And, from earlier:

Edmonton
Inside & Out
by Mike Sadava
   As a longtime fan of bluegrass three-part harmony, it's easy for me to appreciate their tight vocal harmonies and all the hard work at the Gateway's weekly practice in a church hall. And I'm amazed at the range of the female voice - I hear some pretty low tones.
    These 80 women not only have to sing in perfect pitch, but their enunciation and timing have to he perfect to make it sing, as they say.
    After warming up physically and vocally and going over some familiar material, their director, Marlene Greenough breaks down, line by line, a song called Running wild.
    "You were cooking with gas on your diphthongs until you got to the word 'say,'" she tells them.
    Then her daughter Lisa (there are a few mother-daughter combinations in the chorus), who is running the "choreo" on this number, works with them.
    "What is your most important choreographic tool?" she asks. "Your face," comes the answer.
    She's not happy with the wave that sweeps across the risers. It went "wave, wave, wave, dunk, wave" and she says the bass section in the middle was the problem.
    Somebody blurts out: "A bass section that's clunky." Evidently bass singers in barbershop choruses get the same grief that banjo players get in bluegrass bands
    A few women are singing into tape recorders. That means they are auditioning for the song. They'll have to submit their tapes to the tape listeners for each section and, if their singing is not perfect, they'll have to work on it some more until they can join the group for that particular song.
    Lynne Michaels, a relatively new member, is sitting on the sidelines for this one because she doesn't have it down yet. It can take a few weeks to learn one of these tunes.

   But you don't need to have a voice like Charlotte Church or even the ability to read music to sing in a chorus.
    "The first time I saw them at the K-Days Promenade, and I thought I'd like to do that, but I'll never be good enough," Michaels says.
    Helen Akin, the membership chair, says classical voices with a lot of vibrato aren't great for barbershop, because it can get in the way of locking in a chord.
    You just need a good ear and the willingness to work hard at it. By using the voice, it gets better, and the chorus holds workshops with professional voice teachers and choreographers.
    The chorus has a repertoire of 25 songs, from Oh You Beautiful Doll to Tears In Heaven, and it includes a Canadian Medley, with songs such as Four Strong Winds, Farewell to Nova Scotia and of course, Alberta Bound.
    "It's not the regular type of choir, where you come when you feel like it," Alain says. "We do demand a fairly good commitment and it's worth it."
    Newcomers get through a six-week program of voice lessons.
    And, once in performing mode, they get the glittery outfit, which has as many sequins as Michael Jackson's closet.
    There's a lot of schtick involved, a lot of fun with exaggerated moves and facial expression in the choreography.
    They're even trying little sequined palm covers to highlight the moves when the spotlights are on, although they don't have to look or dance like Christina Aguilera.
    "We take ordinary women and turn them into extraordinary women," Alain says.

If this chorus strikes a chord with you, call 413-0378 for more information.