Memoirs of a Failed Choir

Third Practice

"Do Re Do. Do Re Me Re Do. Do Re Me Fa Me Re Do." I instructed the choir as Roderich played the notes on the piano to keep us in the same key. Once we had gotten through the whole octave, I decided that we had warmed up enough.

"Why are we doing this?" Gilbert whined from the back, "I thought we'd be singing."

"It's important to warm up our vocal chords, Gilbert." Roderich said briskly, "Just like any other muscle in your body, it can get strained if used too abruptly."

"Oh! Is that why Gilbert has such a rough voice?" Raivis piped up, "Because he yells without warming up?"

Deciding to intervene before Gilbert socked Raivis, I cleared my throat. "Alright, since the last practice, Roderich and I highlighted all of the key changes in your sheet music. Hopefully that will help you to do slightly better."

"Are you saying that we are not good?" Natalya hissed.

"Natalya, how many choirs have you sang in before?" Roderich asked patiently.

"None..."

"And how many times have you sang from sheet music?"

"Never..."

"So you will need help. There is no such thing as talent when it comes to this. You need to practise or you will be terrible. Simple as that."

"Except for you?" Francis huffed, rolling his eyes.

"No, especially me. The only reason why I am so good is because I practise whenever I can. I was horrible when I first sat at a piano."

A hush fell over the choir. It was hard to imagine Roderich ever having been bad at anything music related.

"Now, can we please practise?" Roderich sighed.

The group nodded and I started to hand out the sheet music.

"Alright, does everyone remember their parts?" I asked.

To my surprise, most people nodded. Roderich smiled at me, as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Good." I said, "So we're starting with When You Wish Upon a Star. Any complaints?"

Everyone groaned but no one spoke up.

"I'll play your parts to help you along." Roderich assured, "Just try to learn them on your own as well. I will be playing the accompaniment during the concert."

That seemed to calm most people. Somehow, we got through the song with little to no mistakes. Natalya got picked up by the sopranos, but that was to be expected from someone singing alone. There was still a problem, though.

"We have more tenors and countertenors than all of the other parts combined..." Raivis pointed out quietly.

I nodded slowly. "Okay... countertenors, you're going to sing the melody with the sopranos an octave lower. That way the harmonies won't drown out the melody, at least..." I hummed.

There were some mixed reactions to that. While Ivan and Tino seemed all too happy to be singing the melody, Toris seemed embarrassed to be singing such a childish tune and Matthew was simply too shy to sing a part that would stand out. Still, we managed to get through it and the song sounded much better.

"We really need more girls in this choir." Katyusha commented, "Natalya and I are the only ones."

"Maybe I can convince Elizabeta to join." Roderich suggested.

"Hell. No." Gilbert snapped, "If she joins, I'm quitting."

Roderich stiffened, but I placed a hand on his shoulder. "There are other girls." I said patiently.

"Yao and Basch both have very high voices." Ludwig pointed out, "Maybe they can sing alto with Natalya."

"Basch wouldn't join a choir if his life depended on it." Francis argued.

"Feliks also has a high voice." Ivan piped up.

"Not high enough to be an alto, though." Gilbert said.

"But Lukas does." Tino said with a smile, "I'm sure I can get him to join."

"You think?" I asked skeptically.

"If I could get Berwald to join, I can definitely get Lukas to."

Berwald flushed at that and looked away.

"Feliciano's voice is rather high too..." Ludwig mused.

"Alright, if anyone knows anyone who can sing either alto or soprano, try to convince them to join by the next practice, alright?" Roderich said, standing up, "Dismissed."