Further Information

Songs are taught in the natural voice manner.  This assumes that everyone can learn to sing. There is no need to be able to read music and there are no auditions.  We welcome new members at any time.

We sing every term-time Tuesday evening (including half-term) from 7:30 to 9:45 pm in the Nave at St Mary's Community Centre, Bramall Lane, Sheffield S2 4QZ.  This is a wonderful place to sing with superb acoustics.  No need to pay for membership, or for more than one week at a time.  At present the fee is £5 (£3 if you would find it difficult to pay the full fee) per session. This pays for our teachers, room hire, and refreshments (hot drinks and biscuits).  The choir is run by itself for itself, and led by an elected "Core Group".  This keeps expenses, and hence fees, to a minimum.

We start with a warm-up.  This includes gentle stretches and playing with our voices. We often sing a simple round or chant. Then we split into parts to sing in harmony.  Sing whatever part you fancy, the part where you feel most comfortable.  This could be the melody, high or low harmony, or the doo wops in a doo wop song.

The song could be almost anything.  We might sing African, East European, South American, British, Popular, Doo Wop, Gospel, Swing… a great mix of all kinds of song.

Our main purpose is just to get together on Tuesdays to sing for pleasure.  But those of us who enjoy performing do so occasionally -- maybe two or three times a year.

In the run-up to the choir giving a performance, we'll spend a bit more time on the songs we're going to perform.   Even if you're not performing, you'll enjoy singing alongside people who've learned the songs well.  The choir will sound at its best.  We take care that people not planning to perform still have a good sing.  We save our detailed preparations for additional rehearsal sessions.  These are not on Tuesday nights.

Although some of our material has, in the broadest sense, political or religious content  -- as in South African or Gospel pieces -- we are not a political or religious group.  We come together only to sing for enjoyment.

Don’t worry if you don’t know the song because you missed the session when it was originally taught.  Some of us forget anyway!  Nothing we sing should be too difficult to pick up with the help of other members and our teachers.



February 2015