Tuesday 19 January 2010

CLICK, STAMP, SLAP, CLAP.


FIRST YOU MAKE YOUR FINGERS CLICK
THEN YOU STAMP YOUR FEET
BOTH HANDS SLAP YOUR KNEES
AND CLAP ON THE BEAT.


This quickened the reactions this morning, the four part round bringing in a succession of body percussion sounds and all that clapping and stamping was just the thing for a cold morning.

We returned to THE NIGHT SHALL BE FILLED, and are now getting the hang of it, the jumps in the melody and the lovely caressing semitones giving the feel of Arab music.
THE WATER IS WIDE, a call and response song, was another challenge to the listening as well as the breath control, with its long notes which create the harmony.

Improvising on the instruments is flowing much better now as our technique is improving and today we did the rounds with six or seven people taking the plunge, improvising a section.

We're working on the Orff piece:

EVENING RED AND MORNING GREY
HELP THE TRAVELLER ON HIS WAY
EVENING GREY AND MORNING RED
BRING DOWN RAIN UPON HIS HEAD.


This involves flutes, solo and together, and solo singer then chorus with xylos, bells and timpani. Should be fun when we get it up to speed.