ISLAND CITY CHORUS

GREATER MONTREAL CHAPTER

SPEBSQSA Inc.

The Little Chorus that could!

MINI PITCH

Date: December 9, 2002

Peter Evans has done a great job organising the CarolCade for 2002. A $10 donation will be collected for lunch at the Montreal Association for the Blind. We have been singing and eating there for many years. We will wear our performance costume for this event.

The following schedule has been worked out.

8:15 a.m. Arrive at Central Station

8:30-9:00 a.m. Sing

9:00 a.m. Board bus to leave by 9:05

9:25 a.m. Father Dowd Memorial Home

10:15 a.m. Chateau Dollard

11:05 a.m. Le Strathmore

11:55 a.m. Montreal Association for the Blind

1:40 p.m. Julius Richardson Convalescent Centre

2:25 p.m. Griffith-McConnell Residence

3:15 p.m. Catherine Booth Hospital

3:40 p.m. Residence Montclair

4:20 p.m. St. Andrew's Presbyterian Home

5:10 p.m. Return Central Station

5:30 end of Carolcade

The chorus was ably represented at Le Marché de l'ouest and at the Dollard des Ormeaux Civic Centre on Saturday and Sunday. Rob Mance and Steve Wheaton directed.

The audiences were attentive and appreciative, and we sounded pretty darn good. We even sold some Christmas CDs.

This short exercise can be used in small, ad hoc groups, or with a quartet. If there are many groups doing this at once, spread out and get some space to yourselves so that you can hear each other well. Everyone is always actively involved either singing or listening. It is a great skill builder for use after a warm-up or as part of a program to improve tuning.

Take 10-15 minutes and try this with everyone taking a turn.

• Achieve a mid-range note sung in unison by two good tuners in your group.
• One holds the note while the other slides slowly sharp, less than a quarter tone, and holds the result. Both breathe, establish the unison note again, and then one slides slowly flat, less than a quarter tone, and holds the result again.
• The others in the group listen, identifying and describing the characteristics of the dissonance.
• Each pair of men repeats the experience while the others listen.
• Repeat this with a variety of Major and Minor intervals as time allows.
• Finally, duet harmony parts with the lead while the others listen and notice any changes in the quality of the tuning.

A variety of effects will be noticed. A "beating" effect will be heard. It may be difficult for the singer of the non-moving tone to maintain the initial tone. All will appreciate the ease and clarity of the unison note sung in perfect tune, as well as the beauty and cleanliness of intervals sung perfectly in tune. Overtones, partials of the unison note will appear and disappear on cue.

We seldom really appreciate our tuning abilities and the beautiful results until we compare with a slightly out-of tune situation that we create and control ourselves!

The most important thing to remember as a singer is to have your jaw do as little as possible when you sing. Try to minimise the movement of the jaw itself as you sing. Also, a tense jaw can lead to tension in your throat and upper chest area, can affect resonance, and can cause-out-of-tune singing and vocal fatigue.

Some singers have a condition known as temporal mandibular joint, commonly referred to as TMJ. The jaw can actually lock itself open if the singer is not careful. This condition can create everything from a minor annoyance to a very painful experience. If you have TMJ, you need to learn just how far you can safely open or drop your jaw before you feel a click or pop. Once you have discovered this position, only open your mouth no further than that point when you sing. Your singing will then be freer from pain and tension.

Rudi Flaig is fighting hard. He appreciates the phone calls he has received, the kind thoughts and the prayers as well.

The Committee Chairs met with the Steering Committee last Thursday to review progress. Progress is being made in all the major areas.

Have you volunteered, or are you going to be drafted?

Do you know any good RV or Camping facilities? We have put three on our web site, and are looking for others, close to Montreal.

Do you have friends, relatives, co-workers or acquaintances who would be interested in seeing what goes on at the International Convention? Volunteers do not have to be members of the Society.

Registrants (before January 1, 2003) will pay $100.00 US. Use the web link to register.

http://www.spebsqsa.org/montreal/registration.htm

Here is our current and future repertoire list:

Practice is something we do at home, every day, between rehearsals!

Rehearsal is where we reinforce what we have been practising every day!