The __________ Chorus Welcomes You!
Right about now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "What's the __________ Chorus" or "What’s this group all about?" Please allow us to answer some of your questions below.
The ______________ Chorus
_______________ is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, an organization of 30,000 women worldwide who sing 4-part a cappella harmony in the barbershop style. The chorus is __ women strong with members hailing from _________________________. As you can probably already tell, we love to sing, we love to perform, and we love to have fun!Yes, we sing and dance...at the same time!
As you’ll probably realize during the course of the night, Sweet Adelines is quite different from a school or church choir. Not only do we sing without any piano or instrumental accompaniment, but we memorize all of our music—and for some songs, we do choreography while we sing. At first, some guests find this to be an insurmountable challenge—however, let us assure you that you can do it! We work on our music for several weeks before we try to sing it without paper—and it’s usually several more weeks before we learn any choreography. We also have sectionals and often tape our rehearsals using hand-held tape recorders to help us learn songs.A Typical Rehearsal
We rehearse every _____________ night from about 7:00 to 9:30. In the last few weeks before a show or competition, we may start at 6:30. Most rehearsals start with a physical and vocal warm-up, and then we really "work" on our songs for the rest of rehearsal. We try to keep each rehearsal educational, yet fun, with a good mix of working on a couple of different songs, doing some choreography, and developing our vocal production. At the end of each rehearsal, we have a business meeting, where we will be introducing you and any other guests to the rest of the chorus—so be sure to stick around so that you can get the recognition you deserve!The Membership Process
The chorus recommends that each guest attends 6 rehearsals before she auditions for membership. This gives you enough time to get to know us and what the chorus is all about, as well as learn a song to audition on. Also, you will be given several introductory materials for the chorus in the coming weeks so that you can get a better feel for who we are and what we do, and answer some of the initial questions you may have about us. If you have any questions which we haven’t answered yet, by all means, ask! All of our members and our director are eager to help you in any way that we can.See you next week!
Thanks again for coming to rehearsal! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our membership chair, _____________. Her contact information is as follows: (000) 000-0000 ~ xxxxxxx@xxxxx.com. Our web site also has all sorts of information about our chorus. Visit us at www.xxxxxxxxx.org.
Chorus Glossary
In your first week with the chorus, chances are you’ve already heard us say a few things during rehearsal which you may not have understood. In order to help acclimate you to our Sweet Adeline "lingo", we’ve prepared this glossary for your use.
Vocal Production Terms
diphthongs - the vowel or consonant sounds that come at the end of a word or phrase. It is important that the chorus turns its diphthongs at the same time in order to stay in synch & create a unison sound.
head tone - refers to singing supported in the upper part of your register. No matter what part you sing, you need to add more energy and breath support to produce a free and in-tune sound when you’re singing high.
keep the sound forward - connecting the sound and the breath using the proper resonators in the nose and the forehead will help you to bring your sound forward or "focus" your sound.
lift the phrase endings - before you cut off to take a breath at the end of a phrase, you should "lift" the end of that phrase, or finish the phrase strongly by turning the diphthongs and supporting the sound. This will help energize the sound and keep the song moving forward and in tempo.
resonators - the cavities within our head which help us produce sound. Resonators are in the forehead, nose, mouth, soft palate, and back of the throat. Drawing from all resonators allows us to create a full, round sound.
singing tall (or vertical) - most vowel sounds should appear tall or vertical if you were to look in the mirror as you sing. To achieve tall vowels, relax the jaw and adjust your mouth and/or tongue position accordingly.
using more space - this refers to the amount of space inside your mouth when you sing. In general, you’ll want to have use as much space as possible. This is done by relaxing the jaw, using tall vowels, & lifting the soft palate.
Choreography Terms
back chorus - Rows 2 through 5 (or anything behind the front row) is referred to as the back chorus.
mirror position - imagine the audience as a mirror; you want to stand so that you are facing the audience head-on. In mirror, you need to look at the audience and keep the director in your peripheral vision. (also known as down-the-tiles or a waller)
chorus position - place the heel of the outside foot near the arch of the inside foot, with your feet 4-5 inches apart. This should be your normal standing position when you’re singing in the chorus. (also known as riser or spoke position)
stage left - the left side of the chorus when you are standing on the risers
stage right - the right side of the chorus when you are standing on the risers
Site last updated on August 20, 2007
