Choir help! I cannot read music but I am singing in a church choir.?

I have sang in my church choir for 3 or 4 years and I learned to read music through piano lessons. Piano also helps your musical skills. Alto sometimes sings on the melody but not usually.

Melody? In the alto section? You should be singing the alto part. Learning to read music, at least enough to get by, isn't that hard. Once you learn the basic rhythmic marking, that "p" and "f" mean quiet and loud, and that notes farther up the page are higher, you'll find a lot of guidance in the printed music. I'd suggest a private talk with the choir director. Tell him you're eager to learn more and can he help point you in the right direction.

in different songs, different sections have the melody. why don't you ask another alto, or a director for help. reading is not as challenging as you think..

See if there is a for Dummies book about music. And just do what your director tells you to do. Ask him or her any questions you have. Since you are just starting out, no one will hold your inexperience against you.

Believe it or not, many singers cannot read music, or they started learning how to read music after they decided to sing seriously. I am a professional singer but thanks God I started studying music at the age of 9. So when I decided to study Opera I already knew all the stuff of music theory solfeggio, ear training etc. Many of my class mates were accepted at the Conservatory of music but with the condition of they need to learn all the basic musical theory in 4 semesters, at the end they had to take a LONG TEST and if they failed the test then they cannot continue their voice training . What I am trying to tell you is, "is never late if you really want to learn to read music" But is really Important for classical singers to learn the music theory and be able to read music to Perform. For Choral singers if you sing in a church choir or community choir is not extremly necessary to read music but it helps a lot. For Professional Choirs if you don't read music, they will not accept you period! If you really want to learn at least the basic solfeggio and ear training check in the music Institutes, music schools or Music Conservatories around your area, They have an extra curricular music programs that you can join to learn music. You should also consider to take voice lessons to help you to develop a good and healthy voice technique. Don't be jealous of people who can read music, try to do your best to improve and learn. To answer your question: When you sing in a mix choir (S A T B) in many songs altos harmonize with the melody, sometimes the melody is going section by section; you will notice this because when one session has the melody they usually sing a little bit louder and the other sessions needs to sing piano and harmonize with the melody. If you Listen choral Music you will notice that. Try to buy some Cd's of choral music. I will write a list of excellent composers for you: Claudio Monteverdi Henry Purcell Johann Sebastian Bach George Frederick Handel Wolfgan Amadeus Mozart Buy Choral Music from These composers you will learn a lot just listening too. Don't feel bad if you don't understand something about the notes you need to sing. You should have a section leader, so ask her as many times you need to ask. I hope this can help Music is the food of love... Play On! W. S.

Talk to your choir director! You should be standing in the alto section, so you should be able to listen to the others and follow what they are doing. Maybe one of the other altos will be willing to work with you to teach you the part you should be singing! Good luck! Also, it is never to late to learn the notes, try a local music store to find a beginning voice teacher/coach.

More than likely in the alto section you're singing harmony. You can learn songs by ear, but reading music definitely help. I recommend using: http://www.happynote.com/music/learn.html to learn the notations. I used to to learn the bass line and it helped! Good Luck!

I've taught music for over 20 years, so take it from me, you're not too old. Take some piano lessons, which will show you the spatial relationships as you learn to read the music. (Voice lessons are more focused on breathing and sound than on reading the notes.)