Hi

I sing bass with the Hampton and Lady Eleanor Holles Schools Joint Choral Society. We performed an uncut Messiah at Guildford Cathedral last Saturday, and jolly good it was too.

But it was really hard work for the men. We have to get out voices out over the women (who outnumber us massively) and the orchestra.

We only do one concert a year. There are usually three or four rehearsals a month (two Sunday afternoons and a couple of Wednesday evenings) held at Hampton School, Hampton, Middlesex, starting in November and running through to May. Next time we are going to do Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony and I'd like to find plenty more basses and tenors.

There are no auditions, and you don't have to be able to read music. You don't even have to know whether you are a tenor or a bass, and you attend rehearsals when you can.

So if you are an enthusiastic shower singer or someone who hasn't sung since they were at school and would like to join a very friendly group of people in what always ends up (somehow magically) being a good quality performance, please PM me your interest. (There are no fees and music is provided.)

Come along, have a laugh, and sing.

Best wishes

barry

Why is it so hard to get men to sing? Our choir has struggled with this problem for ages &, after putting a lot of work into finding more men, we're just starting to pick up the men. One problem has always been that, if a new man came along, it always seemed to be on an occasion when few if any other men turned up, so they'd be put off by feeling very exposed.

Hi Bev

I don't know, but it's such a shame.

I sang at school but pretty much stopped when my voice broke in the middle of Stanford in C at Salisbury Cathedral. I started the Gloria as a good treble and ended the Amen as, well, nothing really.

Many years later, and eight years ago, I was playing taxi driver for my son and wife who had been invited to join this Choral Society. As it was a two hour rehearsal, I had nothing better to do and it was cold in the car, I went in, full of trepidation. That year we did Stanford's Stabat Mater and Finzi's Ode to St Cecelia. I loved it.

Since then we've done Requiems by Brahms and Verdi, Dixit Dominuses by Handel and Vivaldi, Haydn's War Mass, Handel's Messiah, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius and I'm really looking forward to doing the Sea Symphony.

I can't read music. I can just about follow it these days but mostly I pick it up listening to those around me. And, yes, there have been times when I was the only bass there. So what? I do my best and our brilliant DoM, Iain Donald, sings too. No one ever got hurt

I love it. I love making music with other people. It's like team sports only you can go on doing it long after the ability to play 90 minutes football becomes a distant memory. I don't have any grades in anything but I have taken part in some stunningly beautiful concerts. I'd recommend it to anyone.

In fact, if anyone can't get to Hampton, find out where your local Chor Soc is, and think about joining them.

Best wishes

barry

In fact, don't just think about it - do it!

I play entirely the wrong instrument to join any of the local orchestras (they all have all the clarinettists they need and a waiting list as well), so joined Valhalla Choral Society about seven years ago. The first couple of rehearsals were tough-going - I was by far the youngest member at the time, I hadn't done much singing at all in the previous four years, and the first rehearsal (for a concert including the Durufle Requiem) saw the sopranos going up to top Bb. I stuck with it, got to know people, got back into the swing of singing, and now they can't keep me below the stave! More people have joined, and whilst the average age is still high, I'm far from the only under-40 now.

The only cloud on the horizon is the summer 2008 concert - is RVW going to be a juicy enough carrot to persuade me to sing more K*rl J*nk*ns?

Barry, whilst I could probably persuade Husband to join, Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings aren't good (but let me know if you're willing to accept a very capable tenor for just a few rehearsals at the end). Similarly, tip me the wink if your sopranos faint at the top B at the end of the first movement and need a helping hand (I sang the Sea Symphony ages ago (in fact, it's the only work I've sung that Husband hasn't), and several of the people around me just mimed at the top B I'd have auditioned for a real solo spot if I wanted to sing solo )

Getting men to sing is going to get even harder in the future because, in general, our boys aren't singing in school any longer and so there's no tradition for them to do so except on the football terraces

I think men do find it hard to join in because, inevitably, if they join a formal choir, they've got to sing a harmony line and that takes dedication and effort. Women joining can always hope to sing "the tune" until someone points out that they're really an alto.

I don't pretend to know the answer but the demise of choral singing in our churches and schools certainly doesn't help the situation.

Dear Deborah



Best wishes

barry