finale of Sing while you work

Did you watch Gareth Malone and the final episode of "sing while you work" last night? Ely Cathedral is one of my very favourite places to sing in- when I was at college, I sang in a scratch Mendelssohn "Elijah" one Christmas. I had a lousy cough (nothing new there) but I wasn't going to miss it for the world... The experience was amazing- the sound bounces around into all the nooks and crannies and up to the incredible vaulted ceiling..... As we left to go back to Cambridge, the Bishop of Ely was standing on the steps to wish us happy Christmas and to thank us.... I was coughing really badly and he asked if I wanted to turn my toes up.... as it's not a bad place if you're going to go! I said thank you but no thank you!

Anyway, back to last night- I was pleased that even the choristers were giving the choirs the kind of tips I keep talking about- dropping your jaw, letting tongue drop and relax, use teeth and tongue to get clear consonants, standing properly, no hands in pockets or folded across body....

And even though the music WAS cheesy, it was fab! I think we should aim to be able to perform pieces like that so keep singing, keeping practising, and see what a difference knowing your part and not needing to look down at music makes. (there's a hint there- try to learn your music off by heart and then you can sing from the heart!

Happy Christmas everyone- see you on 7th January!

End of term!

We had a fantastic last rehearsal of 2013 on Tuesday- lots of singing, including work on a new song, and everyone brought so much delicious food to share- wow those stuffed dates were amazing!

We're singing for the Dursley Lions tomorrow night to provide some Christmas cheer and say thank you for their very kind donation to help with funding our overheads and music and after that, as Grace says...

KEEP SINGING! till we meet again on 7th January 2014. How exciting is that?
New Year and loads of new songs to learn.....

strange week!

It seems very strange that this week there will be no choir as it's half term! But keep practising and learning those words and see you in two weeks!

It's October!

Yikes, where did the year go? Where, for that matter, did this last week go?

Maybe it's because we're so looking forward to another week of singing that time flies...

Don't forget to bring in your stuff for car booting and if anyone can help out on 12 October at Norman Hill, that would be even more wonderful!

After last week's scrumptious cakes, I'm already salivating at the thought of this week's!

xxx

tonight

what a wonderful time we had tonight! The singing was great fun, we got through a lot of work, the cakes were amazing and it was fantastic to welcome some more new members of the community choir. It's lovely to see new people fitting in and having fun and basically doing what this choir is about- singing, enjoying ourselves, feeling good and sharing in a brilliant experience of music. Thank you all for making it all SO worth while- I love my Tuesday nights!!!!

so what's choir like?

It's great fun! We sing lots of songs- at present everything from gospel to folk songs, songs from round the world, and of course at this time of year, we're starting to think about some Christmassy ones as well!

And then you get to eat the most divine cake... this week Marie made her (infamous) amazing millionaire's shortbread- we all think she should be on cake duty every week! But whatever cake we get to eat, it's always over a cup of tea and a good natter, before we go back to the job in hand- we're here to sing and feel good about singing!

So come along, don't worry if you think you can't sing, you'll soon learn as everyone has it in them, however deep down it lurks if you were told to mouth the words at infant school..... do teachers realise how much harm they do telling kids that?

See you all on Tuesday!

Why singing is so good for you- the medical reasons!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12814197

Worth while having a quick read to find out that it really is doing you good singing every week!!!!
See you all on Tuesday

been a bit busy....

but just wanted to say how well everyone sang on Tuesday- sounded great! If you are interested in doing solos do let me know so I can ask you as and when.... a lot of the pieces we'll be doing this term there will be little solos in them so everyone who wants a go will get a chance! (or 2 or 3!)

1st night! Well done everyone!

What a night! Lots of old faces and lot of new ones. Lots of singing- worked on 3 different songs. You all did so well- it's hard after a summer off to get back into the whole singing thing, listening, cooperating, taking turns (sounds like kindergarten!) but it's so worth it! We'll keep on with the songs we worked at this week and add in the Raven folk song (print off this blog) and something else from the blue Dreamtime book. So if you need a copy of Dreamtime, contact Grace (and if we need more copies she'll let me know!)

I'm already looking forward to next week, so keep practising being relaxed..... and take a look at the songs before next time, if you can!

ready to eat cake?

Cakes baked, in freezer to keep them fresh..... so looking forward to Tuesday!

Not long to go....

Time is ticking by- it's not long till the Skylarks start rehearsing:

Tuesday 10th September at Berkeley Town Hall- put it in your diaries now!

We're planning a bit of a welcome party for the first session- so some yummy homemade sausage rolls, or scrumptious cake may tempt you...... all with local ingredients!

Please invite friends and family to join us as the more really is the merrier when it comes to choirs: anyone from age 10 upwards (children need a nominated responsible adult at each rehearsal- doesn't have to be the same person or related) is very welcome!

See you all on 10th Sept

Christmas Carols Autumn 2013

Clink on the following links for the PDF files:

A Song For Christmas Eve
As I Sat On A Sunny Bank
Carol Of The Flowers
Sing We Noel
What Child Is This

Welcome!

Welcome to the very first post for this blog about The Skylarks Community Choir. We hope you find the blog interesting and perhaps you'll keep following us.... and then come along and sing with us!

This isn't your average choral society singing Elijah and Messiah or even some Carl Jenkins....

We sing a really big variety of music, from folk songs to pop, gospel to classical, improvised to rounds, music in 3 parts or every person doing something a bit different.....

You don't need to be able to read music, although it helps (and we run a "summer school" so you can start to learn to read music, improve your sound etc if you want to work on it) and we try to make sure you sit next to lots of different people, some who will help you with the singing, some who will tell silly jokes, and all of them will be friendly, not cliquey, and be there to have a good time!

You have probably heard all the stuff in the media about the benefits of singing! Well I could have told you that about 20 years ago! I have severe asthma but because of all the singing I've done over the years, when I have my asthma check they never believe me! My peak flow is amazing! If you ask anyone who comes along, singing makes you feel happy (it's all those endorphins that get released) it's great being part of a group all working to the same end, and you'll discover that you have skills you never thought about (singing in Polish, or Arabic? Singing so that you doing your own things and everyone is singing a different variation .,.....) And as for break time! We have some really good cake makers amongst the choir, but we equally love shop cakes!  There's nothing better than a cup of tea and a natter over some cake after a hard night's singing!

I really do believe that singing should be prescribed by the NHS, Think how much money it could save in drugs, doctors' time etc,

So if you are thinking about going to a choir, come and try ours out! If you think you're not good enough or can't sing, then come along, If you think you don't like choirs then come along,

You don't lose anything and we reckon you'll have a fantastic time!

See you all on 10th September!