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Call for Audition: Venus and Adonis
Listed on October 7, 2015 by Benslow in Blogs!By John BlowMusical director: Julian PerkinsVocal Coach: Andrew RadleyStage Director: Dionysios KyropoulosRead more ... -
Arvon partners with First Story in Creative Writing in Schools programme
Listed on October 6, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!Arvon is pleased to announce that it has been named a partner in a new Creative Writing in...
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Want to sing with more energy? – pretend to be somebody else
Listed on October 5, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!I ran a gospel singing weekend recently. One of the songs was flagging a bit so I suggested people ham it up a bit and be more “American”.
Miranda Sings by Gage Skidmore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons
Suddenly the song came to life and everyone was energised. Playing some kind of ‘character’ when you’re singing can really enliven your singing. Here’s how ...
It’s said that you need to be ‘authentic’ when you sing, that you shouldn’t try to imitate somebody else, but rather celebrate your own unique voice.
I agree with that totally. But sometimes we all get a little self-conscious and could use a simple trick to get us out of ourselves. That’s where pretending to be someone else comes in.
Pretending doesn’t mean copying. It just means tapping into the idea of another singer which might liberate your voice for a particular song. That person may be from another culture, another gender, another genre, another universe even.
For example, in warm ups when I see that people are being a little self-conscious I might ask them to imagine that they are a superstar opera singer on the stage of La Scala and there’s a huge audience who have paid a lot of money to hear their wonderful singing. Suddenly the room comes alive.
People forget themselves for a moment. They aren’t imitating a specific person, but rather tapping into their inner opera star.
When an African song has no energy, I might suggest that people imagine they are from an African village where they’ve sung (and danced) the song since they were very young.
An Eastern European song that’s sounding a bit too ‘English’ might come alive if I ask everyone to find their inner Slav or Russian Bond villain or meerkat with an Eastern European accent.
It’s not about accuracy or parody or lack of respect, it’s simply a trick to stop singers from thinking too much and carrying their own cultural baggage into a song.
People might think they’re really hamming it up and being totally over the top, but from the outside (the audience perspective), there’s a subtle change which is just right.
If your singers don’t believe that, split the choir in half, get them to sing to the others, then give an instruction about becoming another kind of imaginary singer then ask what changes they saw.
You might also find this post of interest:
Want to develop your voice and sing better? Be silly and play!Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
Monthly Music Roundup: Tinyletter.com/ChrisRowburyRead more ...
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Fit the song arrangement to your singers and not the other way round
Listed on September 28, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Most singers in choirs don’t fit neatly into choral vocal ranges. Yet we try to squeeze them in to our off-the-shelf arrangements, chastising them when they can’t reach the notes.
photo by Garry Knight
How about thinking of your singers first and choosing arrangements that fit their voices rather than the other way round?
Singers in community and other non-professional choirs are like Goldilocks: the high notes are a strain, the low notes are too low, and the notes they like are somewhere in the middle and are “just right”.
I reckon that the majority of female singers in my choirs are in the middle of the contralto range and the majority of male singers in the middle of the baritone range. Unfortunately most published arrangements don’t include these ranges, but stick with Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass.
Most of the ‘tenors’ in my choir find that the tenor part goes too high and the ‘basses’ find that the bass part goes too low. They don’t feel fully comfortable in either part. It’s a similar story for the Sopranos and Altos.
I’ve had people join the choir who love being there, but end up leaving after a while because they think they can’t sing. Why is that? Because they can’t hit all the notes in their chosen part.
This is a very common situation. I often get emails from other choir leaders asking me how they should deal with the singers in their choirs who can’t hit all the notes.
Rather than trying to squeeze our singers into the straightjacket of an existing arrangement, I always advise that the singers are considered first. Each choir will have a unique set of voices and vocal ranges so you should choose your arrangements to fit those voices and not the other way round.
Celebrate what your singers can do and not what they can’t!
How can you do that? Here are five ideas:- choose off-the-shelf arrangements carefully – and make sure they fit your singers before you buy. There are plenty of arrangers out there who bypass the big publishers and specialise in arrangements for community choirs.
- tweak existing arrangements – not strictly legal if your arrangement is in copyright, but it is possible to swap a few notes between parts or change the octave of the occasional note to make it more singable by your singers.
- make your own arrangements – it’s not as hard as you think! That way you can make sure that the ranges suit your particular singers. If you’ve not done it before, start with simple drones or two-part harmonies a third apart.
- mix genders – forget the strict SATB rules and mix genders in each part an octave apart. This is what harmony singing in Britain used to be like before the Italians imposed their ‘rules’. It works best with three-part arrangements. This way your singers just have to decide if they’re high, middle or low. It also creates an interesting texture to your choir sound.
- create arrangements with your choir – how about trying to harmonise a song with your singers in a choir session? You might be surprised what you/ they come up with. And it’s bound to suit their voices!
I’m sure there are plenty of other ideas out there. Do drop by and share your ideas with us.Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
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Theodora Clarke – Arvon Revisited: Starting to Write
Listed on September 24, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!I had no idea what to expect when I started the long drive from London to Totleigh Barton...
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Kate Williams on Writing History
Listed on September 21, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!Arvon tutor Kate Williams‘ tips on history writing, in anticipation of her Arvon course at The Hurst in November. When...
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How to be a better singer if you’re a mere mortal
Listed on September 21, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!When you think you’re not singing well, you’ll often blame yourself. But what if it’s something else, something outside yourself that you can fix quite easily?
Here are some reasons why you might not think you’re a good singer and what you can do about it.singing is a process
It takes a long time to become a good singer. I’m sure you get impatient when you’re not improving quickly enough, and when you do, you start to blame yourself for not being a good singer. Give it time. Enjoy the journey of discovery. Many professional singers take a good six months or more before a song is really under their belt and they continue to do warm ups and vocal exercises throughout their career. You never ‘arrive’.choose the right song
It might be that the songs you’re trying to sing are just not in your range. Yes, it’s possible to extend your range gradually over time, but there will come a limit. You may have to accept that you’re a low singer or that your range is not as big as you’d like. If you can’t hit a note it doesn’t mean you’re not good enough, it just means it’s the wrong key or the wrong song.
Make the most of what you’ve got and don’t see it as a limitation. Apparently Billie Holliday had a range of just one octave and look what she achieved.sound like yourself
Many of us have favourite singers and would love to sound just like them. But we’re not them. As Oscar Wilde said: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Celebrate your own unique voice and stop trying to be someone else. The singers you admire got where they are because they sound unique so why copy them?remember you’re a mere mortal
You are not that important in the grand scheme of things, none of us are.
Some people are thrust into the spotlight and become ‘celebrities’ in our modern culture. We then look upon them as something different, something special, something that we aspire to. But it’s very, very unlikely that you will ever reach those giddy heights (and, perversely, the more you try to reach them, the less likely you are to succeed). You, like the rest of us, are a mere mortal.
Enjoy who you are and what you’ve got and stop trying to be something special. Simply accepting your ordinariness can often allow you to become the ‘star’ that you really are. Stop chasing things and just get on with singing.more information
You might also be interested in reading these other articles.
But I can’t sing that high!
How to make a song your own
How to enjoy singing and not worry what others think
How to improve your singing voice
The secret to great singing that teachers don’t tell you
Be the best singer you can, but don’t forget there’s more to life
What makes a ‘good’ singer? – it’s all about context
Never let the fake perfection of pop singers put you off singing
How to sing – the definitive guide
Is how you label yourself as a singer holding you back?
Making the most of your singing voice – it’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with itChris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
Monthly Music Roundup: Tinyletter.com/ChrisRowburyRead more ...
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How to be a better singer if you’re a mere mortal
Listed on September 21, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!When you think you’re not singing well, you’ll often blame yourself. But what if it’s something else, something outside yourself that you can fix quite easily?
Here are some reasons why you might not think you’re a good singer and what you can do about it.singing is a process
It takes a long time to become a good singer. I’m sure you get impatient when you’re not improving quickly enough, and when you do, you start to blame yourself for not being a good singer. Give it time. Enjoy the journey of discovery. Many professional singers take a good six months or more before a song is really under their belt and they continue to do warm ups and vocal exercises throughout their career. You never ‘arrive’.choose the right song
It might be that the songs you’re trying to sing are just not in your range. Yes, it’s possible to extend your range gradually over time, but there will come a limit. You may have to accept that you’re a low singer or that your range is not as big as you’d like. If you can’t hit a note it doesn’t mean you’re not good enough, it just means it’s the wrong key or the wrong song.
Make the most of what you’ve got and don’t see it as a limitation. Apparently Billie Holliday had a range of just one octave and look what she achieved.sound like yourself
Many of us have favourite singers and would love to sound just like them. But we’re not them. As Oscar Wilde said: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Celebrate your own unique voice and stop trying to be someone else. The singers you admire got where they are because they sound unique so why copy them?remember you’re a mere mortal
You are not that important in the grand scheme of things, none of us are.
Some people are thrust into the spotlight and become ‘celebrities’ in our modern culture. We then look upon them as something different, something special, something that we aspire to. But it’s very, very unlikely that you will ever reach those giddy heights (and, perversely, the more you try to reach them, the less likely you are to succeed). You, like the rest of us, are a mere mortal.
Enjoy who you are and what you’ve got and stop trying to be something special. Simply accepting your ordinariness can often allow you to become the ‘star’ that you really are. Stop chasing things and just get on with singing.more information
You might also be interested in reading these other articles.
But I can’t sing that high!
How to make a song your own
How to enjoy singing and not worry what others think
How to improve your singing voice
The secret to great singing that teachers don’t tell you
Be the best singer you can, but don’t forget there’s more to life
What makes a ‘good’ singer? – it’s all about context
Never let the fake perfection of pop singers put you off singing
How to sing – the definitive guide
Is how you label yourself as a singer holding you back?
Making the most of your singing voice – it’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with itChris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
Monthly Music Roundup: Tinyletter.com/ChrisRowbury -
Shorland Old Farm 2015-09-16 21:27:41
Listed on September 16, 2015 by Shorland Old Farm in Blogs!Mixed Water-Based Media with Anthony Barrow 28 October – 1 November 2015 Places still available! Anthony is predominantly a figurative painter with a prolific output, which overflows into landscape, still life and abstract painting. Chiefly commissioned-based, his vast experience and natural talent for capturing the underlying character of his sitters have led to numerous projects ...
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My Arvon Week : David Morley and Penelope Shuttle, The Hurst, September 2015
Listed on September 16, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!I have been on so many Arvon courses over the past twenty years that I’ve lost count. Five...
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Effective ways to recruit more men for your choir #getmensinging
Listed on September 14, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Lots of mixed choirs don’t have enough male singers, and many established male voice choirs are not managing to find younger recruits (see my series of three posts Men and singing).
Here are some ideas to help you recruit more men and to get men singing in general.reach out
The first step is to let men out there know that you’re looking for them. You need to sell singing to them, especially those who have inherited some negative stereotypes.- use language carefully – ‘bloke’ or ‘guy’ can put some men off. Don’t try to be too funny or clever, ‘men’ is clear and unambiguous.
- use inclusive photos in publicity – not all older, bearded men, and not all young whippersnappers. Have a range so men can identify with someone in the photo.
- no lazy stereotyping – there are as many different kinds of men as there are women. Many men hate football, lots of men are househusbands – and every other kind of man in between.
- use lots of examples to inspire – there is such a wide range of ways in which men sing together all over the world, so don’t be limited. Check out my series of posts How men sing – amazing examples from across the globe for ideas.
- target male-dominated institutions – e.g. police, gym, fire service.
- be as inclusive as possible – at this stage there’s no need to mention repertoire for instance. Leave as many things open as you can. Make sure your publicity targets gay, straight, disabled, etc. equally.
- tailor your publicity language to suit each target group – e.g. if you’re targeting football fans you’d use different language to when you approach the local folk club.
- emphasise the benefits – 10 great reasons why all men should join a choir – now!
get them through the door
Once you’ve told men that singing is available you need to actually get them through the door. It’s not enough to send out loads of glossy leaflets, men (especially those who’ve not sung before) need to feel comfortable about actually turning up on the day.
Make sure you have the right approach when someone phones up or emails you. How can you make them feel safe and wanted? It’s scary trying something new for the first time!- they want to feel safe and supported – let them know they won’t be on their own, won’t be put on the spot, that the sessions create a safe space, that someone will ‘buddy’ them when they join.
- many men need to feel “trained up” – before they open their mouths. Let them know that there will be training elements to choir sessions. Emphasise the fact that they will learn to sing (better). e.g. use “Come and learn how to sing” in your publicity. Offer extra sessions few new male singers.
- reduce emotional/ fuzzy/ touchy-feely language – most men respond best to clear instructions and clear benefits/ outcomes.
- lots of other demands on their time – spell out the benefits: health, social, etc.
- take the singing to the men – not the other way round. When recruiting, especially hard to reach groups, don’t expect the singers to come to you. Go round town running short taster workshops in places where men already gather. Then tell them they’re welcome to join your choir if they’ve enjoyed it.
- men want to feel needed – ask for help/ support: “Can you help us out? We’ve got a big concert coming up and could really use your help.”
- reduce barriers – e.g. cost, venue, commitment. Keep it cheap. Make sure the venue is central, accessible, fixed and has plenty of parking. Don’t have long rehearsals or too many each week.
- start a men-only group – for a variety of reasons, some men find mixed choirs difficult to cope with. They feel much more comfortable making mistakes and trying things out in the company of other men. So maybe think about starting a men-only group. It can exist as a choir on its own, or act as a recruitment tool for your mixed choir when the men feel more confident (or both).
engage them
You’ve found the men, managed to get them through the door, now you have to engage them each week!- variety of styles of songs, games, etc. – make sure you have a wide range of singing styles, song genres and activities each week so that there’s something for everyone. Move singers around a lot (i.e. don’t put all the men in a bass ‘ghetto’) so everyone feels like an equal member of the choir.
- beyond the bass line – choose your song arrangements well. Don’t expect the men to always sing a dull bass line. Give them the tune sometimes. Remember that most men are baritones so that some tenor notes will be too high and some bass notes too low. Mix the genders on each of three parts: high, medium, low.
- separate sessions for men only – not only will it make the (new) men feel special, but having separate sessions allows for their training needs to be met and makes a safe space. Joining a large, mixed group can be scary!
keep them
I once had a guy join my choir and after a term he wrote to say he was leaving. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy it, but he assumed everyone was better than him and that he was the only one struggling. When I pointed out that most people were in the same boat, he was surprised, but he stopped worrying, came back and was still there years later.
Just because you’ve managed to recruit a few men to your choir doesn’t mean you can stop trying. You have to keep them.- go to the pub afterwards – not everyone drinks, but it’s an obvious space for a social gathering. Most pubs serve hot drinks nowadays any way. If you can choose a pub that allows for the occasional sing-along, then all the better.
- introduce them to each other – often men are in the minority in a mixed choir and it’s quite easy for them to get left out on a limb (especially if they’re all in the bass part). Don’t assume that socialisation happens naturally. Make sure you introduce all the male singers to each other, and then introduce them to all the other singers. Have lots of warm ups where you mix all the singers up.
- give them a song of their own – it’s wonderful to hear just men (or just women) sing together and can add an extra dimension to a mixed voice concert. Give the men a song of their own and rehearse for a few minutes at the end or beginning of rehearsals. This will help build confidence, make them feel important and bond them.
- talk to them regularly – as individuals and as a group. Get regular feedback. Let them know they’re doing fine and find out if there’s anything you can do to make things better or easier.
other resources
Here are some other resources that may help you get more men singing.getmensinging
There is a new website and Twitter initiative called getmensinging. The website is getmensinging.net and the Twitter account is @getmensinging. And if you’re on Twitter and want to chat about men and singing, then use the hashtag #getmensingingmen’s harmony singing improvers weekend
In November 2015 I am running a weekend course for men who want to improve their harmony singing skills in a smaller group: Men’s Harmony Singing Improvers Weekend. It takes place in a beautiful residential venue near St. Neots in Cambridgeshire. This will appeal to men who’ve been singing for a while, perhaps in their local mixed choir, and want to spend the weekend singing with just 12 – 16 other men. If it’s a success I will make it an annual fixture. There are still a few places left.beyond the bassline
Voicelab at the Southbank Centre in London have a new initiative called Beyond the Bassline. These are monthly, drop-in workshops aimed at getting more men singing. More information from Voicelab: voicelab@southbankcentre.co.uknew type of men’s choirs
There has been a movement of late to create choirs of male singers which attract younger singers and which are very different from most people’s image of a male voice choir. Many of these were inspired by the Australian group The Spooky Men’s Chorale.
Some UK-based examples are the Chaps Choir in London, Man Choir in Oxford and The Magnificent AK47 in Wiltshire. There are more starting as I write!over to you
I’d love to know if you have any other ideas or strategies that you’ve used successfully or if you think I’ve left something out. Also if you try any of the above, it would be good to know which are the most effective. Do drop by and share your views and join us on Twitter to #getmensingingChris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
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MY ARVON WEEK: THE NUMBERS OF PUBLISHING
Listed on September 10, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!Before I went to an Arvon course I thought the journey to publication looked something like this… Step...
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How welcoming is your choir?
Listed on September 7, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!I bet you think your choir is a wonderful, friendly little community that welcomes newcomers with open arms.
What if I told you that new members might find your choir scary, cliquey and unwelcoming? Maybe it’s time to look at things from a different perspective.
As the holidays come to a close and choirs get back together after a long break, it’s often a time when new singers join.
We all like to think of our choir as a friendly, welcoming group of singers. But no matter how hard you try at being open and inviting, new singers will often find it off-putting when they first arrive.
It’s inevitable that any group of people who have been singing together for a while will make friendships and form little cliques. When a new singer arrives it’s going to be hard for them to break into this established group regardless of how friendly and welcoming people are.
Remember when you first went to big school? It can be a bit like that when someone joins a new choir.
At break time there’s a great opportunity to make new friends, but it can be lonely when old friends greet each other after the long holiday, and already established groups hang out together. The playground can be a scary and unfriendly place.
It’s not enough to just think that everyone’s friendly and new singers will just slot right in. You have to make a conscious effort to be a welcoming choir.
Here’s how.
I’ve written a couple of guides for choir leaders and singers that contain many useful tips:
Joining an established choir: a guide for how choir leaders can help new singers
Joining an established choir: a guide for new singers
A few important takeaways from these two articles are:- meet and greet – make sure someone is there at the door to welcome new members and explain what’s going on. Make a personal connection with each new singer.
- buddy up – allocate a ‘buddy’ for each new singer from their section to show them the ropes and be there as a ‘friend’ for the first few weeks until they settle in.
- integrate, integrate – name games, silly songs, mix old singers with new, mix things up generally. Shuffle the pack and fit the new singers into the centre of things.
- do new stuff – make sure you do plenty of things that are new to all singers, not just the new ones (new songs, new warm ups, new choir formations). That puts everyone on a level playing field.
- regular social events – at the start of a new season you might want to have more social events than usual to make sure everyone gets to know everyone else. Invite suggestions from the new members.
Have a great new choir season.Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
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Sing something simple (and see if your singing is as good as you think it is)
Listed on August 31, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!If you’re like me, you’re always tempted to add harmonies to the simplest of melodies whether it’s singing along with others or arranging a song.
But don’t overlook the simplicity of unison singing and drones. These are great ways of finding out if your singing is as good as you think!
Singing in harmony is quite forgiving. It’s possible to sound reasonably good without being 100% accurate. But when all the singers have to sing exactly the same thing in exactly the same way at exactly the same time, it can reveal how accurate you really are.
This is true whether it’s you and a friend, you and a recording of your own voice, or you as part of a choir.
It’s surprisingly hard for a group of singers to sing well in unison. Singing in unison really highlights blend, pronunciation, rhythm, breathing points, pitching, etc. It’s a great exercise for any choir or singing group.
Singing in unison is also great for improving listening skills, and we all know that singing is all about listening. It’s also a good tool for arrangers: switch between unison and harmony to add variety. Use harmony sparingly and it will really jump out and impress an audience when it arrives.
Once you have nailed singing in unison, you can begin to add harmony.
Start off with a simple drone as another useful training exercise. Once again it’s a great technique for improving pitching, breathing, listening, blend, etc. And it’s also a good tool in the arranger’s palette which can add another layer of interest without being over-bearing if the melody or lyrics are important.
Next time you rehearse, try keeping things simple for a change and see what it reveals about you as a singer!Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
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Planning ahead: leave space for the unexpected
Listed on August 24, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Many choir leaders will be using the long break to plan their next season.
photo by webmink
But be careful not to over-plan or you won’t be able to respond to the unexpected.
The more organised you are, the more likely it is that you’re well-advanced in your planning for the next choir season. Some choir leaders are already thinking way ahead and have been looking for Christmas repertoire since the early summer.
It’s always good to plan ahead, but there is a danger that your plan becomes too elaborate and inflexible. Try not to micro-manage the whole rehearsal and allow space and time for the unforeseen.
It’s great to be able to respond in the moment to something that happens in rehearsal. The sign of a good choir leader is the ability to spin on a sixpence and change creative direction.
You might also come across amazing new songs that just demand to be squeezed into your programme.
Venues often need to be booked way in advance and publicity sometimes needs to go out way before the choir season begins. So when you’re choosing the title, theme and images for your next concert, try to build in some ambiguity and flexibility so you have some wriggle-room later.
The best rehearsals I’ve ever had were the ones which were planned in some detail beforehand, but which then went off at the most unexpected and delightful tangents.Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/ChrisRowbury
Twitter: Twitter.com/ChrisRowbury
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Making Music – information and advice
Listed on August 24, 2015 by Benslow in Blogs!On Sunday 6 September from 2pm-5pm, Making Music is hosting this free information and advice event at the Benslow Music campus so you can come together with other local music groups and get to grips with making the most of your website, rather than wre...Read more ... -
Get out of your singing rut and try something new – it will make you a better singer
Listed on August 17, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!I’ve written before about how you can use the long choir break to get better at what you do.
photo by troy
One way is to attend singing workshops lead by a variety of different leaders. It’s a great opportunity to try something new.
Not only can you try out a completely different genre of singing (maybe even something that you’re not sure you’ll like), but you can also experiment with a different part of your vocal range.
It’s easy to get stuck in a specific part or be seen in a particular way if you sing in a choir regularly (see Is how you label yourself as a singer holding you back?).
Being in novel situation (different leader, singing with strangers, unusual song genre, unexpected venue) offers you the chance to experiment and even to re-invent yourself. Who knows, you might discover something new!
Try a different voice part. If you always sing soprano, try being in the low altos for a change. If you always gravitate to the low part, try singing the high.
It’s always useful to exercise that part of your voice you don’t use that often. You need to keep the whole of your range in good shape.
You’ll be amazed when you come back to your normal part – your voice will be richer and feel freer.
Don’t believe me? Try it out!Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
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3 Titles Drafted, 3 Arvon Courses Wiser and 17 Years Later
Listed on August 11, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!Diana Morgan Hill talks about the process of getting her moving memoir Love and Justice finally published. Diana...
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How men sing (Part 2) – amazing examples from across the globe #getmensinging
Listed on August 10, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!A while back I shared some amazing examples from all over the world of men singing together.
I thought it was about time I shared some more!
Like the word ‘choir’, the concept of ‘men singing’ can bring up specific stereotypes – not all of them pleasing.
If there is not a relevant role model out there, it can easily put men off singing because they feel that they don’t fit the mould.
Rather than going into the whys and wherefores of why men don’t sing, I thought I’d just share some great examples of men singing together. Who knows, you may find an example that fits the bill. I hope they inspire you!
First up is the amazing Corsican group A Filetta with a live performance from the citadel in Calvi where they run a polyphonic song festival each September. A Filetta is an all-male singing group founded in 1978 that performs traditional music from Corsica. I just adore this Corsican singing. They have such fine control and really, really listen to each other.
Next, nearer to home, are Hayward and Parsons singing the traditional English song Life of a Man. Hayward and Parsons are singing pilgrims, walking and singing their way round Britain on a quest to renew British Pilgrimage.
Probably needing no introduction, here are Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing Homeless which they wrote with Paul Simon for his album Graceland. Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group from South Africa that sings in the vocal styles of isicathamiya and mbube.
Something a bit more exotic, an old song from Macedonia: Turi mayko bistra rakiya. It is sung by Chalgia Moisey Petrovich who play almost forgotten songs from Serbia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro. They revive almost forgotten customs and the spirit of old Serbian taverns.
And then there’s Rawhide! This time sung by an unknown male voice choir from the US.
Here is a Tongoan/ Samoan song with some neat actions that they make look so easy, even when wearing suits! It is sung by the Dilworth Fortissimo Choir, an auditioned choir from the Dilworth boys’ school in Auckland, New Zealand.
Something traditional and more familiar: Gregorian chant. These are monks singing in a Catholic Benedictine Seminary. Gregorian chant is Western plainchant dating back to the 9th and 10th Centuries in Europe.
Next up is the Kecak from Bali. This is an excerpt from an amazing film called Baraka, a nonverbal film containing images of 24 countries from 6 continents. The Kecak is a form of Balinese dance and music drama that is also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant.
Here are some Arab men, not only singing but dancing at the same time! These are Bahraini men showing their talent in the singing and dancing traditional songs.
And finally, for your delight and delectation, three men singing in a van.
Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
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5 great TED talks about work
Listed on August 6, 2015 by A Life at Work in Blogs!TED is such a rich resource of ideas and inspiration covering such a broad range of topics. Some of the most popular talks are about work, so here are five of our favourite ones. Nigel Marsh gives an insightful and humorous take on work/life balance, his book Fat, 40 and fired is also worth a […]
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Try something different!
Listed on August 4, 2015 by Shorland Old Farm in Blogs!Places still available on our Painting from Within course, with Penny Wilton, 3-6 September. Try something different this September! A fun course with amazing results! Suitable for everyone, whether you’re an experienced artist or never painted before in your life. All inclusive holiday prices: £384 Resident single room £349 Resident sharing £204 Non-participating partner To ...
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Our new website
Listed on August 3, 2015 by Anglia Leisure Learning in Blogs!Here is our new website, with a whole range of short leisure courses running this autumn and in to 2016. More courses will be added regularly. Do let us have your feedback on this site. What do you like about it? What can we improve? And is there anything you would like us to add? […]
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Choir leaders: who’ll replace you when you’re gone?
Listed on August 3, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Nothing lasts forever. There will come a time when you will leave your choir and need someone else to take over.
Who will you hand over to and how easy is it to do? Let’s look at some options.
At some point you will need to hand your choir over to someone else. Maybe you’ll want to focus your energies on something different, or you’ll be too old or ill, or you’ll move away from the area. Whatever the reason, you’ll need to find somebody suitable to hand over to.what to look for in your replacement
In my choir leading career so far I have handed over two choirs to new leaders (and also inherited two choirs from others).
The first was a choir that I had created myself from scratch, WorldSong. As it was my first ever choir it meant a lot to me and it was important that it continued so I needed to make sure it was left in a safe pair of hands. So long before I was due to leave, I began to look around for a suitable successor.
I needed someone who:- was free on a Wednesday evening – if the rehearsal day changed we’d lose a lot of singers
- lived not too far away – so wouldn’t have to travel far
- enjoyed the same kind of repertoire – basically world music in our case
- approached choir leading and song teaching in a similar way to me – the Natural Voice approach
- was committed to the long haul – I didn’t want someone who was going to leave in a few months
- respected the ‘flavour’ of the choir – it’s culture and way of doing things
- was suitably experienced – taking over an existing choir is not good for beginners!
- would take on the administrative responsibilities – there is a lot of admin and I had done it myself up to that point
But I couldn’t find anyone!
In the end I was extremely lucky that a highly experienced choir leader moved just down the road from our rehearsal space and was looking for a choir to take over. Phew!
The person who ended up taking over didn’t tick all the boxes, but we made allowances. For example, admin is not her strength so we set up a committee to support her.
But what if I hadn’t been so lucky? What are the other options?
The two main ones (that I have experienced) are:- advertise far and wide
- train an existing choir member
finding a suitable candidate
You will know the best places to advertise for a new choir leader who will be suitable. It may involve some expense, e.g. taking out ads in trade magazines, but much can be done through word of mouth and social media.
If you’ve not been lucky enough to find someone local who you know, this implies that you are going to have to ask someone to relocate or to commute a considerable distance. Neither are stumbling blocks, but it’s not an idea situation.
Imagine you’ve been lucky to find several potential candidates, how do you decide between them? It’s up to the choir in the end. A choir is nothing without its singers and they are the ones who are going to have to work with the new person. If they don’t get on or don’t like their approach, then it’s not going to work.
Have an initial meeting or interview to make sure you’re on the same page, then get them to run a choir session. Give them free reign to show off their strengths. It’s probably best if you don’t stand on the side-lines and watch, but take part if you want to observe. Remember, it’s not you they’ll be working with.
Afterwards get feedback from the choir and discuss it with others (maybe you have other choir leaders you know locally or a choir committee).training up a choir member
I’ve been lucky in the past that I’ve had an experienced choir member who has done some teaching (in another sphere) and who has expressed an interest in leading a choir. They’ve learnt a lot by being a long-term choir member and by attending other singing workshops regularly (so have seen a range of different teaching styles).
If you have someone in your own choir you might think they have the skills required already or you can spend some time training them yourself or maybe send them off on a course if you think it’s necessary.
Let them have a few trial sessions with your choir to see how they get on. Sometimes things can be a bit sticky with particular singers when someone is ‘promoted’ in this way. They might find it hard to take instruction from someone who used to be one of them.choosing the right person and setting the ground rules
Be clear on who makes the final decision. Do you have a committee? Sponsors? Does the arts centre ‘own’ your choir? Make sure the decision is accepted by everybody involved – especially the singers.
It may be that you’ll need to write some kind of contract, even if it’s not a formal, legally binding document. It’s good to have in writing what the agreement is. For example you may decide on a probationary period, or you may insist that the old repertoire is kept alive, or there may be some concerts coming up and you need to honour them.
Some people handing over choirs can be quite possessive and insist that none of their arrangements can be used and the name of the choir must be changed.
Whatever the situation, make sure any conditions are made very clear as it will help the new person ease into the job.handing over
You as the (old) choir leader want to make the hand-over as smooth as possible, but then you want to get out of the way and let the new person get on with it. The hand-over will probably involve physically handing over sheet music, recordings, arrangements, etc. You might want to write up a simple document on the way that you’ve run the choir in the past. This will be something they can use as a basis until they’ve got around to doing it their own way. It’s a good idea not to change too quickly!
Different people will need different kinds of support. Make sure the communication channels are open between you so if they need your help it’s easy to get hold of you. You don’t want to be hovering over them offering advice all the time, but you also don’t want to just run away.settling in
It’s obvious that the new leader will not be you. But your singers will want them to be!
It’s quite a pressure for any new leader to be at least as good as the old leader and be able to put up with “Chris didn’t do it like this” or “We always used to do X when Chris lead the choir”.
It will take some time for both the singers and the new choir leader to get used to each other’s ways. Advice to new leaders: try to keep things the same as much as you can when you start and make changes slowly. Advice to singers: give the new leader a chance, you may be surprised by the new things they bring to the choir.
Having a new leader can be really good for a choir. It’s so easy to settle into habits and particular ways of doing things. Over time it gets harder for a choir leader to introduce new ways, but singers are more open to innovation if it comes from someone new. A new leader may also have a different skillset and be able to take the choir further than before, adding to what was already there.your final legacy
None of us like talking about it much, but we’re all going to die one day. You may be lucky enough to die on the job, in which case finding a successor won’t be your responsibility!
Whether you’re still leading your choir or not when you shuffle off this mortal coil, you will almost certainly have a rich legacy that will be useful to others.
I have a room full of sheet music, songbooks, CDs, instruments, books, etc. as well as MP3s, song lyrics, background information, links to videos, music notation, etc. on my computer.
I would love all this to go to a good home where someone will make good use of it.
I’ve put a section in my will that will ensure that all my music and singing stuff goes to a proper home. Maybe you should give that some thought too?Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
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Arvon Alumni Emma Haughton on Becoming a Writer
Listed on July 27, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!Something huge happened recently. My first novel, a YA thriller called Now You See Me was picked for...
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Making the most of your singing voice – it’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it
Listed on July 27, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!We are not all born equal. Some have longer legs which helps them to win at hurdles or the high jump. Some have longer fingers which helps them to play jazz chords on the piano.
photo by muzina_shanghai
But what you are born with need not limit what you do. It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts.are singers born or made?
Many people believe that singers are born and not made. I often hear the refrain “Oh, I can’t sing – I’ve been tone deaf all my life.” And when it comes to rhythm and movement: “It’s no good, I was born with two left feet” (see Putting the hours in – are singers born or made?).
Some of this is due to upbringing. You seldom hear these protests in cultures where people sing and dance all the time. If you want your kids to grow up as singers and dancers, simply expose them to plenty of song and dance as they grow up.
In our culture there is a belief that only certain people are capable of singing to a high standard. Rather like Olympic runners, surely professional singers must have greater lung capacity or particularly flexible vocal cords?
Nope – not true.lung capacity in professional singers
There was an investigation into how the lung capacity of professional opera singers compared to the rest of the population. It turns out that there isn’t much difference!
The professionals did tend to have stronger chest-wall muscles and their hearts pumped better. They also maintained their lung capacity better as they got older, but that is only to be expected if someone sings regularly. They were not born with greater lung capacity.
We all have the potential to support our voice well and sustain our breath through long sustained notes, we just need a bit of practice.
It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts.a professional loses her singing voice
There was a recent TV documentary about Connie Fisher, the Sound of Music star, who lost her singing voice. In 2011 she discovered that she had congenital sulcus vocalis. The condition, which means the singer has holes in her vocal cords, forced her to pull out of her dream West End role of Maria in The Sound of Music.
She had a series of operations, but none of them was able to give her her full singing voice back. Her surgeon said that it was amazing she had managed to have such a successful singing career given the vocal cords she was born with. He likened it to an Olympic athlete who has a defective or reduced thigh muscle, yet keeps on winning.
She then worked with so-called ‘voice builder’ Gary Catona, the man credited with saving the voice of Whitney Houston. Despite what the surgeons said, he was able to coax her voice back into life so she could perform again. Although she’ll never sing professionally as she once did (she has discovered further problems with her vocal cords), it is clear that with time and effort it is possible to overcome congenital defects in the vocal mechanism.
It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it that counts.doesn’t matter how you are made – just do it
So next time you think you can’t sing that well because of the equipment you were born with, just think of Connie Fisher, Django Rheinhardt, Christy Brown, Sargy Mann and numerous others who just got on with it.Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
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What is your measure of success? – choir leading and self-reflection
Listed on July 20, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!How do you know if a choir session or singing workshop or performance has been a success?
photo by shadowkilla_tk
And if it has gone badly, how does that feed back into your teaching and choir directing?
We all have an intuitive feeling for when something has gone really well (or really badly). But what we feel might not be the whole story.
You might ...- run what you think was a cracking singing workshop, only to get feedback that it was too hard or unclear for the singers.
- have what you think was a storming performance with your choir, but the audience didn’t respond much and the talk in the bar was that it wasn’t up to your normal standards.
- lead what you think was an amazing rehearsal, only to hear afterwards that your singers would have preferred to sing more and done less detailed work.
Of course, you can’t please everyone (see Keeping a choir happy – you can’t please everyone), but it’s important to have a more objective idea of when something has been a success (or failure). It’s only then that you can reflect on your teaching and conducting in order to improve.
How can you develop an objective measure of success or failure?aims and objectives
Start with some clear aims and objectives that you want to achieve.
It might be to teach five songs in a workshop or run the first half of a concert in your rehearsal or improve your choir’s intonation or to increase the dynamic variety in your next performance.
It might be that your aims and objectives are formulated by negotiation with the singers. Ask them what they want to get out of the session or create your next workshop to address specific needs identified by your singers or chat with audience members to find out what they’d like in their ideal concert.
If you don’t have any clear and specific aims and objectives then it’s impossible to decide whether you’ve succeeded or not.
They don’t have to be extreme or high falutin’ – when you’re starting out your aim might be just to get to the end of a rehearsal in one piece!feedback – yours and theirs
After the workshop or rehearsal or concert you need to decide whether your aims and objectives have been met. You need to get some feedback both from yourself and from those on the receiving end.
Feedback from yourself is basically self-reflection. Take a quiet moment to think back over the event and try to look objectively at whether you realised your aims and objectives. The clearer they were stated in the beginning, the easier it will be for you to decide. For example, if one aim was to get through five songs but you only got through four, then you clearly didn’t realise your aims and objectives.
Feedback from others is a little more tricky. It’s very easy to ask leading questions in order to get the answers that you want. Feedback from others can range from informal chats to more formal feedback forms. Check out these posts for more information:
Why feedback is important when teaching and learning songs
How audiences behave and how we respond
What kind of feedback do you want?
Using feedback forms for choirs and singing workshopslearning to be a better choir and workshop leader
Once you’ve decided whether your performance or rehearsal or workshop was a success or not, you are in a position to reflect more on what you did and how you might improve in the future.
If something doesn’t succeed it’s quite easy to examine what you did to discover why. Having done that, it’s relatively simple to make changes to try and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
But you can also learn when something is successful. The success might have been greater than you expected or maybe you’d tried something for the first time. In any case, think about those things you did that helped you realise your aims and objectives. Can they be improved or developed? Can they be used in different contexts? Can they be combined with other things to make them work even better?their success might be your failure
If you’ve been commissioned by someone else to run a specific workshop or to conduct a particular performance, you might end up achieving the aims and objectives set out for you, but end up feeling that you’ve ‘failed’ in some way.
I had such an event earlier this year (see What if the singing session is a success, but you feel like a failure?). I delivered exactly what was asked of me and the participants enjoyed themselves, but it really didn’t float my boat. I didn’t get much out of the experience and felt rather flat at the end.
If this happens often then you need to be careful when selecting work from others to make sure that your notion of ‘success’ matches theirs.exceeding expectations
They say that the true measure of a successful business is when your customers’ expectations are exceeded.
Just because you’ve succeeded this time doesn’t mean you can’t succeed even more the next time!Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
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Dangerous Moonlight
Listed on July 19, 2015 by Benslow in Blogs!Benslow Music is excited to offer you the opportunity to join us for a commemorative showing of the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The showing is (a first) collaboration between Benslow Music a...Read more ... -
My Arvon Week: Writing for Radio – Anita MacCallum
Listed on July 15, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!Arvon has been shrouded in mystery for some years for me, I’d heard it’s only for real writers,...
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How men sing (part 1) – amazing examples from across the globe #getmensinging
Listed on July 13, 2015 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Many choirs have a shortage of male singers. Most of my singing workshops attract just 10% men. Is it just a problem here in the UK?
photo by Matthias Zepper
In an attempt to get more men singing, I’m going to share some amazing examples of men singing together from all over the world.
Why don’t more men sing? Who knows??!! I’ve written at length about this before (see Men and singing).
Like the word ‘choir’, the concept of ‘men singing’ often brings up particular stereotypes:- male voice choirs full of old men in bow ties;
- professional operatic tenors with unbelievably high voices;
- young teenagers with strange haircuts and boy band ‘dancing’;
- wobbly-voiced men singing in the pub after a few pints;
- shouting in tune at football and rugby matches;
- very precise, very neat, very choreographed choruses singing barbershop or musical theatre;
- lead singers in death metal bands screaming until their throats bleed.
All these sorts of male singing exist and it’s great to have such variety, but they certainly don’t fit every man’s idea of men singing.
If there is not a relevant role model out there, it can easily put men off from singing because they feel that they don’t fit the mould.
So rather than going into the whys and wherefores of why men don’t sing, I thought I’d just share some great examples of men singing together. Who knows, you may find an example that fits the bill. I hope they inspire you!
First up is a performance featuring the famous Georgian folk singer Hamlet Gonashvili. Look past the 70s clothes and moustaches and bad quality Georgian TV recording and just bathe in the beautiful voices and harmonies.
The Malawi Mouse Boys is an eight-member band discovered in 2012 by an American record producer. They spend their days beside a dusty road scratching a living by selling an unusual roadside snack to passing motorists: barbecued mice on sticks. But when no cars are in sight and the trade in mice kebabs is slow, this group of childhood friends bring out their rudimentary guitars and put on an impromptu performance.
And now for something completely different ... Sardinian shepherds singing. It’s clear that their singing style has been influenced by hanging around with sheep for too long!
We can’t have examples of men singing without some Welsh men. Plygain singing is a Welsh Christmas tradition.
Here’s some traditional Cornish singing from the sea shanty group Bone Idol from the Scilly Isles.
Hindu men letting rip for the Holi festival. Looks like they’re having fun!
I just love that old style gospel singing. Here are two examples. First up, the Blind Boys of Alabama who have been singing together since 1944.
Now it’s the turn of the younger generation. Here’s the Washed Up Beulah Band.
If you want something with a little more punch, here’s a Maori haka from New Zealand.
And to finish off this edition (I’ll be posting more at a later date in Part 2), here are some Orthodox Jewish men singing Pink Floyd!Chris Rowbury
Website: chrisrowbury.com
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An Arvon Success Story – Jon Teckman
Listed on July 9, 2015 by Arvon in Blogs!In August 2007 I attended an Arvon Foundation novel writing course at Totleigh Barton. I took with me...
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Dillington House
Located in south Somerset, Dillington House offers a large and diverse programme of weekend and longer courses throughout the year plus day courses, public lectures and classical music concerts.Read more ...
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Blogs! | LeisureCourses.net - short courses & residential study breaks in great locations - Part 4
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