Singing Bass

It was inevitable. I caught the cold that everyone else has. Students at the Circ Desk came to school with a miserable cold. My boys brought it home. Break out the Vitamin C, the herbal tea and honey, the gallons of cough syrup and juice. Slather up with Olbas (the natural equivalent of Vicks) and stumble about tired and crotchety.

My colds always settle in my throat and aggravate my vocal cords. Its a singer thing. You feel like you are choking and your voice drops several octaves in pitch. As soon as I utter a word, I get the sympathy look. "O, you have a cold. You sound horrible." I nod my head in abject sadness.

Choir rehearsal will be the big challenge. Will I have enough voice to get through it even if I don't sing anything? But wait, tonight I am teaching a Taize tune that is copyright protected. I can't make copies. Its in an expensive book I don't want to purchase 30 copies of just for one or two songs. So I plan to teach it by rote. Its an easy melody. The words are few and repetitive. Then it gets sung as a round once they learn it. I'll just put it first before my voice gives out. Yes, that should work.

I cough and choke and have a hard time even from the getgo, despite the high doses of Vitamin C and the million cups of tea. I suck a cough drop, and that helps, but my voice fades away at the most inopportune times. Good grief. I am sure that by the time I get home, my vocal cords will be so swollen I will have a hard time breathing.

My voice slides in and out of ranges. I am amused to find I can model tenor and bass in the right octaves, and somehow manage to also do any alto and soprano examples as well. Maybe colds are actually good for something! I am happy to have someone else read the devotional. We manage to get through rehearsal OK. I just hope this clears up before Sunday!