Well... You get harmonies quite often, so you're not as boring as the sops... But...


Ahh section wars...

Was it Beecham who said, 'If the Altos and Tenors will look at their scores, they will see where the ladies and gentlemen come in' Or was it the other way round ????.............

LOL Apparently after 30 years of singing Alto, I'm actually a text book soprano. But I don't want to sing sop in the choir, it IS boring after the harmonies of alto. I think sop is easier - and I like a challenge!!

Sop's way easier in a choir situation. Actually my choirs are all pretty fun, not too difficult music, and *technically* as a mezzo (I've been told I'll almost certainly BE an alto...) I could sing either... The sops never go too high... But Alto is much more fun. I used to wish we'd get the melody once in a while, but now I think it's much better to sing beautiful harmony, and get excited at four bars of tune, than to just expect the tune all the time...

Am trying to motivate myself to mark my last exam papers of the year...

I was attempting to do some internet shopping.
This is a place where you can shop as a normal person, or as a member of a certain group.
The items I wanted, were 10% off for general public, but 12% off with the group membership.
So I went to the group version of the website, put the things in my basket, and then went to checkout. Normally it asks you to confirm membership number, etc. This time it doesn't, it just asks you to log in. And if I do this, suddenly I am back to general public priced items in my basket.

Empty basket, shut internet, try again. Same thing.

Empty basket, shut internet, delete all temp internet files and cookies related to this site. Same thing.

Get jolly annoyed and wonder if I can buy these things elsewhere.

Then realise that actual difference between general public price and membership price is £1.20 on the basket! Probably not worth losing any sleep over (will try later on or when I get home!)

I HATE hayfever

Gee, I never thought of you being an alto ! But come to think of it you'd make a lovely job of Elgar's 'Sea Pictures' ( I have accompanied these too ! )

But your voice does change over time. I was definitely a bass when my voice first broke (about 1960) , then when I joined Harrogate Choral Soc in 1972 and had a voice test, the Director put me in the tenors. Now Im nowhere near being a tenor !
I have sung Messiah in both tenor and bass, and also played the whole score on the organ!

I love being a soprano, and we don't *always* sing the tune - for a start, there are some amazingly beautiful descants out there, even just in hymn books. (Talking of hymns, altos only ever seem to have to sing Ds, Es and Gs... how fun. )

LOL yes, hymns are quite boring for the altos, although I'm normally sightreading them so that brings its own challenges - like when the verses are printed separately on another page!!!
Granted descants are fun!!!

alto lines can sometimes be a bit boring-in fact, in school choir where there's only five boys, I occassionally sing the tenor line instead! The head of choir doesn't mind which part I sing, provided I'm on pitch

As a 12 year old at Grammar School I was rather timid - substantially taller than others of my age and bespectacled, at a time when folk got called "four-eyes" - I was never bullied physically though! - I was told that I was to sing with the trebles.

We were running through Handel's Dettingen Te Deum. I don't quite recall how my inability to sing the treble part came to the attention of the teacher, but I suddenly got transferred to the .......tenors! That was so much more comfortable; well, in fact not impossible for a change, that that is where I stayed for a while, before moving to the basses - when I get a sore throat I can hit Bb two octaves below middle C (I think only moles and earthworms are aware of the tremors wrought at that stage though!).

why when I go to the pub for a quiet glass of wine do drunk people feel the need to talk AT me

Alto lines can be hideously awful, it's true... But when they're good, they're sublime. My gospel choir is singing one song in particular this term, with the most fantastically wonderful alto harmonies - better than any soprano line. I like having the melody for about five minutes, but then I like to go back to harmony.

Juniper, why do drunk people feel the need to do ANYTHING they do? I'm still scratching my head about where the trolley in my friend's front garden came from...

There's a cat that's been sitting on the garden fence since 6.30 this morning-it's still there!

you sure it wasn't professor mcgonnagal??!

I'm hoping so!

On another forum, I found a smilie that makes me think of barry-clari. Imagine b-c is already happy and going when he gets some further good news. That's when this happens:

Looks like b-c has drunk far too much coffee!

Or he's managed to reach a very high note in one of his songs....

He's stuck his 'cello spike in his foot ??????

Yes, it is the best! And I agree with you about enjoying having harmonies mostly, and the tune for a couple of bars. More interesting and better ear training (goodness knows I need it! ) I sing 2nd sop/mezzo in our Madrigals group (we don't just sing madrigals though) but mostly alto in four-part stuff.

does my reputation go before me?

This will be my 500th post on the forum. *That* took long enough...!

congratulations !

I thought I'd be rebellious tonight and use someone else's milk. It's nearly the end of my time living here, and they've stolen enough milk from me. So I picked a bottle at random.


And realised afterwards that it was mine.


*sigh*


I can't even steal properly!

A hint of blue or yellow food colouring in your milk will put others off using it. As we're talking about students here, it's highly unlikely they'll throw it out!

Your subconscious must have directed your hand towards your own bottle - a good thing really

I love choreographing!

I wonder if my daughter is having a try out on the clarinet today....

Form had to be filled in and returned by yesterday and teacher teaches today so could be....

Or it might be in the next week or so....

I'm kind of excited/nervous for her




Just spotted this. Hey mods can we keep this as part of our smilie selection???

The BarrySmily...

I have just achieved an F, or possibly a U, in this afternoon's Physics exam.

I'm sure you've done fine, but if not, it's only physics, eyh? *hides from physics lovers*

Invigilated the Further Maths paper FP2 this morning - a few twists, much like C4 last week.

I'm invigilating A2 Music tomorrow morning - one candidate only (and it's not me!)

Daughter's try out was not today after all. I guess I was jumping the gun .....

Hmmmmmmm can we have a "VIVA La Vavuzala" Sub Forum????

or even a "Viva La Noise Makers at Football Stadiums" so we dont have sub forum dedicated to one instrument where everyone can get together to share their muical efforts on the most rudimentary footbal stadium instruments Clackers and those spinny things air horns and anything else you can think of

How about my sub-standard chanting of Charlton songs?

Hint - Don't play the piano in your stockinged feet!

I got my sock caught in the una corda pedal of my Clavinova - although it does gives a new slant on,"Put a sock in it!"

It did eventually come free, though my Schuh-bert suffered a little - bless his little cotton socks!*


*Although not so much on this occasion!

Well, expect a ribbing if you get caught in a tight situation!

I'm wondering why they need a try out.
Hopefully it's just to see if they are big enough to manage the instrument?

I've had Lindsey (my violin) one whole year yesterday!

I've had my Clavinova for over twenty years, yet never once considered giving it a name!

I've got to be honest, I've had my digital piano for about four years and never considered giving that a name either! I wonder what makes pianos and woodwind/string/brass instruments different, naming wise-I know many people with named instruments of those types, but never a named piano!

I think violins have a special character: I haven't named my flute, sax, piccolo or piano but I named both my violins - I guess because every violin is different in appearance? I like how I've had my flute since day 1 and it's grown up with me as a player though! Hopefully the same thing is beginning to happen with sax...

I tend to 'go to' a piano to play. I don't physically pick it up and hold it, it doesn't move with me (hopefully!), whereas I think the vast majority of woodwind/string/brass instruments do move as one with the player, are perhaps more closely connected. That may well be the difference; a degree of intimacy.