26 June 2025

We were a little low on numbers today so Ed said we have to sing four times louder. 

1pn this Saturday outside HSBC the weather will be gorgeous as we watch ukelele players nonchalantly. 

Drinks and Nautico after. 

Some of you may have Facebook invites to the final party in 2 weeks time down ringstead bay. Ed has negotiated free parking for us. 

Forms were at the back of the room for the singing workshop but you can always contact the big man. 

We warmed up then Ed told us to look forward to something of a different format next week, as next weeks songs will have been sung. 

ALL ABOUT YOU 

don’t forget, it’s starts with the Ukelele singers, two solo lines from Ed, then we are in. Dash to the front and sparkle! 

We went straight into SIT DOWN. 

There was just enough time for Lesley to complain about my voice before Ed started the intro to BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP. 

HELP! Shouted Ann, but it was ok, she was just finding the lyrics to the next song. 

DONT SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY and WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM completed our flashmob rehearsal. 

HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN blasted from the speakers. Lesley called for a vote and this song was axed. 

I LET THE MUSIC SPEAK was followed with a demonstration of ‘Mixing’ to enable us to sing across our ‘break’. 

Next week we will be signing medleys from musicals and ending with DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING. Forgive me dear reader, but I may be packing boxes … 

With the backing vocal we sang WHO BELIEVES IN ANGELS and Ed said we need to give pizza preferences next weeks. Meaty or veggie then we stood to perform ARMS OF MARY. 

Well done DFS, getting a lift to my new house with Carol, see you nonchalantly on Saturday xxx

 

19 June 2025

No Ukelele’s this week, but the words of a brand new song ARMS OF MARY were waiting at the back. Jenny had to save the day so everyone would have lyrics. 

28 June 2pm - ukelele group playing in town. Wear clothes. Flash mob will commence with nonchalantly Ed. Afterwards at Nautico Lounge. 

10 July - ringstead cafe choir social. Karaoke and more. 6pm. 

9 August - abba singalong workshop. 10am to 4pm. Luncheon and drinks in the church centre with a concert live on Facebook. Whooo. £25 and fancy dress optional. 

3rd July is our last rehearsal together so we might have a bit of fun because there will be no more concerts. 

We warmed up. 

First, the flashmob song ALL ABOUT YOU during which some people forgot and came in with Ed. Oops. 

Straight on to SIT DOWN, again with Ed at the piano. We worked on the ending in support of stage right who were thin on the ground. 

BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP burst forth from our mouths and we tried to impress Ed with the strong start he was looking for. He was impressed. 

Four chords in and HELP was belted out. But not quite loudly so we tried that again. 

Next with the backing track, we sang DON’T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY. Ed said, we may be close to having reached perfection, so I wrote that down quick. 

Joy as we sang WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM and completed our six song set for the flashmob. Hehe. 

Our new song ARMS OF MARY has been done by a few folk. We listened to it.

HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN we sang along with the backing track. Not bad.

Another look at WHO BELIEVES IN ANGELS … Ed said no one but three people had done their homework. 

Our final song we sang along with Abba, some stood and chatted as Ed started the song I LET THE MUSIC SPEAK. 

Stay awesome DFS, see you soon! Cat xxx 

12 June 2025

For the second Thursday in a row, we gathered with the ukeleles at the front. Ed slipped behind the piano and welcomed everyone, complementing stage left on their numbers. 

We DUM-DUM-DIDDLED.

Flash mob is … oh I can’t tell you. It will spoil the surprise. End of summer party is 10 July singing on the beach at Ringstead. While I was adding that Ed read out the running order for the secret flashmob and managed to miss it. Frantic copying in the front row so anyone can look on the blog later and order their folders. 

ALL ABOUT YOU 

Don’t sing until Ed’s sang a little on his own. Then drop your bargains and head for the front. 

Then Ed and the Ukelele man had a secret chat at the front. 

We sang it again after a few pointers. 

SIT DOWN

We sang this as my once-small twins were seeing the real James thanks to some prize tickets. We all put a lot of energy into this one. 

BUTTERCUP BABY

Strong start needed WHAAAAAAAA that sort of thing. 

HELP was Grand and Superb. 

DONT SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY 

As the a ukeleles packed up we sang with our backing track. They tiptoed out as we sang ‘Goodbye means nothing’ which was hilarious. Lovely.

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM raised the temperature in the hall. 

I LET THE MUSIC SPEAK made me laugh. It’s the bit about the blind man. Sorry. Needs a phantom of the opera theatrical laugh I think. After a run through with tbe backing track Ed slipped onto his piano stool for some note bashing. 

New song next, WHO BELIEVES IN ANGELS? We listened carefully. 

Super and amazing DFS, lots of love, Cat xx 

5 June 2025

We shuffled and grabbed fresh words (two new songs) and sat facing the Ukelele players as they tuned up. 

We warmed up and didn’t feel embarrassed at all. Two practices until our grand flashmob. Eeee some of them joined in! We invited them to play as we sang happy birthday to Sandra. 

ALL ABOUT YOU is going to kick off the flashmob outside HSBC. Choir starts singing on ‘Then you whispered…” allowing Ed to kick off the flashmob. It was declared concert ready. 

Next SIT DOWN by James. Pretty good. Moving on…

HELP went down well at quite a lick. We sang that one twice to make sure it was all right and tight. 

Our final joint song was BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP. Remember to leave out the key change and no times 2 at the end, just do that once. 

We repeated ALL ABOUT YOU just to help out Dave. As the Ukelele players packed up and left we listened to I LET THE MUSIC SPEAK, then when they had departed blown away by our collective talents Ed slipped behind the piano. 

Inspired by recent weather HERE COMES THE RAIN AGAIN. 

Song voting time for two songs to sing outside HSBC while the Ukeleles have a break. We chose DONT SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY and WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM and we will perform those with our backing track. We stood to sing a final song … 

Wow, well done DFS keep singing and go play that ABBA song loud xxx 

15 May 2025

A fun delay tonight when we realised someone had ended their Pilates session by popping the bag containing our til and lyrics sheets into a car to Preston. We chatted about our weeks while we waited for its return. 

Here’s our running order for a week on Sunday - 25th May 11.20. Outside brewers quay, definitely not Brewery square! 

DONT SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY

We stood to sing, satisfied we had done our very best this evening! 

SIT DOWN 

Beautiful said Ed. Can you tell this in reverse order. 

ALL ABOUT YOU 

Mind the overlaps! 

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM

We had begun a game of ‘count the repeats in the ending’ during the last song. Much hilarious was had in the room. Eight times. 

BLACK VELVET

3 times 2 If you pleases at the end. We sang again from the second chorus without helping guides. 

ALONE 

We sang along with the vocal guide. It starts light with relaxed phrasing, slips into some agitation and then goes for it. Bob offered to sing the ‘Bodyforn’ solo. 

HELP 

Sang after happy birthday and with the guide vocal. There’s a funny little note at the end there. Slightly discordant and slightly sweet. We sang the beginning again trying not sound sluggish. 

(Pretend end of concert)

BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP 

That little key change is still a little tricky. We practiced that. 

Then choir sang Happy Birthday to Cat and Audrey. Yippeeee. 

And the plan for tonight was to tackle them in reverse order, so we did. Perhaps next week we will sing them in the right order, but the week after you can sing what you like in the bath or something because it’s half term. 

Such fun. See you next week, for dress rehearsal. Concert perfect x 

8 May 2025

We had to new songs to meet tonight, HELP and ALONE so we jumped into a warm up quick. We sang scales to Aaaah and AMEN. 

With all our folders open at ALONE Ed fired up the App and the noise machine. There are a few pauses to be aware of, something called and obit and a bit from the old Bodyform advert. 

We all made like divas without the backing vocals and we were all happy. 

The ukelele guys want to perform HELP with us so we sang that one, but in a higher key because ukelele. There seemed to be rather too many words and it was rather high. The smurfs on the backing track were testament to that. 

We tackled the backing track in detail too and it started to sound really, very, amazing! 

DON’T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY was sung next, once through before Ed found the light switch, told us to mind the gap, give him a big fat nothing, and sing a lovely 7-note oooh. 

SIT DOWN requires some serious parts-singing. Don’t forgot to hold on to those notes. We sang it with the backing then without. Just Ed clapping. 

He didn’t pretend to get things wrong, like last week. 

Next ALL ABOUT YOU sounded quite lovely. Everyone was happy. 

My favourite next WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM. We can all be divas in this one too. 

Some BLACK VELVET was squeezed in before BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP whooooo! 

Awesome DFS. Proper good. See you next week. 

1 May 2025

Good Evening and welcome to a summery summer choir practice… 

We warmed up, gently at first, promised Ed. We la-la-la etc. but then we had to do some shouting. That is how loud we can be. Nice. All are vocal folds are aligned. 

We started with DON’T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY, then after had a listen to the backing track to see where all the extra OOOOOs need to go. Some of them are very complex. Any questions? 

SIT DOWN, said Ed, but we already were. So we sang along with the backing vocals, transposed like pinky and perky. We also sang a capela and broke down the overlaps in the bridge. Super. 

ALL ABOUT YOU of course. You are the choir, after all. Ed said we were magical. 

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM. Love this one. A lot. We contemplated free falling in the ending. 

BLACK VELVET also has random ooooooohs and aaaaaahs. We will need to check out the melody and harmonies next time, but we touched on the chorus. 

BUILD ME UP BITTERCUP was our finale. 

Super, smashing, brilliant. Go home satisfied, and see you next week x 

24 April 2025

Welcome to a brand new term, with new songs and new old songs. Thank you to all who came to the singing workshop and to Jenny for doing the lovely cooking. 

Same old warm up though, and we needed a good one to tackle six songs. Our next appearance is on the 25th May and we need some for that. 

We began with DONT SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY which Ed unearthed while looking for this terms songs, and he played it using his brand new tech gear.  It has us accidentally us singing like snurfs. Hilarious. Take care singing ‘pouring rain’ and mind the gaps .. Ed has added two dots in the relevant places. 

After 2 goes ‘Petula’ was muted and we sang with Ed and his red pen baton .. 

SIT DOWN said Ed sternly, and we sang along, wondering if Ed would decide to pitch it a little higher. He did. Not hard T in sit. Ed spilt the room into brackets and hinges. Sorry, no brackets. We worked on that and it started to come together. 

The room was divided again for ALL ABOUT YOU and we sang it with the guide vocal, and then once through without. 

A fresh, new-to-choir song WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM. 

Referencing Elvis we sang BLACK VELVET. 

Finally, we leapt to our feet to BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP! 

Whoop, well done, see you next week DFS XXX

27 March 2025

Hello, called Ed, inviting us to work intensively on some of the songs, including HYMN which will be sung in the Dorchester Easter concert. (Next Wednesday 7pm). 

This time next week we start our concert at 7.30pm. Don’t forget your raffle prizes. Wear bright and pastelly colours. Plain tops, no patterns. 

There are a few places left on the workshop on the 16th and it has a cute we performance at the end. Come back on the 24th April for the summer term. 

We warmed up then we started with HYMN. Ed counted us in. We muttered before hand about a little rusty. 

The intro of ONE OF US needs a big blast. We didn’t do too badly actually but we did discover Lesley had had a bad day. 

LOVE LETTERS we sang all the way through with Ed marking the ends of words. 

He sat at the piano for most of ALL MY LOVE then switched to the backing track. 

We got to sing the whole of TIL THERE WAS YOU / HERE COMES THE SUN with the backing track too. 

And I WILL FOLLOW HIM too. 

We had three goes at the intro of YOUNG AT HEART. 

AVE MARIA requires big monster breaths so we sang the whole song and then went through again looking were to take big breaths and snatch small ones. 

FRIDAY IM IN LOVE needs a funky ending that fits but it needs to go up at the end. 

Finally, BANNER-MAN, looking out for timing and huge breaths! 

Wow. Well done, see you next week for the concert xxx

20 March 2025

2 weeks until concerts! No panicking aloud. 5 songs, solos and then 5 more songs. But don’t forget one of them is the encore. 

Please hand raffle prices to the lovely Carol. 

The fresh and lovely running order … 

ONE OF US 

LOVE LETTERS 

ALL MY LOVE 

TIL THERE WAS YOU/ HERE COMES THE SUN

I WILL FOLLOW HIM 

solos and duos 

YOUNG AT HEART 

AVE MARIA (or HYMN for Dorchester)

RUN FOR HOME

FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE

BANNER MAN

we begin at 7.30pm. 

We began without a warm up to sing the first five songs. Had a two minute break, then sang the second half. That took us to 11 minutes past 8 and Ed said we had to tackle some of those songs again but he did let us a one minute break. And we did bits of songs, not all of them. 

We did brilliantly, now go home for a well earned biscuit xxx

13 March 2025

Ed welcomed us all … telling us we had a lot to get through tonight, all our songs! Next week we can look forward to singing our songs in concert order. Concerts at the start of April! 

There were tick forms at the back of the hall for the workshop day too. Grab your early bird tickets as a DFS member before it’s opened up to the public. 

We had a little warm up … 

Then we rang through all the song in this order… 

TIL THERE WAS YOU/ HERE COMES THE SUN 

Sounded lovely but just needs a little lift. 

IT’S FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE 

The ending could be the beginning but to do and da. Or some doo-do-dos of your own invention. Maybe. 

ALL MY LOVE 

Ed sang harmony, and he very much liked our efforts here. Practice in the kitchen is paying off. 

AVE MARIA 

Needs to be smoother. More big breaths. 

YOUNG AT HEART

Coming on beautifully 

ONE OF US 

Lovely 

RUN FOR HOME 

Dramatic

LOVE LETTERS 

This one has a bit of country. A hint of a yodel. 

I WILL FOLLOW HIM 

THE BANNER MAN

And after that we had a treat - getting to sing ALL MY LOVE with Ed at the Piano. 

eeek. Didn’t we do well? X

6th March 2025

Welcome to no roadworks, welcome to Thursday evening. Ukelele Dave is keen for a new flat mob so don’t tell anyone it’s Saturday 28 June, time to be conformed. 

2nd and 3rd April for our Easter concerts, with lollipops and prizes. More details next week about the singing workshop, but it will be running 10 to 4pm. 

One song needs to go tonight, to whittle 9 down to 8. We warmed up with I WILL FOLLOW HIM. Don’t forget to hold those long notes. No passengers allowed. 

Ed slipped out from behind the piano to fire up the backing track and conduct. It went well. 

Next, BANNER-MAN blasted from the speaker and from us too. Breathing is essential for this song, and don’t forget to fully participate in the competition between stage right and stage left. We worked quite hard on this one tonight. Was it concert perfect? 

Then we ‘relaxed’ with LOVE LETTERS as you do. The first record Lesley ever bought.

We dug out copies of TIL THERE WAS YOU/HERE COMES THE SUN and spares were shared. Ed slipped behind the piano forte and sang along too.

ALL MY LOVE was played by Ed too. On the second run through he blasted out the harmony before letting us lose with the sound track. Lovely love. 

Up tempo nest with YOUNG AT HEART. Ed said that were lovely too, and we flipped to AVE MARIA. He was also very pleased with that. We might have to persuade Dorch to try again, or just wow them at the concert! 

Abba to finish, ONE OF US. Yes indeed. Be careful with STUBBORN AND MISCONCEIVING !!!!! 

Fab singing, you have all obviously been practicing in ASDA etc. but that’s not why I love you x 

27 February 2025

Tonight was a very exciting night. We were going to be able to choose songs for our Easter concerts on 2nd 3rd and 4th. Just kidding. No one could agree on the dates. Choose songs wisely. 

Jenny has been busy sorting out the musicals workshop day, making sure there’s a delicious menu on the 16th. 

Champagne supernova is on hold … in October there’s a concert at the pavilion on the 10th October… we will be backed by Jacks band and taking part in Rock for Riley. You can catch The Haze at Wyke Smugglers this Saturday, just incase you fancy that. 

We warmed up. Ed appologised for the road closure. He and Jenny got caught in that themselves! 

We began our songs with ONE OF US, beginning with a revision of the intro, harmonies included. Ed explained the three coin trick, when teaching the piano. It doesn’t sound fun to be honest, but it was a vain attempt to try and get us to sing ‘stubborn and misconceiving’ correctly. And it worked. 

Digging into old songs we tackled BANNER MAN next. Energetic. Then it was time to vote to include this in the Easter concert. It’s staying. 

I WILL FOLLOW HIM drifted into the hallway with plenty of dramatic hissing. Some of us joined in without words anyway. It got a yes vote. 

LOVE LETTERS was next. That’s quite quick to sing. It was voted in, buy a cat’s whisker. 

Back to this terms songs with RUN FOR HOME, and it got voted in as well as the ABBA song.

I love YOUNG AT HEART but it does sound a bit odd with Dorset accents. Just saying. It was voted in. 

A quick sing through of AVE MARIA, said Ed as he slipped behind the piano. Although Dorch voted it out we said yes, so that was that. 

ALL MY LOVE blared from the speakers. Stage left really wasn’t sure but it slipped through so that was nice. 

Next, HYMN following a pondering about whether it was blasphemy or unblasphemy. It’s definitely interesting lyrics. We popped it in on the shelf. 

Finally, gone 8.30pm we sang FRIDAY, I’M IN LOVE. Carol confided that she’s warming to it. Phew. 

Good start back DFS, well done. Xxx

13 February 2025

Ed reminded us that next week is half term. So don’t come next week. Ed and Jenny are going away for a nice break. 

We warned up with sirens which we haven’t done for a while. Esp me who was missing last week with the lurgry. We dum dum diddled as Jenny went off to the shops. 

We did some diaphragm work. Everyone felt a bit shy. I felt a bit rusty, that was my excuse! 

Then it was time to sing nicely, FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE, a song we often finish with. We sang it through with the cure blasting out of the speakers. Ed wanted to teach us harmonies. Yum. We also worked out an ending. Boom, on went the backing track. 

In notices - we have a gig. Easter concerts are looming - 2nd and 3rd April. 16th April for an Easter singing workshop and lunch.

25th May is Fayre in the square this years. 11am for our slot. And there will be a flashmob at some point this year. 

We had to start YOUNG AT HEART three times … that echo! Stage right are the interrupters at the crossover. We attempted the whole thing without accompanyment. That was fun. I think. 

Ed sat at the piano and didn’t sing at all while we sang AVE MARIA. Probably roughly. But better when we worked on it. 

ONE OF US started with Ed at the piano to got over that gorgeous intro. Once perfected, out came the came the backing track. 

And the newer song ALL MY LOVE next, sounding lovely, and our finale was RUN FOR HOME so some people stood to sing. 

Well done DFS, ya done good, have a great half term x 

30 January 2025

We had a fresh sheet of paper tonight, and Ed said we were going to do something different, and start by listening to our new song to see how many of us actually know it. 

He pressed play on ALL MY LOVE and it filled the hall, and then we turned to AVE MARIA as a warm up, to Dah. I was instantly lost. Never mind I warmed up at a funeral this afternoon. 

Careful with the graaaaaaa and the doooooooh whose notes drop down before you sing the next bits. Can I get an Amen? In at the deep end, we tried to sing it so Ed could listen but we didn’t get much beyond page one. 

ONE OF US begins with a lot of Aaaaahs. Or it was going to but Ed’s battery was flat, so he slipped back behind the piano. 

Once plugged in again Ed guided us thru the melody and the harmony of the intro. We tried a capela. 

Next YOUNG AT HEART yeeeeeehaaaaaa. There are lots of overlaps and interruptions. And lots of opportunities to be removed from choir. Not really. 

And on to HYMN which we are getting more used to.

We went back to ALL MY LOVE with Ed at the piano. That was nice to listen to as I think I’d only heard it once before.

We swished the pages to RUN FOR HOME but Ed said Lindisfarne and we had to guess which song that meant. But we got there. We sang along. 

We stood for the chorus of CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA, twice. 

Super smashing singing, see you next time xxx 

23 January 2025

This week we ran out of music. Especially the dots for Ave Maria. We shuffled and fluttered, passing pages back and fourth. Such that there was no time for propper warm up so we aaaaaghed to AVE MARIA.

Latin pronunciation is always a challenge and it became a good hearted debate. Then it was time for the backing track we were loads better than last week. 

We changed the pace with ONE OF US and the backing tracking track. We broke it down at the second verse as it goes up and down more than people were singing it. That was helpful. We also went over the intro aaaaaahhhhhs and added the harmonies which were new last week! 

And another run through and Ed said very well done. We flipped over the page to sing RUN FOR HOME with the original. Ed demonstrated the lower harmony like Yoda then dug out a backing track. It was rather loud. 

Muttering as Ed announced CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA and sat at the piano to tinkle bash plonk. We only got halfway through before Ed explained that, for once, we can slide in this one. 

Satisfied we flipped to YOUNG AT HEART yeeeeehaaaaa and had a good look at the intro with that echo. Well we tried. 

We stood to sing (and dance) FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE. 

Fab. Now go home and rest. You deserve it. Cat xxx

16 January 2025

I’ve been blogging for 16 years, for choir, and Ed and Jenny had good news … it was the eve of Ed’s and Bobs birthday. 

The Easter holidays might hold a workshop said Ed, before the mic shut down with a snap, crackle and a pop. Tonight we had printouts for seven brand-new-to-choir songs, so we warmed up to happy birthday and dum-dum-diddled too. 

Carol next to me chose YOUNG AT HEART and it blasted out of the speaker. There are harmonies from the first lines which Ed requested lots of. There are 3 parts. 

Next up, a few requests for dots for AVE MARIA and it wasn’t the version I thought it was going to be. I’ll drop the link to the YouTube version. 

FRIDAY I’M IN LOVE filled the room. This has quite an adventurous middle eight, for sure. On went the backing track and we were off again. 

Ultravox HYMN has been on Eds wish list for some time.

Abba again, this time ONE OF US. After a run through we went over the lovely intro and sang the song again with the backing track. Cha cha chaaaaaa. 

Choirs do a fab version of CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA. On went the speaker. 

We just had time to sing RUN FOR HOME before we had to … run for home. 

Wow well done on tackling all those new songs. Keep singing, that’s not why I love you x