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Hey everyone,
It's been awhile since I last blogged in this rotting blog. However, for your interests and well-being, I shall touch on a few issues that I've spotted during the pop choir rehearsals. As you all know, the competition is only a few days away... And at this rate that you guys are going, you guys are only wasting your time and effort away. Therefore, on behalf of Jeremy and Jo, I would like to "abuse" my authority as music director to give you a few opinions on what I feel about the pop choir's performance.

Chili con carne was surprisingly very badly sung. It only seems to me that most of you did not treat the rehearsal seriously enough since you did not put in your 101% into your singing. It is very important that each and everyone of you treat the rehearsal as important as the actual competition so as to prepare yourself for the upcoming competition. By having the mindset that the rehearsal is merely for play and fun, you guys are only wasting your time away. Most of you, especially the new singers, have not memorised your notes fully and it is obvious enough just by hearing. I do hope that you guys would try your best to practise your notes at home, eventhough I know it's tough for the new singers.

Note: For the new singers, be more confident in singing, practise your notes and record your own singing. Listen to it and review on your singing. This helps to improve your vocals. Also, for stage presence, practise in front of the mirror. DO NOT be stiff. This also applies to other singers as well.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, you guys are LACKING dynamics.
The dynamics are either not obvious enough to be heard or you guys are just singing whatever you guys have memorised without thinking about the dynamics.
It is important to note, that singing is JUST LIKE reading a story.
It is boring to hear a monotonous storyteller compared to one who is animated and dynamic.
Every song has a story behind it, therefore, it is important to remember to tell the story behind the song. I'm sure David has gone through the dynamics with you guys.
Example, the key change "flavour of mexican sunshine" and back to "chili con carne" has 2 different stories and scenarios behind these 2 lines, therefore sung differently.

If you guys are unable to remember small details like this, you guys should also be disciplined enough to take out a pencil during rehearsals and jot down notes, like in the past. I don't see anyone doing that anymore, though.

Also, it is very important for each section to blend well with each other. Altos and tenors tend to have a problem to blend with each other as your voices are too different from each other.
Try listening to each other and blending with each other so as to achieve one voice.
When there are voices sticking out, it affects the blend,harmony and there are also pitch problems as well.

Tenors also had a few pitching problems in Come Back Home. This might be also due to blend, [refer to previous paragraph] Please make use of what David has taught you on how to blend with one another so that your voices don't stick out. And please be confident when singing. It is very obvious that everyone is waiting for each other to sing, for example during the line "Where are you darling?" As long as everyone keeps silent, the word "where" is forever delayed.

Celebration was not much of a problem, just that you guys tend to go sharp. This is a common problem for fast-paced songs though. As long as you guys stay on the same pitch together, it might not be much of a problem. Note, as there are lack of sopranos and a major overload of altos, please listen to each other to ensure a good balance between the singers. We do not want the sopranos' voices to be drowned or vice versa.

AND, please do your choreo properly. The more hesitant you are in doing it, the more dumb you look. If there are any disagreement or whatsoever regarding anything, please let anyone of us know. We do not want any elements of negativity of any sort.

It may be true that having fun during rehearsals is also essential in the rehearsal, but everyone should also have the responsibility to practise discipline when it comes to singing. There are times when you have to be serious and when you can have fun. This MAINLY applies to the guys who are in nature, more playful and insensitive towards their environment. However, I'm sure with everyone's cooperation and help, these people can also be encouraged to practise discipline as well. It is very tough to only depend on people like Jeremy and Jo to ensure that the whole group is disciplined.

Please reflect on yourselves and think of how you can make the group better-sounding instead of just being trash-quality. I'm sure you guys have also realised that the standard of the group has been declining like crazy these days. For the benefit of TASyv, please put in your utmost efforts to get the group back to where it was again.

With love, yohannis.