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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our Learn to Sing course entitled Men in Harmony. You have made the first great leap of faith by signing up to this six week course. The rest will be easy and fun, I guarantee it. Singing is a wonderful relaxant, an efficient pressure release valve and a great way to meet new friends and find out more about oneself.
Singing in a group is an easy way to learn better singing technique without being exposed to the rigours of one to one coaching and training. If you have an open mind and want to succeed then you will improve and impress yourself.

How it will work

For the first week and the following five weeks, you will warm up, learn vocal craft and be taught two or three songs in four-part harmony.
Our course starts at 8.00 p.m. and finishes at 10.00 p.m.

On arrival, you will be given a quick voice check just to check your vocal range. From this, we will be able to determine which voice-part is best for you. This is only a perfunctory appraisal and, if you decide the part we have chosen for you is not for you, simply chose another.

The four parts are:

Lead (singing the melody i.e. the tune)

Bass (the low notes)

Tenor (the high bits, but such wonderful melodic lines)

Baritone (the clever bit between Lead and Bass. Can be boring, but is the unsung hero of any chorus or quartet – to be explained later!)

The wonderful thing about this course is that you will not be expected to be able to read music.

Each week will follow a similar pattern:
• A physical warm up. We do this just to limber up and relax and get ourselves into the right frame of mind.
• A vocal warm up. To get our vocal chords warmed up and ready.
• A craft session. Each week we will address a different aspect of singing and vocal craft and revise what we have covered in previous weeks. You will receive a set of notes covering these sessions at the end of the six weeks course.
• A song learning session where we will learn a song or two using well tried and tested teaching techniques and methods. Once the basics of these songs have been learnt we will then concentrate on putting the craft we have learnt into practice.
• On the seventh week, we will hold a mini show where we will perform the songs we have learnt to the family and friends you have invited to show them what you have achieved and what can be achieved when one has the will and the way. They will be impressed I assure you.

And afterwards… you could always go home and remember this as a one off, wonderful experience or ….you could come and join us at Rainy City Chorus. By this time you will know us fairly well and realise how much fun can be had. It is a one night a week commitment with a few shows/singouts a year and an annual national barbershop competition where you can meet 2,000+ like minded individuals that sing, eat and drink a long weekend away. Once tried, never forgotten.