How Do I Join?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#666699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04a00840erlcjm.gif"> <div> Capital Harmony Chorus<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><B>     |     </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Verdana" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Capital Harmony Chorus"><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Profile"><U>Profile</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="People"><U>People</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Barbershop"><U>About Barbershop</U></A>   |   <B>How Do I Join?</B>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Book Us"><U>Book Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chorus Events"><U>Chorus Events</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chorus Resources"><U>Chorus Resources</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Acknowledgements"><U>Acknowledgements</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" background="04411c00egdysm.gif"> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="06280ca0.gif" border=0 width="128" height="202" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=370 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> How Do I Join?</div> <bR> <div> All you have to do is sing in tune - we can teach you the rest!</div> <div> You don't need to be a "trained" singer or be able to read music, in fact, most of our members don't!</div> <bR> <div> <B>Come along</B></div> <bR> <div> If you would like to learn a little more about this musical style, you are most welcome to come along to any of our rehearsals, at any time (refer to the <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Visit Us</U></A> page for details).</div> <bR> <div> From time to time, we run four week courses in which potential new members can learn basic skills. It usually takes about six weeks for visitors to decide if this style of singing is for them.</div> <bR> <div> As a visitor, you are free to watch or to watch <I>and</I> participate. The first step is a "voice test" during which one of the music team assesses which part would suit you best. If you wish to continue, we will give you music and learning tapes for two songs.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Auditioning</B></div> <bR> <div> After a six to 12 week period, if you want to join the Chorus,  you will audition by singing these two songs in a quartet or into a tape recorder while standing in Chorus (your choice).  Please don't be scared off by the thought of auditioning - we try to make it a low-key, low-stress experience!!</div> <bR> <div> <B>Key points</B></div> <bR> <div> Musical education is a big part of our rehearsal nights, as we all strive to improve our individual vocal skills.</div> <bR> <div> You don't need to read music as new songs can be learned from audio tape.</div> <bR> <div> A chorus member is expected to learn her part off by heart.</div> <bR> <div> Movement is also an important facet of Barbershop and choreography is used to add excitement or extra meaning to our performances.</div> <bR> <div> <B>What does it cost?</B></div> <bR> <div> The average cost to belong to the Chorus and participate in Chorus activities is $5.00 per week. </div> <bR> <div> <B>What is it like?</B></div> <bR> <div> The following relates the experience of a new member who joined us in 2002:</div> <bR> <div> Well I walked in the door, was whisked off to a side room and asked to sing, and I've never looked back! In May 2002 I visited the chorus on a recruitment night and fell in love with the music, people and atmosphere. I hadn't sung since school but they didn't care when I sang horribly out of tune, Jo even kindly said that where they placed you in the chorus was as much to do with your personality as your voice, so now I sing lead!</div> <bR> <div> For the first four weeks with the chorus the small group of us new recruits learnt about what it really means to sing Barbershop about  techniques, style, costume and even fake eyelashes, then after singing them a couple of songs we became fully fledged Sweet Adelines. In the last 6 months we've learnt around twenty songs with actions to boot, been to few singouts, helped with fundraising activities and most importantly, sung, had fun and become friends with a great bunch of women.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>