Next Rehearsal – 04/02/24

Our next meeting is next Tuesday!

April 2, 2024 7pm-9pm

Raleigh UU, Peace Hall, Rm. 101

3313 Wade Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27607

*UPDATE* Unfortunately, something has come up for Emori and they're unable to make it tonight. I'll still host; we can review recordings, catch up, plan for the future, whatever seems right when we're in the room.

We plan to continue working on the Beltane piece, "We Dance Around the Maypole" from the "Chants" set and/or delving deeper into our sigil song. If you'd like to be an overachiever and come prepared, the sheet music and recordings are available on our Drive.

We welcome all safe and respectful Pagan and Pagan-adjacent adults of any skill and experience level! We're community-focused rather than performance-focused, so we don't hold auditions and we welcome drop-ins. Because of the music that is best-known and most-available, our starter songs trend a little Wiccan, but we will be seeking to incorporate all kinds of Pagan and Pagan-friendly music. You can help! We welcome recommendations and leads on pertinent music that is in the public domain or is low-royalty. 

There are no fees or dues for participating, but we do gratefully welcome any cash donations* to cover the cost of renting our rehearsal space. We will have a receipt book on hand to log all donations and post aggregate info (without personally identifying information) to the blog so everyone can see where their donations are going. *We are not currently a registered 501c, so we don't have financial accounts and I can't speak to whether or not your donation is tax-deductible.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of a contagious illness, especially Covid-19, please defer your attendance until you're feeling well. We'll all be breathing the same air in that meeting room and, while you are absolutely welcome to wear a mask, it isn't exactly conducive to singing.

We will have name/pronoun stickers, sheet music, and folders available at our meetings. The sheet music is also available on our Drive. The only things you need to bring are your voice and the vocal-chord-friendly drink of your choice!

We can't wait to sing with y'all on Tuesday!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director

TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com

P.S. In addition to this blog, there are a number of ways to stay updated on our events. We have a mailing list for weekly email reminders and can even send you an Invite directly through Google Calendar. Email us at the address above to be added to both or either of these lists. You can also find us on Facebook at our Page and in our Group, where we share Events and other info. If you'd like to be added to the Invite list for our Facebook Events, please follow our Page or join our Group (otherwise FB won't let me send it to you) and drop us a PM. Here's the FB Event for our April 2 rehearsal.

Rehearsal Summary - 03/26/24

We had a great rehearsal this week! It started out with just three of us but someone new showed up just as we were about to start warmups! The four of us did some "rolling hills", as Emori calls them, to practice jumping notes and tuning our ears to whole steps. As planned, we started working on our Beltane piece, "We Dance Around the Maypole" from the "Chants" set and were eventually joined by another member who has to come late each week. This is when we discovered that our new person has sight reading and keyboard skills! So she took over on the keyboard so Emori could consider how to make the piece, which is in a minor key, sound less solemn. (It's Beltane! It should be merry! It's a maypole dance, not a funeral march!) We actually learned the piece pretty quickly and were then able to play around with it a bit. We found that increasing the tempo and adding more energy really helps it feel peppier. We think it could be fun to start at a slower tempo and gradually increase the tempo with each repetition, as one might start out walking around the maypole and gradually increase the pace of the dance. We also discussed potentially adding a quick rest that isn't in the music as written because it feels very unnatural not to breathe there.  

I was able to get several rehearsal recordings! If you'd like to review it at home, the sheet music and recordings are available on our Drive. For the naming conventions of the recordings, see the document in our Drive. If you're trying to practice at home and can't quite discern your note, you can use a keyboard app to plunk out whichever ones you're having trouble with.  (This is by no means an official endorsement, but the app I use is "Voice Training - Learn to Sing" by the developer Learn to Master. It labels the notes on the keyboard and gives you real-time feedback on what note you're singing.) If you need a tutorial on how to read music, this one seems sufficient for helping you figure out which note you want to find on the keyboard.

We had $10 in donations this week. Thank you so much to our generous donor! If you would like to track our accounting, you can view our donations and expenses spreadsheet and receipts on our Drive.

We plan to continue working on "We Dance Around the Maypole" and/or our sigil song next week. We can't wait to sing with y'all!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director

TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com

Next Rehearsal - 03/26/24

Our next meeting is next Tuesday!

March 26, 2024 7pm-9pm

Raleigh UU, Peace Hall, Rm. 101

3313 Wade Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27607

We plan to start working on the Beltane piece from the Chants set. Maybe we'll also work on the TPC sigil song. (See our last blog post for more info.) If you'd like to be an overachiever and come prepared, the sheet music and recordings are available on our Drive.

We welcome all safe and respectful Pagan and Pagan-adjacent adults of any skill and experience level! We're community-focused rather than performance-focused, so we don't hold auditions and we welcome drop-ins. Because of the music that is best-known and most-available, our starter songs trend a little Wiccan, but we will be seeking to incorporate all kinds of Pagan and Pagan-friendly music. You can help! We welcome recommendations and leads on pertinent music that is in the public domain or is low-royalty. 

There are no fees or dues for participating, but we do gratefully welcome any cash donations* to cover the cost of renting our rehearsal space. We will have a receipt book on hand to log all donations and post aggregate info (without personally identifying information) to the blog so everyone can see where their donations are going. *We are not currently a registered 501c, so we don't have financial accounts and I can't speak to whether or not your donation is tax-deductible.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of a contagious illness, especially Covid-19, please defer your attendance until you're feeling well. We'll all be breathing the same air in that meeting room and, while you are absolutely welcome to wear a mask, it isn't exactly conducive to singing.

We will have name/pronoun stickers available at our meetings. Whenever possible, we will have sheet music printed. The sheet music is also available on our Drive. The only things you need to bring are your voice and the vocal-chord-friendly drink of your choice!

We can't wait to sing with y'all on Tuesday!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director

TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com

P.S. In addition to this blog, there are a number of ways to stay updated on our events. We have a mailing list for weekly email reminders and can even send you an Invite directly through Google Calendar. Email us at the address above to be added to both or either of these lists. You can also find us on Facebook at our Page and in our Group, where we share Events and other info. If you'd like to be added to the Invite list for our Facebook Events, please follow our Page or join our Group (otherwise FB won't let me send it to you) and drop us a PM. Here's the FB Event for our Mar 19 rehearsal.

Rehearsal Summary - 03/19/24

This week, our rehearsal fell on Ostara! (I hope everyone had a wonderful Equinox!) Five of us were able to make it out. Emori lead us in some breathwork and warmups, then we launched into learning a new song! One of the folks from my Tarot Pros group created a sigil generator with a musical sigil tool, so I decided to try it out on the intention "TPC grow and thrive". It gave us a fairly singable tune that works with the words, "Growing, Sowing, Come again, Ostara." (It also works with "Growing, Thriving, Triangle Pagan Choir", but that isn't quite as catchy, lyrically.) It was short enough that we were able to learn the whole thing and sing it through several times! We're considering opening our rehearsals each week by singing our sigil. I'll let you know if I come up with better lyrics! There are actually two other melodies that harmonize with the one we learned yesterday, so hopefully we can add those to our repertoire over time. We got a couple recordings that I'll upload to the Drive this evening.

Next week we plan to start working on the Beltane piece from the Chants set. If you'd like to review it at home, the sheet music and recordings are available on our Drive. For the naming conventions of the recordings, see the document in our Drive. If you're trying to practice at home and can't quite discern your note, you can use a keyboard app to plunk out whichever ones you're having trouble with.  (This is by no means an official endorsement, but the app I use is "Voice Training - Learn to Sing" by the developer Learn to Master. It labels the notes on the keyboard and gives you real-time feedback on what note you're singing.) If you need a tutorial on how to read music, this one seems sufficient for helping you figure out which note you want to find on the keyboard.

We had $20 in donations this week. Thank you so much to our generous donor! If you would like to track our accounting, you can view our donations and expenses spreadsheet and receipts on our Drive.

We're also honored and grateful to have been featured in the Ostara / Gender Euphoria edition of "Sick Ada's Musick Zine"! Thanks for the highlight, Ash!

We're excited to see how we keep growing in this new form and we can't wait to sing with y'all!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director

TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com

Next Rehearsal - 03/19/20

Our next meeting is next Tuesday!

March 19, 2024 7pm-9pm

Raleigh UU, Peace Hall, Rm. 101

3313 Wade Avenue

Raleigh, NC 27607

We welcome all safe and respectful Pagan and Pagan-adjacent adults of any skill and experience level! We're community-focused rather than performance-focused, so we don't hold auditions and we welcome drop-ins. Because of the music that is best-known and most-available, our starter songs trend a little Wiccan, but we will be seeking to incorporate all kinds of Pagan and Pagan-friendly music. You can help! We welcome recommendations and leads on pertinent music that is in the public domain or is low-royalty. 

There are no fees or dues for participating, but we do gratefully welcome any cash donations* to cover the cost of renting our rehearsal space. We will have a receipt book on hand to log all donations and post aggregate info (without personally identifying information) to the blog so everyone can see where their donations are going. *We are not currently a registered 501c, so we don't have financial accounts and I can't speak to whether or not your donation is tax-deductible.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of a contagious illness, especially Covid-19, please defer your attendance until you're feeling well. We'll all be breathing the same air in that meeting room and, while you are absolutely welcome to wear a mask, it isn't exactly conducive to singing.

We will have name/pronoun stickers available at our meetings. Whenever possible, we will have sheet music printed. The sheet music is also available on our Drive. The only things you need to bring are your voice and the vocal-chord-friendly drink of your choice!

We can't wait to sing with y'all on Tuesday!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director

TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com

P.S. In addition to this blog, there are a number of ways to stay updated on our events. We have a mailing list for weekly email reminders and can even send you an Invite directly through Google Calendar. Email us at the address above to be added to both or either of these lists. You can also find us on Facebook at our Page and in our Group, where we share Events and other info. If you'd like to be added to the Invite list for our Facebook Events, please follow our Page or join our Group (otherwise FB won't let me send it to you) and drop us a PM. Here's the FB Event for our Mar 19 rehearsal.

Rehearsal Summary - 03/12/24

Today was Emori's first full rehearsal as musical director! Six of us were able to make it this week. Emori gave us our first tidbit about music theory, helped us connect with our breath, and lead us in some warm ups. Then we spent the rest of the rehearsal reviewing "Dark of the Moon".

If you'd like to review the pieces at home, the sheet music and recordings are available on our Drive. For the naming conventions of the recordings, see the document in our Drive. If you're trying to practice at home and can't quite discern your note, you can use a keyboard app to plunk out whichever ones you're having trouble with.  (This is by no means an official endorsement, but the app I use is "Voice Training - Learn to Sing" by the developer Learn to Master. It labels the notes on the keyboard and gives you real-time feedback on what note you're singing.) If you need a tutorial on how to read music, this one seems sufficient for helping you figure out which note you want to find on the keyboard.

We had no donations this week, so I covered our rental payment. We remain so grateful to all those who have donated in the past; thank you so much! If you would like to track our accounting, you can view our donations and expenses spreadsheet and receipts on our Drive.

Emori has really hit the ground running, so I anticipate a great rehearsal next week! We can't wait to sing with y'all!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director

TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com

Next Rehearsal - 03/12/24

Our next meeting is next Tuesday!

March 12, 2024 7pm-9pm
Raleigh UU, Peace Hall, Rm. 101
3313 Wade Avenue
Raleigh, NC 27607

As you have probably heard, our Musical Director, Bizzy, had to resign due to an upcoming move out of area. In our last meeting, we unanimously elected one of our core members, Emori Kaydus, Interim Musical Director while we cast a net for someone with vocal expertise. (For more on that, see our previous blog post.) Our next meeting will be Emori's first full rehearsal in their new role! Our thanks, congratulations, and well wishes to Emori! And our thanks, regrets (to be losing her), and well wishes to Bizzy in her new adventure!

I've had some new requests to join our Facebook group, so I suspect we may be seeing some new faces soon! I think our inquiries to find a new musical director have brought us to the attention of a broader sphere of folks who were previously unaware of us. Silver linings!

We welcome all safe and respectful Pagan and Pagan-adjacent adults of any skill and experience level! We're community-focused rather than performance-focused, so we don't hold auditions and we welcome drop-ins. Because of the music that is best-known and most-available, our starter songs trend a little Wiccan, but we will be seeking to incorporate all kinds of Pagan and Pagan-friendly music. You can help! We welcome recommendations and leads on pertinent music that is in the public domain or is low-royalty. 

There are no fees or dues for participating, but we do gratefully welcome any cash donations* to cover the cost of renting our rehearsal space. We will have a receipt book on hand to log all donations and post aggregate info (without personally identifying information) to the blog so everyone can see where their donations are going. *We are not currently a registered 501c, so we don't have financial accounts and I can't speak to whether or not your donation is tax-deductible.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of a contagious illness, especially Covid-19, please defer your attendance until you're feeling well. We'll all be breathing the same air in that meeting room and, while you are absolutely welcome to wear a mask, it isn't exactly conducive to singing.

We will have name/pronoun stickers available at our meetings. Whenever possible, we will have sheet music printed. The sheet music is also available on our Drive. The only things you need to bring are your voice and the vocal-chord-friendly drink of your choice!

We can't wait to sing with y'all on Tuesday!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director
TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com

P.S. In addition to this blog, there are a number of ways to stay updated on our events. We have a mailing list for weekly email reminders and can even send you an Invite directly through Google Calendar. Email us at the address above to be added to both or either of these lists. You can also find us on Facebook at our Page and in our Group, where we share Events and other info. If you'd like to be added to the Invite list for our Facebook Events, please follow our Page or join our Group (otherwise FB won't let me send it to you) and drop us a PM. Here's the FB Event for our Mar 12 rehearsal.

Rehearsal Summary - 03/05/24

As you've probably heard by now, our Muscial Director, Bizzy, has had to resign as she'll be moving out of the area soon. I'd like to extend our deep gratitude to Bizzy for getting us up and running, for her time, care, and hard work, for everything she's taught us since January! We all wish Bizzy the best for her upcoming move and everything after!

This week was primarily a planning meeting where we discussed how to move forward. A lot of our regulars couldn't make it but the five of us present each discussed our ideas for how we'd like to proceed. There were four options we discussed: (1) Joining up with another choral group that would have a different schedule and certainly a different focus, since the lack of a local pagan choir is why we started TPC. No one really wanted to pursue this option, not even the person who suggested it! (2) Proceeding as a sort of "campfire" group without a musical director, choosing songs by consensus and singing acapella, to recordings, or to whomever can bring a keyboard on a given week. (3) Proceeding similarly to that until we can find a musical director. (4) Appointing an interim musical director until we can find someone with vocal coaching expertise. We all agreed that having a qualified musical director with vocal expertise would be ideal. When considering if we should appoint an interim musical director, we asked if anyone would be open to filling that role and our only volunteer was one of our core members, Emori Kaydus, who just so happens to have gone to college for musical directing, though in the musician sphere rather than the vocalist sphere. So, appropriately enough, on Super Tuesday in a building that had just hosted primary elections, TPC had our own election and unanimously voted by secret ballot to appoint Emori our interim musical director! Our thanks and congratulations to Emori!

During their time as musical director, Emori plans to help us improve our music theory chops, in addition to leading us in song. We'll be working, for now, from the selections Bizzy had already chosen for us, particularly those we've already been working on. In fact, Emori jumped right in and lead us through the first page of "Crescent Moon"! Once Emori has a chance to better acquaint themself with the music, I think we'll be doing just fine. Also, I'm proud to say that this means TPC is 100% trans (nonbinary) lead at this time! Not many organizations can claim that!

If you'd like to review the music we've been working on, the sheet music and recordings are available on our Drive. For the naming conventions of the recordings, see the document in our Drive or the blog entry "Rehearsal Summary 01/30/24". If you're trying to practice at home and can't quite discern your note, you can use a keyboard app to plunk out whichever ones you're having trouble with.  (This is by no means an official endorsement, but the app I use is "Voice Training - Learn to Sing" by the developer Learn to Master. It labels the notes on the keyboard and gives you real-time feedback on what note you're singing.) If you need a tutorial on how to read music, this one seems sufficient for helping you figure out which note you want to find on the keyboard.

We received $11 in donations this week. Thank you to all those who donated! If you would like to track our accounting, you can view our donations and expenses spreadsheet and receipts on our Drive.

We've also received a valued donation of creative labor! One of our members, Christi Pickren of Glimmerfae Creations, has created a gorgeous logo for us to use on social media. We'll probably continue tweaking it for a little while but I'm rolling out the current design across platforms now!

We can't wait to sing with y'all!

- El Pethybridge, Administrative Director
TrianglePaganChoir@gmail.com