Look Up At The Stars!

Another interesting rehearsal yesterday, with two cool bits.

Firstly, as you know, we are currently going through a season of singing training sessions, and had (yet another) voice coach. This week we had a woman called Sandra. She was confident, colourful and larger-than-life, and quite clearly had had much experience in teaching people how to sing, particularly when working in groups.

We went through through bel canto again, and she made both Andrew F and Arnaldo giggle with her pronunciation of voce di petto. Unlike the previous trainers though, she started with the absolute basics before even allowing us to make a sound. We went through the anatomy of the head, mouth and throat resonators and how they affect tonal quality, and I learned that each note in every singer's range is a continuum of tonal components, made up of where that sound comes from.

Forty minutes of theory later, she made us hum notes in a scale to detect the source of the sound, before we could open our mouths to let the sound come out. What was interesting was that each of us had different experiences of where the sound originated for exactly the same note. At the end of the session I felt a whole lot more aware of how I personally achieve the tonal quality of each note. It remains to be seen, in future sessions, whether what I am doing is right or not. Overall, I thought she was really good, and there is certainly potential for future development.

Secondly, it was the inaugural rehearsal of Anthony's song "Look up at the stars". The story behind it is really touching, and the plan is for his band Paleday to perform it a couple of times before releasing it as a CD for Alzheimer's Research. To give it that extra kick, he has added a choral backing arrangement to swell the second half, and we ran through it yesterday. Despite my initial misgivings, and the inevitable horror as everyone tries to pick up the notes, it actually sounds wonderful. Anthony sang the solo part on the piano, and I had goosebumps it was that good.

It looks like the first live performance will be in Dingwalls, Middle Yard, 8 Camden Lock, NW1 8AB at 8pm on Wednesday, the 28th of March. I'm sure details will be posted on the Pink Singers website soon, but you can also check out Paleday's website for the latest info. Tickets are only £6 in advance and £8 on the door for a brilliant night of music and disco!