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