MTC Week #3 - Chiaro & Scuro!

Jan 19, 2014 - Those are two things we covered this week in choir school as we talked about TONE. Did you know that when you sing, you either sing with more brightness or more darkness? If bright, you have chiaro. If dark, you have scuro. If you know how and think about it, you can change those bright and dark tone elements when you sing and that's what we were being taught how to do this week.

We also talked all about the head anatomy (hard palette, uvula, epiglottis, pharyngeal arches, and the larynx). It's important to know how all of these work to produce sound so we can try and produce the best sound possible. We also spent considerable time learning about high vowels and low vowels and what to do or not to do with your head and your tongue when trying to make the vowels sound the way the conductor wants them to sound.

One thing that may be applicable to you reading this email, is the discussion we had about singing as an individual or as a group. The danger when singing in a group is that personal responsibility and accountability seem to "go out the window" because you think you can rely on those around you to cover your mistakes. You start to develop an attitude that others can carry you and if you don't do your very best, well, no one will really know. The best choral groups are those filled with individuals who fight that "complacency trap" and bring their best each and every time they sing--whether in a group or not. By doing so, they start listening better to those around them and make adjustments to produce a unified sound.

So...if you liken that to our lives in general, the time to let our guard down or coast along in life is never. Every day brings it's challenges and only by doing our best each day can we hope to be happy and unified as brothers and sisters in the gospel (and in Zion). Note that being unified doesn't mean we all sound exactly the same. There is still variety and each voice is inherently different and unique. But as we sing out with our uniqueness, paying attention to the knowledge and rules that guide our sound to be the best it can, unity and blend is achieved. The result is truly remarkable.





I'll leave you with a few more interesting tidbits about being a Tabernacle Choir member:
*our parking passes allow us to park at the church office building parking which comes in handy for going to downtown events/shopping
*tickets for concerts and general conference are available to choir members (as for how good of tickets, not sure!)
*the choir has its own prayer roll. Member of the choir can put names on the prayer roll each week and those individuals are included in the prayers offered at the beginning of each rehearsal
*Attendance for all choir rehearsals and concerts is 80%
*Choir seating is rotated every six months or at the direction of the choir director