Talk about being thrown in at the deep end!

Having no experience of Barbershop whatsoever, I found myself at Harmony College. "How on earth did you manage that?" you may ask (along with practically everyone I met over the weekend!). Well, I totally love harmony singing, and am just about to embark on a project to learn to run open-access (fun, open-to-all, no music, no jargon, no performances) acapella harmony workshops in the community, training alongside a woman who does it professionally. I was searching for funding, and a member of the group where I am doing my placement is a Barbershopper, and gave me a flyer about grants from the Harmony Foundation. I thought I'd give it a try and was amazed (and thrilled) when I was offered a grant, but… on the condition that I attended Harmony College.

So, my 7-year-old son was happily left with his grandparents, and I set off looking forward to a rare weekend being Jacqui instead of Mum, but without the faintest clue of what I was letting myself in for!

I had an interesting start… within half an hour of arriving I managed to lock myself out of my room and had to go, very embarrassed, and ask for help from the chaps on reception! But they only laughed at me a little bit, and after that all went well.

Looking back now, there are two things that particularly stand out. The first is the friendship I felt all weekend. I was never left on my own - in every situation I found myself immediately included, which was really special. What a lovely bunch you are!

Secondly, I was totally amazed at how much I learned in such a short space of time! I discovered I CAN sing - which before the weekend I would not have been able to say with conviction. I also had a lot of fun learning how to conduct, and in just a few hours progressed from random and self-conscious arm waving, to a simple but clear pattern. I got so into it that I was conducting to the radio on the way home and missed my exit off the motorway!

And of course, on top of all that, was the joy of singing together in harmony.

Yes, I definitely went in at the deep end, but having been there all I can say is… why would anyone ever want to paddle?!

Jacqui