V is for Vocal music

Being Lutheran, I learned to sing at an early age. It's part of the Lutheran tradition. Martin Luther was a prolific hymn writer because he saw it could be used as a teaching tool. Most of the time, I sing chorally. I haven't really done a choir since I got out of college. If I still lived in Milwaukee, I'd probably try to join the Lutheran Chorale but my church is 45 minutes away and choir practice is on a night that I work, I think.

In high school, I decided to take voice lessons. I'm classically trained, so I know all about proper breathing and the soft palate. I did competition three times in high school and got high scores each time. In college, I took voice lessons and also ear training since I started as a music/education major. The ear training was challenging because part of it was having to randomly try to sight read pieces of music with just the starting note.

After college, I taught some voice lessons along with piano for about 9 months.  It was fun.  As a result, I own quite a few more vocal books than I did even in college. 

Now, I don't sing much anymore. I just don't have the time and the girls keep wanting to play Mommy's piano. I'm hoping to get my voice back into shape after I'm laid off.

Yesterday, I was looking through  my books and I ran across a song that I started to learn in college but never finished.  I'm thinking of learning it again as a stress reliever while this whole job transition period goes on.