How to practice at home

When the choir is learning a new piece you must begin by becoming familiar with the piece itself.  There are two ways of doing this.  If there is a recording listen to the recording ......OFTEN.  If you don't know the notes, the musical nuances and the general sound of the piece you cannot expect to be able to hold your own when it comes to singing in the choir.  If there is no recording then you will need to become familiar with the piece by listening to the complete MIDI of the piece.  For each piece there is either a recording, a MIDI (which has all the parts at equal volume), or both.  In the case of each piece posted in our repertoire there is a way of hearing what the final product should sound like.

Next you must determine your voice part if you don't already know it.   For men with a high sounding voice you most likely will sing Tenor, for men with a low sounding voice most likely you will sing Bass, for women with a high sounding voice you will most likely sing Soprano, and for women with a low sounding voice you will most likey sing Alto.  If you are still having trouble with voice part determination please contact the Music Director for more help.

Once you know your voice part you'll need to begin practicing pieces by checking the calendar on the upcoming Sunday.  If you click on the calendar date and then on the high mass you can open the list in a fresh window.  From there click on the piece of music that you wish to learn.  (Note: not all pieces will be able to be posted in full on the website for the time being. We will continue to add repertoire and eventually have the entire library online and ready for home practice)

Once the piece opens up for example Sicut Cervus you will see the information about the piece, its liturgical use, its liturgical season etc......  Scroll down the page and notice the voice parts; if you are a soprano click on the soprano part and expand it.  You will see some posting information but there should be 3 specific files (4 in some cases) that you will use to practice, the are called Soprano solo, "voice part" louder than the rest, "voice part" quieter than the rest. 

1. The solo section is for you to learn the notes of the particular pieces that you're working on. 

This is where you spend a lot of time learning your notes.

2. The Soprano louder than the rest is where you get to hear the notes that you've learned along with the rest of the chord structure.  This allows you to confidently sing your part while other people are singing theirs.

This is where you spend time practicing your notes so that you can tell how it sounds with the other voices.

3. The Soprano quieter than the rest is where you hone your skills in learning and hold your own with the other voices without the aid of the louder MIDI.

This is where you polish your knowledge and ablilty to sing this music without following other members in the choir.

One very specific rule to remember is that practice times on Wednesday and Sunday mornings are not for you to learn your notes by following someone else in the choir that already knows their part.   Our whole reason for this website is so that you can learn your notes at home.

Remember to take note of upcoming pieces.  The director will be posting rehearsal information on the board at church, if there are instructions to learn a specific piece you'll most likely find that piece in its entirety in the repertoire.