To join the choir, contact the director (Carla) a week before you’d like to start singing so that
a music folder, a seat and choir vestments can be prepared for you.
Carla Strott
Music Director @ St. Gabe's
Email: carlastrott@gmail.com
Tel. 404-376-5973
To be in the choir, you should be able to:
· Match pitch (by listening to yourself, determine if you’re singing the correct note or not)
· Attend weekly Wednesday evening rehearsals and Sunday morning rehearsals and 10:30 services (with as much regularity as possible)
· Communicate planned absences with the director
· Be at least 18 years old
· Have a sense of humor about yourself—be willing to make mistakes
Misgivings and fears that commonly keep people from joining:
· “I don’t have a good solo voice. I can’t possibly sing in the choir.”
Balderdash--a good many of us aren’t solo material! That doesn’t mean we don’t make absolutely wonderful choir members! Each member of the choir enhances the overall sound, no matter how “small” the voice.
· “I can’t read music. I’d be no asset.”
Once again, poppycock! There are many viable ways to learn, process and perform music. Being able to read it makes life easier and quicker, but it’s not necessary. Many members of our choir are very savvy rote learners—if they hear a musical passage once or twice, it’s learned. Also, reading music is a skill that is gradually picked up through experience, just as reading words is.
Comments that keep a great many people from singing at all:
· “My kids tell me not to quit my day job.”
Kids—they’re such Simon Cowells! You should join for spite!
· “My music teacher in kindergarten/middle school/etc. said for me to just mouth the words.”
There are a few people who seem to be born knowing how to sing. Most of us have to work on it! Those who grow up immersed in music will certainly have an advantage. It’s never too late to start, though! If you’ve hardly opened your mouth all your life long to sing a note (because of what some harried, overworked, underpaid music teacher said to you a hundred years ago), learning to sing will take some time. Men (and women, too) sometimes stopped singing in middle school because they couldn’t control their changing voices. (It’s another time in life when music teachers have been known to gently suggest Underwater Basket-Weaving to people.) But now that you’re more in charge of your vocal cords, maybe it’s time to dust them off and give singing another try!
