The Free Voice Lesson

I keep going back and forth on whether or not this is a joke. Either way, it's funny.

In which Chorus laughs at herself.

I sing a lot. And I don't just mean in choir rehearsals, I mean around the house, in the shower, when I'm driving, when I'm cooking, when I'm folding the laundry... I just sing. Whatever comes to mind, and if there are no songs in my mind, then I just make something up. I

Last night, WH was out at the BBQ checking on pork and potatoes and I was in the kitchen getting ready to serve up. For some reason, unknown even to me, I was singing the last verse descant to Once in Royal David's City. And I wasn't just singing it, I was lettin' 'er rip, big time.

I had presumed that WH couldn't hear me, and I had my back to the door outside, but when I turned around, he was standing in the doorway, with a hilariously puzzled look on his face.

"Singing descants to Christmas carols, are we?"

I was laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe.

If we can't laugh at ourselves, then whom, eh?

Singing Lessons, Part 1

Last night, I had my first voice lesson with my new teacher, J.

First, let me tell you about J. J has been WH's friend for a long time. She is a very fine soprano and early music specialist. She's also 8 months pregnant, so we will have a few lessons now before the baby is born, and then perhaps a few lessons through the summer when we're both in town, and then we might continue with lessons regularly in the Fall, as our schedules allow. She is an excellent teacher, and to say that I'm excited to study with her would be an understatement.

I was nervous yesterday, mostly because one never knows what to expect from a new experience, and because it's intimidating to sing alone in front of a new person, no matter who that person is.

The lesson went very, very well. We worked a lot on technique, and identified that effective breathing and tension are probable the two areas in which I'll need to put in the most conscious work. Then we chose some repertoire to work on this week - a German piece by Brahms and the Mendelssohn "O For the Wings of a Dove" from Hear My Prayer, which is beautiful!

When I got home and told WH what I was going to be working on for the week, he remarked that the Mendelssohn was always hot property for the boy soprano soloists when he sang in the Cathedral boys choir as a child. So I asked him if he had ever sung it, and he replied, "Oh, I didn't just sing that solo; I OWNED that solo." And then he rushed downstairs to find the cassette on which his performance had been recorded.

And own it, he did indeed!!

In which Chorus has a Treat

So, in a couple of weeks, I'll be starting to take voice lessons with a very talented singer here in town, and I am very very excited. I think we're going to have a lot of fun together!

Yesterday, WH and I descended on our local music store to buy some new collections of music. I have one book of Italian love songs already, but I was hoping to have a little bit more variety of pieces to study. Like going to bookstores, or office supply stores, or CD stores, I love these kinds of shopping trips... It's all about the POTENTIAL. We had some good recommendations from my teacher and knew what we were looking for, so it didn't take long to find three good collections and spend a healthy sixty bucks!

So now, to go with the Italian love songs, I have a collection of English songs from the Renaissance through the Baroque period, a book of German art songs, and a good collection of sacred music that I can use for church. I'd like to add some French art songs as well, eventually, but this seems like a healthy start!