• deciBelles welcomes women of all ages at any skill level.
   
• We officially started rehearsals in January 2021 and are really growing as a group. 
   
• As a member, you are welcome to attend either of the 2 weekly practices without notifying Jody. 
   
• Members can use this website to download or listen to the song tracks and go ahead and print their own lyrics at home.  I recommend downloading the tracks relavent to you so that you can listen anywhere at your convenience.  You can also use this site to communicate with your choir member friends by clicking on 'accounts' and then 'members'.   There you will find the email addresses of your co-members.  It's always nice when members post a picture of themselves on their page.  It can help people remember each other's names when we meet in person.
   
• You will find the songs and their individual parts as well as lyrics under the 'music' tab.  There you will also find the list of songs (under 'song list') we are currently working on.  This is the order in which we will rehearse them at practices.  There will be a new song to learn roughly every month depending on the level of difficulty of the previous song.  Some songs take longer to get a handle on than others.
   

• You'll find that some songs have 3 parts while others have more.  Feel free to choose which part you like to sing.  The one that feels the most comfortable for your voice will be the best one to choose.  If there is a particular part in a particular song that you'd like to learn, go for it.  You don't have to stay in one section all the time.  Feel free to mix it up for yourself if you like.
   
• At practices the lead singers stand in the middle, the low singers stand to Jody's left and the high singers to her right.  The lead responses stand between the leads and the highs.  The high and low responses stand with the rest of their section.
   
• Plan on learning the lyrics so that you can keep your eyes on Jody.  This makes any choir sound more cohesive.  Keeping your eyes on the director helps to keep everyone together.  There will be no lyric sheets allowed for public performances.  We sometimes bend this rule when we sing at a seniors residence.  Especially for new members, so no pressure.
   
• Don't forget to bring a bottle of water and plan to take regular sips during practice.  This is very important for good vocal health and will improve your experience as a singer.
   
• Be kind to your fellow choir members.  Don't criticize someone for not coming to practice or for not singing their part properly.  Help them out if they're making a mistake.  We're all here to have fun and to support each other in making the best sound we can make.
   
• This is an unscented choir.  PLEASE DO NOT WEAR ANY SCENTED PRODUCTS TO CHOIR PRACTICE OR PERFORMANCES!  This is very important and you might be asked to leave if your scented products are making it impossible for someone else who is allergic.  This is a health issue.
   
• We have a mother/daughter rate (for daughters up to 21), 1/2 price membership for the daughter.  She must be able to remain focused through a 2 hour practice.
   
• We hold a year-end concert fundraiser to benefit families in our community. Participation in any performance is voluntary.
   
• Bursaries are available at the discretion of the director.  Please contact one of the admins for this consideration.
   
• If you prefer, you can pay in installments with post dated cheques. deciBelles had a no refund policy, however we may issue a credit towards a future session. This will be at the discretion of the director.
   
• Once payment is received you will get an email with instructions to access Choir Genius, our members only site. There will  be a prompt to set up a password once you click on the link in the email. If you have problems with this please contact Shannon at [email protected].
  
  Please add [email protected] to your contacts. If you want to send an email to the entire group you can use this email address.

Glossary:

LD= lead or mezzo

LDRSP= lead response or mezzo response

LO= low or alto

LORSP= low or alto response

HI= high or soprano

HIRSP= high or soprano response

“If I cannot fly let me sing”, Stephen Sondheim