FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

To learn the music, and in weekly sessions, we use sheet music (alongside learning tracks). For performances, we sing from memory.

No. We expect every member of the choir to ensure they are fully prepared for performances, but we trust them to do that in whatever way is right for them. Because singers can access the video recordings of every session, it's possible to catch up on sessions if you miss them in person.

When performing, we have a monochrome dress code - any combination of black, white, grey and/or silver. We don't specify the exact style of clothing people should wear, so they can choose something they're comfortable in, but we do encourage everyone to a) look like we're on the same team, and b) look professional.
Our dress code extends to footwear, and jewelry (although we make exceptions for culturally sensitive jewelry, such as wedding rings).

Basically, we sing in 4 parts: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Some of the time we split into up to 6 parts, with soprano 1s and 2s, and alto 1s and 2s. The musical arrangements tread a line between singability (each vocal part should feel fun to sing on its own) and complexity (the overall sound should be interesting throughout). Most songs have "feature moments" for each voice part - the tune is not always in the sopranos!

In sessions, we use a combination of backing tracks (when doing a full sing through of a song) and piano accompaniment (when working on smaller sections of a song). For performance, we sing to backing tracks. All of our backing tracks are created in-house, and are crafted to fit the vocal arrangement perfectly. They use high-end instrumental samples - so for instance, anything orchestral uses sounds provided by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and some of our drum parts in rock songs use the sound of Roger Taylor's drum kit (the drummer from Queen).
We use backing tracks for two main reasons. Firstly, from the first time you start working on one of our songs all the way through to performance, they will sound exactly the same. No sudden surprises on concert day when a song gets faster than you've practiced it, or when an instrument plays something you weren't expecting. Secondly, the volume of backing tracks is completely controllable, so we can make sure that the choir is always clearly heard - something that isn't always possible when working with live musicians.

We do offer taster sessions, but they're not entirely free. We make a charge of £10 for our taster sessions, but we knock this amount off your first month's membership if you join the choir. We make a charge for the taster session because we provide sheet music for this taster, and that has a cost to us.

Yes - members can cancel their membership at any time, using the tools in the Members' Area of the website. They can also email us and ask us to cancel their membership at any time.
If someone cancels their membership, but then rejoins the choir during the season following their final season, we do ask them to pay for the intervening time (they will have access to video recordings of any of the sessions they'd missed). This is to prevent people only paying for three months of a season - we think of seasons as being four months of payments, as there are three seasons in our year.