Dealing with caterwaulers

~ MaryG

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Soprano Enforcement Operations are difficult and delicate.

I’m no professional singer, but I’m a decent amateur choral singer. I’ve been singing in choirs my whole life. I’ve had voice lessons. I can sing high notes well. I can give a choir director what they want.

Also, I love to sing, as do many other people with far less experience than me. So, what to do when one of them feels very happy and confident singing soprano alongside you – very loudly with no real sense of the pitch? The term caterwauling comes to mind. Here are a few strategies:

  1. Appreciate her enthusiasm! She loves to sing, just like you do.
  2. Never, and I mean NEVER, correct another singer in your amateur church or community choir.
  3. You’ll notice the director trying to tamp down the caterwauler, who may or may not catch on. All you can do is MODEL the correct way to sing something and do exactly what the music director asks.
  4. Sing softer and with the best possible technique. The caterwauler will hopefully realize that she’s screeching like a cornered cat and pipe down on her own.
  5. If you have a good ear and a bad ear (like me), position yourself with the caterwauler near your bad ear and the rest of the choir on your good side. (It’s more important to hear them than her.)
  6. Final tip, and this one is a bit risky. Just prior to important soprano entrances, subtly block the ear near the caterwauler (you can pretend you’re scratching your head or adjusting your glasses). That way when the caterwauler blasts in with the wrong note, she won’t throw you off and you can help right the ship.

Highly recommended film for choir ladies (and gents): The Choral on Netflix, starring Ralph Fiennes. I really loved it. My husband (who is not a choir guy) liked it too.

15 thoughts on “Dealing with caterwaulers”

  3. This post cracked me up. I can just imagine what it must be like to sing next to a screecher. Or caterwauler.The big question: will she learn to tone herself down? Keep us posted.

    I have put The Choral on my TBW.

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      1. Ah that makes sense. The singing was so good in the movie! I love all “music movies” (not sure show the genre is actually called), and this was certainly one of the best in the past years. I actually watched two of them on the same flight, the other one was “Song Sung Blue”, which I also loved.

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  5. Love these tips, though I may not ever use them. We’ll see how deep I get into UU. 😀 Nice to have another film on my list. Looks like one to watch on an “I need to really get out of my head” day!

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