Well here we are again, after missing last weeks rehearsal because England were playing football (inconsiderate of them to choose our evening rehearsal time!). Unfortunately we were not successful but at least we gave them our support.
It is still very warm, even at this time of the evening and we’ve all come out still glowing from the heat of the day, there doesn’t appear to be a weather break on the immediate horizon.
We have been given a mixture of music that Katy thinks will be a treat and a change for us. It is always fun to sing together for pleasure and have no thoughts of a public performance. Some of our group have disappeared on holiday so only the chosen few remain but there are enough of us to make a noise and a good attempt, despite the smaller number.
“I know him so well“ from Chess the musical was our starting point. It is known to us all, having been sung so beautifully by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige. There were one or two hiccups as we have not seen this for such a long time, and some of the newer members, not at all. It is a lovely song with great lyrics so we soon got into the swing of it.
Next came “And so it goes“ by Billy Joel. It is difficult in so many ways, and unknown to someone sitting behind me, who voiced the opinion that it seemed quite slow and miserable at the start, the tempo soon picked up though and the lovely words led us to want to learn the song, despite not being familiar. The ladies definitely know what they like, and like what they know!
It can be quite difficult to pick out the notes: sometimes above and sometimes below the music line. If in doubt some of us stop and hope that someone else has picked up the correct note. Katy teaches us to have some self-belief: what is the worst that could happen, nothing.
A discussion about “diphthongs“ then followed. There are lots of points of knowledge that she shares with us; whether we remember them all or not, is a different matter. For example the word 'I' is one singular letter but it has various sounds. This is why the English language is notoriously difficult to learn. When singing in English we have to modify some words, for example “fly” has to be extended. Apparently that is why singing in Latin is simpler because of the pronunciation of the words. Might leave that for another time (although we have performed Gaudete and very much enjoyed that, once our confidence was built up).
“Life on Mars” by David Bowie followed, from the musical Lazarus. It has been written to be sung by a lady, so the key is good for us. The words are nonsensical but it is a lovely tune (but very hard to play, apparently).
Most of us don’t read music but that never stops us from tackling anything new. Katy is so patient and will repeat a section any number of times until we are happy with our attempt. Whilst the other groups are singing we tend to concentrate on trying to learn the new words.
A conversation followed about watching performances live, as Robbie Williams has just been announced as the headline act at next years Proms in Lytham, let’s hope that the weather holds for it, it can be a bit hit and miss.
“Home “ by Michael Buble is quite hard to sing as we are just starting, but I am sure it will be lovely once we begin to sing with more confidence, instead of panicking about what we don’t know. When you listen carefully to the words it would be easy to become emotional, especially if you are also a long way from the people you love, it really is sung from the heart. Sometimes we sing together and other times we are in three different places but our voices do blend beautifully together when we get it right.
Our finishing ear worm for the evening was “Swinging on a star“. Katy needed to set the Sat Nav in the song as it jumps about over the various verses and you have to make sure that you are singing the correct verse.
A finishing discussion was about how difficult it seems for KTB to source some new music from America at the moment: the world is a strange place in so many different places at the moment. Good job we can sing together and leave all our worries at the door. Another great session.
Written by Maria Baxter
