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| Denise |
A bullfrog with laryngitis |
| How I started singing |
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As I child I was always moving because of my father's job and was always the "new kid" at school. When I was about 8 my first day at my then new school included a music lesson. The music teacher was tall, thin, male and had a blond crew cut--he looked the epitome of an SS officer and acted like one as well. As the new kid I was fair game and he brought me to the front of the class and played a chord on his autoharp. "What key is that?" I hadn't a clue. He seemed to enjoy it. "And what is that chord?" I mumbled indistinctly. "Right, let's see if you can sing." He played another chord. "Sing those notes." My effort was a close approximation of a bullfrog with laryngitis. I was sent to my seat in disgrace, as the other children hooted in derision and merriment.
For a long time I believed I was not only a complete musical failure, but tone deaf as well. My mother had always told me I was tone deaf, and this experience just proved she was right.
And so it continued for years and years. But I love choral music and when I learned there was a local choral society, with NO AUDITIONS!, I took a very very deep breath and went along. It was fine. Some people were even less musical than I thought I was (although I can read music and play one or two instruments in a limited sort of way) which I found very reassuring. And over the years with this choral society I became more confident that I could sing as I learned more and more about the music and about singing techniques. |
| Why I love it |
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What do I love about singing? After each rehearsal I go home on a high brought on by the sheer enjoyment of the act of singing. And at a concert, there is nothing at all like the feeling of being part of a whole that is greater than all of us put together, making a magnificent sound in a beautiful building.
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