Many of you will be there in just a few months – singing at Koerner Hall, one of Canada’s première performance venues. With your My Pop Choir friends surrounding you and your family and friends in the audience, December 5 will be a night to remember.
MPC owner/director Alex Fiddes has some advice to help with your preparations and his main suggestion might surprise you: relax.
You can rest assured that Alex and the Big Sing team will be ready for you with plans (already in place) for change rooms, meal breaks, wardrobe, and everything else you have on your worry list. And you will find the answers to many of your questions on the FAQ page of the Big Sing section on the MPC website.
But let’s address what is likely the main concern for many MPC singers: memorization.
“The best trick to memorize is not to memorize,” says Alex. “This is when you have the luxury of time.”
Alex advises that we just don’t worry about it right now. “Don’t put the need or the stress to memorize into your head.”
Practice is obviously the key element to a good performance. But what’s the best way to do that with a December 5th date in mind? “Work on the stuff with the music in your hand,” advises Alex. “Don’t think about memorizing, just work on the music. Enjoy the process of practising because how you feel when you practise is going to naturally present itself during the performance.”
He suggests that if you are brooding, stressed or worried during your rehearsal time, it’s more likely that those feelings won’t go away during your performance. “You’ve got a few months, so practise once or twice a week and then one day put your music down and you will find you just know it. We are all more than capable of doing this. As for the memorizing part, the main battle is the psychology behind the idea of memorizing.”
Alex is well aware that there are choir members with the type of personality that just can’t accept the “forget about memorizing and it will happen” philosophy! So here is another specific trick to use. Particularly if there is one song(s) that you are struggling with, you might want to try this approach.
“Write down all the words you sing,” suggests Alex. “This enters your brain in a different way. It’s a very popular way to do it and it will get into your body much quicker as you focus completely on what you’re doing.”
And speaking of focus: “Any practice is good practice but technically a sit-down focussed practice with sheet music is the best form. But in the shower, in the car, cooking – even distracted practice is good.”
In any discussion of memorization, we need to talk about muscle memory.
According to Alex, you need to trust your muscle memory. “Muscle memory is something that everyone with a brain has. It’s just how your brain works and everyone is capable of it. Putting in that practice engages your muscle memory.”
Apart from the actual neural brain pathways that are activated when you learn lyrics, the physical functions of your breathing and your jaw movements etc. are all interconnected.
Alex describes his own singing experience: “The way I inflect, the timing of when I breathe, the way I engage my vocal structure will be consistent. And I do it unconsciously all based on muscle memory.”
While memorizing is certainly key to being ready for the Big Sing, there are other elements that are important to a polished performance such as wardrobe. “Let’s go classy!” says Alex. What you wear is also discussed on the FAQ page. There you’ll find answers for this and other details that may be concerning you.
Above all, enjoy the anticipation that comes from getting ready for the Big Sing!
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