Singing Day in Aid of Breast Cancer Research Uk (by sarah)
Yesturday I left the house at 7:30 am and got on the 8:03 train to Paddington - all went smoothly and I had one of my normal random conversations with an interesting person on the train - this time a maths examinar.
Of course due to this being something I had had planned for ever and me being me the weekend had been whitteled down so that I was instead of arriving in London Friday night I was arriving just over an hour late at the venue for my choir reunion. I got into London with 20 minutes to get around the circle line and then do the Fenchurch Street Line out into Essex which is of course impossible.
But I had a good run and thanks to a lift from the station got into Cranham at 11:15 only 3 and 3/4 hours after having left erm... Cranham - different counties obviously 😉
I was cheered on the train by hearing the words peg-it and stack-it which told me I was home!
Anyway I was fortunate that they had started a bit late and then done warm up excersises so had only just started on the first song when I arrived.
The itinary of the day was to learn songs in a music workshop with Pete Churchill and then perform them with Sound Company and raise money for Breast Cancer Research UK in doing so!
I was really looking forward to this singing day and was really sad when I thought I would have to cancel at the last minute. Apart from the fact I would get to meet up with old friends and get to sing I was looking forward to the fact it was going to be gospely type music and that there would be now sheets of music handed out - not being able to read music this is joy for me!
I've done several workshops with Pete Churchill now and thourally enjoyed every single one of them and funnily enough they tend to be the songs I remeber - they definatly make up a large portion of those I sang to Jean whilst breast feeding. The first one was when I was like 19 I think and was a residentual at Wiccan House - I was as always on crutches :/ but it is one of my best memories.
The songs he chooses tend to be fun to sing and very what I would term dynamic.
We learnt:
Stevie Wonder - I am Singing, from Songs in the key of life Jimmy Cliff - hard road to travel Ray Charles - little old sun Curtis Mayfield - people get ready
And he sprung another one on us during the performance to show the audience the process of learning. He's got some interesting ideas about memory and retrieval and muscle memory etc...
Sound Company sang the first half of the concert which was stuff like Chattanoogo choochoo and String of Pearls, Sweet Tea etc... Then Pete sang some songs including one of his own called I've Made Up My Mind which was quiet topical for me really!
I also picked up alot on sort of music history as it where - stuff like People Get Ready being one of the songs that let the slaves know about the 'Freedom train' that ran from the south to the north back when America was divided on slavery.
Again due to my current frame of mind this has set me to planning out another painting, a sort of companion for The Strange Fruit of Intolerance.
Pete's little girl sang one of the solos which was very very cute and she did amazingly well considering it was in another language! Oh yeah the first song he taught us was in 3 languages!
The day was full of dynamic energy and enthusiasm and without music I was on the same footing as everybody else - possibly better off actually as it is how I tend to learn songs anyway. I however was saddened to find just how out of practice I am with the singing - I have lost my coordination ie clapping, moving feet and singing at same time was completely out! This was a skill it took four years of Havering Youth Choir to get and its gone 🙁 though I was starting to get it back by the end of the day!
I was also quiet chuffed to be mistaken for being 10yrs younger than I am by a teenager! and to bump into a friend from Sixth Form College who has just joined Sound Company. Also had a good ole catch up with people.
I really miss singing but I don't want to join the village choir as they don't do a wide enough variety of music - I was asked to join a local 'gospel' choir but they only meet like once a month and they give you music to take away and learn the songs - which is absolutely useless to me - plus they only sing in churches for services which is far to restrictive for me.
I've sort of given up with the guitar becuase I just can't work out how to tune it anymore - I've lost the skill - I can tell its out but not how and therefore what to do with it to get it back in :/ Looks like music is going to have wait until I'm in my 30's :/ twitch
Sun 12th Jul 2009 7:48 pm 
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By sera, Fri 31st Jul 2009 @ 11:34 am
Hi Sarah,
Firstly ghats off to you for all the hard work that you have put in. And whatever you have done was for a good cause - in aid of breast cancer. Not many people do it.
Don't be sad or depressed. Have faith in yourself. I am very sure you shall definitely be a very good guitar player some day.
Sera