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Singing with Masks On

5/29/2020

SINGING WITH FACE MASKS ON...

I can't even breathe while wearing a surgical mask, I can't imagine trying to take enough of a breath in order to sing while wearing a mask.

So many different ideas are being floated about how to bring some normalcy to our Pandemic Affected World. In our area, we have been told that we will be starting to get to attend limited Church Meetings once again. However, we share a building with other wards, so we will just go one week in three. And when we go, we will go in groups assigned in alphabetical order. We will also have to follow stiff social distancing rules and only hold conversations out in the parking lot.

But the biggest question seems to be whether we will be able to sing as a congregation. NOPE. Not even if we sing while wearing masks. I guess other people can't get their thinking around singing while wearing a mask either.

The good news, though, is that music will be allowed in our meetings -- organ prelude/postlude and special musical numbers.

Just NOT congregational or choral singing.

Trying to show patience!

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To Singers Who Are Not Singing

5/19/2020

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The man posted that he had been trying to sing the tenor part along with a recording of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," but his throat was too tight. He mentioned the remedies he tried and asked for other suggestions. I was quite astonished at the comments and advice given --- everything from warm milk to juices to herbal teas to essential oils. But his problem probably stemmed more from a simple LACK OF SINGING.

Muscles need to be exercised regularly to stay in good working order.

I know of what I speak. I have not felt like singing since my husband's passing. Grief can take a physical as well as an emotional toll. That when combined with the situation of not being allowed to combine your voice with those of other singers, their energy and enthusiasm cannot even buoy you up. The longer you go without singing, the harder it is to get the drive to get back into singing. Some singer friends have given me their own reasons why they have not been singing --- anxiety, uncertainty, laziness, and the fear of spreading the Covid 19 virus by the mere act of singing. That's when as a singer you realize that your vocal apparatus doesn't automatically operate well if you suddenly happen to try to sing. So you just give up and don't sing.

A friend shared with me how difficult it has been to teach vocal students over the internet. This is her livelihood, so she has had to make the best of a poor situation. Trying to hear and see well enough to evaluate students over less than optimum tech devices has been really difficult for her. She feels so hampered in her efforts to teach because she cannot instantly demonstrate or manipulate the students' bodily poses to make a difference in their development. And then there is the problem of sound delay...

I feel sorry for those teachers of singing and choral conductors who have trained so long to make beautiful music with their singers, but cannot do even the basic things like promote BLEND, BALANCE and NUANCE in a rehearsal, let alone in a performance. The Virtual Choirs that are popping up all over social media are a nice thought, but are not as good as the real thing. The singers as individuals cannot do what choral singers are supposed to do when they sing in a vacuum. It simply is not the same experience as uniting with a group of singers in the same space, sharing the same spirit and vibrations, making music together.

Oh, I hope and pray that this Coronavirus Pandemic will be controlled soon and that choirs can get back to the business of making beautiful music together IN THE SAME SPACE!

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When All Hopes Are Dashed

5/9/2020

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Granddaughter Makayla was actually one of the lucky ones. Her High School Musical "Once Upon a Mattress" was performed just before the schools were shut down due to Covid 19. Other grandchildren, like students everywhere, have had most all of their hopes dashed. Not being in actual "brick and mortar" school means no concerts, plays, sports, and sadly-- no FRIENDS to do things with. Parents have had to pick up the slack to provide activities and Home-School for their children as well as being an available playmate.

Poor Daddy can't even get a nap on a Sunday afternoon. He begged for just 10 minutes and Maya clocked him down to the second.

Fortunately, kids can be resourceful when they want to be and "necessity" is truly the "mother of invention." Thomas and Maya turned a boring rainy day into a fun play day. They stacked up books and scrounged other materials in order to make a Skeet ball ramp. (They might not realize it, but being creative at solving problems and figuring out something to do can be very enjoyable!)

Keep using your imaginations, Thomas and Maya! Maybe not all your hopes are completely dashed after all!

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Singing with Masks On

To Singers Who Are Not Singing

When All Hopes Are Dashed

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