[The views expressed in this Blog are from my personal experiences from 25 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult Singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear uSing a repertoire of songs from traditions across th...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my Blog From the Front of the Choir]   Some people just love anything that’s finely honed, all shined up, squeaky clean, highly skilled and perfectly rendered. Not me.     ...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my Blog From the Front of the Choir]   I was at a business meeting recently and we were asked what we did. I explained as well as I could.   Photo © Copyright Anne Burgess an...

[this is an updated version of a post which first appeared on my Blog From the Front of the Choir]   First I need to fess up: I have a low boredom threshold and always try to squeeze in as many songs as possible. Not always a good idea!  ...

Okay- so I've been a bit slack about Blogging lately.  Not that I have been idol- there is so much to Blog about but 24 hours in a day a full time job and more music than I can ever learn to play means there  isn't enough time!   In the l...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my Blog From the Front of the Choir]   Very, very few people are tone deaf. Tone deafness is an abnormality of the brain which can also affect the understanding of language and certain spatial ...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my Blog From the Front of the Choir]   Even though I’ve been teaching for almost 30 years, I still get affected by that glum-looking face in the third row.   ... and it's no...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my Blog From the Front of the Choir]I teach songs from all over the world, often in foreign languages. But people are always asking me for more songs in English. Why is this? Especially since ...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my Blog From the Front of the Choir]   There are many choir leaders whose priority is to create as perfect a rendition of a written musical score as they can (see Music lives in flawed humans and...

(adapted from a post in The Stairwell Carollers Choir Blog) David Rain, tenor:  How on earth  do you hear everyone, including our mistakes, while Singing Along at full throttle?   Pierre: I'm not sure, but you're definitely right...