The two tenors
My voice is getting lower.
My singing voice, that is. My speaking voice hasn’t broken, or anything.
It’s been lower than when I first started singing seriously (as opposed to silly-ly) for a while now; but it’s got even lower. I knew that on Valentine’s Day I would be pretty much obliged to sing ‘My Funny Valentine’ at least once during the night; so double-checked my key.
I took it down from F minor to D minor.
To those of you to whom that means nothing: in short, I now have the voice of a tenor. Not even an alto. A tenor.
A fact which was thrown even more into the spotlight on Saturday, when a young, local saxophonist, J, sat in for the final set. (To those of you to whom that means nothing: he joined in).
J plays tenor sax - beautifully, with a tone like Ben Webster’s - and it was a joy to have him perform with us. It was also slightly alarming, though not unpleasant, to realise that my range is so low that it’s practically the same as his; and so we found ourselves singing/playing similar notes - sometimes in a similar swooping, breathy, way.
Who’d have thunk it?
I already have a trumpet impression pretty much perfected. Perhaps I should now work on a sax one?
February 18th, 2008 at 6.38pm
Welcome to the Tenor’s union.
Well my voice has got higher as I’ve got older. This means I can now sing Tenor. Apparently Tenors have more fun but I’m still waiting for that…
You can get in any choir dead easy as a Tenor as they’re rarer than the proverbial rocking horse stuff.
February 18th, 2008 at 6.44pm
…and female ones are probably even rarer, no doubt. btw, re. tenors having more fun - I wouldn’t believe everything you read on a bumper sticker. (except for perhaps the ‘baby on board’ ones. they’re probably true). do I have to pay subs now that I’m in the union?
February 18th, 2008 at 6.49pm
I went to a singing day with Pete Churchill recently and there were at least 4 female Tenors. There were quite a few down as well at Voicelab in the RFH Ballroom before Christmas.
Must be something in the water…
February 18th, 2008 at 7.48pm
what, chlorine?
February 18th, 2008 at 8.20pm
Testosterone
February 18th, 2008 at 9.18pm
Hi Andrea
If you took up smoking and started to learn Ukranian, you’d be a bass in 5 years. Enough time in fact to do that complete tour of Marriott hotels in China and then start again morphed into a Free Flow Comedy Cossack Act in Mini Skirts (yes I know Cossacks are not Ukranian).
February 18th, 2008 at 10.12pm
Thinking about it there’s supposed to be loads of oestrogen in the water not testosterone which might explain my Tenor ability but not yours (puzzled of Macclesfield) ?
February 19th, 2008 at 6.29pm
Looking forward to your rendition of “I was Born Under a Wandrin’ Star”
February 20th, 2008 at 12.49am
Rachel - it’s a plan. a five-year plan, no less.
John - perhaps it’s something to do with the Thames Water Authority? that would explain the London workshop female tenors, too.
Jack - lol.