22 November 2018

The only warm place for us in All Saints School was the dining room and we gathered there with a fresh running order for our Christmas concerts. The hall was full of penguins ....

We only had 18 songs to run through tonight, which includes our Christmas booklets, and three lovely extra songs. 

As we sang the first song, Ed apologised for sound issues as of course under-floor-heating dining rooms were not designed to sing concerts in. And on we sang ...

When we stopped for the interval Ed’s watch thought he had been working out for 30 minutes and his choir had been singing for about 25 minutes!

A Spaceman Came Travelling - should it stay or should it go now? Get your YouTube out everyone! We had to add some Ho Ho Ho to Winter Wonderland. Men only so that they sound like Santa. For a final treat we did Can’t Take My Eyes Offa You and ed provided the shadow puppets. 

Well done DFS, that was quite a sing-a-thon! Seasons Greatings x

8 November 2018

Back onto the hall after half term with much to do, Ed reminded us of the reminders on the DFS website. Do keep bringing in raffle prizes for our Christmas concerts on the 5th and 6th of December. We russled our new song books in anticipation as Ed raffles off some CATS tickets for our lovely charity. Thank you for the donation Carol ...

On sat 1st December at 2.30 we are singing outside The Clipper, and the15th December at The Fire Station time to be confirmed. 

We began singing with no warm up Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and I felt all warm inside. I’ve missed you lately, dear choir. Then  O Holy Night. Ed really wanted to get through all 15 songs tonight. Remember that the ends of both choruses are different. 

Deck The Halls might have a very small typo. We didn’t let it put us off. No time to Sleep In Heavenly Peace. Yes I know that’s not the title. Then splitting the next song into Men and Lady parts, we told the tale of Good King Wenceslas and his pizza, deep-pan, crisp and even. 

Not as well known See Amid The Winter’s Snow was admirably sung by those who did know it. Now In The Bleak Midwinter has two tunes and Ed demonstrated both before a choir vote. Show of hands resulted in the one everyone already knows. 

And into the pop songs we went Walking In A Winter Wonderland to tell A Winter’s Tale. Repeating the chorus a Capella sounded lovely and there’s really no need to go up at the end, even though it’s still Christmas....

A Spaceman Came Travelling is another song we all think we know quite well until we try to fit all of the words into the right lines at the right times. But we all know Slade! We stood to sing Merry Christmas Everything and sat again to go Rocking Around The Christmas Tree. That got the party started! 

Back to earth again with When A Child Is Born which may or may not have Ed speaking wise words over the bridge-which-is-hummed. White Christmas was our fake-last-song tonight secretly followed by Fairytale Of New York. 

And then it was time to go home and sleep off the drunkenness... until next time of course. Well done DFS, you’ve really put me in the mood. I love you, keep singing xxx

18 October 2018

Back in the Hall after last weeks alternative venue, we met for the last time before half term. Ed took some shout-out requests for Christmas songs, which will appear in our rehearsal sessions as soon as we return on the first of November. 

Then we warmed up. The lack of blog posts reflect the lack of Cat but I was back on the front row under the watchful eye of the choirmaster. In news, Ed had a really bad cold and Jack was at a 6th form open evening, and also sent apologies for being absent. 

We began to sing from our booklets, starting at the back with Rule The World. It all went well until we split into two parts. And tried to swap halfway through, so Ed broke it down for us, before we stood to perform. 

We began to sing Run from our boots. It was the useful version with up and down arrows which gladdened my weary heart. Ed got the clap for his playing and we got a reminder that only low voices must start. Much work was done on the notes of the chorus until it sounded rather goosebumpy to me on the front row, sitting as everyone stood to belt it out. 

And new to choir this term we sang Nights In White Satin and Don’t Stop Believing then I Dreamed A Dream zipping rappidly backwards through our booklet and missing out a few numbers. We looked more closely at the latter’s notes, and the harmonies too. Ed was pleased and said we sounded like a proper choir. 

Can’t Take My Eyes Off You bust fourth from our collective lungs! 

Well done DFS I see why I missed you so much! Keep singing, Cat The Blogger! Xxx

Important Practice Information type of thing ....

From our Choir Master Ed -

"Please spread the word!!

"We will be rehearsing at -

St Aldhelm's Church Hall,
Spa Road,
Weymouth DT3 5EW

on Thursday, 11th October from 7pm until 8.15pm.

"There is a group using the hall until 6.45pm so please do not arrive before then (car parking space is limited). You will need lyric sheets, there will be plenty available tonight at All Saints. Thank you!"

Be there, or be at the wrong venue! I love you, Patched-Cat XXX

20 September 2018

Due to far too generous amounts of prosecco the blogger was almost too drunk to blog. But she did make a marvellous video!

Plans for this year include a fabulous Christmas concert, a super beefy 10 year celebration concert and a cider filled trip, with some singing as well. 

Today we kicked off by singing Blue Moon from our lovely new booklets .... The Street Where You Live was followed by the emotional I Dream A Dream while we anticipated Jack on the drums, and Harry on words. 

It was more than A Little Respect that we showed the lads and we all felt On Top Of The World after that. And perhaps because of all the orange juice. 

We are still addicted to ABBA so we sent out an SOS and it wasn’t for more booze. We love Rosé and we won’t Stop Believing! We also probably gave our new members a Run for their money, and showed them that me may not actually Rule The World but we sure know how to have a good time! Jack joined us on the drums again for our final song and then this blogger headed home to edit the video and get it uploaded. Tomorrow ....

Love you DFS, here’s to a great year of being 10. Xxx

5th July 2018

So for the last time this academic year we gathered in the hall with that end of term feeling, with our last concert on the 14th July at 1.30pm St Edmunds. 

When we return in September we will be having our 10th birthday celebration just ahead of the right royal 28th. 

Today’s warm up for old times sake was our Forever Motown one of our medleys. Just for fun. And after fluffing our way through that Ed slipped behind the piano for a crack at Dona Nobis Pacem which he quickly ran through before splitting up choir into three parts. 

This Is Me came with a brand new backing track and a HUGE hiss. The backing track is part of a medley, such potential fun. Ed declared it ‘over ready’ then sat at the piano to iron out the little creases. We were told to hold our Aaaaaah not our sssssssss. We stood to perform. Ed also reminded us to hold onto our parts. 

And Jacks choice next, the quirky little number that is Life On Mars but only once our choir master’s hands were ready. Then we had a snack break followed by a rousing Viva La Vida, another notice, and a mystery medley after some jokes and thanks from Ed. A HUUUUGE round of applause for Jack. 

In a very clever and honourable link announced his love of The Sound Of Music. We dived in, with Pringles Brownies and booze. Some of my favourite things ...

Well done DFS have a great summer, we all love you XXX

28 June 2018

A warm hall filled respectfully as videos from DFS recent concerts filled the big screen with the sound of Hallelujah and Build Me Up Buttercup and more, filmed around Weymouth and Dorchester. 

Ed thanked everyone for lasts weeks celebrations, but look out for our official celebrations when we return in September. I see from the very first blog post that our official birthday is the 28th. 

Choir heard the story of how Ed’s wife Jenny ruptured her Achilles Tendon doing a Miranda gallop at last Saturday’s party. We all sent our love. Such not fun. Very ouch really. 

We began singing on the dot of 7pm Viva La Vida. The blog App crashed as I hit publish to join in singing. Happily I dug it out of the offline folder. But everyone was very hot and the singing sounded tired. Ed woke us up with This Is Me and it had lovely added brakets so we could split into two. Then we went over some of the timing without the distraction of any music. Holding onto some notes made for a lovely overlap. Then we stood to perform...

Next week Ed will have a new backing track and we will sing This Is Me at our final concert, and suddenly it was time for The Classics beginning with When We Were Young. And Ed said, lovely. 

A backing track for Let It Be Me and so with a note for each part, we sang it Al Fresco, due to persistent lack of a piano. 

Next the marmite-song, You Raise Me Up. We can almost do this without having the words. Almost. The Impossible Dream might not exactly be a classic for DFS but one Ed has a soft spot for so we sang that and really rather well. 

A special request from a younger member was to sing tonight was Wings so yeah. We did. And with the England and Belgium match still without a goal between them, we gave ourselves the clap for singing it so well.

Freddie next. We Are The Champignons according to some. Do You Hear The People Sing is another marmite-song, and for the finale, a surprise. Not that tonight’s running order lacked surprises. 

Something Inside so strong burst fourth from our collective lungs at one minute to eight. I love you DFS, you rock! See you next week with nibbles and a relaxing last session before summer. The Cat xxx

21 June 2018

In a hot, summery Hall, DFS gathered in the place of no-piano to sing, following a short warm up and with instructions to finish early.

Ed read notices including an itinerary for Sutton Poynts street fair, a concert in December at the fire station and a reminder of our last concert this year at St Edmunds. 

Suddenly without a warm up at all, we launched straight into Under The Moon Of Love, too quickly infact before the lyrics had even hit the screen. It wasn’t quite patronising enough so we had to try again while Jack gave us an update of the footy. 

I Got Rhythm came next. Argentina had almost scored! Watch the timing of ‘birds in the trees-sing’. This also needs lots of energy, and Ed demonstrated a solo to try, and we did. On the computer screen, a man sank to the ground. We stood to perform. 

Ed asked Have I The Right and we almost did because the words were up ready but the tune was Hallelujah. Only Ed rose to the challenge of fitting the words and tune. 

We skipped Voulez Vous in order to fit in This Is Me, but not before singing an actual Hallelujah. We worked a little more on the ‘ad lib’ section at the end of the song. 

And to Rocking All Over The World we went, including the dance routine in our chairs. Well. Or played air guitar. Ed said it was too nice. But it was time for This Is Me. We had been doing our homework because Ed was quite pleased. 

The slightly slower Viva La Vida popped into our screen, while on the other, a man was down and a crown of white and orange people gathered. We sang on. The whoa-whoa-whoas were split into two kinds some the sang the end and some the beginning of phrases. 

Then I got my camera switched on ....

you can watch the result HERE!

And after that delight stood and sang Voulez Vous while the sweet cake got cut, and the proseco poured, and remained on our feet to sing I Believe. 

What a lovely night DFS, isn’t it great to be 10? The blog won’t be 10 until next January but you can always dip into the archives to see what we got up to when we had a naughty corner and met in the old music room. 

Keep singing, I love you, The Cat xxx

14 June 2018

Ed thanked everyone for the fantastic concert last week, when £250 was raised twice, both for the church and for MV FREEDOM too. It was hailed as our best concert ever. Well done DFS! 

Jackie and Linda came forward to promote the coffee meetings that take place at Gould’s Garden centre on Thursday afternoons 2-4pm and we will put these sessions on the blog to remind you. 

And so we sang without warm up Hallelujah and it’s not the same not sung in church, and then we learned the super nice high part which overlaps and oooo it was nice. 

Under The Moon Of Love was quickly followed by a bland new song This Is Me. We began with a you tube run through before Ed sat at the piano to break down the overlapping parts and play as we sang, and then stood with a backing track to perform. Have a little listen to it for homework everyone, and well done. 

And next Ed thought our next song was new but it was fabulous revision for choir of All About You. 

And in a fleeting moment when we thought Ed was announcing his retirement he was actually launching a new, slower version of Viva La Vida, and he played the piano, standing to perhaps cool himself off a bit, on the balmy eve. 

And as a special treat we got to choose a song for a treat and we chose I Believe and sang from the heart, then stood to dance to Voulez-Vous and Rocking All Over The World!

Well done DFS, Hard work on a hot night, now don’t forget your homework and proudly say, this is me! Cat xxx

7 June 2018

So feeling fresh after half term choir gathered for a full and fruity dum-dum-diddly and other assorted warm-ups. And all the electric windows were opened because summer has at last arrived in All Saints School Hall. 

Jack and Ed admired our bright summery colours as Ed detailed tomorrow’s concert. I won’t be there this time as I have child duties, but I wish you well DFS. We congratulated each other for the singing at Fayre In The Square, so well done all who aired their lungs there. 

Songs in order as follows ... 

Under The Moon Of Love and after the first run through, came with instructions to sing as if singing to school children, to make those words very very clear, and off we went again! 

I Got Rhythm sounds lovely and we only sang it once! It sounds very lovely, even the ad -lib section. 

Have I The Right also benefitted from less grows and more ‘aggressive purrs’ but I can’t roll my Rrrrrrrrs to save my life so I’ll pass thank you.  

Voulez Vous we stood to perform but sadly we forgot to layer our ‘Aha’s and we performed it again seated, following the delight of Ed’s dance routine! 

Hallelujah lacked the end top note, indeed, probably lacked half of the last Hallelujah as the room of bright people ran out of air. Then meant not leaving the somg until we had achieved it, especially the high note. 

Rockin All Over The World couldn’t start without a demonstration of new dance moves that DFS Dorch felt the instrument section really needed. We prayed folders wouldn’t go flying, and stood to perform, going a bit Milwall in the choruses! High people got to try the harmony part separately so that it might be included at the concert tomorrow. And it was nearly perfect. 

Viva La Vida has a number of options in order to facilitate breathing at the end. But Ed got a little lost trying to demonstrate those! Never mind - we all got it and sounded fab. 

Song Of The Sea went really well and we quickly followed by the secret encore, I Believe. 

Well done DFS, you are CR! Have fun and keep singing, that’s not why I love you xxx

17 May 2018

This weeks careful blog seems to have been eaten by digital issues. Lord knows what it actually said, I’ll save a copy before I hit PUBLISH next time. 

As you were x

10 May 2018

Sometimes you forget things you should remember. Like concerts. Which might be a couple of weeks away, and we might possibly not have all our songs CR, and so the plan for tonight is to select some specific songs from our new selection to hopefully perform. 

A concert dress revision was also given, discussing the scandalous wearing of denim versus black skirt and trousers, and coupled with a plain coloured top. This doesn’t have to be an official polo shirt, but jack gave a tutorial of how to order one on the internets, and you can collect them freshly baked. 

And so the following songs are potentials for our concert, starting with Under The Moon Of Love and no wasting time on a warm up. We are going to repeat the last section to make the song a little less short. Men must hold onto their ‘hand’ a little longer for a nice sexy overlap. After some harmony work, we stood to perform. Do please add a tiny air gap between ‘your’ and ‘ear’ so we don’t infact sing ‘your rear’ which is not the same. 

And gently we sang I Believe which will be a great choice for our concert. No harmony until the last three lines though!

Have I The Right? To growl? Dangerously worzelish was that Dorset growl. Nice, if a little camp, so do man it up with that very manly growl if you can, without shredding those vocal folds! Count two, then let it build. We decided we might come right back to that later and ... 

Next sang I Got Rhythm and many people had a go at the improv section, and that was good because everyone has to make some noise there. Ed played air clarinet to encourage us.

Our Coldplay song Vida La Viva is still a mouthful for us, then, with the beat played on Ed’s lap we broke it down for guidance and understanding, going over some of the timing, and listening carefully to the harmony. Then it was time to perform it. 

All these songs will be fine for a concert in 2 weeks and two days time and so it was decided that we would sing Rocking All Over The World, hoping for another new song for that performance too! Ed bumped up the key a little so I had better remind him in case he wants to stick with it?! 

Next week we will add in three more songs from a recent set, but tonight we finished with a request song, The Wonder Of You, a song that was number one when my parents got married. I hate it. See my CR smile, then standing again sang I Believe and sang it very nicely. 

Really well done DFS, keep singing (and listening), much love from The Blogger Cat xxx

3 May 2018

It’s Thursday and it’s finally summer!? So said Ed before a hum of a warm up. Then he asked who wanted print outs and of what and we began our practice with Under The Moon Of Love and then the sheet music on the screen. Ed demonstrated the three harmony parts to start with. We spent some time breaking these down and working with these, and then, Comcert Ready, stood to perform. Marvellous. 

And because we were so warmed up and lively we had a chat about how to sing I Got Rhythm then dived right in. Don’t forget to be brave and enjoy the improv, because you will find yourself on your feet again! 

Then to Ruth’s delight we sang A Million Dreams, and no more on that until everybody has had a good listen, and we looked very carefully at Viva La Vida and ‘talked’ it through with the rhythm in place to show how the words fit into the tune, which everyone seems to know! Another song with too many words! Ed got behind the piano to run it through, and change the ending to Ooooooh, and then we stood to perform. 

Next week look forwards to more 60s 70s numbers but for tonight there was Have The Right? Complete with groovy growls ... well after encouragement, that it. 

Then we all stood for the last two songs, Rocking All Over The World and I Believe. The extended version! 

Well done DFS, another night of energetic singing, growling and sliding. If we don’t watch out we will be fitter that fitness people. Keep singing and listen to those new songs, Love The Cat xxx

26 April 2018

And after such a long time, we finally met again in the hall at All Saints with a shiny new booklet containing 13 new songs, in no particular order. 

Our first concert will be at Fayer In The Square on 26th May so we quickly got our Dum-Dum-Diddley on ... and the rest of a jolly decent warm up.

Here for those who do not Facebook, is a little summary of this terms songs by Ed the Choirmaster..

“—A Million Dreams 

From the hit film ‘The Greatest Showman’ this is an uplifting song with some lovely powerful moments.  Not one to take too slowly

And So It Goes 

Written by Billy Joel a lovely ballad requiring very precise diction.  Some moments to soar and other moments for soft, clear lyrics to come through

Have a Nice Day 

By Stereophonics, a catchy sing-a-long chorus with an opportunity to belt out some backing vocals in the chorus

Have I The Right? 

A 1964 hit for The Honeycombs this is a classic 60’s stomping good song with a great solid chorus

Hold on Tight 

ELO song with a classic rock ‘n’ roll pattern, even a verse in French to show off our linguistic skills!

I Believe

Who remembers Robson and Jerome? Well before they showed the world their version of this ascending masterpiece, it was recorded by Frankie Laine and was the first hit song ever to be broadcast on television. It was especially written to offer people hope after WW2 and the Korean War.

I Get a Little Sentimental Over You 

Not to be confused with ‘I’m Getting Sentimental Over You’ (easy mistake) this bounce-a-long song by The New Seekers is a straightforward swinger!

I Got Rhythm 

The Gershwin Brothers lively, jazzy ditty from the musical Girl Crazy, this went on to become a jazz standard.

Now Those Days Are Gone 

Almost completely al fresco (!) this was a song recorded by the multi-coloured ‘Bucks Fizz’. They took a step away from ‘making their minds up’ to create this lovely ballad.

Rocking All Over the World 

Anyone who doesn’t know this song is hereby kicked out of Choir 

Sometimes  

A little known powerful movie theme track sung by Shirley Bassey, this is from the film ‘Champions’ starring John Hurt.  It has quite a few key changes and will sound great when sung with mucho agusto! 

Under the Moon of Love 

Showaddywaddy brought us this great song which will split into 3, yes 3 parts!  Dropbox also has the sheet music, I do spoil you!  

Viva la Vida 

Coldplay making an appearance in our repertoire with this number which is quite anthemic and has rather a lot of words!!”

So we started with Under The Moon Of Love and split it into sections because we didn’t know it as well as we thought we did. Lovely visual joke on the sheet music, not one of our regular jokes! 

After performing stood shoulder to shoulder we stayed in the 60s to have a go at Have I The Right? Hmmm. We had a look at the original version on you tube so that first we could giggle, and secondly so that Ed could point out all all important growl and the staccato sounds. Such fun. That was lively. 

Staying chipper we sang I Got Rhythm with Ed demoing the into before the chorus which was the bit most of us knew! 

And gently into I Believe went we who always believe in our collective singing abilities, and after a little work we stood to perform this one. It’s going to be super lovely and good. 

A little French for us again, in the shape of Hold On Tight another up-tempo number to wake us up again. Some ‘yeah’s are missing from the lyric sheets and they are nice and slidy like that amazing 15-count ending. 

And to finish, all enjoyed Rockin’ All Over The World ending as energetic as choir started! Ed gave us homework of listening to the other new songs to get familiar with them! 

Well done DFS, you did good, welcome back, and keep singing, love Cat xxx

22 March 2018

All well and present in the hall, we began to warm ourselves with a fantastic Dum Dum Diddley Dum and more ... followed by reminders of the concerts next week, and the aproaching end of term. Feel free to bring biscuits or cakes to be sold with the teas and coffees. The running order has been a little tweaked but we will run through it tonight, too. 

Build Me Up Buttercup started us off before Ed promised us some really cool songs coming up in the new term. No Hintze were given though ...

Hallelujah is a slow song but needs a bright beginning so it doesn’t sound like dirge. Ed shifted back to the piano to help with harmony parts. And with free choice on the last note we stood to perform. Ed wanted us to sting from lyrics sheets so the screen went blank. Everyone knew the chorus off by heart. Praise the lord. 

And we have all been practicing Perfect so we sang it but rather far from perfectly. Never

Mind. Ed has it covered. 

Voulez Vous has that looooong intro and no one must come in too early. Not halfway through either after the instrumental! This song certainty has some tricky pauses and gaps. Jolly good. 

How Far I’ll Go has traps too and a bunch of people fell into it with aplomb. Splash. At this point in the concert Ed will turn his organ round to do 2 or 3 solos, cake, and back in with I Only Want To Be With You when everyone ran forward to collect lyric sheets. Sang itself basically. 

The Rose has a very quiet back and consequently suffered from false startings. We stood for some work on giving colour to long notes. Popping and dripping were suggested. 

And we livened it up with Since You’ve Been Gone. And it was alright. And followed by Song Of The Sea. 

And with time left for only one song, The Vicar Of Dibley won. 

Well done DFS, enjoy the concerts next week and keep singing, back on the 26th April, Cat The Blogger xxx

15 March 2018

Out next concert at St Nicholas church is two weeks time, parking in Dorchester road and of course please feel free to sing at the concert at URC the night before too. Cakes and biscuits will be sold at the URC to help raise monies for choir charities! 

And Dum Dum Diddly off we went! Followed by more notices, when we learned that DFS Tour was called off, and it’s suggested that we do a DFS day trip would be in order instead. Thanks were given to all that came to sing on Saturday where DFS sounded great and the acoustics were marvellous! Members of the public joined in with some of the singing and even added actions too. 

We have two songs to consider that have not been rehearsed for a while, they have already been voted off by DFS Dorch and replaced with others. 

We attempted a noisy and confident start with Build Me Up Buttercup, and continued with Voulez-Vous, which sounded full of joy on Saturday. Remember Masters not Mar-sters, of the sea, and nice and gentle with the Ah-ha, no laughing policemen. At all. Then after working on those for a bit, with a ton of conviction we stood to perform and it was very much better and with lots of improvements. Thanks Ed. 

And thanks to Lily we know How Far I’ll Go quite well. Don’t forget to snatch lots of little breaths or cooperative with a neighbor to cover each other’s big breaths and it should all come out in the wash. Hopefully not pink. 

Since You’ve Been Gone with its heavier than ever backing track popped up for rehearsal next. The harmonies were lacking so it was time to thrash those out at the piano. 

We revisited Karma Chameleon and popped the key up a bit. I’m sorry I don’t manage to grab those for the blog anymore. I think it’s classified information. Or is it classical? Back-burner is were this song ended up after a quick vote. 

The song that practically sings itself, Perfect, also came under consideration so next week we will deside whether to sing it all together in the concert or have a soloist? It’s so lovely I’ve been singing it a lot at home. 

Next Hallelujah with the silent H was followed by I Am What I Am starting with low voices as usual. Hold onto your Am at the end. 

Finally, just for fun, we sang Do You Hear The People Sing before having a collection for The Street Pastors here in our twin. Remember them when you are tucked up in bed at the weekend, keep singing and remember I love you xxx. 

8 March 2018

Back again after snowmageddon we all Dum Dum Diddley’d and further warmed up, before finding out today that we would be having backing tracks, and a conductor Ed. In notices, our trip is still pending enough singers. We have a concert at St Nicks church broadway on Thursday 29th March, not forgetting the URC concert the night before with the lovely DFS Dorch. 

The running order will follow and was sung in order tonight, beginning with our wake-up song - 

Build Me Up Buttercup and it needed more fire in its belly! Do not mix up your babies and your darlings or we will sound silly. 

Hallelujah saw me terribly distracted by texts from a poorly 11 year old so I sent her snippets as we sang to make her smile! You don’t know how far your voice goes sometimes! 

Voulez Vous has a nice funky backing track with a decent intro and a dad-dance to go with it too. Ed too responsibility for that fact that we fell apart on this one, and gave us a second chance, both to sing it right and see his groovy moves, and it was much better. 

How Far I’ll Go has two very important gaps! And follow the commas for tiny little breaths so you can keep going. After going all through the running order, we came back to this song again. 

The Rose requires us to be uniform in our singing of river, razor, etc. making them a tidy three syllables! 

And with very heavy-metal backing, even heavier than the original, comes Since You’ve Been Gone and our choir master was very excited! It sounded nice. Too nice. 

The Vicar Of Dibley. Breathing is vital. You can squeeze in a little one before ‘beside’ if you feel short. 

I Am What I Am found Ed’s smart watch announcing that trying to conduct DFS results in a Dynamic Workout with three bourbon creams. I wish my Fitbit was half as impressed with our singing because some of these numbers really feel like we’ve been jogging. This song being so fast is no exception and because of that requires really good diction. 

And for a special treat at the very end we sang Jerusalem! Wow! 

Well done DFS, I love you, keep singing, see you soon xxxx

22 February 2018

We were welcomed back after half term by an urgent Facebook post telling us we were meeting in the dining room this very night! Quell surprise! 

We started with notices with news of a first appearance on 10 March in Dorchester, and St Nicholas church in broadway would love to have us sing there in the future too. Look out for posters of our Easter concert available next week. 

The Vicar Of Dibley was tonight’s warm up. Mega posh please with par-stures not PAstures and feel free to rolls your Rrrrrrrrs. The last forever is a very sweet solo filled by this weeks volunteer. They don’t nessesary need to sing it forever .... 

Since You’ve Been Gone well we have had half term, but who’s remembered how to sing this one? It sounded lovely but really demands a different style to Vicar Of Dibley. It needs to be the most raucous we have ever been. So we all made rock faces and tried again, to the sound of Ed growling over the piano. Just remember tho if it hurts, don’t! I was afraid of snapping an elastic. Braces please, not knicker elastic! 

And while ‘up there’ some of us whipped off our hoodies and dived into Build Me Up Buttercup with full enthusiasm. We laughed as parts fell off the organ, and we quickly ran out of steam. Hallelujah. We had a listen to a live recording to identify places for big pauses and just to enjoy the recording. The big paws were officially dropped. Party on, DFS. Lots of high harmony would be lovely too. 

We will sing How Far I’ll Go to keep the youngsters happy, because it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. We know some of the lines have too many words in, but practice will make Perfect and although it had not been sung for a while, we did a really good job of it and it will be included in our indoor concerts. We gently slipped into The Rose. 

The suddenly the blogging app crashed and lost half of my blog post just as we decided to end with I Am What I Am and run for the door as the clock struck 8. Keep singing, and I’ll keep blogging, recover the missing notes and click publish to reward you for a lot of energetic work tonight! Well done DFS, The Cat XXX

8 February 2018

And so, with extra small people because it was half term, DFS gathered in the dining room where everything was ready for us apart from Ed’s organ. Of course we won’t be here next week, but the following Thursday we will be back in the hall again. 

Songy warm-ups instead of excersize warm-ups began with Hallelujah and we got to vote on PAUSE or NO PAWS, with a demo first, and THE PAUSE won. 

Out now is our trip itinerary, but nothings set in stone as yet, Voulez-Vous? Then Ed stopped leading us astray and added another Sylabul to ‘La question’ so we will see how that turns out. It was sounding a bit choral and Ed wanted more pop. 

The church organ came out for a song revisit, The Vicar Of Dibley. Parts will be available soon in the form of sheet music, for any who read such like and would like to sing other parts. 

Karma Chameleon popped up in a different key. One day I might blog which one we settle on? It’s going to sound fabulous once Ed has created the backing track. Since You’ve Been Gone requires raucous singing and contains a few little pitfalls for tired DFS members to stumble into. One is singing whoa not Oh, but we still sounded a bit too nice. 

And gently does it with The Rose that sounded proper well good then we ran through How Far I’ll Go and Build Me Up Buttercup which is coming along nicely. The penultimate song was I Am What I Am, when it’s important for everyone to know where they am, and for the finale, we took votes and sang Hallelujah. 

Well done DFS you worked well in the room with no acoustics to speak of, go home and have a nice cup of tea, listen to you tube and see you after half term, love, The Cat xxx

1 February 2018

Traffic may, still an issue near the school but the hall was full of happy choir members ready to warm up before notices. 

No letters for Chichester are available this week, because much of the itinerary remains to be confirmed. Watch this space. 

New songs can be suggested to Ed in many ways, verbally at choir, by email or little notes are all fine but DFS Dorch members have gone a step further and written in a poly pocket on headed paper, and even included a DVD of a certain to medleys. Maybe we will sing them, who knows. 

The Rose was our first song, and we looked at those timings again, with Ed playing metronome, before attempting a brand new song Since You’ve Been Gone. We were encouraged to apply controlled raucousness and decided to change Oh’s to Whoa’s, but do watch the numbers and the meaningful gap. A few choir members were left exposed. Don’t be that person. Ed outlined the harmony, following the melody starting with the note from the first verse, and we stood to perform. Dare to power-grab. 

With only a 30 second break on our bottoms, shuffling papers to find the words, we stood again to belly dance. I mean song Voulez Vous. Those timing are still giving us a run for our vocal-money. 

But Hallelujah it was time for another song. Please drop your aiches DFS ...

Build Me Up Buttercup OOOO-oooo-oooo baby, and onto the anthemic I Am What I Am  beginning with men only for those important first two opening lines, and we ended with Lily singing How Far I’ll Go recorded at Fulvia’s 60th Birthday. We were allowed to sing along if we wanted to but we all listened before singing the last two choruses with Ed and his piano. 

Wow DFS didn’t we do well? Keep singing, that’s not why I love you xxx

25 January 2018

Once more into the hall dear friends, Ed began by checking everyone had all the words to all the songs we are working on. Warm up began with some copying of scales and then some of are classics, such fun. 

We have been asked to to The Rose Garden, on the 14 July and we have time to decide if we want to do that, because it will be after choir has finished for the summer. 

4th May is our Chichester trip, and next week there will itineraries available from next week and you can hand in deposits from then too if you like. 

We began with Build Me Up Buttercup and ran head first into that dodgy note, then we had a good talking to, and totally nailed it, to the choir master’s extreme surprise, even though he made us do it twice more before slipping into The Rose. But the naughty high harmonies came in a verse too early, and then everything sounded a bit sad. Maybe choir were scared to get it wrong, so Ed had to reassure us of his love, plus a couple of starting notes for good measure. 

And up tempo again to Voulez Vous just in case The Rose made anyone, not Jack, fall asleep. I decided to do a Facebook Live video just to prove I can actually sing now and I got lots wrong. Haha, or is it Ah-ha? Take good care not to be Pirates, or even emphasise the Ah not the Haaaaa.  

Back to earth, and English, Hallelujah, not forgetting the free-for-all-ending and I waited to see who would go for it. Ed went for it. Well done choirmaster! Then he introduced a harmony, a low one in the second second verse, and a high harmony hitting a note that he’s not achieved before. Nice. No gap must be left between the ends of the verses and the Hallelujah. Hallelujah said Ed, when we seemed to have got it, Lovely. 

And to see who did their homework we sang How Far I’ll Go which is quite a jog. After a run through we did it A Capella to sort out some of our timings, before having a whizz through Karma Chameleon. My mum once video’d this off top of the pops, and we played it twice as fast because our player would do that. Ed sang the nice overlaps and harmonies like a boss. 

Grand finale, I Am what I Am, starting with men only for the first two lines. I love you DFS, keep singing! Xxx

18 January 2018

This week song booklets were by the hall door, just to keep everyone on their toes. Or heelys, if you are my daughter. Before warm ups we had a whistle stop tour of the website. Sadly the blog couldn’t be shared because of the very important school firewall that keeps out all potentially naughty blog posts. 

Then everybody but me sang Dum Dum Diddley followed by some sliding nice lovely scales, and some of our more familiar warm ups. I can hum but I felt like my newly screwed down palate might vibrate off. 

Our first song, is only a bit new. We had sung the chorus before as a choir, when Harry used to come in and play ukulele and Ed was singing all the verses. Hallelujah! Ed played around to find the key and we sang our socks off. At the end there’s a big ad lib section and anything goes. Well, so long as it’s in tune! Ot was declared a work in progress. 

And bang up to date, How Far I’ll Go from the film Moana. YouTube gave us a preview and we all listened while a select few Moana fans sang along. For homework listen and learn, and maybe watch the film, it’s better then frozen anyway. This song is new to half of choir, but it does have a sea theme, and that’s good given this years charity of choice. 

And onto Voulez-Vous that we met last week. I think we remembered most of it. To do some harmony work, we sang with the keyboard beat and Ed conducting. Hmmm. The gentlemen were given a world or two about the execution of the ‘Ah-has’... and generally there was another ‘chat’ about timing. Not on the beat! So we stood to perform it, does it even have an intro? 

And to gentle it all down we sang The Rose, and with all the harmonies too. This song needs to build to a meaty middle and then ease down to a soft ending. 

And to get us going again Build Me Up Buttercup which we sang so well over in Normandy in 2013. Evidence is on the blog somewhere if you look. It’s still a rather good concert filler, and won’t take too much work.

And starting with just the men singing from their boots we launched into I Am What I Am! And Ed set listening to Perfect by Ed Sheeran for homework, but also sang some of it for us. I guess I will slap that one on my Spotify and dance with the dog. 

With the clock at 8pm, just for fun, we ‘sang’ Karma Chameleon and I felt very old. Once we got into it, it sounded pretty good! 

Well done DFS, I love you - keep signing! Cat xxx

11 January 2018

Happy New Year to DFS Weymouth and Portland who were happy to back in the hall again at All Saints school. We will be in the hall for all sessions until half term, so with glee we launched into a warm up, a Dum Dum Diddley Diddley!

But Ed, without the right end on his lead, had his piano turned up so loud that he couldn’t hear us at all so a huge chair shift took place so we could snuggle up. Amen ..

In announcements we met our list of brand new songs. A member of MV Freedom gave a vote of thanks for the money raised at the Christmas concert. 

We started proper singing with The Rose and a brief reminder of the harmony because this song is quite well known to seasoned members of DFS. And then, with Ed conducting, we flatly began to sing Al Fresco. A note about sssssss and another note about syncopation were made, and a note from the piano got us unflattered again. A smiling DFS sang again as our lifted cheeks lifted the sweet little tune right out of the durge it had fallen into. And I smiled too in support, although I’m not yet singing. With some extra work on the harmony parts this song was beginning to sound a lot more confident, as choir stood to perform it. 

We also revisited Build Me Up Buttercup and a fantastic bum note or two and because Ed wanted some more lively numbers this term. Someone was doing a Billy Ocean. Ooooohs are so hard to get right. There was no backing track to work with so Al Fresco again it was to fine tune a thing or three, and back to the piano to refine the second to last HEART ... the C# one before the key change. Oh dear. It’s going to be a looooong term .......

Then we moved to whizz through the rest of the songs beginning with Voulez-Vous and a nice bit of disco rhythm to boot! Choir had to split into AH-HA people and THE INBETWEENY BITS people. Fantastically upbeat, Ed left both Jack and the choir behind!  The beat sure needed sorting out and the French pronounciation too! 

And then to calm things down, Say You, Say Me. And breathe. Wasn’t this once an advert? 

And then to finish, I Am What I Am to see how the key fit. Ed broke the piano. 

Well done everyone, do your homework and keep singing xxxx

7 Dec 2017

As choir starts up again this week I look back at our concerts performed at the end of term. I was not at DFS Dorchester’s do, but I bet it was as good and enjoyable as last year and choir realised £275 for the MS Society. Well done DFS Dorch. I would have come but was having very special family time and saving myself for ....

DFS Weymouth and Portland performed on the next night, a good and varied bunch of songs, some brave soloists, and of course a Christmas medley with real jingle bells. I like it when props make an appearance! At one point a sheep showed up! Solo songs included two really funny numbers, ‘Cheep Flights’ and

‘Earnie’, something I vaguely remember from the olden says. 

Along with a glittering and fabulous raffle and some fun games we managed to raise £814.95 for MV Freedom, and I sang my last song for a while which was written by Hintze and Greenaway, and I’m afraid there was no time to write a blog the next day because of rushing to Poole Hospital for 7.15am. Without, may we add, even a half decent breakfast. I’ll be back blogging for you all again tomorrow but I won’t be able to sing. Enjoy the break, and hope too that you enjoyed the Christmas break and felt loved, free of man flu and other yuck things like that. 

Keep singing, I love you, Cat The Blogger xxx