Songs

I can’t believe how quickly this term is flying by!

Days is completed and we’ve made a good start on our new mash up. I’ll be taking I Will Wait / What Is Love nice and slowly as I know many of you may not be familiar with the original version (at least of I Will Wait). Next week we’ll cover the rest of the verse and the chorus. After that it’s half-term.

When we come back we’ll spend the first couple of weeks (possibly three) getting to grips with the rest of it. For those of you with a bit of musical training, my arrangement is full of fourths and fifth which I just love hearing you sing. But these are tricky intervals to sing so you'll need to know it really well for it to sound its best.

All the audio and PDF resources are up, as is this week’s Rehearsal Video. You’ll find that on the player as usual. The resources page is where you'll find the PDFs and downloadable audio. I imagine I’ll get the first Recap Video done over the break so expect to see that at the back end of the week after next.

I hope you’re enjoying the return of the Hot Hopeful. Thank you for all your ideas. We’re slowly working our way through them. I’m sticking rigidly to your suggestions so if you’ve got anything that you think would hit the bill then drop me a line. Remember, we’re looking for songs you can comfortably sing all the way through, so if there’s a tricky middle section, or a complicated outro, then that’s probably not going to work.

Gigs

A whole heap of gigs coming up and as usual you can find all the details in the calendar

A reminder that all are welcome and there’s no need to know all the songs inside out before you come along. There’s plenty of space at the back to hide if you only know a couple of the tunes. And you can use your words if you'd like to. Maybe just don't stand on the front row if you're still learning the lyrics.

One of the advantages we may have over other choirs is that your Musical Director has plenty of experience with microphones and sound systems – plus a warehouse full of kit. So, I can pretty well always make us sound good. You're in charge making sure you look good, by which I mean, look like you're having a great time! This is best done by actually having a great time!

We’ve got a few coming up where we just won’t have enough bodies if the current level of sign-ups is accurate. So, if you can make sure you’ve let me know your plans that’d be great. It’d be a shame to cancel gigs due to low numbers particularly if it’s just due to people not having marked themselves as coming.

The reverse is also true. If you’ve marked yourself as coming but you’re no longer available, please make sure you update your status in the Calendar.

I also want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along to our Sproughton Beer Festival gig. A whopping sixty or so people and a successful stage set up contributed to a fabulous performance. But the main reason for the success was the wonderful sound you produced. What a pleasure it was directing you from on top of my little box.

They've already booked us in for 2027!

I was really happy with how well we got everyone lined up too. There are a few tweaks I have in mind to make it even better so watch this space. Or rather, pay attention when we're lining up at gigs.

Obviously, it’s not practical to bring a full stage to every gig. I’m not sure my back would take it! I’ve been gently musing on whether we could turn it round and have you folks bring some of kind of small, individual step to stand on, if you'd like to be more visible. You may have seen my facebook post on the subject, if you're in facebook group.

Lots of you have sent me links to various products. I'm not quite we've found the perfect combination of features but we’re getting close. Getting a tick in all these boxes is proving tricky.

• Safe to stand on
• Not too expensive
• Sturdy and big enough to be safe
• Light enough to be carried by you to gigs

I grabbed three Aerobic Steppers which looked like they needed a home from Thetford Town Cricket Club (I asked first of course). I might bring them along to a few gigs and see if you stand on them. These ones are probably too heavy to carry more than a few yards but a quick google reveals that lighter options are out there.

If we can find something suitable then I think it might be good to have a few at gigs. It would make a huge difference to the sound if we could get some of you raised up. And I'm sure it'd be a great help to you if you could see me more easily. I'm keen to get the second and third rows singing with confidence rather than being stuck at ground level.

If you have any questions then do get in touch. You can email me at ed@popclubchoir.uk, or WhatsApp, call or text on 07973 110075.

Ed