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  • What are rehearsals for exactly?

    Added May 1, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1225 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 - 2835 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 - 5023 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 - 1996 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

  • Why feedback is important when teaching and learning songs

    Added April 2, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1723 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I was running a one-day workshop a while back and it seemed to me that the whole thing wasn’t gelling. People seemed uninspired, energy was low, and it was taking ages for people to pick up the songs.     Tumbs down by goldberg &... read more

  • Can auditioned choirs still be ‘community’ choirs?

    Added March 27, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 1582 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Nat started his choir four years ago. He has slowly built the numbers up to a fairly stable 35 or so, but thinks it’s time for a change.     photo by wcc.webster   If he auditions, does it mean that he will be going against... read more

  • How to deal with song lyrics 3: foreign words and beyond the first verse

    Added March 20, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 3056 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 looked at how you get beyond the written word if you've been learning lyrics from sheets of paper.     This week I want to look at songs which are not in English, and also the difficulty with songs which haev several verses.... read more

  • How to deal with song lyrics 2: leaving the written word behind

    Added March 13, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 3960 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Last week in Part 1 of How to deal with song lyrics, I looked at the pros and cons of using written words as opposed to learning entirely by ear.       This week I want to look at how you get beyond the written word if you’ve ... read more

  • How to deal with song lyrics 1: written down or learnt by ear?

    Added March 6, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 3533 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   Unless you’re singing vocalises or songs with just one word (‘alleluia’, ‘mravalžamier’), you have to deal with lyrics at some point.     How do you first encounter them – written down or heard? How c... read more

  • Why choirs shouldn’t sing pop songs

    Added February 27, 2013 by Chris Rowbury - 5535 views - 0 comments
    [this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I used to lead a women’s singing group. We tried a Bob Marley song once. One of the singers used to say: “If it sounds like the Women’s Institute sing The Rolling Stones, then we shouldn’t perform it!”. We didn’t. ... read more