Warm Up – Vocal Technique
Reminded about having an upright posture and not tense.
Breathing: In for 4 – Out for 4, In for 4 – Out for 8, On the out breaths to ssss, then to Aahs
Chord of C – sing any note in the chord on an ng
Random Chords – Sing any note in the chord on Aah, Dah, Dee, Do, Mi, Ma – Watching Mary for Endings and changes in Tempo, Dynamics etc.
D minor scale descending sing Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow concentrating on beginnings and endings and following for Tempo & Dynamics. Similar with Ice and Sleet.
Re-arrangement of seating for Christmas
Angels’ Gloria – arr. Laura Farnell
Performed last Christmas so sang through whole piece. Reminder of who sang the middle part last year.
Page 2 – Bar 5 – Unison in octaves then at Bar 13 Tenors & Basses phrase followed at Bar 15 with a Sop/Alto reply. Focus on holding on the notes at the ends of the phrases.
From the beginning try to put the last syllable (consonant if one) at the very end of the note.
Sops & Altos mark a quick turn at the bottom of page 3 so ready for the “Alleluia” on page 4.
Bars 21 – 24 note the crescendo from mf. Bar 24 “cel – sis!” Watch Mary.
N.B. This piece is made up of different carols and changes metre and speed all the way through!
Page 7 Bar 51 mf to start
Bars 52,53,54 Basses & Tenors have a long note on “angels”
Bar 57 Tenors & Basses take a beat out for a breath to be ready for Bar 58
Bar 59 Sops can take a breath after “lu” before “alleluia”.
Bar 59 Altos – careful to stay on E don’t go to the F of the Sops.
Bar 60 All crescendo.
Page 12 Bar 105 Sops/Altos split into 3 parts.
Bar 109 – Do not breathe between “glori – a” and “in”
Bar 110 Place last s of “cel – sis” just before D of Deo.
Sleep Away My Gentle Child – arr. Gwyn Arch
Does anyone know of someone who could play the Melody Instrument line on a flute, oboe, harp?
Page 1 Bars 5 onwards – Tenors and Basses should get rid of the consonants asap in Sleep
Bar 9 Ts & Bs on different but close notes. Ts Bb Bs C
Bar 10 Ts & Bs do not breathe when turning the page.
Page 2 Bar 13 – Altos be aware that it is a C on safely while the Sops are on a D
All together from Start at Bar 5 to Bar 14
Sleep Away My Gentle Child cont.
Page 2 Bar 19 Verse 2 – Start, mark as mp
Verse 3 – Start, mark as mf
We sang Verse 2 from Bar 19 to Bar 28
Bar 21 Tenors No breath between “sleep” & “my child”.
Bar 23 Sopranos will help Tenors as both on a Bb
Bar 30/31 Sops have just sung an F on “brings” – Alto 1st note is a G on “mind”
Tenors have just sung an F on “brings” – Basses 1st note is a G on “mind”
Verse 2 – All together
Ring The Bells – arr. Mike Conquest Audio files are on the Website.
Page 2 Verse 1 Letter A Right from the start delay the consonants right to the end of the note.
We read through the words of Verse 1 (Apologies from Mike that the type is so small)
Please try to read through all the verses before next week.
Page 3 Letter B Bar 12 to Bar 17 on page 4 A, T, B together on 1st beat, Sops with quaver rest.
We sang through each part, then combined parts, then all together.
Bar 14 – Sops count the long note on sing, rest before “and worship him”. Careful of timing of harmony in Bar 17
Page 4 Bar 16 everyone breathe after 1st note on “him”. Don’t breathe between “worship” on
page 3 and “him” on page 16
N.B. Basses put something at the bottom of page 3 to indicate that it goes up to C on the
1st note of Bar 16 over the page!
Everyone sang from Bar 12 to Bar 17 – all check rhythm of parts Bars 16/17 “in perfect harmony”
We all sang Verse 1 up to Bar 17.
In The Bleak Midwinter – arr. Tom Race
Easy piece as long as you remember long, long notes need long breaths in and long breaths out!
Don’t breathe anywhere except where marked with a √
(Breathe in the middle of a word if you need to!)
Altos & Basses start at Bar 2 and stop at “stone” in Bar 10
Tenors & Sopranos start at the end of Bar 10 “Snow had fallen”
Everyone sings from the last 2 notes Bar 14 “in the”
We sang it through twice observing the breath marks.
Simple so we need to be perfect!