WE CAROL IN THE ADVENT

Our Warm up today is with this Pfeif Drauf music

It's good to uncover an old, neglected carol (since we finish for Christmas on 7th December, we have to start early) and we did this today with THE CAROL OF THE BAGPIPERS, from Italy. It has a strong, rhythmic undertow of six triplets in two beat measures, but it's remarkable how in spite of this, the quality of the music is quite different from the jig and it will be exciting to feel it as we become more familiar with the carol. The melody has a lovely flow but as in all groups of mixed voices, we took some time to agree (?) on the key which would suit everyone best. I'm not sure if we're there yet. Next week will be decision time.
It's always a joy to revisit the old carols and the French CAROL OF THE ADVENT, to the beautiful English text by Eleanor Farjeon, is a group favourite. It was a good sing.
Finally this morning the solid rhythm section and the confident glocks playing the tune made our JIG on the instruments a joy to play. We repeated it many times really settling in to feel of it.

THE PITCH BATTLE

A cold morning in a cool room with a draught coming under the door is not conducive to feeling comfortable and singing well and the particular outcome today was that pitch continually dropped downwards. However, high we started out we always ended singing in our boots. Even those with low voices noticed it and then it's really bad. Alison Burns commented during her day with us that the low ceiling was not helpful for keeping good pitch but of course it's also a 'mind over matter' thing. We addressed it by thinking 'up', lightening our voices and what made the most difference was becoming more familiar with the music so that we were less tense and heavy about it. Confronting the problem really paid off as the singing gradually improved until we did achieve that tingle moment in Pachelbel's Canon to 'Alleluyia' when the four parts blended well and we were actually listening to each other while singing.
The good sound continued in I'LL FLY AWAY which we are now able to sing confidently and you can just feel how much this song appeals to the group.

Before starting out on the JAMESTOWN JIG, we spent some time all together, practising the jig rhythm with its two-beat metres, the beats often sub-divided into triplets and getting the feel of playing these with two beaters. This is a learning process for the hands and the brain, which can take some time until it becomes automatic. Young drummers in pipe bands take years so we shouldn't be surprised if it feels awkward in the short time we spend on it.
In the end, the jig played on all the instruments, underpinned by the rhythm section of three, really had my feet tapping!

HARMONY IN SONG AND A JIG WITH RHYTHM.

My expectations were high this morning, for achieving a good sound in Alleluyia to Pachelbel's Canon and I wasn't disappointed. Being familiar now with the harmonic progressions meant that we picked up the four parts almost effortlessly, bringing them together, singing and listening to each other, to make a wonderfully full harmony. That's the kind of enjoyment that cheers a cold winter's morning!

After several weeks of playing bits of the JACOBSTOWE JIG we returned to it today and spent some time on the percussion parts. The quick beats of the jig proved quite a challenge for the hands on the bongos but the decision to use sticks instead was a good one and after some minutes the rhythm was flowing and the bongos together with the skulls proved a fine 'driver' for the energetic jig, which sounded good in the four parts on the barred instruments.
This will be a good addition to our instrumental repertoire.