The
Singing Tutor And The BBC Work Together
For Children In Need !
I
had the great privilege of being asked by
BBC Radio Scotland to help put together a choir
of radio presenters from the
MacAulay and Co. morning radio show presented
by Fred MacAulay, to help raise funds for BBC's
children In Need.
Without
hesitation I accepted. I mean it's a great cause and
the thought of taking some singers and working with
them to polish their singing skills and make them
work as a team is right up my street.
Hold
on a minute this can't be this easy I thought and
when I said the words "yes I'd be delighted to
help", I heard words from Karen at the BBC which
seemed to come to me in slow motion. "Oh I forgot
one small thing, none of them can sing" she said.
Oh
well it's not the end of the world I thought I've
taught plenty of non-singers to sing in my many years
as a singing coach.
Then I asked the question which I just knew would
come back to haunt me, "how much time do I have
to teach these non-singing radio presenters to sing
for Children In need".
Karen's
answer came back even slower this time " ten
days, oh and they can only make rehearsals for thirty
minutes each time".
As
I recovered consciousness and picked myself off the
floor I quickly worked out that what they were asking
was to take a bunch of people who can't sing and get
them to sing together in a choir good enough to sing
live on radio with less than five hours rehearsal.
My
first meeting with my choir hopefuls was booked. I
had to get to work! And fast!
I
needed a song which would not be too difficult for
non singers to grasp but still have an appeal for
the children in need charity.
I
decided on the Bill Withers song "Lean On Me"
and my next step was to obtain the help from friend
and colleague Kenny Campbell at mp3backingtrax.com
to arrange and produce a backing track which I could
use for practice and on the live show.
At
our first meeting with this enthusiastic (but reluctant
to sing) bunch of people consisting of seven females
and three males, I thought I had better listen to
them sing as individuals, just to see if any of them
could actually hold a tune and I was pleasantly surprised
with a couple of the females but I found it hard to
keep myself from laughing at others.
My
forehead still hurts from throwing it repeatedly off
the steering wheel of my car after that first meeting.
What
had I let myself in for and more importantly was my
reputation going to be in tatters at the end.
I
thought for a moment. I was advisor to pop idol winner
Michelle McManus before and during her time in the
pop idol show. I was advisor to Fame Academy winner
David Sneddon before he went into the academy house.
I quickly shook the thought of Last Choir Standing
from my head and brought myself back to reality. My
hat trick of successful artistes may have to wait
for now.
Can
I actually manage to make a choir from ten non- singers?
Or just the painful sound of a load of spanners being
thrown down a flight of metal stairs.
Watch
this space...
Sample
of MacAulay and Co. website
MacAuley & Co Choir Live Radio
Broadcast 14th November
