Choir - some info please........

youtu.be/zqfFrCUrEbY
This gives me goosepimples!

Cabbie21 I agree 're a good choir leader, and Rock Choir leaders teach all those things.

MissA there's hope for you.

My voice is very much below average.
People think I am joking when I try to sing..
Any hope for me?

I have always sung in choirs, mostly auditioned ones. A good choir leader should teach you about the right sort of posture, breathing, relaxation, mouth shape etc, as well as learning the notes.
As a teacher I used to lose my voice from time to time. Eventually, after determining there was nothing physically wrong, my GP sent me to a speech therapist, who taught me the same breathing and relaxation techniques that I have since been taught in choirs. I have never lost my voice again. There are times eg if I have a cold, when I avoid singing, but otherwise, it is one of the best things you can do for both mental and physical health.

Meant to say to Kateycrunch good for you, you'll enjoy it I'm sure.

Yes he is. He makes us laugh every week with his antics. We are lucky being in London, we are spoilt for choice for gigs, usually for charity, even a summer party on a boat on the Thames. Now that was fun! I love that it provides spontaneous enjoyment for unsuspecting audiences, and I especially love it when the young people in the crowd sing e.g. Justin Timberlake back at us

Grannyknot: Love your choir leader! He was worth watching on his own . Hallelujah is a lovely song that we sing quite a bit. I've only done a couple of events but they are fun.

Bikerhiker no auditions and a very friendly environment. You decide where you fit.

Also - the Rock Choir format for learning new songs is very clever. I used to sing in a community choir and got terribly bored with the "high end" stuff where e.g. the tenors would practice for what seemed like hours whilst the rest of us sat around waiting to join in. I want to sing for fun so prefer singing stuff that can be easily learnt by the whole choir.

The Rock Choir format is such that the arrangements make the song interesting and we have learnt a new song - with everyone joining in - in as little as half an hour. All the songs made available online on the website as MP3 downloads so that you can practice at home.

I do believe that everyone can sing - my (very average) singing voice improves greatly with practice.

Sparklefizz, I don’t think the little girl is showing off. I think she’s in dead earnest and has no idea she’s not in tune.

No auditions Bikerhiker. It would help if you knew roughly whether you're a soprano or alto, but doesn't matter. Several of our choir members only realised after they'd been singing for a while.

I was thinking of joining a Rock Choir. Are members put in to different sections? If so do you have to test/audition?
I haven't sung for years and would feel a bit self conscious!

Grandma70s She's just a small child showing off, though.

Incidentally, I don’t believe for a moment that ‘everyone can sing’. Have you seen that YouTube video of the little girl in the nativity play? Search YouTube for ‘Funny Nativity’. It’s amazing!

Thanks everyone, will get the Vocalzone lozenges, I think I do try to blast it out, so will take it a bit easier and not be so shouty lol. I have just booked my place in a small singing group, starting tomorrow, tra la la la laaaaaa.

Happy New Year All xx

Can’t sing wouldn’t inflict my voice on any choir

Here we are at Waterloo Station earlier this year, note his miming! Not the best quality recording, it was posted by a member of the public:

youtu.be/AqIBYuLRW5Y

Goldengirl I'm useless at the moves! I'm the one turning left when everyone else is turning right. My biggest panic is remembering all the lyrics when we sing at events. Luckily our choir master is very good at miming the words

Ah, right. Rock Choir is definitely not opera singing ?.

It releases happy chemicals as you sing too. That is another way it is good for you.

The closed throat singing is what a lot of pop singers do - you can hear the difference in the style and use of the voice if you compare that with an opera singer. I am not making a value judgement here - any singing is good singing in my book! - but some styles are easier on the voice.

The health benefits are massive - strengthens the diaphragm, lung function, social connection, joyfulness, creativity ... I could go on.

I've also sung in choirs for as long as I can remember - since primary school. My gran was a piano teacher and a choir leader.

Luckygirl what do you mean by "the style of singing involves closing the throat" I've never heard that nor been told to sing in a particular style ...? We sing all sorts, Rock Choir is just the name.

Great that so many of us are in the Rock Choir "family"

I'm another who has sung in choirs for years. I am now a lower alto after my voice has deepened as I age and I have learned never to strain for higher notes than I can comfortably get. Vocalzone are excellent voice lubricants and we are all encouraged to take regular sips of water too.

I sing in a village choir every week and we do two concerts a year, Winter and Spring. We have 70 members, bass, tenor, alto and soprano. I love the choir and the friendships we share, the fun we have and the health benefits of singing. Go for it - it's a wonderful hobby to enjoy.

On the subject of voice parts, I found that my voice got lower as I got older. I started as a second soprano and finished as a first alto. If the truth be told, I should probably have been a second alto by the time I stopped, but I managed to get away with it.

Incidentally, I don’t like the way children are usually taught to sing at school now. They shout, and many teachers seem to think that if it’s loud, it’s good.
.

I’ve always sung in choirs, starting at school and working up to being in a choir attached to a symphony orchestra - fiendish auditions! There are many levels of choral singing. In some choirs you don’t even have to be able to read music, in some you have to be able to find your way round a complicated score. You have to find the level that’s right for you at the time.

I haven’t sung for years now. Too old, no voice left.