Optional Virtual Video Tips

REGARDING ALL VIRTUAL VIDEOS...

Hello all, this is a reminder that we DO NOT want your participation to become a negative stress in your life (positive stress is good, negative stress will produce negative consequences).

REMEMBER IT'S JUST FOR FUN!!!

Everyone is asked to do only what works well for you in your life.  If you are a real go-getter and you have the time and energy to do all the recordings, that is wonderful!  But, we realize they are time consuming and not everyone is comfortable with the process - that doesn't mean you can't continue showing up and singing along and learning with the choir each week.  Think of the videos as an "extra".  You don't have to do them to participate in our weekly learning.

You do you!  You are welcome to submit just 1 video or a few - and remember they do not have to be perfect.  When we sing along we can hear all the imperfections very clearly.  When we sing together those imperfections are still there but we don't notice them because there are other voices sharing the airwaves. 

It is the combined sound which gives us the illusion of "perfect" sound.  As long as the imperfections aren't happening to everyone at the exact same time it will sound glorious!  So - don't be shy!  Sing out freely and lovingly as if you were singing with your best friends after having had a glass of wine, or as if you were singing to a baby who adores you, or your dog...  the energy with which you sing is much more important to your sound than getting the notes perfect. 

If you are "nervous" the muscles in your body will be tight and that will effect your voice and your confidence, so use your imagination!  Pretend you are a confident performer or pretend you are a character in a play... whatever you need to do to keep the tension at bay so you can really release your pure, heartfelt voice!

En-JOY yourself!  Chances are if you are actually enjoying yourself, we will hear that lightheartedness in your tone, and you will sound confident.  It's a great trick... if you are authentically enjoying yourself while you sing, you will sound your best.  So mentally infuse yourself with JOY just before you start and we will hear it!

🙂 Sandi

clarification + apology

Hello fellow singers!

I'm writing to apologize for the confusion regarding the "Round and Round" round.  I was thrown off by the arrangement Jeremy created for you to follow last week with the odd number of bars to wait between verses.  Because this is a song we have sung a lot in the choir before, and we will sing it a lot in the future as well (because it is so glorious when we sing it in a cathedral) it is important that we are being consistent.

1/2 of our choir is not participating with us online so if we change the form of the song they will all be lost and confused when we are back together in person, and it would be difficult to adjust.  So I just wanted to be clear that it is not that I didn't think that you would be able to make the adjustments for our video, I was thinking long term and wanting to keep consistent.

So, that is why you may notice that on this final recording it is actually only 2 "heart beat" drums between verse 1 and verse 2 (not 4).  Each phrase is 4 bars long, but there are only 2 heartbeats per phrase.  This allows us to perform it in  SATB  sections (soprano, alto, tenor, bass).

So, once again - VERY SORRY for the confusion.  Hopefully it's straight forward now.  (It's really such a straight forward song!  LOL!)

Happy video taping!

🙂 Sandi

1/2 Price Private Vocal Lessons for Choir Members

Hello friends!  Have you ever wondered what a private voice lesson would be like? 

We have come up with another win-win idea to help fill the schedule of our newest teacher at our music school. 

We hired the beautiful Assell Zakarina to take on 1 day of teaching our budding musicians, but she would like more students so we are offering all choir members up to 4 private lessons at 1/2 price. 

Assell just graduated from the exact same program at Capilano University that Sandi did back in 1996 (Jazz Studies, Vocal Performance) and she even studied with many of the same teachers!  Assell is keen to help students of all ages and stages of development learn more about their voice.  

Private lessons on zoom work REALLY well.  It is very easy for the teacher to hear the student sing and give feedback, (the teacher sends the student back tracks for their songs and of vocal warm ups and exercises before the class).  

We will add a picture of Assell to this post soon.  A few people have already signed up!  We'll post their testimonials after they've had their lessons so you can get a better idea of what you might gain from trying it out.  🙂

Yay! 

 

Makin' It Work!

Hello All!

While it is true that online singing is not the same as in person, that doesn't mean we can't continue to get huge benefits from singing online together during Covid.  It just means we have to change our expectations and our focus for the term.  We can still have FUN!  We can still LEARN!  We can still CONNECT with one another through smiles and conversations and just simply showing up for one another.  What we'll be missing without the in person connection we will make up for with personalized skill development and education!

REMINDER: This Thursday is our 2nd night of "sectionals"!  The first sectional last week went really well, you can see and hear everything that happened by looking at the "Recordings" page.  There you will find all the video recordings of our rehearsals PLUS soon to be posted audio recordings of warm ups and vocal exercises (from beginner to advanced), and the karaoke back tracks for our songs.

What is a sectional?  This means I will be working with the alto section only and Jeremy will be working with the bass section only.  We will spend the whole evening focusing on the ins and outs of these two sections, (we will not be covering any soprano or tenor part singing).  And next week we will hold sectionals for the Sopranos & Tenors again.

We are doing sectionals to make better use of your time and energy, so you don't get bored waiting around for your section to have it's turn.  Sectionals allow the group to be smaller and focused on specifics, so the learning curve is steep!  So far everyone who has tried it has said it was AWESOME!

What are you supposed to do on your "off week"?  Well, PRACTICE of course!  I suggest practice from 7 - 9pm on Tuesdays as planned to keep your singing time regular, but of course you can do your practicing whenever you want and as many times as you want!  That's one of the "pros" of online zoom lessons!  You are welcome to log on and join us for live warm ups before we break into groups.  And, if you feel strong enough on your part and it would be beneficial for you to sing along while I'm teaching the other part - that's totally fine too!  Whatever works best for you, you are always welcome to be with us online.  🙂

On your own, you can either re-watch the video from last weeks rehearsal in full, or you can watch it in part and rewind and run over the songs as many times as you need to until you start to INTERNALIZE them!  "Internalizing" is different from memorizing.  Internalizing is when the song just comes flowing out of you and you don't have to think about your notes or your words - you've just sung it so many times that you don't have to think.  THAT is when the MAGIC happens!  And that is when we really EXPERIENCE singing on the vibrational level.  ?

PLEASE REFER TO THE SCHEDULE to check when all your live rehearsals will be.  We will post the video re-play of every rehearsal so that you have access to them whenever you want all term long.  This will actually greatly speed up the learning curve "if" you use the recordings!

And for those of you who want to work on your personal skill set... we will also put up recordings of all the vocal warms ups, skills & drills (including ear training, sight singing and vocal technique) so you can play around with those over the term as well.  The nice thing about working on "skills and drills" is that you will notice progress!  And nothing feels better than progress!

See you all soon!

Sandi

Hello!

Hi all!

I am soooooooooo excited to finally have our bulletin board up so we can keep in touch with one another more easily.  Please feel free to post here if you have anything you'd like to say to the group at large.  Questions?  Support?  Get together for a social distance walk, or a zoom chat... (we had a zoom coffee with Jeremy's parents in Winnipeg this morning and it was AMAZING how it starts to feel like you are actually in the same room together!  I don't know why we don't do this more often!)

We are particularly wanting to reach out into the our community and make sure everyone has connections to get us all through our first Covid winter together, so please do use this space (bulletin board and the directory) to contact one another.  And if you know anyone who lives alone and does not have much support please encourage them to try our choir, you never know the magic that can happen when someone starts singing and laughing!

As our first email stated: "Let us co-create a learning environment of FUN & FREEDOM this Fall!

This Community Bulletin Board is where we can start creating.  Post jokes, stories, videos... anything that will bring a smile to our faces when we log in!  If we all make an effort to keep our community healthy and happy - you can be sure we will all benefit. 

Please have a look at our "welcome" video.  
We are going to provide you with a video recording every practice so you can practice with us any time of any day.  We are also going to edit the practice recordings into smaller video clips so you can easily find a link to a specific warm up or song, ear training exercise (harmonizing or improvising) or sight singing exercise.

We REALLY want this website to be very easy for you to access and use your practice tools, so please let us know how it's going and if you have any suggestions on how we can make it work better for you.  Check out the recording section where you can find listening tracks for each part of each song.  You can start by choosing the track that has your part highlighted (meaning it will be louder and all the other parts will be quieter in the background, so you can still hear them, but your part is significantly louder and easier to pick out).  Once you get good at singing along with the highlighted track, challenge yourself and see if you can sing with the "all parts mixed equally track".  Don't forget to try to blend in!  

For the BIG  CHALLENGE.. see if you can sing along with the highlight track of a different part (so you're hearing someone elses part louder than your own).  That's the real test to see how well you have internalized the song and how independent you are!  It's great food for thought, and great inspiration!

We are looking forward to our first sectional practices tomorrow!  (It will be interesting as I work with the sopranos while Jeremy works with the tenors in the next room).  The following week I'll work with altos and Jeremy will work with basses.  We will do that again one more time with each group before we all meet again as a full choir.  "Sectionals" gives us all a chance to really focus in on the specifics for each section (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) without having to sit around waiting for your turn.

SAVE THE DATE!  ZOOM COFFEE HOUSE SOCIAL
Just for FUN & LAUGHS, it's a chance to get to know others in our community.  Consider sharing a song, performing a skit, (a lip sync?), karaoke, tell a joke, tell a story, show us your art... anything goes!  Consider just showing up and watching/listening.  The more the merrier! (literally!)

xoxo! Sandi

Makin' it Work!

Hello all!

While it is true that online singing is not the same as in person, that doesn't mean we can't continue to get all the same healing benefits from singing online together during Covid.  It just means we have to change our expectations and our focus for the term.  We can still have FUN!  We can still LEARN!  We can still CONNECT with one another through smiles and conversations and just simply showing up for one another.  What we'll be missing without the in person connection we will make up for with personalized skill development and education!

REMINDER: Tonight is our very first night of "sectionals"!

What is a sectional?  This means I will be working with the soprano sectiton only and Jeremy will be working with the tenor section only.  We will spend the whole evening focusing on the ins and outs of these two sections, (we will not be covering any alto or bass part singing).  And next week we will hold sectionals for the Altos & Basses and it will be the soprano & altos turn to work on their own with the recordings.

We are doing sectionals to make better use of your time and energy, so you don't get bored waiting around for your section to have it's turn.  Sectionals allow the group to be smaller and focused on specifics, so the learning curve is steep!  

What are you supposed to do on your "off week"?  Well, PRACTICE of course!  I suggest practice from 7 - 9pm on Tuesdays as planned to keep your singing time regluar, but of course you can do your practicing whenever you want and as many times as you want!  That's one of the "pros" of online zoom lessons! 

You can either re-watch the video from last weeks rehearsal in full, or you can watch it in part and rewind and run over the songs as many times as you need to until you start to INTERNALIZE them!  "Internalizing" is different from memorizing.  Internalizing is when the song just comes flowing out of you and you don't have to think about your notes or your words - you've just sung it so many times that you don't have to think.  THAT is when the MAGIC happens!  And that is when we really EXPERIENCE singing on the vibrational level.  🙂

 

PLEASE REFER TO THE SCHEDULE to check when all your live rehearsals will be.  We will post the video re-play of every rehearsal so that you have access to them whenever you want all term long.  This will actually greatly speed up the learning curve "if" you use the recordings!

 

And for those of you who want to work on your personal skill set... we will also put up recordings of all the vocal warms ups, skills & drills (including ear training, sight singing and vocal technique) so you can play around with those over the term as well.  The nice thing about working on "skills and drills" is that you will notice progress!  And nothing feels better than progress!

See you all soon!

Sandi

 

 

 

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi all!

I am soooooooooo excited to finally have our bulletin board back so we can keep in touch with one another more easily.  Please feel free to post here if you have anything you'd like to say to the group at large.  Questions?  Support?  Get together for a social distance walk, or a zoom chat... (we had a zoom coffee with Jeremy's parents in Winnipeg this morning and it was AMAZING how it starts to feel like you are actually in the same room together!  I don't know why we don't do this more often!)

We are particularly wanting to reach out into the our community and make sure everyone has connections to get us all through our first Covid winter together, so please do use this space (bulletin board and the directory) to contact one another.  And if you know anyone who lives alone and does not have much support please encourage them to try our choir, you never know the magic that can happen when someone starts singing and laughing!

As our first email stated: "Let us co-create a learning environment of FUN & FREEDOM this Fall!

This Community Bulletin Board is where we can start creating.  Post jokes, stories, videos... anything that will bring a smile to our faces when we log in!  If we all make an effort to keep our community healthy and happy - you can be sure we will all benefit. 

Please have a look at our "welcome" video.  
We are going to provide you with a video recording every practice so you can practice with us any time of any day.  We are also going to edit the practice recordings into smaller video clips so you can easily find a link to a specific warm up or song, ear training exercise (harmonizing or improvising) or sight singing exercise.

We REALLY want this website to be very easy for you to access and use your practice tools, so please let us know how it's going and if you have any suggestions on how we can make it work better for you.  Check out the recording section where you can find listening tracks for each part of each song.  You can start by choosing the track that has your part highlighted (meaning it will be louder and all the other parts will be quieter in the background, so you can still hear them, but your part is significantly louder and easier to pick out).  Once you get good at singing along with the highlighted track, challenge yourself and see if you can sing with the "all parts mixed equally track".  Don't forget to try to blend in!  

For the BIG  CHALLENGE.. see if you can sing along with the highlight track of a different part (so you're hearing someone elses part louder than your own).  That's the real test to see how well you have internalized the song and how independent you are!  It's great food for thought, and great inspiration!

We are looking forward to our first sectional practices tomorrow!  (It will be interesting as I work with the sopranos while Jeremy works with the tenors in the next room).  The following week I'll work with altos and Jeremy will work with basses.  We will do that again one more time with each group before we all meet again as a full choir.  "Sectionals" gives us all a chance to really focus in on the specifics for each section (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) without having to sit around waiting for your turn.

SAVE THE DATE!  ZOOM COFFEE HOUSE SOCIAL
Just for FUN & LAUGHS, it's a chance to get to know others in our community.  Consider sharing a song, performing a skit, (a lip sync?), karaoke, tell a joke, tell a story, show us your art... anything goes!  Consider just showing up and watching/listening.  The more the merrier! (literally!)

xoxo! Sandi