On Thursday night in the bar of Worcester College as I was introduced as "one of the teachers on scholarship", what I mostly heard was, "oh, has anyone warned you what you're in for?". Well, despite some prior experience of barbershop, in retrospect, I'd have to say, no, I had no idea what I was in for. Harmony College far exceeded my expectations!

I'll admit that, as a junior schoolteacher, despite specialising in music, I was sceptical as to how much of barbershop could be of any use to me. Where do you find a ten year old who can sing bass?, after all. There are some talented children around (some of whom I had the pleasure of singing with over the weekend) but, in general, I think four part harmony, acapella, is a little beyond most junior choirs.

Rick Spencer's presentation on Friday night about bringing barbershop into schools and introducing children and young people of all ages was eye opening, however. Getting children singing those gorgeous chords, even if a piano is filling in the gaps, can only be a good thing for both the future of barbershop and the kids' musical training.

What occurred to me as a result of Rick's talk, however, is that it's not necessarily children that young that we have to persuade. As I mentioned, the young lads who sang with us in the chorus were as enthusiastic about barbershop as they could be. My fear is that, for most boys at least, singing becomes a taboo as they reach their teens. Having lived and worked with kids in the USA for about 5 of the last 8 years I'm well aware of the difference in attitudes between British and American children. Musicians may not be quite as cool as your quarterback but there is definitely less of a stigma surrounding creativity across the pond.

Let's face it, in their teens in Britain, it's footballer or outcast! All the more reason, then, to get children hooked early. Wouldn't it be great to get some young college guys such as those we so enjoyed watching in Rick's presentation to help wow the next generation. And, oh, to have Rick's job!!

As a result of all these rather waffly thoughts, on Saturday I made a concerted effort to concentrate rather more on what I might be able to use in the classroom and the school choir. My choice for the weekend was the chorus stream, being as I was more or less a barbershop novice. It had been suggested that this would give me the opportunity to see a variety of people conduct, get some ideas on vocal coaching and, generally, see the broadest spectrum of your basic barbershop elements. (Oh, and have the most fun!)

Having simply revelled in singing in a men's chorus some 90 strong on Friday, I really started to try and take notice of the instruction from the team leading us on Saturday. Firstly, there was inspiration to be taken from the wonderful MDing of John Conway and Mike Taylor. It was a joy to watch them for three days and certainly gave me something to aim towards in my own conducting career.

I also learned a lot from the vocal coaching of Bob Croft who shared his knowledge of sound production with the whole chorus and in Lead sectionals. In terms of what I can use with my class, however, I think the most useful aspect of the chorus stream came from the discussions of 'visual presentation' with Ian James. I've always thought that what sets barbershop apart and has choruses winning the Sainsburys Choir of the Year etc is the way in which music is communicated rather than simply 'sung'. Because of the movement, there's an energy and intensity that I believe is absolutely integral to performance.

What I've always struggled with is how naff (and I'm sorry, that really has to be the word!) choreography can be! It was just fantastic to be presented with a new way of looking at VP that hammered home the idea of moving in such a way as to be believable. Ian couldn't emphasise enough that any 'moves' (not that, of course, we did any, as such!) had to be real and intense, not simply the right hand at the right time and the right angle! It is definitely an ethos that will be transferred to my school choir.

I will also make use of Bob's technique of painting an intricate picture for a song before singing in order to really communicate it to an audience. I think all of the chorus would agree that 'Heart of My Heart' took on a whole new life when we sang it with the feelings that Bob's stories created. With this and Ian's take on choreography, there's no question my choir of 10-year-olds will be communicating every word they sing, whether it's barbershop or not!

On a more personal note, the weekend certainly got me hooked! It was a fantastic buzz to perform on Saturday night and I also felt immensely privileged and fortunate to get the odd opportunity to usurp a Lead and try my hand in a quartet! And I have to say a huge thank you to Stuart Owen and Mike Taylor for giving me the opportunity (and persuasion) to put my scant conducting experience to the test by directing the chorus on Sunday morning! I may not have done a terrific job but, for a first try, I don't think it was too bad and it was absolutely one of the highlights of the weekend!

I may not be able to sing in a men's chorus but I'm definitely leaning towards ambitions to direct one some day! In whatever capacity, there's no question that, after years of resistance to my Mum's encouragement, barbershop is now a part of my life! It only remains for me to say a huge thank you to Chas Owen for organising it for me to attend HC, my Uncle Malc for sponsoring me and to all those with whom I had the pleasure of singing. And to tell you that, and this is absolutely true, the first thing 5M learned from their new teacher is that barbershop is four part harmony singing!

In harmony,
Alison Moore