One Voice
One Voice is a mixed A’cappella Harmony group that evolved from Singing for the Terrified.
The phrase "a cappella" is Italian in origin, as are most musical terms. Literally it translates to "in the style of the chapel", which does not mean "unaccompanied". It refers to choral music without separate instrumental accompaniment. Instruments may be used to double the vocal parts, e.g. using an electric bass to strengthen the vocal bass line, and the piece is still a cappella.
In light of this, an "a cappella group" is one that sings a cappella music, with or without instrumental doubling. We do not use any musical instruments and rely purely on the beauty of the human voice to produce our wonderful harmonies.
In the main our songs fall under the wide umbrella of World Music and so our repertoire is extremely diverse and includes some original material written and arranged by Chris Hoskins our Musical Director.
One Voice was only formed in 2007 but we having been developing as a group since 2006 and although we began with only six people we now have close to fifty people singing with us regularly. Each person has made a tremendous commitment to the group purely for the love of singing, but more than that I believe we support one another as a group and also have a great time!!
Singing in any of our concerts isn’t compulsory, it’s a choice each person makes at the time.
If you’d like to come and join us, then please DO get in touch!!! NO experience needed, NO need to be able to read music as all songs are taught by ear and EVERYONE is welcome! EVERYONE. We look forward to welcoming YOU.
Each term we set aside a day when singers choose a song they'd like to sing and be given 1-1 teaching. The comments below are following the sessions.
Hello Chris
Just felt I had to let you know how much I enjoyed the singing one to
one with you on Saturday. As you know I had a bit of a dread at the
thought of doing it, but you made me feel very much at ease with you
and with myself too. I really feel a lot better about my singing and
shall be recommending your next one to one sessions to everyone, I
just sang thru my song whilst peeling the potatoes for lunch, its
getting better but not much spud left after the high notes...... ha
ha look forward to next Thursday bye for now regards Jean
Dear Chris
Although I hope I conveyed my appreciation on Saturday I thought it might be helpful
if I tried to give you some more structured feedback.
Not knowing quite what to expect I was quite nervous about it but as usual the reality was much easier to face. Good teachers always make it seem effortless don't they? There you were your usual calm welcoming self and I knew everything would be ok even if I sounded as horrible as I did on my Dictaphone.
It was really good to take a few minutes to sit and settle us down and then the speaking exercise was quite interesting - I found that almost more frightening than singing. Whenever I've heard myself doing dictation, or on my recorded message at work or even in television interviews I've always been surprised at how thin and slightly expressionless my voice sounds. This doesn't quite fit with being called sir on the telephone so clearly my voice can be quite deep at times.
Probably the first thing that clicked for me on Saturday (I can't say learned because you say it to us so often) was about the importance of listening to our own voice - it doesn't come naturally to me but with concentration on Saturday I could hear it and was more conscious of when I wasn't singing the right tune (but also when I got it right). It was really helpful to be singing just as a threesome, it was easier to be aware of all 3 voices. I was also quite fascinated by how inconsistent I can be - just because I can get it right once doesn't mean it will be right the next time and at times (unfortunately I suspect not when the tape was running) the three of us seemed to sound quite good but then towards the end I think we lost it. Perhaps those of us who think we can't sing need to do more to develop the stamina to be consistent - the way physical stamina is built up by a runner etc.
One valuable thing I learned was the importance of expression and loosening up - Once I let my arms go and let my foot tap it seemed as though I suddenly had enough breath to get to the end of a line without gasping!
The afternoon really worked for me and I can't think of anything that could have been done differently.
From Lynne
One Voice
On a Thursday evening long ago at Earlsdon Methodist Hall
we arrived like timid little mice, terrified and small
Knocking knees, trembling hearts, faces scared and ashen
but Chris inspired us to sing out loud with confidence and passion
First the physical warm-up which leaves our heart-rate reeling
swinging arms, stamping feet and yes, we kiss the ceiling
Up and down the scales we climb as tired voices mingle
hold our breath, shush like trains and hum with lips that tingle
At last we’re moving on to singing starting off with rounds
When we practise all together we make fantastic sounds
but, divided into smaller groups it’s so easy to go wrong
out of tune, out of time, whoops - another ruined song
We're warmed up for harmonies - bottom, middle, top
The guys have such a rich deep tone we hope they never stop
The middle group has twiddly bits - pressure overload
and tops have to sing so high their vocal chords explode
Chris probably thinks as we grow old we'll slowly drift away
Oh no, we all belong to One Voice for ever and a day
When we’ve lost our teeth and memories and brains have turned to foam
we’ll trundle in on zimmer frames from our old people’s home
On a Thursday evening long ago we made a momentous choice
so thank you Chris for guiding us on our journey with One Voice
One day we’ll make you really proud, we'll all be walking tall
performing a sell-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall
Jane Hill