Three in one

I really do need to get better at up dating this Blog, sorry, more frequent posts are put on our Facebook page, the link of which can be found above.  So three posts in one here.

Soooo back in May we competed at Chester Music festival, and came respectable second to a Natural Selection, a very well manicured Quartet, using the festival as a warm up for the nations where they were competing the following weekend.

They oozed confidence, something I wish I felt when it comes to competition, but given that I (the Tenor) was full of cold and had almost lost my voice, and felt like I was singing in a swimming pool,  we were pleased with the result.  The Judge had some very complimentary comments about us too which is always nice to hear.

A few weeks after that we performed at Burnley Mechanics, summer sports ball, a completely different affair.  We were their entertainment in the bar as people arrived.  I do enjoy gigs like that because I love to see all the different outfits people wear to balls - weddings are generally good for outfit spotting too! - however they can be tricky ones to hear yourself at.  all went well though and we got some nice feedback at the end.

In June we performed at the Red Rose, and Red Rosette concert at Wellington Park in Leyland,  to a packed house, it was a great event and we were honoured to be part of the entertainment that evening.


Our next gig is at Lytham, 1940's festival August the 17th and we've also been asked to guest appear at the Lowther pavilion with a Male voice choir on the 1st September. All good warm up for Ireland international competition that we're entered into in October.  Information will be on our facebook page when I have more details.

4th in the Country!

So it's been a year of hard work and subsequent celebrations.    After winning the Mountain Harmony cup at Chester Music festival in May, we were pleased we got through prelims.

 We do have to thank Katie Philips for this as she very kindly stood in for our Tenor who had to work, due to the Olympic torch events.







As a result of getting in the top 16 we were able to compete at the national Semi finals in October.


Working with coaches Emma McManus, Katie Philips and Rob Barber, we deconstructed our songs and then re built them, ensuring that our chords were ringing, vowels were matching and we were telling the same story throughout the song, oh yes and some breathing happens between all that too.

I suppose our biggest challenge is managing to do all the above when the nerves kick in.  Rehearsing to the point that you can't go wrong because your subconscious kicks in.

All the hard work paid off, we got into the finals! It was a little bit of a shock to the system as our goal was to aim for 8th place.  When they announced our name in the finals list  there was a some what delayed response before all the screaming started as we didn't expect to hear it, at this point we'd already achieved our goal as the very least we were 6th.

We had a few hours to compose ourselves, eat and rehearse for our next performance, what a roller coaster and a bit of an endurance test.  You're Nobody till somebody loves you, and Turned the tables, were our finalist package and we all came off the stage happy with what we had done, no regrets and knowing we'd done our best.  We were up against some brilliant quartets, people who have been singing barbershop for many years, including some previous gold medalists.  

I know I've given the game away with the title of this blog, as it's way too exciting to just post at the bottom here, but yes you've guested it,  WE CAME 4TH!!!!,   From 11th to 4th place in a year, what an achievement, several months on we're still buzzing about it.  What will 2013 bring?

So if you want to book a 4th place quartet to sing at your wedding, dinner dance, drinks night, you know where to come.

Merry Christmas and Best wishes for 2013  TECHnique x

Long time no post!

I have to apologise for the lack of up dates on this site in the last year.  My excuse is that we have been incredibly busy, but I do appreciate that means we should have had more information on here not less!

We now have a Facebook page, which is quicker for me to update from my phone, so do please look at that site for  more regular up dates, but this one is on our business cards so it will remain open, and I will endeavour to up date it more regularly,  sound like a new year resolution to me.

So what have we been up to..... Well at the end of 2011 we won, best improved quartet in the Ladies association of British Barbershop Singers (LABBS) national competition.  As a result we got this lovely trophy,  although have to admit it did feel as though we were leaving with the tea service tray from the hotel :0)   We came 11th in the national competition which out of almost 30 quartets for our second attempt this was not bad going.


We have sung at Sports dinners, Golf Captain's Christmas Do's, Christmas black tie parties, museum openings, Preston Guild celebrations.  We were meant to do a community award night, however our lovely Barri slipped on a grape of all things - you can imagine we haven't let her live that down - and consequently ended up with a trip to A&E and a painful torn hand-string to show for it, so we had to give that one a miss.  A rather extreme way of getting out of a booking!


We competed a Chester Music competition and came first in our category so got the cup back, we're pleased about that one, they hadn't engraved our name on the plinth last time, so we'll make sure it's done twice this year.

TECHnique Tea Party,

Afternoon Tea for TECHnique, a well deserved break to celebrate qualifying for national competition and time to take stock before all the hard works begins. 

Cheers Ladies! Well done

Burnley Sports Dinner

Well after competing what's the best thing to do?............... Go sing to guests as they arrive at a sports dinner!

It was actually really nice to sing to people rather than judges (not that Judges aren't people!).  In particular a young student who's a keen musician kept coming back to listen and loved the four part harmonies, certainly made us want to carry on and reminded us that we do this because we enjoy it, not just for the nerves of competition.

Being able to sing anywhere as no equipment was required was commented on as a definite plus by the event organisers, with lots of positive comments so a good gig.  A bonus being the event's manager liked us so much we're now booked for two Christmas gigs too :0)

Prelims 11th June 2011

Well it was a long day, but it paid off!


We managed to not only qualify at the LABS (Ladies Association of Barbershop singers) national Prelims, but came 10th in the country.  As this was our goal we're really pleased.  


Now to learn the new songs for competition in October.  Looking forward to it, have lots to do and had really useful feedback from the judges so we know what to work on.   Onwards and upwards!


Next public gig is this Thursday at Burnley Sports awards. 

Chester Music Festival

14th May 2011. We won a cup at the Chester Music Festival!   
88 points and a distinction, really pleased, all helps us get ready for the national prelims, early June.


Improving each time, although looking at this picture it would suggest we're also merging into one person, a bit blouse tastic!