* shameless plug alert!) 'Aces High' launch concert on Friday - !! This is likely due to the latter not having sunk in yet, especially as I almost missed all of the saver tickets (the next available was £24.50, I think - really couldn't afford that!). However, it will be brilliant and I will be excited by the time I get there, even if it doesn't sink in until I'm on the train to London!


(I'm an utter idiot. I've not slept very well for the past few nights, and getting myself all excited again about Sign Up was possibly not the wisest of deeds! Ho hum.)

Hooray for Sibelius demo and screenshots! I shall post what I can of the songs we used during session 4, though this will likely be an 'entry in progress' for a while because the process is unexpectedly slow. I also apologise for any notation errors in melodies or lyrics - please feel free to pull me up on them!

Great Day:
( Parts )
We spent quite a while doing different things with Great Day; after a bit we started clapping along, and then we walked around the room in a line, snaking back and forth. At one point we passing each other by, which meant that we could hear more clearly the harmonies between our part and the others as we passed. It was great fun!


Kumala Vista (probably not the correct title):( Transcription of nonsense )
This one sparked a discussion about appropriate pitching. Charles taught us it an octave below the above, and all of us sang it at the same pitch. Susan commented that as it was all in chest voice, her voice was hurting, and her point was to make sure we pitch it right for whatever our group is - children or adults. Charles said he finds G-D to be the 'golden fifth', in the middle of the range for everybody - not too high for the men, and he was expecting the ladies to go up the octave (because, I paraphrase, he's 'definitely not a counter-tenor; singing top Ds would be rancid').

We started off with 'Oh diddli-oh doh ... ' as the ostinato, then put everything else on top - effectively each two bars (as written above) constituted one line, and as a round it works when each group comes in after one line.

Right, as my laptop is evidently unresurrectable – at least by myself – I'd better get on with writing up session 4 (9th December 2009) before we get to session 5 next Wednesday (13th January 2010) … today is Thursday (7th) Friday 8th so that's not even a week's time. Providing the weather lets up and we're not all snowed in - well, here's hoping. (I think watching lots of Star Trek could be a contributing factor towards not having got round to writing up yet, oops!)

The plan had been to practise before the session, but to cut a long story short I had to be let in by the cleaners as the code seems to have changed, who had no idea anything was supposed to be happening (most disconcerting) and was asked to wait in the foyer. I didn't wish to be awkward so didn't practise – however it did afford an opportunity to look through our new kingdom songs (for the Sunday practice mentioned in the previous post) whilst waiting for others to turn up, so that was useful. Time ticked on and it was almost seven o'clock before the first lady turned up (I can't remember her name; I must find out next time! I know she's from Woburn Sands and does Music Mites at The Stables … still not her name comes to mind), and we waited a short while before everybody else started to arrive. Charles and Matt were among the last to arrive before the cleaner let us into the hall – Paul didn't actually arrive at all; his car blew up on the way! How frustrating for him. That completely changed what we did during the session as Paul had all of the materials for the songwriting, but it was a great session nonetheless; very helpful indeed.

The first part of the session Charles handed over to us, to talk in pairs about warm-ups (ones we've done as a group, or others we know) and then to lead them. It was very interesting and jolly good fun!

( Warm-ups! )


The second part of the workshop focused on Charles teaching us some songs; these were, in no particular order and probably without correct titles:
Kumala vista
Great Day
… the Zulu one
Scrumptious food

The first three he taught us in parts, so that (hopefully) we all got a chance to sing every part – in at least one of them he divided the group differently each time the parts changed, which meant that for example, some of those already singing part one were singing with those who changed onto part one – the groups overlapped.

( A little commentary )

I’m definitely looking forward to the next session – and hoping desperately that I will be able to attend the concert on the 15th (King’s Place, London, for the launch of Aces High – exciting stuff!) but this is alas all weather permitting. I just hope the snow and ice will have thawed enough for getting to the respective destinations without risking life and limb – we shall see what next week holds.

EDIT: I am actually ridiculously excited about being able to buy Aces High - still, it's a good exercise for patience and self-control!

(Non-edit:) Lyrics for songs to follow shortly; maybe some melodies too at some point. I haven’t yet mastered writing melodies with words underneath – I’ve always used Sibelius for that! It’s probably about time I learned …


I forgot to mention, Lee left for Australia at the end of last month. The music service will never be the same again! I would like to say that had it not been for Lee – directly, and indirectly – I'd not have even given Take the Lead a go, so I really am very grateful to him (he knows but I thought I'd mention it here too).

I was hoping to post the write-up of Take the Lead session 4 today, but I was writing it on my laptop ... which decided to stop working today. This is irritating. It's been on its last legs for over a year and has had a couple of resurrections so I'm not giving up hope but nor am I holding out any! If it doesn't work tomorrow I'll start from scratch and get it posted because I want to get it done - though I was over halfway through so I'm hoping that starting from scratch won't be necessary.



While I'm here, a little good news: On Sunday I went to a small gathering to practise some of our new songs (Jehovah's Witnesses don't use traditional hymns, and we have a new songbook we'll be using in January) and I think Take the Lead actually helped me be confident enough to sing out! I was asked along specifically to help lead, because I can sight-sing and therefore (hopefully) sing the melodies right - usually to sing out in a group of 20-25 would terrify me witless, but after a few songs I found my confidence - and my voice! If I'm honest, I didn't realise how much voice I had ... I'm not saying it was particularly good, but there was more of it than I'd ever thought.

Later on in the evening we sang a song that none of us had ever looked at before. As we listened to the piano accompaniment once through, I was going through the melody in my head, and decided to start humming it ... and then went for it, singing it out. In front of everybody else. Not a huge thing, I know, but for me it was quite something! And I know that a lot of the confidence that I needed to just go for it came from Take the Lead :) (Though the sight-singing itself definitely came from being a string player - good old D major ... )

To the tune of 'Ten Green Bottles':
Ten green signal lights, standing by the track,
Ten green signal lights, standing by the track,
And if one green signal light should suddenly change to red,
There'll be nine green signal lights, standing by the track!
(etc. ... )

I think it makes sense to post here songs and activities that may come in useful, as the aim of the blog is to keep everything about Sing Up together. It'll likely end up resembling a Sing Up scrapbook or something ... so hooray for tags!

Woops, the comments settings were wrong ... or I just forgot to think about changing them; the latter may be more likely, sorry.

So, please feel free to leave comments!


♪Gre-ea-ea-eat day; the sun's gonna shine on everyone!♪

This post is a bit 'odds and ends' in nature, before I write up about session 4.


- This was the first session in which I didn't feel inadequate!!!


- I had the confidence to ask what I knew was a potentially stupid question and didn't recoil when I started to feel a little silly :D


- Dm, dm, dm, tsch tsch tsch
Dm, dm, dm, tsch tsch tsch
Dm, dm, dm, tsch tsch tsch
Dm, dm, dm, tsch tsch tsch

Gre-eat day,
Great day and the sun is shi-inin'
Gre-ea-ea-eat day,
The sun's gonna shine on everyone!

Shinin', sun is shi-inin'
Shinin', sun is shi-inin'
Shinin', sun is shi-inin'
Sun's gonna shine on everyone!
OR
Shine on, shine on me-ee yeah,
Shine on, shine on me-ee yeah,
Shine on, shine on me-ee yeah, the
Sun's gonna shine on everyone!
{I can't remember which; both sets fit the rhythm}

Shiiiiiiiine, why won't you shi-ine on me,
Shiiiiiiiine, why won't you shi-ine on me,
Shiiiiiiiine, why won't you shi-ine on-the
Sun's gonna shine on everyone!


- Kumala kumala kumala vista
Ohhh-oh-oh oh oh na-vista
Eeci-meeni deci-meeni oohaah la-eeni-meeni
Doh diddli-oh doh, d-doh doh, sh'-di'n'da'n'

[The last two points are words (or in the case of the second, transcription of nonsense!) to two of the songs we learned from Charles, so I don't forget them. I'll probably notate the songs, but haven't time today - the words hopefully should remind me of the melodies.]


- Shameless plug (in case anyone other than Paul does actually read this blog!):

Voces8 are launching their new album 'Aces High' on the 15th January 2010!!
Details here: http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/weekly-themes/voces8
Snippets of album tracks here: http://www.voces8.moonfruit.com/#/aceshigh/4537120598 or if that doesn't work, http://www.voces8.com/ >> 'Aces High mini-site'

(I'm probably biased, but I think what I've heard on the website is simply fantastic; I absolutely cannot wait to get hold of the album! It's due for general release on the 1st February.)

( Preamble )

Charles' warm-up: [This was supposed to be approximately three minutes long, rather than a 'MacDougall 45-minute special' (if only I could remember the exact quote!) as the purpose of the session was not warm-ups, but songwriting; it ended up more in the region of five minutes but considering our usual warm-ups, five minutes was really rather impressive!]
Bungalow:
Leader {sings}: Bungalo-ow, bungbungalo-ow
Group repeat
Leader {speaks}: Hey [name], hey [name], show us how you bungalow!
Group repeat
Person {speaks to pulse}: My hands are high, and my feet are low, and {with action of own choice} this is how I bungalow!
Group {still to pulse}: Your hands are high, and your feet are low, and {copy action} this is how you bungalow!

I think actually I'll snag the reflection on 'Bungalow' from Paul's notes because it covers everything, and words it better than I would:

“Another name game song with opportunities for individuality and self expression[*] was led by Charles. Incorporated into the game were the following types of warm up:

Body movement – physical, facial and vocal warm up
Spoken voice – from whispering to full voice engagement
Low pitch/High pitch – stretching the voice as high and low as it could go
Varied rhythm linked with movement
Different dynamics – quiet, loud and in the middle
Characterisation – very important! Putting emotions into our music
Performing as a choir and as a soloist in a safe environment
Call and response style learning – both as leaders and followers”

*Charles made this point about the creativity that was produced: some picked up and carried on from him, e.g. he finished quietly -> they started quietly; others were resolute -> had chosen their action and stuck to it. Good to have both types of creativity.

Paul's warm-up:
Copy him.
- As usual, different consonants, pitches, characters (including the fireworks!)

Soundscapes:
(Abstract soundscape)
- Think of sound (pulse 4) – perform all together.
- Then non-vocal sound (oops! Mine had already been non-vocal), perform all together.
- As loud as possible / as quiet as possible.
[Potential to explore more, of course, but that wasn't the focus of the session.]
(Themed soundscape)
- Split into two groups
> Within groups: choose a theme (anything)
> All think of a relevant sound -> perform all together
> Sounds chosen for basis of soundscape
> Melody!
- Each group then perform their soundscape; other group have to guess the theme: fireworks / crime


Songwriting:
- What do we need? => Verse, chorus, tempo, words, instrumental, bridge (when boy bands stand up and step forward – very cheesy!) rhythm, melody, chords, etc.
- happy / sad? Chose happy (Charles joked that he hoped we didn't actually want a happy song, because whenever Paul tries to write a happy song it still turns out sad!)
- Play first chord, choose number 1-7.
- Play chords, choose more; like progression?
- Changed some, add a couple (because the cadence didn't sit well to Charles' very soul! If only I could remember the exact quote there too!) Settled.
- Chords for chorus
- Play through verse + chorus; what do they sound like? - theme
> Christmas
> away, trying to get back for Christmas
> our workshops (what trying to achieve, how get there)
> trapped -> freedom
> holiday
> cosy
- Verse chords introspective, not obviously happy (ahem, Paul); chorus simple and happy.
- Words for verse and chorus: chorus has to be the message of the song. Verse tells the story (wanders about – ours totally does!!)

Paul played the chords 'on repeat' for each group (we were still in our two groups) to write one verse and chorus. Lack of time => just write the chorus, though for our group Ed sang a verse, then we all sang the chorus; in the other group Malcolm rapped a verse and then they all sang their chorus.

The purpose of our songwriting, I shall also snag from Paul's notes:

“Understanding how songs work is very important if you want to be a good workshop leader. Songs can exist in many different forms, but there are key elements when building a song. When you come to rehearsing a new song with a group, if you can work out what each part of the song has been written for, this will help you to understand how to teach it. Various parts of songs have patterns to look out for, and if you are able to work out which bits of each song follow which patterns, this will help you teach it to the group you are working with.”


Overall I think it took the group as a whole a while to settle down and relax. One thing I forgot to mention (  ...  )

However. It was enjoyable as ever, fruitful, and we really made progress. In his notes Paul mentioned that the soundscapes were “very impressive work and showed clear learning from the previous session”, which is always nice to read! It's actually really helpful that we have session notes and e-mails peppered with encouragement like that :D

The encouragement for next time is to think about warm-ups we could lead, and to think about giving it a go (yikes); and bring in any resources that may come in useful for songwriting (Philharmonia Stepping Stones pack you're going to come in handy!).

Speaking of which, and I shall leave it at this: Charles gave us a good giggle with ( The Mummification Hokey-Cokey! )

Well, at least I got it written up before the next session this Wednesday! At last.

( Mini pre-amble )

Paul's warm-up:
Copy me:
- hands
- sounds
- stomp/lunges: LOUD (diaphragm)
- stretching out
- characterisation – had nonsensical conversation [interesting!] - authority figure / timid
- emphasised consonants – especially 'W'

Charles' warm-up:
- shrug / relax
- tense / relax whole body – DECONSTRICTION
- black holes / supernovae (really energetic! i.e. supernovae = jump as high off the floor as possible)
Cowboy:
- cowboy toffee, really chewy! => Jaw working
- running through village (moderate jog on the spot)
- being chased! -> faster
- duck bullet!
- jump over wagon
- slide through saloon doors [ideally without falling over! Oops and ouch]
During Charles' introduction of the cowboy character in session 1, he told us he had cowboy boots. We didn't believe him, mainly because a) it's Charles and b) he was wearing a three-piece tweed suit ... he turned up for session 2 in cowboy boots!

Soundscapes:
Cowboy:
On our horses! Three sounds, to pulse of four:
> Badaboom-tsch to the Wild-Wild West
> Wah-wah waaah, wah wah waaaah (p-tsch p-tsch)
> Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin' ...
Group split into three smaller groups + three leaders (Paul, Matt, another lady). On Charles' signal, leaders turn to the next group and lead them.

Q (Paul to the group): Was that a soundscape?
A: Yes – sounds depicting aspects of the Wild West
Q (participant, possibly Lee): why constantly on the horse? Just characterisation or actual reason behind it?
A: unlocks knees. People stand with knees locked; not good to sing with locked knees! Psychological: 'singing' = tense up. Idea of workshops is to get them singing without realising – takes away psychological associations and gets them singing naturally. Charles said the higher he sings, the lower he bends his knees (in singing lessons): “shameless displacement” - tricks the body into not thinking he's trying to sing high. So movement whilst singing distracts the body from the singing aspect!
[ - I'd just like to point out that I tried consciously unlocking my knees. I can't stand like that! It feels that, unless my knees are locked, there's no muscle support just above my knees, and I have to have at least one locked else I feel about to fall over! I have no doubt that Charles knows what he's saying (and I've noticed that when singing at the meetings, I unconsciously clench all of my leg muscles, which obviously isn't good. I'm trying to work on it) but I can't relax and stand with my knees unlocked. If I try, I'm concentrating on not collapsing!]

Next soundscape:
> Close eyes and think of something. Anything.
=> Various suggestions: English country garden, trains, Egypt, bridge over a brook (real place near Bedford; sounds nice!), etc.
> Decided on Egypt.
> Close eyes, think of Egypt. Visualise selves there, sounds, smells, textures, etc. Then, think of a sound.
> All together, to pulse of four, perform our sounds.
> Then, groups of four: each group perform sounds, rest of group choose one and do it too. Repeat for other two groups.
> Split into groups based on the sorts of sounds we have: embalmers, sand / pyramids, slavery.
> Each group organise their sounds (can't remember whether unison was preferred, but polyphony was allowed as long as it was justifiable; or whether it was the other way round!) [PULSE!!!]
> Each group to perform (I think) and then instructions to add some melody, to fit with Charles' melody (can't remember it but it was in an ... adventurous key!)
> Each group perform, then each member of group to lead others on their line. [eek – discussion to follow]

An observation was that we all seemed to come up with a narrative within our groups – the embalming group had scooping out guts and brains, and scarab beetles; the pyramid/sand group had sand whooshing, the wind blowing open the pyramid door, and sunshine coming through the opening; and the slavery group ended up with ... (actually, we went through a couple of possible incarnations, so I'm not sure what our final narrative was) ... we had the slave heaving a couple of blocks before having to stop to rest, the master telling the slave to get up and carry on, and the shophar (shofar? - EDIT: shohphar, in the original Hebrew) calling the slaves to work. (We er, originally had it within eight beats, but to then incorporate melody we ended up having to extend it over twelve beats. There's creativity for you!)

A bit of personal observation and rambling here: ( Ooh yikes! )


That was pretty much it, although two miscellaneous points:
( More yikes )

Heh, it probably sounds like it was pretty much a bad evening overall, the number of times I made myself feel a complete numbskull (note: nobody else made me feel that, only myself - !!) but it was actually rather fun. Especially being cowboys ~grin~ And very educational. I actually had an 'OHHHH yeah!' (*lightbulb pings on*) moment during our ending discussion, though I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I wasn't sure whether to feel happy that I'd realised whatever it was, or whether I'd actually been exceedingly slow to realise it!


(Oh, by the way? I pulled all of my muscles during the session – despite our very thorough warm-ups!! My body truly is feeble! I couldn't walk properly for almost a week O.o)


Before I forget: just a little something else. Charles mentioned, in connection with melody, that leaders can steer creativity into the desired direction. For example, a child might have an idea that's slightly melodic; the leader can then manipulate the idea a little into something a little more melodic – it's still the original idea (child's happy; ownership) simply steered more in the right direction. This can be applied to any musical aspect – a trick of the trade, one might term it.

Next post: Take the Lead! session 3

The concert was BRILLIANT!!! I can't remember all of the songs they sang, although I knew most of them (hooray for the internet! The internet doesn't do them justice though, by any means). These are the ones I can remember (in no particular order):

Magnificat Primi Toni - Palestrina
Nunc Dimittis - Gustav Holst
I Got Rhythm^ - Gershwin (^ = arr. Jim Clements)
Me and My Shadow^ - Jolson/Rose/Dreyer
Jailhouse Rock^ - Leiber/Stoller
Il est Bel et Bon - Pierre Passereau
Mack the Knife^ - Kurt Weill
Hark by the Crystal Fountain* - Thomas Weelkes
O Clap Your Hands - Orlando Gibbons
Steal Away - spiritual
Straighten Up and Fly Right^ - Cole/Mills
Fever^ - Davenport/Cooley
Feelin' Good^ (possibly; I'm not sure) - Newley/Bricusse
Slap That Bass^ - Gershwin / Gershwin

Encore: James Bond Medley^ (I think it was a medley; it may not have been. Could just have been one I don't know.) - various

*Charles took great delight in telling us a little about the character of Thomas Weelkes. He was fired from his post as .. what was it? Organist and master of the choristors at Chichester Cathedral for being drunk, and he wasn't best pleased. So he waited until a procession of archbishops? well, dignitaries of the church, anyway, and urinated on them from the gallery! (How verifiable this is I don't know, but it was certainly an amusing anecdote. Numerous sources report that he was dismissed from his post for habitual drunkenness, profanity, and blasphemy.)

It was, and how can I put this? AMAZING! Such great fun! I knew from YouTube videos that they really perform, rather than just sing, and I saw a bit of that during the performances earlier on in the day. But the concert had a completely different atmosphere; they were really engaging with the audience and having a ball ~grin~. The audience was – well, I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout, but it wasn't huge. So it kind of felt quite an intimate concert, which was really nice. I think it's probably the best concert I've ... what's the word? seen? heard? both. Hehe, it turns out the controller of Radio Three, who also happens to be involved with organising the Proms, was there. I have no doubt he will have been impressed ... watch this space?

It was an amazing, fun, educational day. Really, really brilliant. I'm so glad they invited us along; it's a real shame the others missed it (most likely because they were working. Alas).

Next post: Take the Lead! session 2

The masterclass was for the part songs for the then forthcoming House Singing for the senior school. There were five ensembles; alas I didn't write down all of the song titles because I didn't actually hear any of them! I only knew some of them because I recognised the songs. So, the main points:

First ensemble:
- Important to look as well as sound good. ENSEMBLE; effectively one instrument [did Barney really say that? Either that or my notes are wonky]
- Emotion: imagine no words; communicate emotion still. Also overall shape of piece.
- Basses and tenors, back up the melody. Harmony, give the shape.

Second:
- Stand together! Be an ensemble!
- Try less conducting – breathe together (standing closer together helps) [on the floor was tape for Voces8; standing within the tape meant they all stand quite close together. Somewhat closer than the boys were!]
- Pyramid of sound: basses give the most, melody (counter-tenor) gives the least [it made sense when Charles was talking about it; I'm not sure I can explain it sufficiently to do it justice alas. It was a few weeks ago now ... ]
- Key changes: practice!!! Listen to the bass.

Third (This may have been 'On the Dock of the Bay'; I forget):
- Own the solo (not vice versa) – guts! and showmanship.
- Middle: unify vowels
- Basses: 'bom' – round, resonant. And groove! [Dingle spend a while helping the basses with it; it was interesting]

Fourth (The Bare Necessities):
- Learn from memory.
- Solo makes its way around the parts; need to see where it goes (and hear for certain).
- Character
- Don't need conductor (stand and breathe together – already discussed)
- Make it fun! Project and perform the solos.
- Basses: line is inherently boring (bom) – make it fun, live it. Be a bear!

Fifth (Teddy Bears' Picnic): [The arrangement we attempted and failed at music school. Sadly. It was fun!]
- Vital to choose a song suited to the group's voices and personalities; commendation for succeeding – 'genius', to quote Barney.
- Characterisation! (Treble perfect for the teddy bear.) Never shy away from the obvious characterisations (e.g. Dingle/Paul) – cheesy but it never ceases to raise a smile. USE THE GROUP.
- Choreography [choralography? Charles and Andrea] – character of the piece. [Stand in, with 'teddy bear' in the front; others in semi-circle behind him. Stand with hands on knees/thighs, in 'telling a hushed secret' kind of stance.]

I don't know which group won the unison song – I know it was Crescent but I've no idea which group that was. St Peter's won the part song, with Teddy Bears Picnic – yay :) That made me smile. It seems that the ensembles didn't end up taking much notice of Barney's advice to stand together – or if they tried, ended up drifting apart nonetheless. Ah well. The Teddy Bears' Picnic looks to have been characterised more than their original performance in the masterclass, which is good.

Next post: Voces8 concert.