Crash course for music theory

Every Sunday's afternoon, we practised the chorus singing seriously for 2 hours with Mr. Zheng (鄭丹老師). Basically, we had to learn new songs straight from the notation (簡譜). It seemed very natural to my singing-mates to do such thing. In fact, most of them had been doing this for the last 20/30 years. I was the only one who had problems. I figured out that I needed to improve my music theory and be able to read the notation by myself. Therefore, I started reading books like 'Music theory', ' Music for dummies', 'How to sing' etc. After a few books, I finally got it or at least some of them! So, if you didn't have any formal training of music before, read some books to start with. There were many good as well as bad videos and books about singing out there. You had to look for the one that suited you most. Spent some time to learn the basic skill if you really wanted to improve. After all, singing involved more than just opening your mouth.

Examples of notation:

Sites that may be useful:
美聲教學

唱歌技巧教程-歌唱發聲的基礎知識與訓練方法

Using the Diaphragm

Great Opera Stars teaching how to sing

Virtual Piano

Q: What's the difference between a soprano and a pit bull?
A: The jewelry. 

LCSD Choral Concert in Huang Da Xian District, Lung Tsui Park

黄大仙龍趣園 康文處活動

The first half of the year seemed to be terribly busy. Three weeks after the last performance in Shang Wan , we were invited by LCSD for another show in Huang Da Xian(黄大仙). Unfortunately, the weather didn't help. We only had a few dozen of audiences at the beginning, but luckily, we managed to attract a few dozen more of oldies to join in later that night. After a few weeks of intensive training and I was marginally better than my last performance. 

Our conductor, Mr. Zheng had to give an important performance in City Hall and could not be with us. Lu Wei, our group's manager doubled up as a conductor and we seemed to be in good order. A big thank you to all her hard work.

A community orchestra was plagued by attendance problems. Several musicians were absent at each rehearsal. As a matter of fact, every player in the orchestra had missed several rehearsals, except for one very faithful oboe player. Finally, as the dress rehearsal drew to a close, the conductor took a moment to thank the oboist for her faithful attendance. She, of course, humbly responded "It's the least I could do, since I won't be at the performance." 

Musical night for Gao Xiao Lian's chorus group

Our chorus group gave a performance to the public in Shang Wan cultural center (上環文娛中心). I had this rare occasion to sing in a small group. Sure, we all had our first time for one thing or the other. I was a bit nervous to sing in a small group because if you were not good enough, people could hear you clearly from miles. With my fearless daunting character, I determined to try for better or worse. I had to see how bad I could be. In the end, my conclusion was that I better started from the beginning. One of the major problems was that I sing with my throat and forced my voice out in a higher pitch. Other problems were that I didn't know how to sing with resonance, the timing was not right etc. I needed to polish my skill in big ways.

There was a side story that night. An old gentleman saw our promoted poster on the street and instantly recognised his very old friend, Mr. Zheng. They had not seen each other for more than 40 years. So he appeared on the stage as our special guest!

Keroncong Kemayoran

花兒與少年 (The flower and the young man)

鄂倫春與隊在密林 (E Lun Chun with the team in the jungle)

It takes a long time to grow an old friend!

Joined Celebration for the Concert in Quan Wan

「情濃大地中國心」大聯歡

It was true that one never needed any excuse to have a banquet. In order to celebrate the successful performances in the Tsuen Wan City Hall (荃灣大會堂), we did exactly what the Chinese were good at, had a big feast together. In order to celebrate in style, we had more singing before we ate! 

More songs:

歌唱祖國 (Ode to the Motherland)

游擊隊歌 (Guerrillas' Song)

Q: Where is a tenor's resonance?

A: Where his brain should be.

LCSD Choral Concert, Shang Shui

上水清河村籃球場

Just about a month after the last major performance, we were invited by Leisure and Cultural Services Department to give a performance in Shang Shui Ching Ho Estate basketball court. The performance was well received by the local people. The LCSD provided regular free entertainment programmes in different districts in Hong Kong, (http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/eo/index.html). The government had been doing something positive to encourage some forms of cultural activities in Hong Kong.

 

For more free entertainment:

A man asks a trainer in the gym: "I want to impress that beautiful girl, which machine can I use?"
The trainer replied; “Use the ATM outside the gym!!!"

Affectionate Chinese heart, Tsuen Wan City Hall

《情濃大地中國心》

Auditorium (荃灣大會堂演奏廳) to celebrate Hong Kong's returned to China for fifteen years (慶香江回歸十五載音樂會) and to celebrate the end of Tsuen Wan art festival closing ceremony (荃灣藝術節閉幕禮).

These occasions were organised by The Federation of Alumni Associations of Chinese Colleges and Universities in HK (中國高等院校香港校友會合唱團), Hong Kong Art Chorus (香港藝術合唱團) and Hong Kong Senior Education Workers' Association Ltd. (香港高齡教育工作者聯誼會合唱團). It was my first ever BIG show in public, thankfully, I was not the only performer there. What a relief!

In fact, we had more than 150 of us on the stage. All in all, I had learnt many new songs in a very short period, met a lot of like-minded people and had tons of fun experiences during this period. Well, sure, I could just about handle more of these.

We were even on CCTV news at night:

CCTV4 合唱匯演在港舉行
CCTV13 情浓大地中国心汇演在港举行

You could listen to all the songs here, 情濃大地中國心 .

 我的祖國 (My Motherland)

 

 潑水歌 (Splashing song)

祝酒歌

讓世界贊美你 (Let the world praise you) 

花兒與少年 (Flowers and Teenagers)

雕花的馬鞍 (Carved saddle)

我和我的祖國 (Me and my country)

獅子山下 (Under the Lion Rock)

歌唱祖國 (Singing the motherland)

我愛你中國 (I love you China)

東方之珠 (Oriental Pearl)

Other related sites:

Want to know more about Hong Kong?

Hong Kong Art Chorus

香港藝術合唱團

香港高齡教工會合唱團

僑友之窗

Joining a chorus

Like anyone else, I spent most of my time/energy in studying and working until I retired recently. Thanks to Fara who introduced me to a chorus group, 中國高等院校香港校友會合唱團(高校聯) . Since then, my life was changed into upside down! It was like going back to my long forgotten dream, but without the complication and worry of earning a living.

It was my first time to encounter this kind of music. The way they sang was called Bel canto (美聲唱法; in English, 'beautiful singing' or 'beautiful song'). In a nutshell, I had no idea what did it mean. My first song:

雕花的馬鞍 (Carved saddle)

  

Q: How does a young man become a member of a high school chorus?
A: On the first day of school he turns into the wrong classroom.