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Chris Rowbury's Blog Entries

  • When it comes to choirs and singing are you specialist or generalist?

    Added June 20, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1507 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last time I wrote about whether it’s better to be over-rehearsed or under-prepared. I talked about people who like to spend a long time working on one thing in order to perfect it versus those who like to do just enough work on a piece before m... read more

  • Over-rehearsed or under-prepared: which is better?

    Added June 5, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1703 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I don’t like rehearsing. I’d much rather turn up on the day, trust the singers I’m working with and just busk it.                     photo by P... read more

  • Learning songs by ear

    Added May 29, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 2154 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Many people have no idea how a song is learnt by ear. They assume that written music is a must. But don’t forget that people have been singing (and learning) songs for thousands of years without music.     my listening ears by ni... read more

  • As a choir leader I’m a control freak ... and that’s exactly how I like it!

    Added May 22, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1105 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Some people lead their choir or singing workshop with another person. I’ve tried it, and it doesn’t really work for me.     control freak by .m for matthijs   I like to be in full control and I think I do a better jo... read more

  • My ideal community choir

    Added May 15, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1168 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I want to share with you how I view open-access community choirs.     I’d like to think that the choirs I run are a bit different from most other ‘choirs’ and that my approach to singing and songs is a more relaxed an... read more

  • Can you ever prepare yourself for being in front of a live audience?

    Added May 8, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 992 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   What is it about a live audience that throws a spanner in the works?     scared face by Kim   You’ve prepared thoroughly, you’re really looking forward to the performance, you know all your words and moves inside ou... read more

  • What are rehearsals for exactly?

    Added May 1, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1223 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   There’s a strange thing that happens in choirs just as a concert is coming up. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong.     Benny Goodman at rehearsal by Fred Palumbo   Then the concert that follows is usually excellent... read more

  • How songs are stored in your brain - ideas for better song learning

    Added April 24, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 2817 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   In my series of posts on How to deal with song lyrics a few weeks back, I said that I believe that song lyrics are stored in a different part of the brain from, say, poetry, phone numbers or lines from a play.     So how does the singi... read more

  • Is all choral music religious?

    Added April 17, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 4987 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Shama is from Bangladesh. She loves choral singing, but wonders if all choral music is religious:   “I love singing and have been singing since I was 9. Although I started out with learning Bengali classical music, I have also been reall... read more

  • What kind of feedback do you want?

    Added April 10, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1992 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week I wrote about getting feedback from singers and choir leaders. But not all feedback is equal.   Feedback can come in many forms: speech, writing, applause, by email, face to face, and so on. Sometimes one form is more useful than anot... read more