Keys to the Choir: My Perspective on Practicing

A day in the Life of a Sweeney Singer - A guest blog post by Emma Sweeney

I love Christmas. Roaring fires, the smell of fir trees, freshly
fallen snow covering the countryside, eggnog and cider. 
But it's not Christmas. It's fall. And yet, here we are practicing "Walking in a
Winter Wonderland," "The Christmas Song," and 
"Hang the Holly," while a week ago we were 
outside in sunny 22 degree C. weather, where the
leaves are only JUST starting to turn colour. Something inside me
rebels at singing Christmas songs in October when we haven't even had
Halloween yet. But time is ticking. It's a month and a few days until
December and our concert is fast approaching. It's time to get serious.

Memorization is always one of the biggest challenges when it comes to
practicing. What used to be such a breeze as a 10 year old, is more of
a challenge now that I'm in my twenties. Is that because I have more
in my head now, or because my mental faculties are slowing down? 
Let's go with the first one. 

One of the best things about memorizing a piece 
is that you can enjoy the music so much more.
The other day I caught myself belting out the Christmas spiritual
"Children Go Where I Send Thee" without even realizing it. I guess
when it's beautifully written music it doesn't matter what time of
year it is - it's always singable. And now that we've been working on
these pieces for a month, they're actually starting to come together
and sound like actual music. 

Today I noticed people putting up Christmas lights in our neighbourhood, so I guess I will just roll with it and start the season early. Merry Christmas everyone!