- More Harmony Are Set For Summer!
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Date Posted: Tue, 23 Jul 2024
more harmony are set for summer!
Well, here we are, almost ready for our Summer break! 🌞
Last month, we talked about it being the perfect time to jump on board and give singing with us a try. We've been delighted to welcome some new singers to our ranks since then, including in our bass section! In a barbershop chorus, the bass section should be the largest within the group, so we're still keen to grow this section even further - if you can hit those rich, lower notes, we'd love to hear from you! Drop us a line and we'll send you all the details you need.
At the opposite end of the scale, we recently celebrated our newest member Jan, who has passed her audition and is now a fully-fledged member of the tenor section (our equivalent to soprano!). If you' ve read this far and you're thinking "audition?!" with a rising sensation of panic, please don't worry. Our audition process is as painless as we can possibly make it. It's less a case of deciding whether someone is "good enough" (we fully believe anyone can sing, with the right support) and more about ensuring they're in the right section for their voice. You'll never be made to sing solo and you won't have to take your audition until you feel you're ready. You can find out more about our audition process on our website, but we promise, it's nothing to dread!
Jan isn't the only member we've been celebrating, however!
At the start of this month, we held a "Town Hall" style committee meeting, opening up the meeting to the whole of chorus, for our members to have as much input as they'd like. Due to the comings and goings of any group, we've had a few vacancies on our chorus committee recently and we're delighted to say that most of these are now filled!
After four and a half years in the hot seat, our Assistant Musical Director, Emma, has stepped down as chorus Chairperson, allowing her to focus on her other roles (not only is Emma AMD, but she is our Public Relations Officer and lead section leader, so her hands were rather full!). The position of Chairperson is now held by the lovely Sue T, who also sings lead and has been chorus Secretary for the last couple of years. Sue is hugely committed to making chorus the best we can be and her level-headedness, combined with her warmth and compassion will make her an excellent Captain of our musical ship!
Taking over from Sue T as chorus Secretary is Jean from our bass section - someone whose communication skills and experience make her perfect for the job! Lead section member Tess has joined the committee in the role of Fundraising Officer and we know that her boundless enthusiasm and positivity will help us to achieve our goals. Current Membership Secretary Alison has also added the role of Membership Representitive to her name, meaning our singers have a designated person to go to with questions, concerns or suggestions - it's important to us that everyone gets to be heard, so it's a vital role and we're thankful to Alison for taking it on. In fact, we're exceptionally grateful to all of our members who volunteer on the committee - it really does keep chorus running, so thank you to everyone.
The committee hasn't been the only aspect of chorus life that has seen change, this month - so has our repertoire!
With a very small bass section, the music team made the decision to add in some three-part harmony songs alongside our usual four-part repertoire. We've been working on a swing version of Mad World, even spending time in groups, trying to decipher what the lyrics actually mean! As you can see from the picture, it was quite the head-scratcher... After our two-week Summer break, we'll begin working on Buddy Holly's Everyday, which we're all really looking forward to.
With our committee members all sorted and our new repertoire ready to go, all of us at More Harmony are feeling like we're on track for a well-earned Summer holiday and a triumphant return to rehearsals on August 15th! As we said last month, it's a really great time to jump on board, so if you're a woman aged over 16 and you love to sing, why not come along?! You're guaranteed a warm and friendly welcome and you'll be joining us right at the start of a brand new song, so you won't be the only one learning it from scratch! If you'd like to find out more before you take the plunge, there's lots of information on our website, or you can email us for more info.
We hope you all have a wonderful Summer and we hope to see lots of you when we return to rehearsals at Wadebridge Ambulance Hall on Thursday August 15th!
- The Best Time To Join More Harmony? NOW!
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Date Posted: Tue, 25 Jun 2024
The best time to join more harmony? now!
More Harmony are always on the lookout for new singers to join us, but right now, we feel like there literally couldn't be a better time to take the plunge. Why? Read on...
In any group, change is inevitable and here at More Harmony, we all just roll with the punches, knowing that the most important thing will never change: our chorus will always be a friendly, welcoming group who love to sing together. Whether we're big or small, singing uptunes or ballads, it doesn't matter - our ethos of respect, support and fun remains the same.
This year, we've welcomed
some incredible new singers to our ranks, but we remain a very small gang and we recently sat our members down and asked some important questions about what they want out of More Harmony and what our chorus goals should be. The response was unanimous: we want to grow the chorus, find some rich, lower voices to join our bass section and work together to be the best we can possibly be. There is a real sense of unity and an enormous drive to succeed and we know from experience just how highly contagious that enthusiasm can be!
So, we're seeing our current small size not as a negative, but as a phenomenal opportunity! This is your chance to hop onto the plane right before it takes off...
If you're brand new to the idea of singing, this is the moment to get on board whilst we're small enough to give you extra time and support - and whilst several of the songs we're choosing are not only fun to sing, but suitable for complete beginners! We passionately believe that anyone can sing and we love taking people under our wings and watching them blossom, so if you've always wanted to give it a try, why not come along to a rehearsal and see what we get up to?!
If you've sung in choirs before, this is your chance to get really involved, sharing your valuable experience and ideas with a group who are determined to grow and develop. Your skills could be just what we're looking for, so please do come along and share them with us!
Either way, you're not going to be faced with a sea of strangers when you walk through our doors. Instead, you'll be greeted by a welcoming group of potential new friends - a group small enough to be unintimidating, but large enough to still make one heck of a fabulous sound when we get going!
So, if you're looking for the next big thing in your life, this could be it! This is the chance to be a part of the More Harmony story. It's your opportunity to find your voice, learn a new skill, make new friends and discover the wealth of physical and mental health benefits that singing can bring - and you'll be doing it with a friendly group of women who believe in lifting one another up and encouraging each other to be the absolute best we can be! We might be biased, but we don't think it gets much better than that!
If you're a woman aged 16 or above and you'd like to take this opportunity to get involved, drop us a line at contact@moreharmony.co.uk and we'll be very happy to answer any questions you may have. Alternatively, you can message us via our Facebook page or simply turn up to a rehearsal and check us out in person! We rehearse every Thursday at Wadebridge Ambulance Hall (opposite the social club and just down the side road from The Regal Cinema), starting at 7:15pm. Doors open from shortly before 7pm, so if you want to arrive early and have a bit of a chat with our MD Lesley before the fun starts, you're always welcome to do so!
- How Low Can YOU Go?!
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Date Posted: Tue, 2 Apr 2024
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Can you hit those rich low notes?!
It's been a busy few months for us here at More Harmony HQ! After our Love To Sing course came to a triumphant conclusion, we were straight into competitive mode! We entered Wadebridge Festival of Speech & Music in the "Small Ladies Choir" category and were delighted to once again win a trophy and receive a distinction! Our AMD Emma was, as you can see, thrilled to pose with said trophy during a celebratory trip to the pub, afterwards...
Sadly, due to several members being unavailable to perform the following night, we were unable to enter the festival's barbershop category, but the judges allowed us to perform our barbershop set on Thursday night following our "Small Ladies Choir" performance and we received absolutely glowing comments! We're so proud of our singers, not to mention our exceptionally hardworking MD. More Harmony are a team and when we pull together, we've shown that we can achieve amazing things!
Next up for us was an important recruitment drive. Our small chorus is fabulous, but we know that with just a few more voices in the mix, we'll be unstoppable! We began advertising for new singers and were thrilled by the response - we've had some wonderful women through our doors over the last few weeks, all of whom have stuck around and already feel like part of the family! But there's one section we still need to find new members for...
How Low Can you go?
In barbershop singing, the bass section is crucial. Those rich, low voices underpin everyone else and often have the driving rhythm behind the songs we sing. Indeed, they're so important that to achieve a good balance of sound, you want to have at least as many basses as you have leads (the part that usually sings the tune), but ideally more. It's not at all uncommon to find that the bass section is the largest section in a barbershop chorus. Unfortunately, we currently have just two basses and whilst they're both fabulous, they could do with some back up!
Liz, our bass section leader (pictured), has many years of barbershop experience behind her and is as enthusiastic and supportive a teacher as you could wish to find! She and Nat - who not only sings bass but is Co-Chair of the chorus - do a fantastic job together and are keen to welcome new members to their little gang! So, why should you sing bass with us?
1. It's Usually Easy To Learn
Whereas the leads have got a mountain of lyrics to learn and the tenors/baritones have parts that tend to be slightly more of a challenge, the bass part is often simple to pick up. If you've not sung in a group before and you're feeling a bit daunted about learning lots of new songs, the bass section might be a good fit for you.2. If you've sung alto, you can handle bass!
If you've done any singing before, then you might have heard the terms "alto" or "soprano." The sopranos sing the higher notes, whereas altos are lower. Often, we find women who've sung in choirs before will tell us that they can't hit those soprano notes anymore and are keen to move to an alto or contralto range instead. If that's the case, welcome to the bass section!3. Do you sing along with male singers on the radio?
We know that the term "bass" can be a little off-putting. You might imagine that we're asking you to sing such gravelly low notes that you'd be giving George Ezra a run for his money! But in actual fact, if you find yourself singing along to songs by Elton John or Billy Joel, then there's a good chance you've got the ability to sing bass! And whilst the bass part is the lowest part we sing, we often sing it an octave above the notes written on the score, so we tell music readers not to panic when they first see the sheet music (and no, you don't have to be able to read music - we learn all of our songs from teach tracks!).4. Have you been told you can't sing or that you sing too low?
For a start, we don't believe that at all. With the right support and the correct methods in place, pretty much anyone can sing. But you wouldn't believe how often someone will tell us "oh I'm tone deaf, I can't sing a note," only for us to realise pretty quickly that they're a natural-born bass! Women in particular are often expected to sing high and if they can't, they're all too often written off! Trying to force your voice to hit notes beyond your comfortable range is not going to yield positive results, so why not embrace those lower notes and come and sing in our bass section?!
Whilst we are on a pretty major bass hunt right now, we are of course still open to singers of all ranges. There's a warm welcome and a cuppa waiting for you, if you'd like to get involved!
Whatever your vocal range, you're welcome at more harmony!
More Harmony are on our Easter break, but we'll be returning to regular rehearsals at Wadebridge Ambulance Hall from Thursday 18th April at 7:15pm (doors open at 7pm). We'd love to see you there!Attachment: 
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