Hi ppl

Happy belated CNY!
As angpao for everyone.. a CHOIR joke!
ENJOY!

this post is inspired by my room mate who HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY SINGING:
1) completely out of tune
2) with completely no reference to the song's mood & rhythm
3) faking the lyrics
4) with unnecessary accents (even when compared to williams)
5) at 12.30am in front of his com
6) until his voice break (donnou how to transpose songs 1 octave lower to suit his voice)
[try listening to 洋葱 by 杨宗纬. he's singing this song right now]
7) in the wrong key (when singing wif music)
8) in front of the mirror at the room entrance, styling his hair [frequency: twice per minute]
[8 characteristics shared. auspicious number mah]
____________________________________________________________________

In order to measure your level of proficiency as a choir member, the following test has been carefully developed by experts. Read and reflect on each situation and then select the option that will enhance the quality of the performance.

1. You are entering the choir loft on Sunday morning and suddenly trip and fall down. You should:

a. Assume a kneeling position and break into fervent prayer.
b. Pretend that you've had a heart attack.
c. Crawl into the nearest chair.
d. Begin speaking in tongues.

2. You are a soprano and count incorrectly. As a result you boom out a high "C" one measure too soon. You should:

a. Slide into an inspired "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing."
b. Look triumphant and hold on to the note.
c. Stop abruptly in mid squawk but keep your lips moving.
d. Sink to the floor in shame.

3. After all those long hard choir rehearsals, you show up twenty minutes late for the Christmas musical. You should:

a. Climb into the back row of the choir from the baptistery.
b. Enter pretending to be a soundman checking cables and then suddenly slip yourself into the choir.
c. Turn the lights out in the church and slip into the choir during the blackout.
d. Read M. Stephen's pamphlet "Techniques for Tardy Appearances."

4. While singing, you discover you have only one page of a two page hymn. You should:

a. Hum for your life.
b. Sing "watermelon, watermelon, watermelon."
c. Try to get another hymnal out of the choir rack with your feet.
d. Sing the first page over again.

5. Inevitably that dreaded big sneeze occurs toward the end of the choir special. You should:

a. As you sneeze, come down hard on your neighbor's foot to create a diversion.
b. Try to make it harmonize.
c. Sneeze into the hair of the choir member in front of you to muffle the noise.
d. Sink to the floor in shame.


Count the number of A's, B's, C's, and D's you checked and find your proficiency rating below:

4 or more A's...there is nothing more you need to know to be a first rate choir member.

4 or more B's...your church choir reflexes are fully developed and you should do well in choir.

4 or more C's...your church choral experience is spotty but your team spirit is on target. You will be an asset to most any choir.

4 or more D's...it is recommended you take soccer or group therapy counseling.


your evil SL,
zhaohong

HCISO Violists20:22<3

hey everybody.

First we have to welcome the latest additions to the viola section! they have kindly downgraded help us sound better so obviously we should thank them right? Its the cny holidays and we sure do have some time to practise, don't we? (*hint* i know the answer is no but just say you practised). I gotta post this week so just read even if you're already thinking of ignoring it.
A-Passage-A-Week activity.. in short aPAW.

So the aPAW for this week is A Williams figure 2 with focus on the first four bars.

1. play the three doted chrochets after the cellos play their pp note.
2. play them Sfz. meaning with vigour and suddenly.
3. Note the second bar of figure 2 does not have SFz.
4. After the third note, quickly resume the original rhythm of 4 quavers and 1 crochet. Ignore the cellos if they play 5 quavers, alternatively you can tell them the violas are right for the first time.
5. During the dim bar, start with F first then you can P properly later. If you don't start F-ing then you can't P.

Thanks. for reading.

Happy cny, enjoy your holidays and ignore what I just said if you don't feel like practising.

i love you,

jiaquan the hot.

HCISO Violists15:33<3

Hey violists ;]

I think last week's sectionals showed alot. All of us here have quite alot to work on, so jiayou ba~! Okay so here's this week's assignment :x I sound like a teacher eh.

Practice-A-Passage-A-Week
Tm1 Wk3 (20/1~23/1): A.Williams Entire Figure 1

Things to note:

1) INTONATION..
Ways to work on this are:
-Check wif open strings
-Match wif piano [if u have]
-Tuner
-Approach any friendly sec 4 violists ^^
Common mistakes here are:
-G sharp and NOT open g string

2) still, rmb ur last notes of each bar has to be longer, with accent & vibrato.
Common mistakes:
-This part is in twos instead of threes, so count CAREFULLY

That's all for this week ;D Practice this part repeatedly (without neglecting other orch pieces + lesson pieces too).

Work Hard!
cn

HCISO Violists22:10<3

Hey, violists!

All of us (hopefully) know that this year is a very important one coz of SYF
Let's REALLY aim for a Gold With Honours, shall we? (aka practise hard!!)

don't mean to give u all stress, but just to ask for all of US to practice (at least) regularly before SYF comes.
yes. sec 4s alike (:

So, to facilitate ur practicing, i have decided to have PRACTISE-A-PASSAGE-A-WEEK programme!
Therefore, everyone must check back regularly, at least once a week. and PRACTISE!
Yes. that includes you, HC.
so stop niaoing already (even if the jokes never get old) =P

let's start with A.williams first
since it's already decided

PRACTISE-A-PASSAGE-A-WEEK (i mean it..)
Tm1 Wk2 (9/1 - 15/1): A.Williams bar 1-6

Things to note:
1) start FROM the string! confidently and together
2) hold the last note longer, accent it & vibrate slightly~
3) start crescendo from bar 3!!!

that's all to practise for 1 whole week. perfect it.
(besides dr yeo's lessons...) XD

happy practising,
zhaohong

HCISO Violists18:28<3

Yo ppl,

i suddenly feel like posting coz i dun think i will have the time to post anymore

anyways, this is to wish everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (abit late though)

a new year means alot...
new class, new teachers, new classmates etc etc...
and dun forget new sec1s!!!
let's all hope that this years sec 1s are different from the previous batch
and we should take the initiative to teach the sec2s to play...
coz syf is coming...
tat means no more fooling around,
no more faking,
no more poning etc...

so let's try to get GWH... with the ALL the sec2s playing...
and jiayou to everyone in this new year...

p.s... sec2s enjoy sch life while u still can...

zyin

HCISO Violists10:13<3