I need to sing.

[Not Heidi]

In August, I will audition for the Orange County Women's Chorus. I'm building up to this by taking voice lessons to get my instrument back into shape.

About OCWC

I am a guitarist who is completely out of practice. I wanted to do a song at my birthday party (a very funny song; get people laughing), but I couldn't get my chops back in time. I need guitar lessons, too. I have a teacher, but I can only afford one lesson at a time. I guess I'll go back to the guitar once I'm in the chorus - and I *will* be chosen.

Are you a musician?

[Ocelot II]

1. I've been singing in choirs for almost as long as I can remember

and I majored in music in college. Although I've taken voice lessons for a long time, I get enough stage fright to keep me from doing solo work - but I'm fine with being part of a small group, and I'm currently a member of a small (+/-12 singers) ensemble that specializes in early music. I just love it.

[Not Heidi]

2. Nice!

Kindred spirit. What part do you sing?

[Ocelot II]

4. Soprano I most of the time.

Sometimes we shuffle around because the group is so small; we occasionally trade parts as long as we can sing them. Two of our three altos are men (countertenors) since that's consistent with early music practice.

[Not Heidi]

6. Sounds like a special group.

My voice has dropped as I've aged; I've always been a second alto, but I think I could sing first tenor by now. That would be fun, but I'd have to find a mixed chorus, of course.

[Ocelot II]

7. Here's an example.

This is from a live performance from last October.

[Not Heidi]

8. ooh . . . so lovely

Thanks for posting this. Yeah . . . god, do I need to sing.

PS I just read your sonnet for TFG. Righteous!

[Ocelot II]

9. Ha, thanks for both compliments!

[woodsprite]

3. That sounds like it will be lots of fun! I checked out their web site :)

My husband and I met in middle school chorus, were partners in a high school select madrigal group, and have sung with a choral group since 1981. I did the same thing before auditioning - I took voice lessons to be in tip top shape because it was 18-20 members by audition only. The choral group we've sung with since graduating high school is run by the director who I contracted for voice lessons (The New Ark Chorale). Our website needs major work, but you can hear a bit of our work at http://newarkchorale.org/about-us.html. Hubby is the guy with the beard back row left, and I'm front row left with the shiny blue top.

As far as other music activities, we also sing in church choir, play handbells.

Don't know if you're familiar with Robert Bernosky (trumper extraordinair who ran as Republican for CA secretary of State). He performed with us in high school mads - not in the main group, but as one of our organizers, bell ringer, actor, and chorus member. A decent guy f you can avoid talking politics with him.

I'm sure you'll do great with the lessons and the audition! Keep us posted and if they do anything online or they stream, please share the URL!

[Not Heidi]

5. Another kindred spirit!

Your chorus has a wonderful sound. Thanks for the link. (That one with /about-us.html is broken, but I followed the "About Us" link and the page worked fine.)

I'm not familiar with Bernosky, but I'm glad Weber beat him.

[Ocelot II]

10. Sounds great!

I love choral singing...

[ProfessorGAC]

11. Good For You!

Couple quick stories:
• Last December I caught a cold. It lasted only 4 or 5 days. I had a sore throat for 6 HOURS!
Yet, my singing voice didn't come back until late March. It was really annoying to have half my range for 15 weeks.

• Yes, I'm a musician. I can play nearly anything you don't have to blow into. I've played more than 2,000 gigs in my life, including 19 years with the same 3 bandmates, playing 80-85 nights a year. (Plus, the soundman who was a full member, not a hired hand.)
Here's a sampling of music. Everything you hear is me.
https://SoundCloud.com/user-134084288

[Ocelot II]

12. "Anything you don't have to blow into"! LOL. You're very good,

and it sounds like you have a lot of fun.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Truth Be Known...

...I can play the flute a bit.
Funny story: in college, I thought I'd scam a couple easy liberal arts credit by taking a 2 hour piano class.
First day, I show up early & they've got 8 Steinway practice keyboards. Keys on a knife edge with a counter weight. No strings, no rest of the piano. They made no sound aside from the key thump.
I start playing (I was just months removed from jazz competition piano) and a tap on my shoulder. It's the instructor. He says "This is not a masterclass. It's beginning piano. Come with me.""
We wander the halls checking each room. "Want to play violin" No. "Guitar class is full"
"Want to play brass" No. "Sax class if full." "How about flute?"
I think Tull, and that flute would be cool and I still get the credit hours.
So, I learned a but of flute. I have a cheapie, but I don't play it often.

[Not Heidi]

13. Nice!

Thanks for sharing your work. You all clearly have fun.

[Karadeniz]

15. Great idea... you'll love it!!!

[Not Heidi]

17. I know

Except for a lapse of about 15 years (scattered), I've sung in choruses all my life. It's high time I got back to it.

[AmBlue]

16. Wonderful!!

Last edited Thu May 4, 2023, 09:46 PM - Edit history (1)

You will be so enriched by it. I play piano and recently have recommitted to refining my skills. I enjoy it so much.

My parents were both members of the Sweet Adelines and Barbershop choruses in Miami for more than 30 years. They made lifetime friendships and it gave them not only a great hobby but also lots of social events as well as practices and performances. They absolutely loved it!!

[Not Heidi]

18. I've thought of looking up the Sweet Adelines

I may yet one day.

[3catwoman3]

19. My very small Unitarian Universalit congregation has a very small choir.

We also have a small handbell choir, of which I am a member. One of the choir members tried to get me to join the choir.

When I said, But Ann, I can’t sing,” she replied, “”Oh, that doesn’t matter.”

The hell it doesn’t! When I first started attending this congregation, the small choir was so bad that they were painful to listen to. They have improved enormously, for which I am very grateful.

[Not Heidi]

20. It's hell to sing with a group that

- if you'll forgive me - sucks.

I'd never say that to anyone who sings in a bad chorus.

I sang with a certain group from '93 to '00. We were - in all humility; there's no other way to say it - awesome. In '00 I moved to Maryland. In Maryland I sang one-half season with a group that was bad. It was, to use your word, painful. When I returned to California, I looked up that group I'd spent seven years with and auditioned. I was instantly accepted (very gratifying!). I made it through one rehearsal. Ouch. They'd declined quite a bit (the director I knew was gone). A few days later I broke my shoulder, and had my ready-made excuse for saying "thanks, but with this going on I don't see myself singing anytime soon." (Those of you with shoulder injuries understand this, I'm sure. You can't breathe without pain.)

I'm really looking forward to August.

I'm so glad the small group in your UU church improved!

[3catwoman3]

21. It''s hell to...

…listen to a group like that, too. Sometimes you could tell listeners were doing their damndest not to snicker.

Of course, the person who sang the loudest was the most out of tune.

I actually can sing, but have a limited range of G3 to C5 - a bit shy of a full alto. Anything above C5 and my voice get tight and squeaky. It’s interesting that many of the hymns in the UU hymnal are in keys that exceed my lowest and highest notes, so that I have to change back and forth between the notes I can reach in the middle of verses.

One nice thing about bell choir is that as long as I ring the right bell at the right time, there is no worry about being out of tune. After years of playing piano and flute, it quite a change to only be responsible for 4 notes in a piece - “my” bells are E6 and F6, and the immediately adjacent half steps above and below.

[UTUSN]

22. Don't do this one, the melody doesn't go anywhere