Exploring Close Harmony

Close harmony is when the distance between the notes of the chord are close together. The range of the full chord, from highest to lowest pitch, might be very narrow. This kind of harmony is very popular in barbershop music, vocal jazz and more recently, in the contemporary choral music of composers such as Eric Whitacre, Ola Gjeilo and Morten Lauridsen.

Practising Parallel Solos

Choose a well know solo or melody to sing in unison with your choir. I like to use “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Once you are confident they know it, ask …

Atomic Creativity

In his book, Serious Creativity, Edward de Bono defines creativity at its simplest level as “bringing into being something that was not there before” For music, what could this sound …

Lullaby from Australia

Sharing songs from different cultures helps us to become aware and learn more of those cultures. ‘Inanay’ is an Australian aboriginal lullaby. It is sung in Yorta Yorta, the language of …

Roger Emerson: Getting Started

By word of introduction, back at the outset of the pandemic, when I launched the CCL, I answered a ‘Monday Motivation’ Facebook post by Roger Emerson who was offering to share his music in online reading sessions with choir leaders.