May 2013: May the fourth was with us phew...

Whilst others were lying around in the sunshine last Saturday, 10 eager singers gathered in the Scout Hall in Wivenhoe and had an amazing singing session!

We managed to learn FIVE songs in an afternoon and fit in some detailed small group harmony singing practice. Which I think is pretty wonderful. I think we make a damn good sound for such a small group. One of the songs (Kada Kidi) had SIX separate parts AND actions.

So well done all. Here is a link to the recordings:

https://www.box.com/s/sduovya5sjnozrtutlv2

There is one MP3 file for each song. You can listen to them online, download them individually to your PC or download the entire folder.

Some of them are a little shaky at the start (not bad considering how quickly we learnt them!), but they all settle down well.

Many thanks again for being the guinea pigs for my April songwriting challenge "Alleluya".

I taught Kada Kidi with actions to almost 200 singers on London's Southbank yesterday. The bobbing up and down and hands up actions were a joy to behold!

I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday 8th June.

Chris

April 2013 Recordings

Here are the recordings I made last Saturday:

https://www.box.com/s/f75l5asxy44oll14hdca

There is one MP3 for each of the songs we sang, plus I've put real live Georgians singing Gazapkhuli for your delight. I thought we did a pretty good job of it ourselves actually!

And thanks for bearing with my Spring song. I thought we just about got it towards the end!

I hope you enjoyed it and see you on May 4th. Spread the word!

Chris

'Singing-in the Spring'?

Well, it was milder and slightly Spring like when we started singing at this month's workshop... and chilly and raining as we left.

But we sang our hearts out, as ever.

Here are the words to a beautiful song from Georgia. This month's recordings to follow soon.


If you are reading this for the first time and want to join in, please come along to the next workshop on 4th May 2013. See Workshop Dates page for more info. 

If you are interested in joining one of Chris's other workshops, Singing Safaris or other events, have a look at his website here.

March 2013: Merry March Minstrels

Here we are about to learn a Maori song in the British Legion Hall.

Hi there

I hope you enjoyed last Saturday singing in Wivenhoe down by the riverside.

Here are the recordings I made:

https://www.box.com/s/x4t6sdrfkkz2jdexntzk

There are four MP3 files, one for each song.

Click on each song to play it. Hover over each title to see the option
to download. You can also download the entire folder (i.e. all four songs) at once by clicking on Download at the top.

Ignore any "Sign up for Box and get 5GB free" pop-ups by just clicking the cross in the top right corner.

Some people have had problems in the past. It may be because you don't have Flash Player installed. If you have any problems, click here to see if you have the latest version installed:

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/find-version-flash-player.html

You can also leave comments on each song if you feel inclined! It would be nice to hear what you think.

Enjoy! And I hope to see you on 13th April with a whole new bunch of songs.

Chris
http://chrisrowbury.com

February 2013: and any February ones...

Click on the link to listen or download
https://www.box.com/s/wgpadwch1o33xxd01wfq

What variety! A song written by our fab teacher, Chris Rowbury, so that's Suffolk covered - then Jewish, Scandinavian and South African ones! Listening to Bim Bam again just makes me smile and I can't stop humming Hvem kan segla. Lovely, lovely stuff. We make such an amazing sound given it's the first time we've ever sung each song and then only learned it for 20 minutes or so.

Next month we're at the British Legion Hall (downstairs), usual time.

These sessions are purely for fun and enjoyment. Singing for sheer pleasure, so there's no pressure to be 'good' at it, or pitch perfect, no auditions or solo singing; just singing in a crowd with lots of laughs along the way - and a tea break of course.

If you live in or near Wivenhoe, why not come and give it a try!

January 2013: Singing the January blues away

Here are four songs Chris recorded at last month's workshop.

Click here

& enjoy!

November 2012 workshop, have a listen!

Here are recordings from November's workshop Chris has sent the link below you can download them from.

https://www.box.com/s/kys2x6ajh1lqs7e79m9s


Chris says:
  There are five MP3 files, one for each song plus a version of Oj Dobricu by an American group which appears on a CD called Balkan Bridges.

Click on each song to play it. Hover over the title to see the option
to download. You can ignore the "Sign up for Box and get 5GB free" by
just clicking the cross in the top right corner. You can also add
comments if you like!

Box is a free service and there didn't used to be any quick way to
download all songs at once, but now I think you just have to click on
Download Folder.

Here is a link to Brian Abraham's song Tedumela with an extra part by Roxane Smith ("We are one"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr5YMYc_LUI

Here's a version of Up above my head in a Country-stylee (kicks in after about 2 mins.):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACgvzDFSxm0

And Gaudeamus hodie (with percussion!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS7jc3x1FS0