Joining a Choir

March 4, 2018

Now comes the part where I talk about the INTERESTING extracurriculars, that I take part of out of my own hobbies and interests (not related to my academics or career).

The first one I ever registered for officially, was the Hart House Singers group.

I found them out late at night around 3-4AM when I actually read through the Hart House emails I got from my school email. I usually just ignore those emails and delete them.

I honestly never knew a choir existed in this school. Upon further research, I found out of two choirs existing in Hart House. Hart House Choir is a legit choir that requires a formal audition. That group requires members that have a background in choir. I think the audition required you to sing 5 pieces and sight read. The one I registered for is open for all people from all sorts of backgrounds. You can have 0 experience, or be part of the choir community for your whole life. It doesn't matter.

I mainly joined because I had a past in middle school of being in the choir. It was a very enjoyable experience. Really loved the pieces that I had to sing. When we sing together as a group, it gives such a beautiful sound...I would say that I'm mesmerized by the beauty of the different voices singing together in harmony...I don't know. I'm not good with words LOL. Choir also was the only place where I can actually sing. At home, I can karaoke, but it does disrupt other members of the household.

Anyways, despite that experience, I would be considered a noobie regardless. I can't sight read anymore. I used to be able to because when I took keyboarding classes in highschool, but my skills got so rusty that I had to resort to actually writing out notes. My rule back then in music was to never ever write down notes. >_> I got rusty af in learning pieces for keyboarding too, so I might as well be back to square 1 lol. The only thing I'm still proud of from my keyboarding days was how I was one of the top students in the class. I really loved all the pieces that my music teacher gave me, even though they were sort of difficult. A week was usually the time he gave for us to practice before performing. I usually stayed focus throughout the whole class (it's pretty relaxing), and I would practice at home too (sometimes I would let my dad listen).

I also learned a new thing from this choir though: the actual musical terms. Before in middle school, my teacher automatically sorted the choir members out based on our audition. At that time, there was only 2 groups existing: the highs and the lows. I was part of the low group (I used to hate it because my friend that was accepted into the choir -- my main friends didn't join/make it D: ).

Upon joining this group, I was asked what part that I'm joining. I did some research the night prior date of registration, and I learned of "alto" and "soprano". There was also something called "mezzosoprano". Honestly, I was just so @_@ by the info, and it was pretty late at night, but I just knew for sure that I was an alto. I can barely comfortably reach the range of a soprano. >_> The only thing I'm envious about sopranos (esp choir 1), is that THEY GET TO SING THE MELODY OF THE SONGS. >_> Alto always gets the background kinda, and it's barely noticeable compared to the guy parts and the sopranos. .-.

My choir went by 4 parts: Soprano, Alto, Tenner, and Bass. Soprano and Alto was the females, while Tenner and Bass was the males. I honestly didn't know that there was a specific formation for the girls and guys. The way it is set up, from the conductor POV, the left front is the sopranos (with choir 1 being towards the left), altos were in the right front (with choir 2 being towards the right). Behind the sopranos are the Tenners (Tenners were rare, so they just sat in one row in the back). The bass were sitting behind the altos. Basically from left to right, it goes from the highest range to lowest range. Choir 1 gets the higher range of the group while Choir 2 gets the lower. I'm an alto in choir 2 because the notes for Choir 1 are a bit difficult for me. Some of the notes are ok, but some causes me to strain my voice, which is a huge big no no. You are supposed to sing in the range that is the most comfortable for your vocal range, or else you may have the chance of getting those voice nodules and other negative stuff.

Anyways, the downside to this group was how late the practices were. It was always every Monday from 7:45 to 9:45. Since I only had one class on Mondays from 10-11, I basically had to spend the entire day in the library until my practice time comes. I'm very productive at school though, so it was ok with me. Another downside was that there was sooooooo many pieces. Thankfully, we didn't have to memorize all of them. I think there were 8 pieces because he added a few towards the end. I missed last practice though because I was not feeling well. Unfortunately, the concert date is on a Sunday at 7-8:10?? The official rehearsal is legit at the time where I have my calculus test, so I'm not able to make it. Which kind of makes it not worth it to continue showing up to practice since there's only one more.

Do I plan to stick with the Hart House Singers for next term? If I have the time, then I wouldn't mind. I'd prefer to keep in touch with my musical side, since there isn't much opportunities to sing full out in my life. :(

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Hello! Today is March 10, 2018. It is a Saturday. Currently right now, I am missing out on my friend's 21st bday party at a vegan restaurant because of personal circumstances. :( I feel bad because I missed her bday last year too (due to academic reasons).

So I remembered that I was supposed to publish a post this week.

So reading back, it looks like I finished talking about that choir group. I never went to the practices ever again. The past week, it didn't even come into my mind because I had this heavy computer science assignment that was due, and I legit spent my whole day at office hours for help. So happy I did, because that was the reason I ended up with the mark I got <3. I ended up solving a majority of the functions I was stuck on for days, simply because I didn't remember some of the methods we could use. >_> Anyways, I'm not excited for assignment 3 though. It should come out in the next week or so.

Anyways, I just finished working out. Maybe I'll talk about that next time because I'm short on time atm. :( Two midterms coming up and other stuff. .-. So annoying. I have a few appointments in April too like t(-_-t)

Until then!

I should have just published this last week lmao.

#school #updates #thoughts #greetings