What we’re about
Welcome to TIEF_CHOR ... a group for men to sing together, even if they can't sing alone.
Once upon a time I was a singing zero, karaoke scared me and a choir was out of the question. It has taken seven years for me realise that I love singing and I think more men would love it too, with a little encouragement and support.
I'm Ben, a Englishman living in Berlin for around four and a half years. For most of that time I've run a wonderful choir called Singing in the City: https://www.meetup.com/Singing-in-the-City-Berlin/
We will sing songs from all around the world in 2, 3 and 4 part harmony. I want to foster musicianship and friendship. It is fun to sing if we strive to do it well, support each other and don't take it too seriously!
• We won’t audition.
• We won’t use sheet music - everything is learned by listening and repeating.
• You won't be asked to sing on your own
• You won't be criticised for singing wrong notes
We're making things a bit more organised and moving to a season-based structure. Starting with the meetup on the 11th July the summer season will go through to 26th September. During that time we'll practice some of our repertoire (and teach it to newcomers), and learn 4-5 new songs - all leading to a little performance around then. We'll do some casual performances along the way too!
Membership will cost 40 euro for the season - most of this is spent on our meeting venue, and any excess will go to Amnesty International.
If you don't already sing with us, and you want to join this season, you must come to one of the first two meetups of the season. Existing singers are welcome any time - but all must pay the membership fee.
WHY JUST MEN?
It is a tricky business these days to "gender" anything. Rest assured I'm no male-rights activist, and I don't generally like to draw lines between genders.
• While there are plenty of famous male singers, untrained men singing for fun is a rare thing, and I think this is shame
• Men singing with other men are often much more confident than men singing with women around
• Manliness and male friendship is too often defined by aggression and competitiveness, and singing together is a welcome relief from that
• Men singing together in harmony sounds absolutely bloody amazing!
I understand for many men, singing can be nerve-wracking (unless you're blazing drunk of course). We'll take it slowly, support each other and get everyone singing confidently! We can also possibly get drunk... it definitely helps sometimes :)
WHAT DOES TIEF_CHOR MEAN?
So you haven't learned German yet... welcome to the club, you're in good company my friend :) Tief is the German word for deep, and Chor is the German word for choir. Deep choir... deep voices, deep thought, deep soul, deep trouble...
SOUND GOOD? BRILLIANT! I look forward to meeting you and singing with you.