Sing St. John welcomes you to our Senior Singalong, Episode 14 My name is Winnie and I'm here today with Michael, Lucia, Gwen and Bodicea.

We're going to bring you into the holiday spirits by singing some of our favorite Christmas songs together.

Today, we will learn the harmonies to What Child is This.

William Chatterton Dix first wrote the lyrics to the Christmas Carol.

What Child is This in 1865.

He'd been severely ill, bedridden and suffering from profound depression.

But the near-death experience that followed brought with it a spiritual awakening.

His lyrics expressed that the adoration of the shepherds who visited the Christ child during the Nativity and are comprised of questions and responses that may have been in their minds Six years later What child is this was set to the tune of Greensleeves, an English folk song.

Although this carols origins are certainly English, What Child is This Is more popular today in the United States.

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

So let's do a little warm up together.

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.

Inhale.

(Inhale) Exhale.

Let's do it again.

Inhale.

(Inhale) Exhale.

Awesome.

(piano) Okay.

Are you ready?

Yes.

Let’s go.

(piano) Moving up.

Nice.

Like a dove.

One more time.

Good job.

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 those gorgeous harmonies to What Child is This We're going to learn the bass part first, then build upwards.

I will sing the harmony above the bass section, that's called the tenor part.

Lucia and Gwen will sing the alto harmony.

And way on the very top, kind of like a Christmas tree, is Bodicea singing soprano.

You can sing any part that feels comfortable to you, whatever makes you happy.

We're going to run through the entire song.

The song feels like like a waltz.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

So listen to that dance feel it makes it so much easier to stay in tune when we're aware of the movement.

Okay?

All set everybody?

Yeah.

Let's get our starting pitches (Piano) Bass (Piano) Tenor (Piano) Alto (Piano) Soprano (Piano introduction) Oh thank you Jesus.

I love that song.

Well, we're going to begin by learning the bass part.

And, you know, you can learn as many parts as you want.

So feel free to sing along or just listen whatever you like.

Michael will be teaching the bass part for verse one and the chorus in a call and response fashion.

He will sing a phrase and then you will repeat Michael sings.

You repeat.

Let's get our starting pitches.

(piano) Nice job Michael.

Thank you.

Could we sing those phrases back to back now.

Nice.

Now for the chorus.

Same thing.

Michael sings a phrase.

You repeat.

Now, let's string the chorus phrases together.

Now we’ll add some accompaniment.

(piano) Thank you Michael.

Basses do you feel this coming together?

Now we will learn the tenor harmony in the same call and response fashion.

Remember, I sing a phrase.

You repeat.

And when we put those phrases together for the verse, it will sound like this.

And now to the chorus, phrase by phrase.

When we put those lines together, it'll sound like this.

And now we'll add some accompaniment for context.

A lot of time, the harmony is easier to remember when you hear it with the accompaniment.

(piano) Okay, now it's time for the alto part.

You know the drill.

They sing, you repeat.

Nice job, ladies.

Now let's put that verse together.

Okay.

Here comes the chorus now.

Remember, we sing.

You repeat.

Now let's put the entire chorus together.

All right, we're making progress.

Thank you, ladies.

Now let's sing the chorus and the verse together with the piano.

(piano) Oh, my goodness.

We're really cooking with gas now, ladies.

Thank you.

Okay.

Have a much needed rest, altos and bass.

Bodicea, here we go.

You and I will remind everyone of the soprano melody.

(piano) You know, I just love that melody.

It's kind of high for me.

I'm glad you were there with me, Bodicea.

You’re welcome my dear.

Come on back up altos and bass, we're going to sing What Child is This from start to finish.

(piano) Yes!!

Thank you friends for joining our Senior Singalong and getting into the holiday mood with us.

One day we will perhaps sing together at community Christmas tree.

Or while shopping for presents at the mall, wink wink.

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.

Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

Brrrrrrrrrrrhhhhh... Hosing you down with Joy.

(laughter) You should have seen the look on her face when she realized Bill was focusing in.

She was like... (laughter) (laughter) You can take a little break now while we learn the tenor part.

(laughter) You moved so fast!