Session Three.

We began with some deep breathing exercises from Pat - yoga style. This was followed by some humming, sounding like a school of whales far out to sea. It was lovely to see our attenders back again and eagerly enthusiastic for some more vocal training. Phillip introduced his colleagues from Thames Valley Chorus, Andy , a baritone, and Richard, bass. They treated us to the duet version of 'Celtic Blessing', very mellow and with a hint of the Irish lilt too.

An experiment with open vowels followed, and an exercise in vocal matching. Everyone then mounted the risers (american for steps) and gave the first performance of the evening of 'One More Song'. The vocal coaches got to work on areas of patchy singing, and an immediate improvement was made.

After the break the emphasis was on resonance and how to project the voice forward; loudest at the back please! The 'new' chorus was then subjected to 'surround sound' which might have made their ears ring. Our audition piece 'Heart of My Heart' was requested, followed by 'Wonderful World', 'Lullaby in Ragtime', 'Always' and 'Heart' again. The finishing number with the big band sound 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' was to let Richard really hear what the Basses can do.

At last it was 'Happy Birthday' in crescendo to Jan, and 'Keep the Whole World Singing'; we all went home still warbling and looking forward to doing it all again next week!