So much for finishing that last post tomorrow.

Anyway, CHOIR.

So at the end of last year, I tried out for concert choir, which is basically the highest one if you don't count the smaller groups like Bel Canto and Synergy, and I got in, I'm pretty sure for one reason and one reason alone. That is the fact that I am a decent sightreader, meaning depending on how hard it is I can often look at a tune and be able to sing it, using my knowledge of music theory, it if you give me a starting note. When I had to do that during my audition I did pretty well. My actual voice sucks as of now. I'm hoping to improve it, a lot.

I am an alto. When I was auditioning and she was testing my range, I am like 99.999% sure that she said "A soprano!" when I finished. And for my sister, "An alto!" (My sister got into advanced treble, and is an alto without question; she can easily sing down to a low C.) So I thought that I was a soprano, and I learned the soprano part for the song that Ms. Lizama gave us to practice. I went to Emma's and she helped me learn it. Emma is AMAZING. She's our section leader with Lindsee, who is also AMAZING. A few days later, I got a facebook message from Lindsee, telling me about an alto sectional. I told her I would love to come, but I wasn't an alto! She told me I was on the list of altos, and she called Ms. Lizama and asked about it, and apparently I was an alto all along! So I went to the sectional, and learned the alto part. And I definitely AM an alto, but it's weird because I'm so sure she said I was a soprano at first. Anyway, I'm happy being an alto. :)

We had the concert choir retreat on Saturday and it was really fun. I can tell choir is going to be awesome. (Of course, band wins over everything, but still.) It's a very different feeling not being the one who pretty much always has their part down. Emma and Lindsee are so eager to help everyone out though, even though they could totally just ignore everyone if they wanted and wallow in their little bubbles of perfection.

But choir is just the beginning of all the exciting stuff that's going on this year!! The rest will be posted about soon.

Band camp!

It started today, and goes through Friday. Today was just seniors (ME!) and freshmen, and we taught them how to march. We also worked on some music... our field show this year is going to be Earth Wind and Fire, and one of the two songs is In the Stone, which has really tricky rhythms and which I've never heard, and also which I got to lead a sectional on. That was difficult... thank God I had Gracie there to count off for us and to make it less awkward. Yeah, it was awkward standing there for like an idiot for probably two whole minutes trying to decipher the rhythm in two measures before I could even attempt to teach it to the freshmen, who had no clue what was going on. But we managed, and they aren't really bad at all for freshmen on their first day of band.



"What other exciting musical things are you participating in this year, Clare?" Oh, I'm glad you asked! Because this year, I'm in CHOIR!



Me, to two of my friends last year: "I'm thinking of being in choir next year."



Them: "Wait, so you would.....sing?"



Me: "Um, yeah...."



They bursted out laughing uncontrollably.



Yeah, I never really considered singing in any ensemble or really anywhere outside of my car until last year... until I thought about it and realized there were a few really good reasons for me to try out.

1. I'm going to be a music major, and don't music majors have to take some classes that involve singing? And wouldn't it be embarassing if I had to sing in front of people and I had never really done it before? Because I have NEVER really done it before, unless you count the solo I had in the second grade play.

2. I think it will really help me with ear training and intervals and stuff... I'm not really doing any formal ear training, but more and more when I hear an interval, I try to figure out what it is, and when I hear a chord, I try to figure out what kind of chord it is, and WHAT chord it is relative to the key, etc. etc., and I'm getting better and better at it. And I think I would be EVEN better at it if I approached it from a different angle, that being my voice. Does this make any sense? Oh well, it does to me.

3. Our choir is REALLY GOOD. I like playing with people who are really good, because a.) Well, it sounds good, and b.) it's a challenge. So I assume that it'll be fun singing with people who are really good, and under a really good director.

I'm going to cut this off and finish it tomorrow, because I should really go to bed...