Folka Voca Member Rehearsal History: 2010

This page simply records the songs sung, and the homework assigned,
at each of the Folka Voca rehearsals in 2010.

Homework for Between
Rehearsals in 2010

Here is the list of songs that Lee expects us to work on at home between rehearsals:

1. Ain’t No Sunshine
2. Both Sides Now
3. Calling All Angels
4. Cheap Hotel
5. Circus Girl
6. Crystal
7. Drive My Car
8. Fields of Gold
9. Houdini’s Box
10. I Wear My Sunglasses At Night
11. Inside and Out
12. Kimbieni
13. Knowing Me, Knowing You
14. La Isla Bonita
15. Last Train to Clarksville
16. Mamma Mia
17. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
18. Rock the Boat
19. Tears of a Clown
20. Time
21. Time After Time

Rehearsals in December 2010

Notes on the December 29^th Rehearsal

A very select group gathered for this rehearsal,
and an even smaller number attended the pub afterwards.

Lee produced an extended version of her latest new song for us, Tainted Love by Ed Cobb,
and we spent an extended first half of the rehearsal working on this.
No final scores for this one yet, it is still a work in progress.

We used the rather short second half of the rehearsal to enjoy ourselves with a few
“easy” pieces that we could do with the limited number of voices available:

1. Knowing Me, Knowing You
2. La Isla Bonita
3. Cheap Hotel

A thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all,
despite the exposure that everyone felt in some places!

Notes on the December 22^nd Rehearsal

We started the rehearsal by continuing to relearn one of our oldies: Cheap Hotel,
which we eventually managed to knock into pretty reasonable shape.
Amazing how many little bits the old hands thought they knew and, as it turned out, didn’t!

Lee then produced a brand new song for us, Tainted Love by Ed Cobb, and we spent the remainder of the rehearsal learning it, eventually starting to get the groove working.
No scores for this one yet.

Yes, there is a rehearsal on December 29^th.

Notes on the December 15^th Rehearsal

There was no rehearsal, instead we paid our annual Christmas visit to
the Camilla Gardens retirement residence and long term care facility.

Lee produced a cleaned up version of the Christmas Carol lyrics,
and we also sang a short set of our current songs:

1. La Isla Bonita
2. Ain’t No Sunshine
3. Drive My Car
4. Crystal
5. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
6. Mamma Mia
7. Calling All Angels

After the Camilla Gardens gig, we returned to the Barley Mow for our annual Christmas get-together, where a great time was had by all. For this, many thanks are due to the organizer, Lynnie Zunder, not least for the entertaining and in places fiendishly obscure quiz.

Notes on the December 8^th Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working first on some deetails
in two of our current songs: Ain’t No Sunshine and La Isla Bonita.

We then revisited a song we haven't tackled in months: Time.

In the second half we worked on relearning one of our oldies: Cheap Hotel,
and we finished up with a run through of Rock the Boat.

Lee is going to produce a cleaned up version of the Christmas Carol lyrics in the order
that we are going to sing them, so do check the resources page for this new version.

On Wednesday 15^th, after the Camilla Gardens gig, we will be returning to the Barley Mow
for our annual Christmas get-together, starting around 8:30 p.m.
If you are planning on attending, please let Lynnie Zunder know, and give her $10 (per head!) to cover the cost of the great food that the Barley Mow produces for us. Lynnie needs to know as soon as possible so that she can give the Barley Mow a reasonably accurate headcount.

Notes on the December 1^st Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working to re-learn
first Knowing Me, Knowing You, then Rock the Boat.

In the second half we worked on some of the songs
we may sing at Camilla Gardens on Wednesday 15^th:

1. La Isla Bonita
2. Ain’t No Sunshine
3. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
4. Kimbieni
5. Mamma Mia

Lee is going to produce a cleaned up version of the Christmas Carol lyrics in the order that we are going to sing them, so do check the resources page for this new version.

On Wednesday 15^th, after the Camilla Gardens gig, we will be returning to the Barley Mow
for our annual Christmas get-together, starting around 8:30 p.m.
If you are planning on attending, please let Lynnie Zunder know, and give her $10 (per head!) to cover the cost of the great food that the Barley Mow produces for us. Lynnie needs to know as soon as possible so that she can give the Barley Mow a reasonably accurate headcount.

Rehearsals in November 2010

Notes on the November 24^th Rehearsal

We spent the rehearsal running through the songs we are to sing
at the Museum of Nature on the 25^th:

1. Both Sides Now
2. Last Train to Clarksville
3. La Isla Bonita
4. Ain’t No Sunshine
5. Drive My Car
6. Crystal
7. Time After Time
8. Houdini’s Box
9. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
10. Mamma Mia
11. Calling All Angels
12. Knowing Me, Knowing You

Please keep your music in order for Thursday.

Notes on the November 17^th Rehearsal

We spent the first part of the evening singing a performance at the Bridlewood Retirement Residence, singing one set of the following ten songs:

1. Both Sides Now
2. Last Train to Clarksville
3. La Isla Bonita
4. Ain’t No Sunshine
5. Drive My Car
6. Crystal
7. Time After Time
8. Houdini’s Box
9. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
10. Calling All Angels

Please keep your music in order, because we will be singing much the same at the Museum of Nature next Thursday, and of course at the rehearsal next Wednesday.

We returned to Sunnyside after the performance but Lee decided that the performance had been fine and cancelled the second half of the rehearsal, so we adjourned to the pub.

Notes on the November 10^th Rehearsal

We spent the rehearsal working on a selection of our songs for the upcoming performances, having a marvelous time with most of the dozen:

1. La Isla Bonita
2. Ain’t No Sunshine
3. Both Sides Now
4. Crystal
5. Drive My Car
6. Houdini’s Box
7. Last Train to Clarksville
8. Mamma Mia
9. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
10. Rock the Boat
11. Time After Time
12. Calling All Angels

Everyone, especially the guys, needs to learn the words for La Isla Bonita
as well as studying the MP3s.

The women need to learn the words for Calling All Angels.

Look on the gigs page for the proposed songs for the upcoming performances, and use this list as a guide to the homework you should be doing. There are further links from there to the performance venues, which include maps.

Notes on the November 3^rd Rehearsal

We spent the rehearsal working on a selection of our songs for the upcoming performances, starting with Ain’t No Sunshine, which we got right the second time, after messing up the ending badly the first time.

The other songs we worked on were:

1. Both Sides Now
2. Crystal
3. Drive My Car
4. Houdini’s Box
5. La Isla Bonita
6. Last Train to Clarksville
7. Mamma Mia
8. Calling All Angels

Lee was extremely pleased with the way that we sang most of the songs, even though we haven’t touched them in months. We did have rather a problem with La Isla Bonita, which was the last song of the first half of the rehearsal. However, when we started the second half by singing it again after the break, we did much better.
Everyone, especially the guys, is encouraged to learn the words.

Look on the gigs page for the proposed songs for the upcoming performances, and use this list as a guide to the homework you should be doing. There are further links from there to the performance venues, which include maps.

Rehearsals in October 2010

Notes on the October 27^th Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working on La Isla Bonita,
and finally put the entire song together from beginning to end.

We started the second half with Ain’t No Sunshine and, after revisiting the ending,
were able to perform it from top to bottom.

After all the hard work, we had some fun with three of our more familiar songs:

1. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
2. Rock the Boat
3. Time After Time

Notes on the October 20^th Rehearsal

We spent most of the rehearsal working on Ain’t No Sunshine and La Isla Bonita,
finally completing all but the very end of the latter.

After all the heavy lifting, we cut loose and tackled three of our more familiar songs:

1. Calling All Angels
2. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
3. Rock the Boat

Notes on the October 13^th Rehearsal

We started the rehearsal with Rock the Boat,
which, after two run-throughs, Lee declared ready for performance.

Next we spent significant time on Ain’t No Sunshine.
Lee has promised a cheat sheet for the baritones.

We finished the rehearsal working on La Isla Bonita, which we can now sing from end to end.
Lee has promised to revise the scores before next week.

Notes on the October 6^th Rehearsal

We again spent most of the rehearsal working on our new newest song: La Isla Bonita.
We mastered the bridge and reached the end of the song,
so we can now perform it completely, if still somewhat tentatively.

For the rest of the rehearsal we first revisited our other new song, Rock the Boat,
then finished up with Time After Time.

Take note: next week’s rehearsal will start with Ain’t No Sunshine,
so all the guys need to study the MP3s.

Rehearsals in September 2010

Notes on the September 29^th Rehearsal

We spent the whole rehearsal again working on our new newest song: La Isla Bonita by Madonna.
By the end of the rehearsal we had reached, but not mastered, the bridge.

Notes on the September 22^nd Rehearsal

We spent most of the rehearsal working on our new newest song: La Isla Bonita by Madonna.
We revisited the first verse and chorus in detail before moving on to the rest of the song.

At the end of the rehearsal we started working on relearning Circus Girl.
Nearly every one was familiar with the song, but details still need work.

Notes on the September 15^th Rehearsal

We spent the entire rehearsal working on our new newest song: La Isla Bonita by Madonna.
We broke the back of the music, if not all the words, and those who had sung it in Cuba
earlier this year were coming to grips with the revised arrangement.

Notes on the September 8^th Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working on our newest song: Rock the Boat by Wally Holmes. After an initial complete run through we picked apart and fixed all the weaknesses, finishing with a complete performance that had Lee smiling.

In the second half of the rehearsal we worked through a number of our current songs:

1. Houdini’s Box
2. Drive My Car
3. Time After Time
4. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
5. Calling All Angels

Take note: next week’s rehearsal will start with Ain’t No Sunshine,
so all the guys need to study the MP3s.

The women are encouraged to visit the Sounds section of the Cantarra web site
to listen to their performance of Calling All Angels.

Notes on the September 1^st Rehearsal

We spent almost the entire rehearsal working on our newest song: Rock the Boat by Wally Holmes. We reached the end of the song and were finally able to do a successful complete run-through, although the dynamics still leave a little to be desired, and there are still a few uncertain passages in several parts.

We rounded out the rehearsal by using the last few minutes to run through Time,
which went enjoyably well.

Rehearsals in August 2010

Notes on the August 25^th Rehearsal

Lee says, “Hello Fab Ones; just wanted to let you know that the OFC couldn’t get the venue together in time for the Cantarra/Folka Voca gig the weekend of September 19^th.
We’ll probably do it next fall; one of Cantarra’s singers will be out of town for the winter, so we must wait for her return...”

Lee has arranged another song for us: Rock the Boat by Wally Holmes.

In the end we spent the entire rehearsal working on this song, starting without scores.
By the end of the rehearsal we had effectively reached the end of the first verse.

Notes on the August 18^th Rehearsal

Lee congratulated us and said thanks for the great performance at the Ottawa Folk Festival.

Lee says that we will be doing a concert with her professional group Cantarra on the weekend of September the 17^th to 19^th – the Sunday is the most likely day. We will be singing a single set from our current repertoire.

We spent the rehearsal working on a selection of songs for our set:

1. Both Sides Now
2. Crystal
3. Houdini’s Box
4. Knowing Me, Knowing You (sung through twice)
5. Time
6. Ain’t No Sunshine
7. Tears of a Clown
8. Mamma Mia

Lee will provide MP3 files for Ain’t No Sunshine: individual parts for the tenors and basses, an All version for everyone else. Please work with these MP3 files, we will be leading off with this song at the next rehearsal!

Notes on the August 11^th Rehearsal

We started with O Canada again, for the opening of the
Ottawa Folk Festival on Friday August 13^th.

We then sang Papa Was A Rolling Stone.

Because not everyone is completely comfortable singing from memory, Lee says that it is OK to use a cheat sheet. However, be warned that the lighting on the main stage may make it difficult to read anything written small. In the meanwhile, do make use of the All MP3 file to learn how your part tells its section of the story in the context of the whole song.

For the rest of the rehearsal we worked on a selection of our other songs with a view to putting together a set for a shared concert with Lee’s professional group Cantarra on the weekend of
September the 18^th and 19^th – actual day still to be determined:

1. Time
2. Time After Time
3. Mamma Mia
4. Last Train to Clarksville
5. Kimbieni – we sang this one twice
6. Houdini’s Box
7. I Wear My Sunglasses At Night
8. Drive My Car

We finished with another run through of Papa Was A Rolling Stone, which went extremely well: there were almost no missed entries or wrong notes.

Notes on the August 4^th Rehearsal

We started with O Canada again, for the opening of the
Ottawa Folk Festival on Friday August 13^th.

We then sang Papa Was A Rolling Stone. For next week the goal is everyone singing from memory. Make use of the All MP3 file to learn how your part tells its section of the story in the context of the whole song.

For the rest of the rehearsal we worked on a selection of our other songs:

1. Time After Time
2. Mamma Mia
3. Last Train to Clarksville
4. Kimbieni
5. Crystal
6. Drive My Car

Rehearsals in July 2010

Notes on the July 28^th Rehearsal

We started with O Canada again, for the opening of the Ottawa Folk Festival on Friday August 13^th. Arthur (from the OFC) was present and the decision was made that on the day we will sing our version and then hold our last note until Arthur can start his version.

We then sang Papa Was A Rolling Stone for Arthur, singing with just cheat sheets or from memory for as many as possible. For next week the goal is everyone singing from cheat sheets or memory, and the week after it will be everyone from memory. Make use of the All MP3 file to learn how your part tells its section of the story in the context of the whole song.

For the rest of the rehearsal we worked on a selection of our other songs:

1. Ain’t No Sunshine
2. Crystal
3. Drive My Car
4. Houdini’s Box
5. Kimbieni
6. Last Train to Clarksville
7. Calling All Angels

Notes on the July 21^st Rehearsal

We started with O Canada for the opening of the Ottawa Folk Festival on Friday August 13^th.

For the rest of the rehearsal we worked on a selection of our other songs:

1. Time
2. Kimbieni
3. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
4. Last Train to Clarksville

When we sang Papa Was A Rolling Stone we sang it twice, the first time from memory, which revealed that we still have many problems, and the second time from cheat sheets and scores. The goal is for everyone to sing from memory, so make use of the All MP3 file to learn how your part tells its section of the story in the context of the whole song.

Notes on the July 14^th Rehearsal

We started with O Canada for the opening of the Ottawa Folk Festival on Friday August 13^th.

We then sang Papa Was A Rolling Stone singing it twice, the first time from memory, which revealed that we still have many, many problems, and the second time from cheat sheets and scores. The goal is for everyone to sing from memory, so make use of the All MP3 file to learn how your part tells its section of the story in the context of the whole song.

For the rest of the rehearsal we worked on some of our other songs:

1. Knowing Me, Knowing You
2. Drive My Car
3. Crystal
4. Houdini’s Box
5. Kimbieni

Notes on the July 7^th Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working on O Canada again, for the opening of the Ottawa Folk Festival on Friday August 13^th, then on Papa Was A Rolling Stone, because this is the song Lee has chosen for us to sing there as well.

Please Note: Lee wants us to sing from memory, without music or cheat sheets,
so please study the All MP3 and learn your part by heart.

In the second half we continued to work on Papa, including a run through with empty hands (no music or cheat sheets), which let each of us know just how much homework we need to do...

We ended up with a look at three of our other songs:

1. Knowing Me, Knowing You
2. Mamma Mia
3. Kimbieni

We started Kimbieni from scratch and made good progress.

Rehearsals in June 2010

Notes on the June 30^th Rehearsal

We have been asked to sing O Canada at the opening of the Ottawa Folk Festival on Friday August 13^th, so we again spent the first half of the rehearsal working on our four-language version.

For the second half of the rehearsal we tackled five of our songs, with a view
to singing a couple of them at the Folk Fest after we sing O Canada.

1. Crystal
2. Drive My Car
3. Houdini’s Box
4. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
5. Time After Time

Singing other songs at the Folk Festival has yet to be confirmed.

Notes on the June 23^rd Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working on O Canada because we have been invited to sing it for the opening of the Ottawa Folk Fest.

We spent the second half of the rehearsal working through a handful of our numbers that we haven't sung in a while:

1. Ain’t No Sunshine
2. Circus Girl
3. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
4. Calling All Angels

Notes on the June 16^th Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working on Ain’t No Sunshine.
We still haven't mastered it, but we are doing much better.

We spent the second half of the rehearsal working through a handful of our favourites:

1. Mamma Mia
2. Houdini’s Box
3. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
4. Drive My Car

Notes on the June 9^th Rehearsal

We spent the entire rehearsal working on another new song from Lee:
Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine.
With a lot of hard work, we reached the end of the song, learning everything except the final few bars, and ending with a moderately successful complete run-through.

Scores should be available for download before next week’s rehearsal.

We ended the rehearsal with a cheerful performance of Papa Was A Rolling Stone.

Notes on the June 2^nd Rehearsal

This rehearsal was cancelled – Lee was in Cuba.

Rehearsals in May 2010

Notes on the May 26^th Rehearsal

We spent the first half of the rehearsal working first on Time and then on Tears of a Clown.
For both songs we worked on the musicality of the performance
rather than just note- and word-bashing.

We spent the second half of the rehearsal revisiting four of our songs
that we haven't sung since the concert:

1. Last Train to Clarksville
2. I Wear My Sunglasses At Night
3. Houdini’s Box
4. Drive My Car

Lee also pointed out that we didn't actually start the rehearsal until close to twenty past seven, and that even then there were a whole lot of stragglers. It holds back those who do show up on time, so please make an effort to be punctual.

Notes on the May 19^th Rehearsal

We started with a quick run through and review of Tears of a Clown.

We spent most of the rest of the rehearsal working on Time,
reaching the end of the song and achieving a complete run through.

We ended with a run through of Mamma Mia, which everyone enjoyed.
Now that nearly everyone knows the words by heart we were able to focus on the performance.

Notes on the May 12^th Rehearsal

We spent the first part of this rehearsal working on our latest song, Tears of a Clown.
We finally achieved a complete performance, if not total mastery, of the song.

We spent most of the rest of the rehearsal working on re-learning Time,
working our way through to just before the bridge.

We ended with another run through Helpless, without using scores, and it mostly worked.

Notes on the May 5^th Rehearsal

We spent the first half of this rehearsal working on our latest song, Tears of a Clown,
finally achieving a moderately good complete run through.
Lee promises us that the scores will be available soon.

We spent the second half of the rehearsal working on Helpless, learning all the parts without music, the tenor leads singing from cheat sheets. We found this to be a tricky exercise, but by the end of the rehearsal we were making most of it work, and mostly having a whole lot of fun.

Lee says that next week we will be re-learning, Time, so come prepared.

Rehearsals in April 2010

Notes on the April 28^th Rehearsal

Lee produced a new song for us: Tears of a Clown by Smokey Robinson, and we spent the entire rehearsal working on it. We did reach the end of the song, but the ending still needs work.

Notes on the April 21^st Rehearsal

We worked steadily through all the songs for Saturday’s concert in concert order:

1. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
2. Fields of Gold
3. Knowing Me, Knowing You
4. Both Sides Now
5. Kimbieni
6. Houdini’s Box
7. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
8. Drive My Car
9. Last Train to Clarksville
10. Time After Time
11. I Wear My Sunglasses At Night
12. Crystal
13. Mamma Mia
14. Calling All Angels

Lee took the decision to have the tenors back in their regular position for the whole concert,
with the basses on the outside once more.

We ended up rehearsing Papa Was A Rolling Stone twice, because we made a bit of a hash of it the first time through. Lee also decided that it should be moved from the beginning of the first set to the end of it.

Lee was pretty pleased with most of the songs, but everyone needs to do homework on any song in which you have any tricky places about which you are not totally confident.

Notes on the April 14^th Rehearsal

We again worked carefully on eleven of the songs for our upcoming concert:

1. Houdini’s Box
2. Inside and Out
3. Time After Time
4. Both Sides Now
5. Mamma Mia
6. Calling All Angels
7. Kimbieni
8. Drive My Car
9. Crystal
10. Fields of Gold
11. I Wear My Sunglasses At Night

Most of the songs went extremely well, and we sang the whole rehearsal with the tenors
standing on the outside of the basses. It looks as if this is the way we will sing the concert.

Lee then decided to drop Inside and Out from the concert program
and we will be replacing it with Knowing Me, Knowing You.

We will also be singing the short version of Kimbieni, so make sure that you have your score correctly marked for singing just the first half, with no repeats.

Lee has now finalized the song list for our upcoming April concert.
Use this list for your homework between rehearsals.

Notes on the April 7^th Rehearsal

We worked carefully on ten of the songs for our upcoming concert:

1. Drive My Car
2. Crystal
3. Fields of Gold
4. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
5. Last Train to Clarksville
6. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
7. Houdini’s Box
8. Inside and Out
9. Time After Time
10. Calling All Angels

Most of the songs went extremely well.

Inside and Out caused a number of problems, most of which were
eventually resolved after three runs through.
It was decided that the tenors would no longer move next to the sopranos
but will instead move to the other side of the basses.
Everyone needs to put together cheat sheets for the words for this one.
The basses need to do homework with the MP3 file to get their part solid and together.

Lee wants every single one of us to make up a personal cheat sheet
for Papa Was A Rolling Stone.
On this sheet you need to highlight your words in some way, so that you can
see them in the context of the words that the other parts sing.
Of course if you can learn your words and parts by heart, that would be perfect.
It was noteworthy how poorly we all managed to do at some points in the song.

Lee has now decided on a song list for our upcoming April concert.
We will now NOT be singing Going Home.
Use this list for your homework between rehearsals.

Rehearsals in March 2010

Notes on the March 31^st Rehearsal

We spent the rehearsal working through nine of the songs for our upcoming concert:

1. Drive My Car
2. Inside and Out
3. Houdini’s Box
4. Time After Time
5. Papa Was A Rolling Stone
6. Last Train to Clarksville
7. Crystal
8. Mamma Mia
9. Fields of Gold

Lee has now decided on a song list for our upcoming April concert.
Use this list for your homework between rehearsals.

Lee wants every single one of us to make up a personal cheat sheet
for Papa Was A Rolling Stone.
On this sheet you need to highlight your words in some way, so that you can
see them in the context of the words that the other parts sing.
Of course if you can learn your words and parts by heart, that would be perfect.

Notes on the March 24^th Rehearsal

Lee was back from the brink of death to take the rehearsal — yay!

We spent the rehearsal working in detail on four songs that the choir has been finding difficult:

1. Drive My Car
2. Houdini’s Box
3. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
4. Papa Was a Rolling Stone

We worked through Drive My Car section by section until we were able to finally put the whole piece together with confidence, if still somewhat lacking in dynamics.

With Houdini’s Box Lee focused on tempo and timing, finally getting it (us) to work with the help of a shaker that made the timing audible to everyone. (It seems that we fail to keep our eyes on her sufficiently!) The dynamics are still somewhat questionable when other parts forget that it is the mezzos who have the lead.

After the interval we were treated to an elegant performance of two songs by Los Cubanas (the group who went to Cuba earlier this year), both sung in Spanish. The performance commenced with several false starts due to uncontrolled break-up by someone who shall remain nameless, even if she is the daughter of our director.

We finished with Papa Was a Rolling Stone, attempting to sing with only cheat sheets, no scores. Some of it worked, but when a section missed an entry we fell apart for a while, and this happened a lot! We need to sort out cheat sheets to ensure that they include suitable cues.

Lee has now decided on a song list for our upcoming April concert.
Use this list for your homework between rehearsals.
Note: Scores for Going Home will be available next week.

Notes on the March 17^th (St. Patrick’s Day) Rehearsal

Lee was under the weather, so the rehearsal was taken by Charlotte and Neil.

Not having a pianist who was confident of our usual warm-up routines, Charlotte elected to have us warm up by singing Knowing Me, Knowing You at a slow tempo, which served the purpose well.

We then rehearsed ten songs in rapid succession, singing the last four without scores
(cheat sheets allowed), before ending the rehearsal early (party at Marty’s!):

1. Both Sides Now
2. Calling All Angels
3. Houdini’s Box
4. Inside and Out
5. Last Train to Clarksville
6. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
7. Time After Time
8. Mamma Mia
9. Crystal
10. Papa Was a Rolling Stone

Only Houdini’s Box defeated us (the sections couldn't keep the timing together).

Singing the four songs without scores went startlingly well, with only
Papa Was a Rolling Stone falling completely apart in several places.

Notes on the March 10^th Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of March 10^th we again spent the first half of the rehearsal
working on Drive My Car, reaching the end for the first time.

We spent the second half working through five of our songs:

1. Papa Was a Rolling Stone
2. Crystal
3. Houdini’s Box
4. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
5. Calling All Angels

Next week everyone needs to have their own cheat sheet for Papa Was a Rolling Stone.

Notes on the March 3^rd Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of March 3^rd we spent the first half of the rehearsal working on
a new arrangement by Lee: the Lennon and McCartney song Drive My Car.

We spent the second half working steadily through four of our songs:

1. Both Sides Now
2. Fields of Gold
3. Kimbieni
4. Knowing Me, Knowing You

The guys need to be ready to work with Lee on Knowing Me, Knowing You next week.

Rehearsals in February 2010

Notes on the February 24^th Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of February 24^th we spent the rehearsal
working steadily through six of our songs:

1. Crystal
2. Inside and Out
3. Papa Was a Rolling Stone
4. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
5. Time After Time
6. Calling All Angels

Lee wants every single one of us to make up a words sheet for Papa Was A Rolling Stone.
On this sheet you need to highlight your words in some way, so that you can
see them in the context of the words that the other parts sing.
Of course if you can learn your words and parts by heart, that would be perfect.

Lee has now confirmed that our annual concert will be on Saturday April 24^th, 2010,
with the majority of the songs coming from the ones that we are rehearsing at present.
Here is a working list for your homework,
and here are the notes for last year’s rehearsals.

Notes on the February 17^th Rehearsal

There was no rehearsal on February 17^th because Lee
and some of the choir were away on a workshop in Cuba.
Also, because it was Ash Wednesday, the church was unavailable to the choir.

Notes on the February 10^th Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of February 10^th we spent the rehearsal
working steadily through seven of our songs:

1. Mamma Mia
2. Inside and Out
3. Last Train to Clarksville
4. Houdini’s Box
5. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
6. Knowing Me, Knowing You
7. Papa Was a Rolling Stone

We need to review the tricky spots in Knowing Me, Knowing You.

At the moment Lee thinks that our concert will most likely be in April rather than in March,
with the majority of the songs coming from the ones that we are rehearsing at present.
Here is a working list for your homework,
and here are the notes for last year’s rehearsals.

Notes on the February 3^rd Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of February 3^rd we spent the rehearsal
working steadily through seven of our songs:

1. Papa Was a Rolling Stone
2. Time After Time
3. Our House
4. Houdini’s Box
5. Inside and Out
6. Crystal
7. Calling All Angels

Lee has decided to rearrange Our House to add the tenors to the mezzos,
so look for new scores sometime soon.

Lee was extremely pleased with how we sang Papa, especially as we came to it cold, not having sung it for a week. We then proceeded to spoil the effect by stumbling heavily and without grace or style through Time After Time, which we all need to work on.

At the moment Lee thinks that our concert will most likely be in April rather than in March,
with the majority of the songs coming from the ones that we are rehearsing at present.
Here is a working list for your homework,
and here are the notes for last year’s rehearsals.

Rehearsals in January 2010

Notes on the January 27^th Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of January 27^th we spent the first half on two songs, starting with Inside and Out. Last week we did reach the end, and this week we worked on the complete song.

The second song we worked on was Houdini’s Box.

We spent the second half on four of our other songs:

1. Last Train to Clarksville
2. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
3. Fields of Gold
4. Crystal

There are MP3s for Houdini, and Sunglasses. There are also MP3s for Inside and Out which are for the earlier version, but are still useful for all parts except the sopranos.

Notes on the January 20^th Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of January 20^th we spent the first half on Lee’s revised arrangement
for Inside and Out. Picking up from where we left off last week, we reached the end of the song, but there is still work to do.

We spent the second half on four of our other songs:

1. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
2. Papa Was a Rolling Stone
3. Houdini’s Box
4. Mamma Mia

There are MP3s for Papa, Houdini, and Sunglasses. There are also MP3s for Inside and Out which are for the earlier version, but are still useful for all parts except the sopranos.

Notes on the January 13^th Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of January 13^th we spent the first half on Lee’s revised arrangement
for Inside and Out. It turned out that only about half the choir was familiar with the song,
so we treated it as starting from scratch.

Because the new version has the sopranos sharing the lead with the tenors, the tenors move over to stand next to the sopranos, as they also do for Houdini’s Box. It has been decided that the tenors will also do this for Last Train to Clarksville, where the tenors and sopranos share the off-beat against the baritones on the on-beat.

We spent the second half working through three of our other songs:

1. I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
2. Mamma Mia
3. Last Train to Clarksville

We had trouble with Sunglasses initially and as a result did some serious revision
before finally getting it together. Homework needed!

Lee acknowledges that she is behind on the MP3s, and will work on them.

Notes on the January 6^th Rehearsal

At the rehearsal of January 6^th we worked through five of the songs
that we will probably be singing at our annual concert this spring.

1. Papa Was a Rolling Stone
2. Time After Time
3. Millbrook
4. Crystal
5. Our House

We don't have MP3 files for all of these songs yet, so focus on the ones for which we do have them when you are practicing at home.