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Chris Rowbury's Blog Entries

  • How to sing quietly (without running out of breath)

    Added March 11, 2020 by Chris Rowbury - 1208 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Some people find it hard to sing quietly. They seem to run out of breath easily and their voice goes all wobbly.   photo by Cristian V.   Why is this and how can you learn to sing quietly?When we’re asked to sing quietly, we can th... read more

  • One recording is worth a thousand photos – use sound to promote your choir

    Added March 4, 2020 by Chris Rowbury - 516 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Singing is all about sound, whether it’s a one-day workshop, a live concert or a CD.     I’m amazed at choir websites, concert promotion and singing workshop publicity which is full of photos, but have no sound clips. If you d... read more

  • 6 ways to stop the strain of other singers relying on you (or you relying on them)

    Added February 26, 2020 by Chris Rowbury - 841 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] The rehearsal begins and the Altos looks around in panic: “Where’s Carol?” Carol is a strong, confident singer, but she’s not here this week.   Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind (detai... read more

  • 10 choir website mistakes to avoid (or how to look professional online)

    Added February 13, 2020 by Chris Rowbury - 1090 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] I was trawling through a bunch of choir websites the other day in order to send out some information about a workshop I’m running.     I was amazed how hard it was to contact many of them and in general how badly designed many of th... read more

  • Want to sing with more energy? – pretend to be somebody else

    Added January 22, 2020 by Chris Rowbury - 1103 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] I ran a gospel singing weekend recently. One of the songs was flagging a bit so I suggested people ham it up a bit and be more “American”.   Miranda Sings by Gage Skidmore. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons   Suddenly t... read more

  • Fit the song arrangement to your singers and not the other way round

    Added January 8, 2020 by Chris Rowbury - 907 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Most singers in choirs don’t fit neatly into choral vocal ranges. Yet we try to squeeze them in to our off-the-shelf arrangements, chastising them when they can’t reach the notes.   photo by Garry Knight   How about thinking ... read more

  • Busily doing nothing – 5 reasons why downtime is important for singers and choir leaders

    Added January 1, 2020 by Chris Rowbury - 1247 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Feel like you’re on a treadmill? Constantly learning and practising and planning but never arriving? Not enough time to catch your breath between concerts?   photo by Roger Gordon   Then you need some downtime! That is, time spent ... read more

  • Can singing together bring about world peace?

    Added December 18, 2019 by Chris Rowbury - 885 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] The world can be a terrible place sometimes as we’ve seen in the news lately. It’s hard to imagine how a single person can make a difference. Chór aleksandrowa 2009 by Loraine   Can singing together or being in a choir bring ... read more

  • How to be a better singer if you’re a mere mortal

    Added December 4, 2019 by Chris Rowbury - 987 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] When you think you’re not singing well, you’ll often blame yourself. But what if it’s something else, something outside yourself that you can fix quite easily?   Here are some reasons why you might not think you’re a good... read more

  • Effective ways to recruit more men for your choir #getmensinging

    Added November 27, 2019 by Chris Rowbury - 1423 views - 0 comments
    [A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir] Lots of mixed choirs don’t have enough male singers, and many established male voice choirs are not managing to find younger recruits (see my series of three posts Men and singing).     Here are some ideas to help you recruit more m... read more