Finding our voices (and then some!)

Five rehearsals into Season 18, and we’re nearly 60 voices strong!

Every week, I walk into the room and feel this incredible warmth and positive energy. It’s infectious, uplifting and, quite honestly, a little intoxicating. I’m loving every minute of it.

We kicked off this week with another fun, slightly brain-bending warm-up. 😜

Each week, I try something different to get us coordinating, engaging both sides of our brains and exploring the physicality of rhythm and sound.

This week, we played with a simple three-part harmony built around a major dominant seventh chord. You know the one… “This is the way to harmonise…” It was such a satisfying sound when all the parts start to lock together!

Then it was straight into Cecilia. We broke the parts down, worked on them individually and gradually built them back up again, adding in the body percussion. That’s still a challenge for many of us (singing AND coordinating your hands and feet? Really Becs?!), but it’s beginning to come together, and it’s wonderful to hear the progress.

Next up September, where we had a little play with our vocal sounds. It’s incredible how relaxing the jaw and opening the mouth can transform the sound we make. Sometimes the smallest physical adjustments can make the biggest difference, and it was lovely to hear you all experimenting and discovering your voices can do. Never be afraid to try something - that’s what our rehearsals are for!

We moved on to one of my personal favourites, All Around My Hat, exploring those three-part harmonies again, before launching into Stop the Cavalry. And wow! The sound this choir is beginning to make is really something. It’s rich, full and wonderfully confident, with more and more depth developing as your voices learn to work together.

And then came the Kazoos! 🤣

We tackled it in three-part harmony, and when it all clicked into place, I was like a kid in a sweet shop! These are the moments that absolutely thrill me as a musical director: when individual voices become something bigger, when the harmonies suddenly come alive, and when you can feel the whole room responding to the music. I could have bottled that feeling last night!

We finished with I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday — a lovely, easy singalong to add to our Christmas concert repertoire. Because, of course, Christmas is coming, and there’s plenty more music to get under our belts before then!

I appreciate that there are a lot of notes and words to remember, and that’s exactly why we have the rehearsal recordings and the lyrics sheets available on the website. They’re there to help you practice between rehearsals, get familiar with your own part and arrive feeling a little more secure each week. A little listening at home really does make a difference.

I’m so delighted and proud of how this choir is growing - not just in numbers (but that’s quite fantastic, nearly 60 singers!), but in confidence, musical understanding and the richness of the sound we’re creating together.

There’s a real sense of something special taking shape, and I can’t wait to you all to see, hear and feel where we are going next.

On to rehearsal six! ❤️ 🎶