Sing St John welcomes you to our Senior Singalong, Episode 13.

My name is Winnie, and I'm here today with Michael, Lucia, Gwen and Bodicea We're going to bring on some holiday spirit by singing some of our favorite Christmas songs together in harmony.

Today, we will learn the harmonies to Joy to the World.

The Christmas Carol Joy to the World was first published in 1719 by Isaac Watts, who was an English minister and hymnist.

But the tune that we sing today was published by American musician Lowell Mason in 1848.

Mason was known to be a scholar of George Frideric Handels music and there has been some speculation about how much of an influence Handel's Messiah might have had on Joy to the World.

The first verse begins with the same four note says the chorus.

Lift up your heads.

And the third verse is the same four notes as the arioso, So comfort ye.

It is the general consensus of the scholars today however, that this is just the chance resemblance.

It's important before singing, to prepare our voices, our hearts and our minds to do so.

So let's warm up.

Let's start with posture.

Our backs are tall and ready for action.

If you're sitting, sit as tall as you can and place both feet flat on the floor.

Make sure your shoulders are relaxed and sitting right on top of that spine.

To do that, let's inhale and raise our shoulders up (inhale) and drop them.

Inhale up and drop them.

(exhale) Good.

Now, if it's comfortable for you, raise one arm up and reach with that hand just a little toward the other side.

Take a nice, slow, deep breath and then bring the arm back and down.

Good job.

Now, with the other arm raise and lean towards the opposite side and take a nice, slow, deep breath.

(inhale) Back to center and down.

Good job.

When you breathe in allow your belly and lower back to fill first.

Filling your lungs from the bottom to the top.

Then we empty the air from the bottom to the top using your abdominal muscles.

Like a tube of toothpaste, almost.

Okay.

This way your chest stays proud and your shoulders remain aligned.

Take a deep breath with me.

Even into your back.

And inhale.

Nice and deep.

Let's go.

(Inhale) Okay.

Now exhale.

(Exhale) Awesome.

Let's do that again.

Inhale.

(Inhale) Exhale using your abdominal muscles.

(Exhale) Good.

Now we'll do that again.

And this time, when we exhale, we'll make this sound.

Shh.

Okay.

Three short and one long.

Let's go.

Inhale.

(Inhale) Exhale.

Let's do it again.

Inhale.

(Inhale) Exhale.

Awesome.

When we make this sound, the front of our mouth isn't open very much.

But our throat is.

Good.

So using that Ooh, we're going to sing a short scale.

And it's going to sound like this.

(piano) Okay.

Are you ready?

Yes.

Let’s go.

(piano) Moving up.

Nice.

Like a dove.

One more time.

Good job.

Now will warm up the low voice and we'll use the word low.

It might feel strange, but if you're doing it right, it'll be effective.

We use the tip of the tongue, and our lips are rounded.

Our eyes are wide open.

And that keeps us focused and ready.

Let's try this.

It sounds like this.

(piano) Okay.

Lips rounded.

Let's try it.

(piano) Moving down.

Throat open.

Softening down.

Last one.

Oh it's so good to hear those low notes Michael.

Thank you so much.

Thank you all.

Okay, now we've got one more exercise for you.

And this one is called Singgg-Ah.

I'll demonstrate it for you.

(piano) Okay, let's do this together.

One more.

Very good.

And remember, throughout the day, throughout your week, you can do your voice exercises, keep your mind and body active, and keep that oxygen flowing.

Now we're all ready to learn the harmonies to Joy to the World.

This season we have Michael singing with us, and so now we have a fourth part.

We're going to learn that low part first and then build upward.

We called the lowest part bass.

I will sing the harmony that is above bass and that's tenor.

Lucia and Gwen will then sing that harmony above mine called Alto.

And Bodicea is singing soprano, which is the highest part.

The Sopranos have the melody for this song.

So the part that you will be most likely to recognize will be Bodicea's part.

But you can sing any part that feels comfortable to you.

That's the great thing about singing at home.

You can do it your way.

First, we'll run through the entire song to get our bearings.

Ready?

Yeah.

(Piano) Bass (Piano) Tenor (Piano) Alto (Piano) Soprano (Piano introduction) Yeah.

(laughter) Well, now we're going to learn the bass part.

Everyone else can have a seat, take a rest, get some water, or sing along.

Michael will demonstrate the bass harmony for us with verse one lyrics.

It's a little too low for me, but I will help out by singing the melody cues when we need it.

So Michael will sing a phrase and you repeat.

Michael sings, you repeat.

Are you ready?

Ready.

(piano) Okay, nice Michael.

Let's have you sing the bass part for the first verse with the accompaniment.

(piano) Michael that was solid.

We're definitely ready to try this out with the other parts in the background.

(Piano) Bass (Piano) Tenor (Piano) Alto (Piano) Soprano (Piano introduction) Thank you everyone!

How did that feel for you basses?

Now it's time to learn the tenor part.

Just as the bass part had staggered entrances, the tenors have them too.

So Bodicea is going to join me and sing the Soprano Cue for us tenors when we need it.

I'm going to teach you the tenor part line by line.

I sing, you repeat, I sing, you repeat.

(piano) Thank you for the cues, Bodicea.

Oh... Let's sing that verse through with the accompaniment now.

(piano) Great job out there.

Thank you.

Thank you Bodicea.

And now let's combine the tenors with the other voices.

On the first verse, Michael will sing bass.

Lucia and Gwen, alto, and Bodicea soprano melody.

You'll hear them in the background, but I will be the loudest on the tenor part.

This will help us to get used to singing our tenor harmony while the other parts are singing theirs at the same time.

Let's give everyone their notes first.

(Piano) Bass (Piano) Tenor (Piano) Alto (Piano) Soprano (Piano introduction) Wonderful everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now it's time to learn the alto part with Lucia and Gwen.

Lucia, Gwen and I will sing a phrase you repeat.

We sing, you repeat.

(piano) Good job Lucia and Gwen.

Now let's sing that whole verse through together.

(piano) You got it, girls.

Good job.

Let's put the alto harmony together with the other voices and see how we stand up (Piano) Bass (Piano) Tenor (Piano) Alto (Piano) Soprano (Piano introduction) Very good, Glenn and Lucia.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.

Now we're going to focus on the soprano melody with Bodicea.

Ready Bodicea?

Yes, I am.

(piano) Excellent Bodicea Thank you.

(piano) Whooo!!!!

(laughter) Yipeee!!!

Thank you for joining our Senior Singalong.

One day perhaps we'll sing together on a cruise ship or just in the neighborhood.

But until then.

Keep singing!

(piano introduction) Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night to you all and sweet be thy sleep May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night May angels around you their silent watch keep Good night, good night, good night, good night Good night everyone!

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas Happy New Years.

Happy Holidays