Moving Back?

Well, Exploring Sing Up may be duplicated back over here after all. I've had a personal Livejournal since 2004, but recently the website keeps crashing and I'm slightly concerned that I might lose some of my posts. I'm less concerned about my personal journal, funnily enough, but so much work goes into Exploring Sing Up that I'd hate to lose it. So I think I might try to catch up with myself and duplicate everything over here, then in future post to both websites (plus keeping copies on my laptop, obviously).

Well wasn't that a boring post? Here's a rather more interesting post on Vocal Blog: 24/7 A Cappella

And a couple of videos:

As Vesta Was

Shameless plug!

Shameless plug:

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.)

The rest of the blog still over at http://exploringsingup.livejournal.com/

Take the Lead! has moved ...

... to http://exploringsingup.livejournal.com/

I prefer LiveJournal because I can put cuts in the text (useful for especially long entries) and I decided to make the blog about Sing Up, not just Take the Lead! due the fact that Sing Up may present some opportunities to actually get into community music and I want to write everything about it all in one place.

So, see you over at Exploring Sing Up!

Voces8 Education Day at Bedford School (5.10.09) - Concert

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
Let's Do It^ (again, possibly – but I'm really not sure) - Cole Porter

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.)

Um, it was 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 doubts 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).

Voces8 Education Day at Bedford School (5.10.09) - Senior School masterclass

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.

Voces8 Education Day at Bedford School (5.10.09) - Prep School workshop

Taken almost straight from my notes on the day, the write-up of the Prep School workshop:

Straighten Up and Fly Right
Q: meaning of a cappella? Who sings what instrument?

Paul's warm-up:
- Movement (watch, together) + sounds -> deconstrict face
- pitch+movement – rollercoaster
- watch: stop (obvious signals)
- hearty laughing [gets diaphragm etc. working]
- copy rhythm: clapping
+ movement
+ clicks
- simple sequence --> extend --> accelerate
(click x4 L, R; clap x4; thighs x4 + shins x2, thighs x2 + more)

(Gave choice for next song: classical or jazz)
Feeling Good [had to recount votes b/c chn kept changing their minds!]

- Group into 2 teams (already sitting with aisle between chairs; natural division)
- 2 volunteers to be pulse + Charles -> + more volunteers as need arose for louder pulse
- Andrea – vocal rhythm (L team)
- Dingle – percussive rhythm (R team)
- Andrea and Dingle can change; chn have to change also. [ => WATCH]
- Basic conducting [obvious signals]: cresc. / dim. Team dynamics different (f / p at different times) [encourage musicianship; parts]
- then into four groups. Faster tempo
+ actions for rhythms
- (Rob and Chris periodically going round to the back of the groups to check everyone was okay)
- In the middle of my page I wrote ENERGY underlined three times in a box. I cannot emphasise enough just HOW energetic Paul was, and therefore the children. It was brilliant fun even just to observe :D

There was a boy at the back of the R-hand group (Dingle's) who kept turning around to look at me, and who didn't really seem to be participating. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I made sure I was moving my leg with the pulse, so he could see that I was engaged, in a way, even though I was 'only' there in the capacity of observer.

Madrigal: context.
Hark by the Crystal Fountain (I think that's the title; I couldn't quite hear)

Hand over to Charles:
- stretch, shrug & relax [deconstriction!]
- shake top to bottom + voice
- characterisation: black holes / supernovae
- muscles: breathing and support
- Cowboy! Theme tune, toffee
- boom-chica-boom [characterisation]
- voice: core of the earth up to infinity. 'Follow the hand' “he, not she” (ended up as a catchphrase; the kids finished Charles' 'he' with 'not she!' ) [hard palate 'ee'; pharynx]
- watching hand – smaller intervals, up and down [setting up for R.o.B]
=> Rivers of Babylon; notes+hand
+ harmony. 'Follow the hand!'
- Crossed legs and leaning on the back of the chair -> stand up and shake [any tension can and will be transferred!]

The same boy was still turning round and not really participating, so when we got onto the exercises with words I made sure to be mouthing along at the very least (when I wasn't grinning!). Eventually he started to join in – at the very least he started mouthing the words; one hopes he was singing along but of course I can't know whether or not he was. His friend had started to participate a little sooner and wasn't turning all the way around quite so often.

I Got Rhythm
(Interesting moment: Paul points during his solo on 'you won't find him' and that particular time he pointed to me. It was one of those split-second moments that feel like ... well, much longer! I wasn't sure if indeed he was pointing to me or not, but all of the boys were sure; the majority of their faces just turned and Looked at me. It was a moment filled with, in equal amounts, confusion, bewilderment, and abject terror. 'WhatDoIDo?!WhatDoIDo?!' so I ended up deciding just to shrug and hope they stopped looking at me! The look on Paul's face was an amusing kind of apologetic – which is only when it dawned on me that um, yes it was me at whom he'd pointed. The reason it was such a terrifying moment is my fear of people Looking at me ... mm, stupid, I know. But again, I survived ( ... just)! However, it's very amusing now and I just chuckle when I think about it; and he did apologise very profusely afterwards, which was quite sweet.)

I had to laugh; some of the teachers who found themselves worn out after only a few minutes of participation! I did sympathise as my knees had given me quite a lot of gyp during our Take the Lead! Session ... it was still amusing though; they themselves were laughing anyway :)

During the half hour between workshop and masterclass I joined Voces8 in the staff room (nearly losing my balance on the way down the stairs – oops) and had an interesting conversation with Paul about, well, in short, nerves and how the only way to learn to deal with them is to get on and do whatever it is that causes the nerves. Think that may be a subjct for an entire post in itself, just because I've been thinking about it a lot since then. Still, it reinforces my 'don't think, just do' motto (which is much easier said than done, but most days it's the only way I get myself out of bed if the truth be told. I digress). Anyway, they seem a thoroughly lovely bunch of people, and Paul and Charles made me feel welcome, rather than someone just tagging along.

Senior School masterclass to follow ...

Voces8 Education Day at Bedford School (5.10.09) - Preamble

This turned out rather longer than anticipated (I suspect this pattern may continue for the rest of this blog, so apologies in advance) so I have decided to split it into parts. So that which follows is the preamble:

Voces8 did an education day (well, afternoon) at Bedford School the Monday after the first session of Take the Lead!, followed by a free concert, and we were invited to observe the afternoon (workshop and/or masterclass) and of course to attend the concert. Initially I hadn't been sure – mainly because I was scared, I will confess! - but after being so impressed by Paul and Charles I decided to Google Voces8 and was blown away by what I discovered. So I decided I ought to at least give it some serious consideration, and eventually decided to go (if the invitation were still open – happily it was). I am so glad I did!

Monday morning I wasn't feeling too well. My IBS had been playing up over the weekend and was still giving me grief; all the while I was in Luton I was quite apprehensive about the afternoon. I also had no appetite whatsoever, so was feeling a bit dizzy but could manage barely more than an inch of baguette. So er, I was altogether not feeling great and quite scared still about the afternoon. My two main fears were that I'd get to Bedford School in plenty of time but end up finding out that the location of the workshop had changed and end up being there ~only just~ on time; and that I'd be the only one there observing.

Well, I got to the Erskine May Hall at 2.40pm (the workshop to start at 3pm) ... asked a few teachers if they knew where Voces8 were but nobody had a clue. It got to ten minutes to ... five minutes to ... almost 3pm ... and nobody came for the workshop. Eventually I noticed a stream of boys (most of whom looked young enough to be in the Prep School) plus teachers going past, so I decided to enquire. It turns out the workshop was in fact in the Great Hall. Stupidly somehow I got to the main building but was totally disorientated; I had NO IDEA where the Great Hall was (had totally forgotten since the BYO concert 2 ½ years ago) so ended up feeling a wally before having to wait to ask the secretary for help. Oops. So, fear number 1 was realised!

Fear number 2 was realised when it became evident that nobody else was coming to observe. Where I'd chosen to sit (whilst simultaneously flustered and trying to work out the best place to stand a chance of being able to lip-read whomever was leading) I felt hideously exposed but got myself too flustered to move. Gha, I hate being a phobic wimp! (I also hate the way being a phobic wimp makes me self-centred so my apologies to whomever may be reading this. I just find myself having to mull things over.)

However, I survived. And had a jolly fun time too! It was also exceedingly useful, as both Paul and Charles used warm-ups that were almost identical to what we'd done the previous Wednesday, so we could see how it works with the children.

Workshop to follow ...

Take the Lead! session 1 (30.09.09)

{I wrote this partly from memory and partly with the aid of notes from a following workshop and Paul's notes about session 1. I apologise for rambling a bit but I wanted to try to get down everything I could.}

(Lee and Malcolm are participants; Lee is the wider opps provider for Bedfordshire Music and I don't know anything about Malcolm yet.)

Introduction: Paul introduced the project; he, Charles and Aga introduced themselves.
Ice-breaker (Aga): Our name, what we had for breakfast, then a rhythm for/with our names. We'd all repeat the rhythm. Next person, then repeat previous rhythm plus current, und so weiter going round the circle. So:

Lee, what he had for breakfast, rhythm (all repeat);
Second person, what they had for breakfast, their rhythm, all repeat their rhythm. Then Lee's rhythm & repeat + second rhythm & repeat
Third person, what they had for breakfast, their rhythm, repeat, Lee's & repeat + second + third rhythms with appropriate repeats.

If that makes any sense whatsoever.

The 'final performance' was from Lee round to Paul, and back again; we'd naturally fallen into a pulse which is useful for a real workshop situation. It was good because what people had for breakfast was interesting (on the face of it that statement may sound a little inaccurate but it's surprising!) and people's rhythms serve to reveal something about them too.

Warm-ups:
Paul's:
-”Copy me” [gets their attention]
- small hand movements
- stretching
- introducing noises to fit gestures
- up and down + pitch
- rubbing shins/thighs
- rhythms
- different consonants/vowel sounds
- sequences
- [Σ = characterisation, warming up the whole body, getting the mouth/tongue/vocal cords/everything else working, introducing sounds to be used later.]
- I can't remember exactly how we got to it, but we ended up doing something rhythmic in parts ... will have to get back to that. ( ... or not; I have totally forgotten. How frustrating. I do know there was an extended version in the Bedford Prep workshop – to be written up.)

Charles':
- Shrug and release
- As small and tight as possible / as tall as possible
- Wide / small
- Starjumps / spotty dogs [sequence / watch for change]
- Boom-chica-boom: 'Say Boom-chica-boom (+Repeat) – say Boom-chica-rocka-chica-rocka-chica-boom (R) – oh-oh (R) – eh-eh (R) – one more time (R)' (different characters: normal, BIG, Time Warp,The Queen -> 'no more times')
- Black holes / supernovae (noses are black holes; everything getting sucked in / supernovae: BANG!)
- Shake self from top to bottom – voice, go down. And vice versa.
- Voice starts in centre of earth ('eee' – 'He, not she') very slowly, following Charles' hand, ascends way out to outer space. mf; take breaths whenever necessary. [Pharynx lift]
- At some point there was brain gym: left index finger on nose/right index finger on left ear and swap, getting faster. Can be developed infinitely; gets the brains warmed up, learn quicker, respond better, etc.
- At some point there was the: stretch both arms up, left hand round to right side, give selves tight hug, breathe in / breathe out – feel the lateral support muscles working / ribcage / abdomen working, etc. Possibly at the beginning, or somewhere in the middle. I forget.
- Cowboy (~grin~):
> Cowboy posture
> 'Wah-wah waaah, wah wah wahhhh ... '
> Cowboy toffee – really chewy; have to chew noisily and with whole face
> Cowboy toffee makes us so happy we go 'YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAA!' whilst swinging lasso
- [Σ = complete deconstriction, characterisation ( -> emotion), all being totally loony => safe environment; wearing selves out => breathing properly; also physically awake translates to mentally awake.]
- Also did something in parts (probably, but not definitely, from the cowboy); leaders change on pharynx lift sound. [Already familiar with sound – right from beginning actually, with shake from top to bottom; re-enforced with actual pharynx lift exercise.]
- At one point early-ish in the warm-up Charles asked who played an instrument, asked us what, then proceeded to explain that a singer's instrument is their entire body, hence necessity for full warm-up.

We then went onto 'Rivers of Babylon':
- Charles got us to sing (using his hand to show the shape) - I think this was also using the 'eee' sound.

(Not sure about the time sig, as the song is in 4/4. Oh well, will modify if necessary.)
- Then he gave us some context about the song we were about to sing: some people were made to move to a place that wasn't their home; they were very sad about it and wrote a poem so we know how they felt. [Gets the kids suitably sombre, to get emotion into their singing. He says it works, even though they may have wound themselves up and be bouncing off the walls, they can still find themselves feeling sufficiently sad for the song.]
- Charles says the words; children repeat [emphasis and emotion – plus diction].
- Same melody - well, similar – plus words (diction!)
- Add harmony! Hand shape. Similarities / differences between melody and harmony.
- Parts:

I can't remember the order exactly of the warm-ups, especially Charles' (alas I really can't remember many specifics of Paul's; I've no idea why) - I'm wracking my brains but sadly my memory rather fails me.


The summary of points then (plus additions):
> Begin with movement: gets attention and obvious start for warm-up
> Add sounds: musical ideas, rhythms, anything will be needing later in the workshop / project
> Characterisation: emotion; easy to relate to obvious characters
> Absurdity: (to quote Paul: “I cannot emphasis enough the absurdity!”) safe environment, lose inhibitions (I'll vouch for that!)
> Deconstriction: warming up entire instrument.
> Brain gym: get the synapses firing!
> Technique: don't be afraid to use technical vocabulary – children are like sponges (especially with those synapses at full speed!)
> Use warm-ups to gauge ability: zum Beispiel, doing something in rhythmic parts reflects the group's ability to sing (or play) in parts. Even at a basic level it shows their natural rhythm – or lack thereof; highlights areas that may need improvement before progress can be made; conversely, strong areas which may need less attention.
> Work backwards: What are the goals for the session and for the project? What skills will be required? Even something as simple as, what will the words be: what consonant and vowel sounds will particularly be required? Perhaps percussive sounds. Use this to plan key exercises throughout the warm-up (more to follow in session 2's write-up). (Ties in to an extent with gauging ability.)
> Ownership: allow the group to contribute ideas. Steer the workshop in the right direction for the objective(s) but along the way allow the group ownership – they're more responsive for a start than if they felt the leader were dictating everything. (Again, more to follow in session 2's write-up.)

Additional, miscellaneous points (This is almost long enough for this section to be an appendix, isn't it? Oops!):
- Malcolm provided us with an interesting quote from Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu: “To lead others, walk behind them” (in relation to ownership)
- Q: 'How long ought the warm-up to be'? A: Depends on how long the workshop is, whether it's a one-off or part of a project - and if so, how long the project is, and how far into the project the workshop is, age, etc. In other words, it's entirely left to the workshop leader's discretion! If part of, say, a set of 10 workshops, the first could be almost entirely warm-up techniques, but by the 10th only 10 minutes may be required.

Next post: my ramblings from the education day at Bedford School.

Take the Lead! Introductory post

I've decided to start a blog about Take the Lead!, a workshop leader course in Bedfordshire led by Paul Smith, Charles MacDougall and Aga Serugo-Lugo. I was going to go into a long ramble about Voces Cantabiles Music / Voces8 / Hatch My Ideas! but then managed to confuse myself ... it's late; the links provide further details! In short:
- Paul is the C.E.O. of VCM, a baritone, and community musician;
- Charles is a tenor, vocal coach, and community musician;
- sadly I know less about Aga but I do know he's an experienced community musician.
Here is a short video I discovered of the sort of thing they do (I alas know no more about it than the information on the webpage).

EDIT: I've since discovered that Charles and Aga are officially workshop leaders for VCM. Which makes sense!

The sessions are aimed towards singing workshops (this is either part of or inspired by the SingUp! initiative) but the majority of the processes and techniques we're learning apply to any workshop.

I have had a little taste of community music before this course; I was involved in 2007-08 as a musician on the Stepping Stones project (link takes you to this year's manifestation of it) with the Philharmonia Orchestra (education info here) and had an amazingly fun time ... I also learned a lot too, and the kids absolutely loved the workshops! (Useful.) They got an awful lot out of them, even though most of the schools were relatively well-off, with many of the children having instrumental lessons - there was one school that wasn't in such an affluent area, but the rest were ... well, lower-middle class, one could say. Despite the children already experiencing music, I was amazed at how much they grew throughout the eight workshops we did with them - in fact, even during the first workshop we saw a huge difference in many children, and I can safely say I was bitten by the community music bug!

Since then sadly my musical activity has declined: I finished my extra part-time year of sixth form so I then was no longer part of the school's string ensemble (such as it was), windband and jazz band; I also stopped attending Luton Youth Orchestra due to circumstances; and my attendance at Bedfordshire Youth Orchestra courses has been sporadic due to financial constraints. I do play in an orchestra (more chamber than symphony) called the Adelphi Players but as we are from far and wide (our leader is from Scotland and two years ago our double bassist was from Belarus!) and very busy people, we can only realistically rehearse thrice a year.

So, when Take the Lead! came along I jumped at the chance! Well, actually that's not quite true - I was a little hesitant at first (before the first session) because I couldn't quite understand what it was about - and if I don't know what to expect of something then I feel very fearful. Happily, however, The Choir came along just as I was trying to decide whether or not to attend, and it made me realise that this could well be a fantastic opportunity to, if not become involved with community music, at least learn skills that would be vital should I find myself presented with a community music opportunity at a later date. So I convinced myself to go along, see what it was all about, and go from there.

I can categorically say that was one of The Best secular decisions I have ever made! Part of me can't quite believe how hesitant I was originally, with hindsight; had I wimped out the mind boggles to consider what a fantastic opportunity I would have missed.

The intention of this blog is to record my experiences on this course, for my own record but also hopefully to inspire others to investigate community music - or even just to grab a chance about which they may be unsure. I'm hoping to be able to note down most of what we do and analyse why. Zum Beispiel:

Warm-up:
- Start off with Paul saying 'copy me'. Small movements with hands, progressing to sounds+movement.
Analysis: gets attention. Movement to gradually deconstrict and warm up; adding sounds gets them using vocal cords without thinking (shameless displacement, as Charles pointed out).
- All different sorts of sounds; mostly ridiculous
Analysis: gets everything warmed up: vocal cords, facial muscles, abdomen, diaphragm, etc. All different consonant and vowel sounds; very pronounced. Ridiculous: 'lose yourself' - lose inhibitions; stop feeling self-conscious. Becomes a safe environment.
- Progress to larger, more energetic movements (of course still with sounds)
Analysis: deconstricts the entire body (vital: a singer's instrument is the entire body). Energetic: wears them out = breathing properly!

... usw./etc. It'll hopefully usually be more specific than that but it's too late to be wracking my brains that hard!

This evening was the second session of TtL; so why have I only just decided to blog about it? I was mulling over a part of the session when we were leading small groups; three of us had a different part and we each had to lead some of the rest of the group (more detailed explanation to follow in the write-up of session 2) and it suddenly occurred to me: I had been rather afraid of the idea of having to lead a small group (by small, I mean three ... I am a self-conscious wimp!) and it took a couple of repeats to get into it. But then I found myself enjoying it and actually leading the group when to come in after our rests, even feeling confident - !!! - that, for me, is quite an achievement! It ties in nicely with something I've been mulling over since a conversation with Paul last Monday, but that's for another time.

So, that's an introduction to this blog. Feel free to ask questions; I apologise if I've been unclear about things (that'll be because either I'm unclear about it, or just because it's late) ... and enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by :)