Next session: Sunday 10th August
5.15-7.30pm
Wheatsheaf Community Hall, Vauxhall, SW8 2UP
(tickets on sale soon)
What are Sunday Sessions?
Sunday Sessions are one-off scratch choir events where we come together to cover a song in stunning 6+ part harmony. The music is thoughtfully arranged for these sessions to be that little bit challenging (but still accessible) and extremely rewarding. We spend a couple of hours enjoying pulling it all together, creating something really special by the end of the evening and recording the end result. We normally have at least one instrumentalist with us but occasionally venture into the world of a cappella.
We let you know the song around two weeks in advance so you can get familiar with your part before the session (with the help of audio recordings & sheet music we’ll send you). You absolutely don’t need to know it “perfectly” and we will still learn everything together in the room: if everyone has spent some time listening to their part is just allows us to spend more time immersed in beautiful harmonies and less time note-bashing.
We explore songs by artists in the indie/pop/folk/rock/soul/alternative worlds (keeping this deliberately vague so we’re not boxed in!)
Who are they for?
These events are aimed at people who have done some sort of group singing before and can confidently hold a harmony line (within a section of people singing the same part - there are no solos here!) Maybe you can't currently commit to a regular choir but miss the buzz of singing as a collective. Perhaps you already belong to a choir and just want to experience a different approach. Maybe you simply want to lose yourself in music for a couple of hours on a Sunday evening. Whatever the reason, we’re here for it!
Why Sundays?
Group singing has a unique way of making you feel pretty amazing and we think that’s a better way to round off the weekend/start the week: it’s the perfect Sunday ritual (in our humble opinion). Sessions are finished by 7.30pm.
Who’s leading?
These events are lead by Real Voices founder, Becky Chalmers. You can read a bit more about Becky here.
How do I get involved?
Keep an eye on our socials for date announcements and book below!
You’ll be asked to choose a voice part simply so we can keep an eye on numbers and not end up with 30 altos and 3 sopranos, for example. Don’t worry if you’re not exactly sure which part to sing (voice parts aren’t an exact science anyway) so just make your best guess. If, once you receive the audio recordings, you feel you’ve picked the wrong voice part you can always drop us a note to swap.
The voice parts in order of highest to lowest: Soprano - Alto - Tenor - Bass
We often split Sopranos and Alto in two groups so we have more notes to play with to make interesting harmonies. When we split, the 1s of each part go slightly higher and the 2s go slightly lower. There’s usually not that much in it so no need to overthink it :)