Sight Reading
In October we had fun again coping with lots of rests, and practised putting together sight reading skills with some Irish folk songs in two parts. More rests and practice next time.
Confident Singing
What a sound we made! We put together posture, breathing and openness to astound ourselves with the start of “Sing”. Everyone promised to apply those principles to at least 10% of our singing in the next month. Individuals have already been witnessed sticking to this with very good effect. More reinforcement of the same techniques next time.
A Cappella
The Coquet group enjoyed singing as a quartet. In the Main Hall, we worked intensively on singing music which mainly moves as a sequence of chords – really getting each note in tune. That was with a new piece called “Integer Vitae”.Then we changed the focus to singing imitative music with “Quand je bois du vin claret”, and practised being able to keep in time with each other when the rhythms are different. We'll carry on working on those two pieces in November.
Fret Group
We were introduced to the chord Csus4, which we enjoyed, and then a Renaissance Bear Dance, where we plucked our ukulules like lutes. We started looking at the booklet of pieces using C and G chords, finding lots of opportunities to explore both the music and the instruments without too much challenge. One of the tunes took us into useful territory higher on the fretboard, making it much easier to play.
Slow Tunes
Julia had put together a list of tunes for us to explore in October and November. In case you weren't sent it, here it is: Reels - Staten Island and Bottom of the Punchbowl, Hornpipes – Minstrals, Sheffield and Miss Thompsons, Polkas – Egan’s and Jack Ryan’s - using the new copies, Reels - Mrs Milligan and Whinhams – using new copies, Wild Rose of the Mountain, Floating From Skerry, Road to Lisdoonvarna, Margaret’s Waltz, Scalloway Voe, Rue de Pres. This should help us extend the repertoire of tunes we feel comfy with. We made a good start. Chris brought some Shetland Reels which we enjoyed and should add to the list. If you haven't got copies, do email.
Swedish
Several people had to leave early, so we suspended the session. Slow tunes next time!
Music Saturdays are monthly workshops for singers and players. Everyone is welcome to come to one or more sessions as often as they want. See the Music Saturdays Page for more general information and plans for the next session.
Cost of Confident Singing is just 50p. For everything else, it's £1.50 for each session to cover room hire, refreshments and materials.