Fourth Session

This was an important session, because we will be missing many sessions due to the school holidays. We covered some additional choir skills, and quite a number of songs.

In the past two sessions, we worked on approaching the text - specifically:

How to Read and Memorize Lyrics

Reading lyrics in a choir is quite different from the regular reading we do in school and at home every day. This is mainly because we have to keep the position of our head the same so that our singing will go in a steady direction. We also cannot block the singing with the song-book. So, we do the following:

1. When looking at the song-book, move only your eyes, not your head.
2. When reading lyrics, read a whole sentence or phrase in your head, and then sing it from memory.
3. To memorize a short passage, try to remember just the first two words of every line. When we sing it through many times, these two words will help us to sing the rest of each line.

Also important is to use the song-books and not the screens in the Church, so that the choir can watch the directions of the conductor.


Learning to memorize lyrics

Also today, we covered the remaining hymns, though some were done only briefly due to time contraints. The focus was on pronunciation again. The first selection was the chorus from City of God, for which the lyrics and download can be found in the archives of this blog - on the sidebar to the left. The lyrics to the other two are listed below - I hope to have downloads in later weeks.

CHRIST BE OUR LIGHT (Chorus only)

(Strong voice) Christ be our light,
Shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness (get softer at the end of the line)
(Strong voice) Christ be our light
Shine in your Church gathered today. (get softer at the end of the line)

THE CANTICLE OF THE SUN

CHORUS:
The heavens are telling the glory of God,
and all creation is shouting for joy
Come, dance in the forest, come, play in the field,
and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord

1. Praise for the sun, the bringer of day,
He carries the light of the Lord in his rays;
The moon and the stars who light up the way
Unto your throne

2. Praise for the wind that blows through the trees,the sea's mighty storms,
the gentlest breeze;
They blow where they will, they blow where they please
To please the Lord

3. Praise for the rain that waters our fields,
And blesses our crops so all the earth yields;
From death unto life her myst'ry revealed
Springs forth in joy

Enjoy your holidays, and see you when classes resume next month!


Special thanks to the early arrivals who helped by setting up the chairs and the books, on their own intiative!