Making your performance authentic

Fascinating Rhythm has a diverse repertoire of show tunes, popular modern songs and jazz numbers, and a few seasonal and sacred songs and even a vocal version of a ballet movement!

Some of our show songs are fully choreographed, all-singing-all-dancing numbers, whereas our ballads are much more sensitive and heartfelt. Whatever we’re singing, we want to connect with our audiences and give them an entertaining musical experience.  

Our fabulous Assistant Director, Wendy, is also our chorus Choreographer. With a dance and percussion background, Wendy is inspiring, enthusiastic, and always encouraging us to make our performances more believable and engaging. Here are her top tips for authenticity:

Performance matters 

Barbershop singing has a strong visual element and iconic four-part a cappella harmony, and the way we perform songs is a key aspect of our craft. 

Performance is about ‘giving life’ to a song – making it believable and entertaining. Performances can be creative and dynamic, but they must match the song’s vocal message, and all singers should present a unified message about the song’s meaning. 

As explained by the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers (LABBS) “The Performance Judge is hoping to see and hear sincere, from the heart performances into which […] the audiences are drawn.” 

Getting ready to sing

Over the past few years, the barbershop world has moved towards a musical theatre performance style, inspired by David Brunetti’s ‘Acting Songs’ approach. In musical theatre, songs form part of the story; they help with the storytelling and flow in and out of the actors’ spoken performances. 

However, when Fascinating Rhythm stands on stage to sing a song as part of a concert or a variety show, we perform without a storyline. To give an authentic performance, we must connect with the story behind the song we’re about to sing. If we understand the song’s essence, we should all give the same heartfelt performance.

We can do this by thinking about three things:

1. Who are you as the person singing this song?

2. Why are you singing this song – what is it about?

3. What has just happened – why are you singing this song now?

What are you singing about?

One way to really understand a song is to read the lyrics aloud as if they were a monologue. In barbershop-style arrangements, the lyrics are usually found in the Lead line, with the harmony parts (Tenor, Baritone and Bass) picking up more melodic aspects of the music. It can be hard to connect with the meaning of a song if you’re singing ‘dm-dm-dm’ or ‘ooh-ooh’ rather than words! But if every member of the chorus knows the story behind the song, we can all connect with it.

What if the song doesn’t have a clear storyline? How can we connect with it and give an authentic performance? If lyrics don’t drive a song, it can be tricky to connect with its meaning, but we can instead focus on the musical elements.

Songs usually fit into one of five themes, according to the strongest element of the arrangement. 

– Lyric songs are driven by the words or the story being told

– Melodic songs have a strong tune (usually in the Lead line)

– Harmonic songs feature the chord structure of the music

– Rhythmic songs are all about the beat, and they make you want to dance or tap your feet

– Comedy or novelty songs are funny!

Our performance journey

Fascinating Rhythm is known for bold and innovative performances and bringing new bespoke arrangements to the LABBS Convention stage. Over the years, we’ve put full choreography, and dance moves to up-tempo numbers and even added streamers and party-poppers to the final bars of South Rampart Street Parade! We’ve also experimented with the ‘fourth wall’ in on-stage performances and tried standing completely still to add tension to sacred songs and tragic ballads.

“Meet You At The Moon” (Harrogate, 2018), arranged by Liz Garnett, had an easy storyline that we all connected with. Subtle chorus moves from the risers complemented the mother-daughter story featuring Jo and Karen. It was effective and authentic because every member of the chorus could draw on their own personal experience of familial love and sing from the heart.

In contrast, “You Don’t Own Me” (Bournemouth (2017), also arranged by Liz Garnett, was a strong and sassy up-tune with great choreographic moves. The romantic ballad “City of Stars” (Llandudno, 2019), another fabulous Liz Garnett arrangement, had a surprise free-feeling rhythmic section in the middle that naturally lent itself to more dance-like movement. 

Although we can’t take a competition package to the Convention this year, we have two fantastic songs lined up, ready to work on once we’re allowed back to rehearsals. We’re making good use of our Zoom rehearsals to immerse ourselves in the lyrics so that we can develop a truly authentic performance to enhance our singing and musicality.

Putting authenticity into practice

The great thing about authenticity is that you can practice it anytime, anywhere – even if you’re singing alone at home! Whatever the song you’re rehearsing, spend a minute before you sing thinking about who you are, why you’re singing the song, and what has just happened to make you sing it. The main thing is to try to really connect with the song and the music and sing it from the heart. Even focusing on one of these questions will enhance your performance authenticity.

You might like to see other articles in the Fascinating Rhythm Insights series:

01 – Why Singing is Good For You

03 – Enhancing Performance Through Expression

04 – Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

05 – Why Warm Up?

06 – The New Members Guide to Joining a Choir During a Pandemic!

07 – Breathing to Sing

08 – Junior FR: how it started / how it’s going

09 – Singing is a Family Affair

10 – How we choose Convention songs

11 – Mixing it Up

12 – Love to Sing

Why singing is good for you!

Fascinating Rhythm is a barbershop chorus, which means we love making music with our voices, but Fascinating Rhythm isn’t just about singing – it’s about fun, friendship and feeling good. We can’t wait until it’s safe to return to rehearsals because there’s something really special about being part of Fascinating Rhythm that can lift a dark mood or release tension after a tough day. 

Did you know that, in addition to the beautiful harmony and the friendship that comes from being part of a choir, there are several health benefits associated with singing? We’ve asked our resident medic, Dr Hannah, to explain why singing is so good for our health and wellbeing.

Singing feels good

As humans, we are social creatures that thrive on being connected to each other. Being part of a group is good for our emotional wellbeing and has a positive impact on our physical and mental health. Our ability to make social bonds is an important part of what makes us human.

Group singing builds social connections really well, and the social bonding among choir members happens more quickly than with other hobbies. For many of our members, Fascinating Rhythm is like an extended family, and our strong social bond has seen 20-30 members Zoom into virtual rehearsals each week over the past year. And this connection has encouraged our three newest members, who joined Fascinating Rhythm just a few weeks before the first lockdown, to stick with us online!

The other great thing about singing is that it releases endorphins, which are chemicals in our bodies that give us a ‘high’ (similar to how you might feel after a run but without getting hot and sweaty)! Endorphins reduce pain sensation and increase pleasure, so they make us feel good. Activities that release endorphins are good for our physical and mental health and wellbeing.

No wonder singing feels really good for us!

Singing is good for our health.

Singing involves lots of muscles in our bodies. When we warm up for rehearsal, we include some physical activity like shoulder rolls and stretches, as well as breathing exercises for our abdominal muscles. It can be quite a physical workout! A long rehearsal can be quite physically tiring, but singing builds our stamina and muscle tone.

What’s more, singing is good for our posture. We stand with good spinal alignment, soft knees, and relaxed shoulders, and rehearsals usually involve a lot of standing up! Being sedentary is bad for our bodies, but the lockdown has reduced our opportunities to move around during the day and take regular outdoor exercise. By standing to sing, we change our posture and engage different muscles, and barbershop singing involves physical movement to the music, which adds to the exercise benefits.

It almost goes without saying that singing is also good for our lungs and breathing. The British Lung Foundation has found that singing can help people to:

– breathe more slowly and more deeply

– improve breath control (and reduce feelings of anxiety and panic)

– improve posture to breathe more efficiently

Indeed, the English National Opera is running a breathing and wellbeing programme for people who are recovering from Covid. It uses singing techniques for breathing training to improve breathlessness and reduce feelings of anxiety.

There is also evidence to suggest that singing can reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol and boost our immune systems by increasing levels of immunoglobulins that help fight disease!

Singing is good for the brain.

Singing is mentally stimulating because you have to think about notes, music and words all at the same time. Then, if you add in the four-part harmonies, a cappella (unaccompanied) singing and any choreography or movements to a song, barbershop singing becomes a whole-brain workout!

The human brain has a tremendous capacity to learn and remember songs and music. Our ability to learn new music is quite astonishing – whilst new members of our chorus often feel nervous about getting up to speed on the whole Fascinating Rhythm repertoire, most find that they can pick it up within a matter of months!

Not only that but music and singing are another part of what makes us human, and they persist in people’s memories. For example, dementia classes that use singing have been shown to improve wellbeing, maintain cognition and increase social connectivity through participation.

Post-Covid recovery

With so many benefits for our physical and mental health and wellbeing, perhaps singing could be the perfect post-lockdown activity? 

Over the past year, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted many of our social bonds and networks. Many people will have experienced feelings of persistent anxiety, fatigue and isolation, and those who’ve been ill with covid-19 may also have long-lasting symptoms like brain fog and breathing difficulties. 

Certainly, once it is safe for us to do so, Fascinating Rhythm is looking forward to getting back on the risers together for a jolly good sing!

And if you’d like to join us, we’d love to hear from you – please get in touch via our website to find out how to become part of our Fascinating Rhythm family.

Or if you’d just like to have a go at singing from home, why not buy our CD of warm-up exercises and sing along?

You might like to see other articles in the Fascinating Rhythm Insights series:

02 – Making Your Performance Authentic

03 – Enhancing Performance Through Expression

04 – Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

05 – Why Warm Up?

06 – The New Members Guide to Joining a Choir During a Pandemic!

07 – Breathing to Sing

08 – Junior FR: how it started / how it’s going

09 – Singing is a Family Affair

10 – How we choose Convention songs

11 – Mixing it Up

12 – Love to Sing

Fascinating Rhythm started 2020 as usual with our AGM and annual awards dinner, celebrating the contributions chorus members make to our singing group. Rose received the Chair’s Award, Carole and Peggy shared the Director’s Award, and Nic won the Members’ Award. Our Director, Jo, inspired us to keep ‘building momentum’ and surprised us with a late Christmas present – a brand new song to learn.  

By March, we had the music for a second new song, pushing us firmly into ‘learning mode’ as we prepared for a retreat weekend to work on our 2020 Convention package. Unfortunately, just as we got ‘off the page’ the coronavirus pandemic hit. We were forced to abandon rehearsals and stay at home. But, determined to keep on track with our new songs, we began holding rehearsals online. 

Fascinating Rhythm: Virtual Choir

Since the middle of March, Thursday evenings have seen Fascinating Rhythm meeting online. We’ve dialled in by phone, tablet or laptop, and supported each other in the only way we know-how – with a jolly good sing!

Zoom rehearsals have taken on a new format with physical and vocal warm-ups led by Wendy and Karen. We’ve super manned, time-warped and danced safely in the knowledge that no-one was watching (thank goodness!), learned new warm-up songs in a range of languages, and tested our note accuracy with some interesting new do-re-mi scale exercises. All the time enhanced by the perils of screen-sharing, forgetting to mute/unmute, and the slight delay in Wi-Fi connections.

Our Director, Jo, introduced a ‘2-minute members showpiece’ section – a unique opportunity to discover Fascinating Rhythm’s hidden talents. From poetry to magical maths to songs from a range of genres, we’ve bonded over some incredibly rich and emotional performances. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but the duet Di and Mads shared with us was a truly special, tear-jerking moment. 

Zoom’s break-out function allowed us to meet up in sections, which was a great way to check-in on each other. Good mental health and wellbeing is a fundamental part of Fascinating Rhythm’s choir community – we’re like an extended family! It really helped to talk about home-schooling challenges, being unable to visit elderly parents, and staying motivated to keep fit and well. And, when Jo dropped into the room, to pretend we’d diligently been practising our singing!

Another good thing about Zoom has been the opportunity to re-watch Fascinating Rhythm’s old Convention and concert performances. Each Thursday, Jo selects a video clip from the past for us to enjoy and comment on. It’s been interesting to look back on the journey and progress we’ve made together over the years, and reflect on song choices to choreography and costumes.

Coaching On Camera

Fascinating Rhythm’s two favourite barbershop coaches, Liz Garnett and Sally McLean, found time to Zoom in to say hello and keep us motivated. Liz ran two virtual workshops on our convention songs, which gave us a really good understanding of how the musical arrangement enhances the lyrical meaning of the songs. Sally joined our Easter bonnet parade and encouraged us to look forward to when we can sing together again. 

Fascinating Rhythm was also privileged to have guest speakers from the barbershop community come along to give presentations on LABBS judging criteria for music, singing and performance. Boo, Helen and our wonderful Karen (all from Avalon quartet ) put us through our paces on the theory of music and singing in the barbershop style and gave us plenty to think about for when we will next be able to grace the Convention stage.

Jo, Karen and Wendy held a couple of ‘coaching under glass’ sessions, where three members of the chorus received one-to-one coaching on singing and performance, live on Zoom! Well done to Chloe, Erica and Angela for volunteering and sharing this experience with the rest of the chorus. 

Fascinating Rhythm’s Music Committee also held two workshop nights. Focused sessions with Jo, Karen, Brenda and Wendy reminded us about breathing techniques, vocal expression, space and placement, and acting songs. We also convened a book club, tried out Qi Gong, investigated our personality types, and developed cat-like confidence.

Charity At Home

Fascinating Rhythm couldn’t resist joining in with the trend for virtual lockdown choir videos, so we put together an impressive performance for our Charity of the Year – the Jessie May Trust. This Bristol-based charity that provides nursing care for children is an organisation that is close to our hearts. We learnt and recorded a fabulous new arrangement of Hallelujah and Jo put together a stunning video, which we promoted as a fundraiser on our Facebook page. And if you’d like to help us in supporting Jessie May, you can donate here.

We also took time in our rehearsals to support the weekly clap for carers. A huge clap goes to Lily from Junior FR, who spent her birthday running 10km around her garden to raise over £1000 for the NHS! 

Fascinating Rhythm was also delighted to be nominated for the Voluntary Arts Epic Awards 2020 in recognition of the video we made “This is Me“  last year for the charity Ups and Downs Southwest. Sharon and Hannah (our Chair and Public Relations Officer) donned their finest sparkly dresses to attend the virtual awards ceremony. It was an honour to be among such fantastic community projects and have the chance for some ‘online speed dating’ with local community groups.

Staying In Was The New Going Out

Themed, social nights, were introduced to provide light relief during the lockdown. Every six weeks, we’ve dressed up with fancy hats, costumes or glamorous dresses and enjoyed an excellent karaoke sing-along to some of our favourite chorus numbers and pop songs. 

A highlight of our social calendar was the four-chorus jamboree with our sister choirs across Bristol. Nearly 100 people connected on Zoom to celebrate our best lockdown moments, test our barbershop knowledge and watch gold-medal performances from some of the best international champions.

Wendy and Kitty encouraged the girls from Junior FR to make their own video Covid Chorus as a virtual Covid choir singing bespoke lockdown lyrics!

LABBS Big Weekend

With the pandemic in full swing, we weren’t able to travel to Bournemouth for the annual LABBS Convention this year and had to settle for a virtual celebration of all things barbershop. Choruses and quartets from across the country were asked, to send in a video of what they’d been working on throughout the year, for the LABBS Big Weekend. 

Fascinating Rhythm used Listen To The Music, one of our favourite songs, as the backing track for a montage of the ways in which our members have kept themselves busy during the lockdown. We were excited to showcase the song to our barbershop friends around the world. Our two resident quartets, Avalon and Specs Appeal, also featured in the LABBS Big Weekend with their versions of ‘Popular‘ from the musical Wicked and the theme song to ‘The Big Bang Theory’.

Bring On 2021!

Fascinating Rhythm has provided a lifeline for so many of us this year and Thursday nights have kept our wonderful extended family connected. We’ve welcomed new members and sadly bid a fond farewell to some old friends. 

Whilst singing alone at the laptop on mute on Zoom is no substitute for the enjoyment of being together, it won’t be long until we can get back on the risers together. Until then, we’ll finish the year with a hearty rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’.

Each year, on usually the last weekend in October, you will find us somewhere in the country in full makeup and glitzy dresses as we prepare to cross the stage and compete in the LABBS Annual Convention.

2020 has been the strangest of years and of course, a certain pandemic has put paid to any kind of mass gathering – definitely no chance of 2000 barbershoppers descending on the Bournemouth International Centre!

However, not to be deterred, the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers hopped on-line and have blown us all away by providing a whole weekend of educational sessions, chorus and quartet contributions and amazing guest speakers.

We felt so proud to see our contribution air on Saturday afternoon on LABBS TV, live through YouTube.

Please enjoy our ‘Life in Lockdown’ video featuring the song ‘Listen To The Music’.  We are so proud to have kept the music going during 2020 and we can’t wait to be back together for real.

Recently, we were delighted to present a final cheque for almost £550.00 to Dementia Connections, our chosen charity for 2018.

Thelma represented Fascinating Rhythm to present the cheque to Amanda and Christine who run the local group in Wotton-under-Edge.

Christine said “All of us at Dementia Connections are really grateful for this donation from Fascinating Rhythm. The money will help us to complete our allotment project this year. We plan to add a seating area, raised beds and troughs so that everyone in our groups can take part in planting and harvesting this year and into the future. We love our days on the allotment when the weather allows, and all this will make it so much easier for us to go there more often. A huge thank you from all of us. Amanda and Christine“

We are, of course so pleased to be able to help such a worthy cause and wish them well in their future projects.

Children and young people with Down Syndrome release Fascinating music video.

Today sees the release of a music video with children and young people who have Down Syndrome performing an arrangement of the award-winning song “This is Me” alongside one of the UK’s leading ladies’ barbershop choruses.

This musical collaboration brings together families supported by the Down Syndrome charity, Ups and Downs Southwest https://www.upsanddowns.net/, and members of the 60-strong, South Gloucestershire based chorus, Fascinating Rhythm.

Released on World Down Syndrome Awareness Day (WDSD), the video contributes to the WDSD 2019 “leave no one behind” campaign raising awareness that people with Down Syndrome should have equal opportunities to live fulfilling lives in all aspects of society.

“This is me”, from the film The Greatest Showman, is a defiant song of self-empowerment sung by the people with unique qualities employed as so-called “human oddities” for the Barnum Circus.

The idea for the video came from Jo Thorn, Director of Ups and Downs Southwest and Musical Director of Fascinating Rhythm. 

“This year at Ups and Downs, we agreed to create something for World Down Syndrome Awareness Day relevant to its campaign but with the potential for global reach too. We wanted to feature our young people sending out a very pertinent message through a song which says: although I may be different, I still make a difference and a worthwhile contribution to society. We asked my chorus Fascinating Rhythm to support us to help provide an inclusive platform for our children and young people to explore their creative side through signing as well as song.”

Members of Fascinating Rhythm and the young people with Down Syndrome had to learn the song with Makaton signs to communicate keywords, and the video was after weeks of preparation finally recorded.

Fascinating Rhythm chorus member Wendy Daniell said,

“It has been a huge privilege for us being invited to participate in this project. I personally have learned so much more about Down Syndrome, and it was a surprise to me to discover Makaton being used as a language to support speech development. And we had such fun working with the Ups and Downs families on the day our performance was being filmed.”

Marie, the mother of 12-year-old Poppy who has Down Syndrome, said

“It was such a joy for me to see Poppy involved in this project. It allowed her to get involved in new and enriching experiences, but in a nurturing environment too with the lovely ladies of Fascinating Rhythm being so understanding and supportive. She was enthralled by the equipment used by the professional film production team and also thrilled at performing with such an amazing chorus.”

The project has been generously supported with grants from Sedgemoor District Council and Bridgwater Town Council, and in-kind contributions from music recording company “nooj Productions” and venue hire from Sydenham Barn.

The video can be seen on Twitter at #leavenoonebehind and #UDThisisme https://youtu.be/A54xxtJgxOg

Fascinating Rhythm signing “Here I come” with Makaton in the song “This is Me”

We were so pleased that the snow did not stop play for our learn to sing workshop held on 2nd February. Fortunately, the snow stopped falling in time for us to go ahead, so the delegates did not miss out on their singing fix.

We welcomed around 70 ladies of all ages (including a Mum and Daughter set which with our Fascinating Rhythm member (the grandmother) made a 3 generation appearance again)

The delegates worked so hard this year as it was quite a mammoth song – it was the very famous “This is Me” (from The Greatest Showman) so it was even more of a challenge for those ladies who were given a harmony part and not the lead line (the bit we all know)

The speed at which the song was learnt was incredible. We even had a run-through before lunch!

Much cake was consumed, and we again offered merchandise to buy along with the chance of winning a raffle prize.

We were delighted that we now seem to have several ‘regulars’ who come to the workshop each year, and we look forward to welcoming everyone again in 2020!

The Chorus has again received some great feedback from our guests, and we would like to share some of it with you here:

“The day whizzed by – such fun with lovely people. I’d love to come again.”

“An excuse to let go – great to enjoy time with great ladies.”

“A great day doing something for myself and being part of something big!”

“Just a nice experience to be with others who enjoy singing and the opportunity of being part of a choir for just a day.”

“Find that although it takes me out of my ‘comfort zone’ I have a sense of achievement by the end of the day. It’s just lovely to sing and meet such a fab group of ladies!”

We thank you, ladies, for coming to share the day with us, it was lovely to welcome you to Fascinating Rhythm, and we hope to see you again.