Young at Heart

Sometimes all it takes is one song and you’re whizzing back a couple of decades to where you were when you first heard it. Sometimes it’s not even a particular moment or event that it recalls but rather a feeling. Sometimes it’s happy, sometimes it’s sad but more often than not it’s a youthful feeling. That feeling of being young, carefree, with the possibility than anything can happen and will. That only good things lie ahead.

Now not having that many years on the clock, I can’t really talk but it’s still possible to get that feeling. And all it takes is one song from twenty years ago that you haven’t really heard since then. You’ve probably experienced the same thing yourself. So you can imagine what it’s like when you’re a t a seventieth birthday party, with a whole group of people that haven’t been in the same place in a long time. All the chatter from the catching up! And the perfect soundtrack? A carefully crafted playlist with all the classics and favourites. As you look around, every now and then small groups will start singing along, swaying to the music, faces glowing. And then that prompts some memory, some shared experience, that leads to peals of laughter. If you’re lucky enough, they might just share the joke with you.

What has this got to do with us? At the moment we are rehearsal a few popular pieces that will probably invoke feelings of nostalgia. And if we play them right, hopefully our audience will get a snatch of that youthful feeling too. I guess there is only one way to find that out – join us! And for audience members who bring along a few younger generations of their family, we could be sowing the seeds for youthful feelings in the future. Who knows! Years down the track they could catch the melody and be transported back to the feeling of a summer evening, running around, having an absolute ball. Again, only one way to find out!

We might get older but we can still have moments where we feel young at heart.

 

Nice 'n' Easy

With all the outdoor performances we've got lined up, we've got a fun, relaxed repertoire to match. But does this mean we're taking things nice and easy? Um. It's kind of a no. Even though a lot of the pieces we are rehearsing fall firmly into the popular music genre it doesn't mean they are easy. We might be familiar with the tune but that just makes any surprises all the more surprising. So despite the party vibe at each rehearsal I'm still having to pay complete attention to what I'm doing (gasp! The horror). I can't fade out and think about what I'm going to be doing the rest of the week (with particular attention being paid to the weekend). This is why we need a conductor. To keep me in line and make sure I'm not mentally mixing and matching my wardrobe. 

That said the music that we are playing it's very hard not to pay complete attention. From the first few opening bars which get the rhythm beating out, some pieces are complete recognisable. And you can't help singing along in your head (if I'm honest that's probably my biggest distraction. Some rehearsals it's like Freddie Mercury has taken up a permanent residence in my head. Of all the real estate options. He's really limiting himself there). 

We are doing all the hard work now so come show time those accidentals, tricky rhythms and the just plain weird won't trip us up. And then we can take it nice and easy and enjoy the music.