After a few rehearsals, everybody joining the choir is asked to meet with the MD for a few minutes at the end of a rehearsal to do a few basic musical exercises. This is very informal and designed to help you to get the most from the choir.
The only people present apart from yourself will be the Musical Director and his assistant unless you would like a friend or your section rep to attend with you.
Accompanied by the piano you may be asked to
- Sing up and down a scale. This establishes your vocal range.
- Sing either the upper or lower of two notes, as directed, after two notes have been played simultaneously.
- Sing an extract from an accompanied piece of your own choice. It could be a hymn, a popular song or a folksong, or something more complicated if you wish. This shows what your voice can do when you are singing something that you know well. If you can supply two copies of the music for this it would be helpful but is not essential.
- Sing your own voice part in a short straightforward passage from something that was rehearsed earlier in the evening. We are not going to ask you to sing something that you have not sung before so don’t worry about sight-reading. If you happen to be a good sight-reader, that is a bonus.
Very occasionally, we feel that an individual would benefit from a little more experience so we invite them to continue singing with us at rehearsals a while longer before they are ready to join us for a concert.
If you have any questions about this introduction to the choir, please speak to the Musical Director, Andrew Cleary.