Friday, November 25, 2016

Welcome Home by Warren Bull

Welcome Home

With my trip to New Zealand, I had not gone to a voice lesson for two months. It had been even longer since my last choir rehearsal. I had my first returning choir rehearsal last night and my first returning voice lesson that morning. I did not realize how much I missed them until they were back in my life.



I acted like a rookie with the choir. I did not bring my music folder or that essential tool for singers everywhere — a pencil. It’s used to note where to take breaths, where to put emphasis, and where to use the pronunciation the director directs. Of the four songs practiced I’d heard one before.  I was sight-reading almost all night. Still, I was pleased by my general performance. The choir has a new young director with a lot of energy, interesting ideas and high expectations. I really like the companionship with other singers.

My first voice lesson reminded me why I like lessons so much. My teacher made suggestions that I implemented then and there. She always gets me singing better and better. I can hear the improvements as the lesson progresses. Sometimes I can end up singing better than I thought I could. There are moments of beauty and art, which lift me out of my day-to-day living.
Like writing it gets better with practice and with feedback from a knowledgeable and trusted teacher. There are not many activities that allow you to experience marked improvement in a skill in such a brief period of time.



I have been singing long enough that I can hear differences in my voice from recordings I made a while ago. The skills are additive. I noticed in choir how much my ability to sight-read has improved.  I don’t know how good I can be eventually. That’s part of the attraction of the whole experience. At my age there are not a gigantic number of behaviors that continue to improve. Writing and singing are two. Writing better is a slower process, but then I’ve been doing it longer so improvements take more time. The amount of change is less too.


What raises you out of the ordinary and gives you a sense of accomplishment?

7 comments:

  1. Welcome home, Warren. I so admire people who can sing.

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  2. Other than celebrating publication day, taking close-up flower photos.

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  3. Welcome home, Warren. I'm sure your choir is happy to have you back. I used to love hearing Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy sing and wished that I could have a voice like Jeanette's. I still love hearing the singing in those old movies.

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  4. Welcome home, Warren. I love to listen to music and sing, too, but I've never taken voice lessons so I don't sing solo anywhere because I'm not sure how good my singing voice is.

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  5. Glad you missed the earthquake in New Zealand!

    Have fun with your accomplishments in singing!

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  6. Welcome back, Warren. You are so lucky to be able to sing. I enjoy it, but it's best if I keep my singing confined to the shower.

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