Task 9: Take part in a singing workshop

The reason this is in the Facing the Fear section is that I dread singing in public.  It dates back to when I was at primary school and had some doubts about whether I was singing in tune.  I asked the girl standing next to me if I was, she said no, and that was that.  Henceforth I mimed, although I did make a special effort for our wedding.  A couple of weeks before the event I was walking home from the station, humming the tune of one of the hymns, and I happened to be on crutches at the time.  A young man suddenly materialised beside me, flung his arms in the air and asked if I’d been saved in my time of trouble.  Well, not exactly.

When two friends, Patricia and Kathy – both of whom have excellent voices and used to sing in famous choirs – were looking through my list of 60 (then only about 35) proposed tasks, they commented that there was very little connected with music.  Naturally they suggested singing in public.  When I said that for me, that would be really scary, they smiled happily.  For some weeks I couldn’t face adding it to the list and then I mentioned it to another friend, Libby, who told me about the singing workshops held in Ham by Delia Rosenboom.  She had been to one with her elder daughter, who at the time found it challenging to hold a tune, and they had both thoroughly enjoyed it – and her daughter now had no problem with singing.

I contacted Delia, explaining my concern about potentially wrecking the session for everyone else if I warbled aloud, and she reassured me that it would be fine.  There would be other beginners taking part and I definitely wouldn’t have to sing solo.  On that basis, I decided I was out of excuses and added it to my list of tasks.

On Saturday, I glumly contemplated the humiliation awaiting me.  It seemed extremely doubtful that any sounds I produced could be regarded as harmonious, let alone uplifting:

Advent Taize Chants by Candlelight (London)

Saturday 10th December 2016, 7 – 9 pm

St.Richard’s Church, Ashburnham Road, Ham, Richmond, TW10

Beautiful, easy-to-learn rounds and songs in uplifting four-part harmony.
Songs that nourish and open the heart, from the Taize monastery
and other sacred traditions. An evening not to be missed.
A beautiful, magical lead up to Christmas!

When I arrived at the church, it was in semi-darkness, lit mainly by a lovely ring of candles in the centre.  Libby appeared, along with one of her friends, to provide moral support – and tactfully stood some way distant, when the 40 or so of us were asked to form a circle.  Delia began by getting us to “doodle” with our voices, holding a single note – any note we liked – then sliding up and down the register at random.  I started to relax, knowing it didn’t matter what I sounded like and enjoying the experience of simply making a noise.

 

Gradually we moved towards learning a short, simple song in Latin which the Taizé monastic order uses as a form of meditative chant.  Delia has a beautiful voice, clear and pure, and the gift of using visualisation to explain the different notes and how they interlink. Having mastered that song, we were then taught three harmonic variations using the same words, and given the option of picking whichever one we felt most comfortable with.  I chose the simplest, which consisted essentially of just one note, fairly low-pitched.  As we became more confident, Delia encouraged us to move within and around the circle, so the four harmonies became entwined.  The overall sound was indeed uplifting and it was easy to imagine the monks, moving towards a state of meditation.

We followed a similar principle in learning three other songs, singing in four-part harmony, in rounds.  To my surprise I found I was loving it and even branched out into relatively high notes, which I’ve never attempted before.  Libby managed to sneak a photograph of me during the break, looking happy and relaxed:

At the end of the workshop I floated out, having had a wonderful time – and feeling confident that when it comes to singing in public again, I’m no longer going to mime.  The fear has gone and I’m even planning to sign up for another workshop!