Humidify your home and work areas, Remember, moist is good for the voice.

When you have to speak publicly, to large groups or outdoors, think about using amplification to avoid straining your voice. For more lessons : Join us https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Your voice is important

When you are sick, spare your voice. Don't talk when you are hoarse due to a cold or infection. Listen to what your voice is telling you. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Your throat is vital

Don't clear your throat too often. When you clear your throat, its like slamming your vocal chords together doing It too much can injure them, or make you hoarse. Try a sip of water or swallow to quench the urge to clear. If you feel like, you have to quench your throat alot,get checked by a doctor for such things as acid refluxndisease or allergy or sinus conditions. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Pay Attention

Pay attention to how you speak everyday. Even performers who have good singing habits can cause damage when they speak, many skilled singers don't continue their healthy habits when they speak; you should have much more breathe flow when you speak. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Keep your throat and neck muscles relaxed even when singing high notes and low notes. Some singers tilt their head up high when singing high notes and down when singing low notes. "The high notes are on the ceiling and the low notes are on the floor". This will also cause future limits on your vocal range. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Avoid yelling!

Do not abuse or misuse your voice. Avoid yelling or screaming and try not to talk loudly in noisy area, if your throat feels dried or tired, or your voice is getting hoarse, reduce your voice use, the hoarseness is a warning signs that your vocal cords are irritated. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Singing grace

The grace about singing is connected to the Holy spirit, Invite the holy spirit first. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

WhatsApp singing group (Tunjifortress)

If you sing or you like music and want to add to your music life in your church ? Join us today @ Tunjifortress by clicking on the link below. God bless you. Follow this link to join my WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Smoking

From Tunjifortress. Don't smoke, or if you already do, quit. Smoking raises the risk of throat cancer tremendously, and inhaling smoke (even secondhand smoke) can irritate the vocal cords. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

VOCAL CARE

1.Drink water to keep your body well hydrated, and avoid alcohol and caffeine. Your vocal cords vibrate very fast, and having a proper water balance helps keep them lubricated. Important note: Foods containing large amounts of water are excellent hydration-conscious snacks, including apples, pears, watermelon, peaches, melons, grapes, plums, bell peppers and applesauce. 2. Allow yourself several "vocal naps" every day, especially during periods of extended use. For instance, teachers should avoid speaking during the breaks between classes and find quiet ways to spend the lunch hour rather than talking in a noisy staff room with colleagues. For more lessons : https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Sense of humour

Sense of humour Maybe this is the most important aspect of all. Keep smiling when all around you are struggling. Laugh off the umpteenth time the director has pointed out that you’re getting a phrase wrong. Find the humour in the man standing next to you who constantly sings the wrong note – loudly! Relax, be playful, make it fun. After all, although you take the whole choir thing seriously, it’s only a bit of singing!. For more lessons https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Sense of the whole

sense of the whole It’s no good relying on the director to give you feedback all the time. It’s also no good to just focus on those singers around you. It’s much more pleasurable to reach out and try to get a sense of the whole choir. Hear the harmonies working, check the blend, get the volume balance of each part right, wait for the choir to take a single in-breath to start the next song, feel part of a creative team – a living organism.

Listening skills You may find it surprising that singing skills aren’t in this list of important things for being a good choir member. My belief is that everyone can sing and that, given time, everyone in the choir can get to the same high standard. However, to get to that point, instead of focusing on the production of the voice, you need to pay more attention to what you are hearing. Using your self-awareness, you can begin to hear when you are getting the notes right and when you are not. Listening to others in your part will help you stay in time, blend better and work as a unit. Reaching out to hear the other parts will help you stay in tune, enjoy and get a better understanding of how harmony works. And finally, listening to what the director has to say can only be a good thing!For more lessons https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Consideration

Consideration for others This is all to do with respect: respect for your fellow human beings and hence respect for what you and other choir members are doing and therefore respect for the choir as a whole. Don’t be a prima donna – choirs are all about team work. Remember what it was like when you first joined the choir – help out new members. If someone in your part is struggling, don’t feel superior because you’ve nailed it – stand next to them and help them out gently.for more https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Attentiveness This is related to self-awareness and having a sense of the whole. Often an individual choir member forgets where they are and starts chatting to their neighbour for instance. After all, they’ve finished learning their part and are, in fact, talking about important singing matters after all. But what they don’t realise is that they’re missing what’s going on around them. You need to be attentive to the director (or you might miss your cue), the singers around you (you don’t want to breathe at the wrong time), the overall choir sound (make sure your part is not louder than all the others), and what your own responsibilities are (don’t miss your solo!). For more https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Trust

Trust Some people find it very uncomfortable to be in the middle of a learning process. When you first start to learn a new song it can feel frustrating that you can’t quite nail the tune. Even when you’ve been singing a song for a while, you might still keep tripping over some of the words. Try not to get frustrated, but give yourself up to the process and trust that it will come out right in the end. Similarly, if the director’s new structure for a song seems weird, trust that she knows what she’s doing and is not setting out to make you or the choir look forward. Throw yourself into these processes wholeheartedly and trust them. If you want to analyse or question, wait until the process is over (i.e. after the concert or at the end of term) to evaluate. If you find that your trust was misplaced, you can always leave and find a better choir!

Self-awareness Many people stumble through life not really paying attention. Or if they do pay attention, its often to the wrong thing! How many times have you been bumped into in the supermarket by someone whose focus is on the cereal packet they’re about to buy, and not the throng of people surrounding them? Often it’s simply a matter of being in the moment, being present and engaged with whatever is going on at that particular point. This can be helped by focusing on the warm up each session which assists in the transition between your busy daily life and the job of being in a choir. It’s by paying attention to what you’re doing that helps you to learn and improve. When the director points out that you’re tipping your head back, then check in with your own body and see what that feels like. When your fellow alto complains that you’re singing too loudly in their ear, check in with yourself and make a note of how it feels in that moment and what you can do next time.

Self-awareness Many people stumble through life not really paying attention. Or if they do pay attention, its often to the wrong thing! How many times have you been bumped into in the supermarket by someone whose focus is on the cereal packet they’re about to buy, and not the throng of people surrounding them? Often it’s simply a matter of being in the moment, being present and engaged with whatever is going on at that particular point. This can be helped by focusing on the warm up each session which assists in the transition between your busy daily life and the job of being in a choir. It’s by paying attention to what you’re doing that helps you to learn and improve. When the director points out that you’re tipping your head back, then check in with your own body and see what that feels like. When your fellow alto complains that you’re singing too loudly in their ear, check in with yourself and make a note of how it feels in that moment and what you can do next time.

Catherine White is what she likes to call ‘a creative type’. Working freelance as a singer, actress and vocal coach she likes a bit of variety to life, be it appearing on film, treading the boards in London, in the recording studio, or teaching others to sing in her lounge. She has worked extensively with vocal groups, providing coaching and instruction for choirs, and workshops for contemporary vocal groups on microphone technique, blending and harmony work amongst many other things. Catherine offers coaching to singers of all levels, individuals and groups, and across all genres, believing that a good fundamental knowledge of your instrument is the first step to success, no matter which route you plan on taking.

Responsibility

It’s all too easy to let your choir director or other members of your part do all the work. It’s an easy cop-out. Yes, the director is in charge, but the final result depends on every single individual in the choir. It’s no good thinking that your fellow singers will back you up and cover you through the bits you don’t know that well. If every singer in the choir thought that, there would be no choir! You have to take responsibility to attend regularly (and on time), to know your part, to stay aware of rehearsal schedules, to listen to the director’s instructions, and so on.

Responsibility

It’s all too easy to let your choir director or other members of your part do all the work. It’s an easy cop-out. Yes, the director is in charge, but the final result depends on every single individual in the choir. It’s no good thinking that your fellow singers will back you up and cover you through the bits you don’t know that well. If every singer in the choir thought that, there would be no choir! You have to take responsibility to attend regularly (and on time), to know your part, to stay aware of rehearsal schedules, to listen to the director’s instructions, and so

COMMITMENT Commitment to the choir can be shown in many ways (not least turning up on time!). But for most community choirs, the most important commitment is simply to turn up every week! There are many people who pay for the whole term but show up only once or twice. Again, this demonstrates a lack of respect for both the choir and its members. Also it implies that the work that we do each week rehearsing and learning songs is not that valuable and it’s possible to just turn up for the concert. Join us for more detailed classes on https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X

Join our classes for wonderful topics on https://chat.whatsapp.com/JWqVkdz3U3tFkLzS5Ksz9X