singing the la la la's

Well I did it. I joined a new choir. It was fantastic! I left feeling very welcomed. Also, I found out that the choir had only been going for a year, so everyone is still learning music. This meant that I was able to keep up and I actually was able to join in singing at my first rehearsal. That was a great feeling. I remember the last choir I was at, when I attended the first rehearsal I could only sit and listen, because everyone knew the music so well they just launched right into it. It took me ages to learn some of the songs, and even now I'm not sure if I had learnt all of the music.

About three years ago I auditioned for the Royal Philharmonic Choir. It was an audition that began brilliantly and then quickly went downhill. I should probably explain that I cannot sight read music. I have been in two choirs (now a third), but I have always been able to get on with an 'ear' to music, so to speak. I can sort of tell when to go up and down etc., but that's about it.

So, I went to the audition, not expecting much, but I thought I'd give it a go. The audition began with some scales. I normally sing Soprano, and can sing fairly high notes. As I continued going up in scales, I noticed the Pianist give the musical director a bit of a look, as if to say, not bad.

The second part of the audition was to sing a piece of music that I knew. I had brought along a French classical piece that I had sung in my previous choir. So, away I went, and I daresay that it went rather well.

The final part of the audition was to sight read some music. The Musical Director told me to go over to the stand where I found some classical German music. He then told me to sing the Alto part. This is when it got quite scary. There was absolutely no way I would be able to do this. He told me to proceed, and that 'Lars' will do. I quickly scanned the music, looking for 'Lars". The music began, and I felt my face grow hot because no matter how hard I looked I could not find 'lars', and therefore, where to begin. Entirely missing the cue to begin, the musical director began to sing the part, trying to be helpful. Just as he began to sing, it dawned on me that 'lars' meant sing 'la la la', and not worry about the words. I'm sure some of you reading this probably realised that's what he meant straightaway! Anway, it was perfectly obvious that I was having trouble reading and therefore singing the music, so the music director then asked me to clap the notes instead. Keen not to disappoint in anyway, I began clapping. The wrong notes. This time I noticed the pianist give him a look, but this was was clearly showing how unimpressed she was. The audition ended by him not looking me in the eyes, and uttering something along the lines of don't call us we'll call you. A few days later I received my rejection letter.

I like this new gospel choir that I've joined. They're nice and relaxed, with no music sight reading ability needed.