Listed on April 28, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!In your singing lessons and choir warm ups you’re bombarded with exercises and technical advice about posture, breathing, enunciation, pitching, tension, placement and so on.Read more ...
Listed on April 14, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!As a member of the Natural Voice Practitioners’ Network I share their belief that everybody can sing and nobody should be excluded from music-making. Which is why no ‘natural voice’ choirs hold auditions or use unnecessary musical jargon.Read more ...
Listed on April 7, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Rather than everyone singing all the time, many choirs ring the changes by creating smaller ensembles within the larger choir or have occasional solos.Read more ...
Listed on March 31, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Those of us who love to sing often love to sing at the top of our voices. It’s joyous! But when you’re part of a choir you have to rein in those tendencies for the greater good of the overall sound. How do you achieve that balance without feeling restricted?Read more ...
Listed on March 24, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Learning and polishing a song can be a long process. Some people find it a chore and can’t wait to get to the end result: a public performance.Read more ...
Listed on March 17, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Most of the people who come to my singing workshops are in their 50s and pretty much all of them have a story to tell about the time someone told them they couldn’t sing.Read more ...
Listed on March 10, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!If you’re in a choir you’ll be used to singing your harmony part surrounded by others singing the same thing. But it seems much harder to hold a part by yourself when you’re in a small group.Read more ...
Listed on March 2, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Certain people are rather dismissive of “Singing for fun” choirs. If it’s for fun then it can’t possibly be of any quality.Read more ...
Listed on February 23, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!There are some workshop and choir leaders who work through fear. They are not particularly nice people, but they do get good resultsRead more ...
Listed on February 9, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Joining a new choir is a bit like going to big school: it’s exciting, but a bit scary and it will take a while to learn the ropes.Read more ...
Listed on February 2, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Some people really struggle when it comes to learning a song by ear. Often it’s singers who are used to using sheet music, but not always.Read more ...
Listed on January 26, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!The fact is that pretty much anyone can lead a choir. Some do it better than others and some do it worse, but it’s not rocket science. However, your particular choir leader is special and brings something unique to your choir.Read more ...
Listed on January 5, 2014 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!There is always room for improvement, whether you’re a singer, a choir leader, a choral arranger, a workshop leader or a choir committee member. But it can become overwhelming if you tackle everything at once and try to make too many changes.Read more ...
Listed on December 29, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!The choir season is over and the holidays are here. If your workspace is anything like mine, you’ll have sheet music scattered over the floor, piles of random notes from choir sessions, possible songs for the new season, CDs out of their cases, and various other flotsam and jetsam liberally sprinkled around the room.Read more ...
Listed on December 25, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Many thanks to all of you who read this blog regularly. I couldn’t do it without you! I hope you find something of interest here. If you do, please let others know about it!Read more ...
Listed on December 22, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!’Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la ... Instead of slumping in front of the TV this Christmas, why not get the whole family singing? Everybody knows and loves the old familiar Christmas carols, and all the more recent classics from Slade, Wham, John Lennon and the like. So no excuses!
You just need a bit of forward planning to make the whole thing run smoothly. Read more ...
Listed on December 15, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!For many of us, this time of year is just one concert after another. It’s great to be doing so much singing, but it can have its downsides.. If we overdo it, we can get ill or lose our voice. How can we take care ourselves during a busy concert season?Read more ...
Listed on December 8, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!There have been a lot of UK television programmes recently which have involved solo singing auditions: A comment about your singing voice can be taken as a comment on who you are as a person. How can you avoid taking criticism of your singing voice too personally?Read more ...
Listed on December 6, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Member NewsDetails of singing workshops and weekends with Chris Rowbury in the Lake District, Derbyshire and the Cotswolds.Read more ...
Listed on November 24, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!You can tell winter is on its way because it’s dark and cold when I set off for choir each week.Read more ...
Listed on November 17, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!It’s the final rehearsal before your big concert. The warm up is over and everyone is ready to go. But a handful of singers (the usual suspects) are not there. Late again!Read more ...
Listed on November 10, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!For some people being a famous singer or being in the best choir in the world or making a hit record or singing a piece perfectly in competition is the be-all and end-all.Read more ...
Listed on November 3, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Apparently there is more to life than just singing - Here are some tips for catching up with what you’ve missed.
find out what you missed – check with your choir leader exactly what was done in the rehearsal you missed. Read more ...
Listed on October 27, 2013 by Chris Rowbury in Blogs!Many choirs use written notation to learn and perform songs. Over time singers can come to depend on having the dots in front of them.
These singers may then join a different choir or go to a singing workshop where songs are learnt by ear and sheet music is not available.Read more ...
