I LOVE Little Belters, Cheadle Hulme

I Love Cheadle Hulme was invited to watch the Cheadle Hulme Little Belters rehearsing. What an absolute treat it was!

Little Belters Cheadle Hulme rehearse every Wednesday, from 5-6, in Room 1 at Cheadle Hulme Methodist Church. The first session is FREE.

Little Belters are not just your traditional choir. They are a group of kids, from age 5-11, who just LOVE to sing. Classical or Katy Perry, rap or Rihanna they just love to sing!

Little Belters firmly believe that singing should be open to everyone and their fun, friendly teaching methods ensure high performance standards regardless of entry-level ability. Little Belters provide local children with access to high quality vocal training on their doorsteps. And there’s no daunting audition process!

Little Belter focus on:

• >teaching sound vocal technique.
• >developing happy and confident performers. Rihanna
• >delivering a varied repertoire that captures children’s imaginations.
• >providing a safe and exciting environment where children can socialise with others who share a love of singing.

Professional singers and sisters, Claire and Tina O’Brien, launched their Children’s Choir in 2011 to provide local children with high-quality, out-of-school vocal training in a group setting. Any child who loved to sing could join – absolutely no auditions!

Word spread, and the 35-strong group soon became known for quirky, unaffected performances. The Choir was such a success that in 2013, they began to expand. Claire and Tina realised they had a winning formula as demand for performances grew. However, they began to feel that the word ‘choir’ might be putting some singers off – and so Little Belters was born.

See the fun for yourself: https://youtu.be/mRgachqCg0g

So, back to Wednesday evening. Room 1 at Cheadle Hulme Methodist Church is roomy, but not too big. It’s also bright and airy. Tina and Claire welcomed everyone by name – and they were clearly all very happy to be there. The class began with some warming up vocal exercises and a quick recap of technique. This involved making great big, yaaawwwny breaths and trying to catch them. Then, the class were instructed to try and blow Tina right over – much giggling ensued! Other activities – none of which seemed remotely like practising or working to the children – all helped get the children ready to start singing. There were also team games, and record attempts!

Then, it was on to the serious business of singing. Except that there was nothing really serious about it – only the end result, which was seriously good. The children learnt the entire Naughty Boy ft. Beyoncé track, Runnin’ in just TWELVE MINUTES. No mean feat you’d think, but they, along with Tina and Claire, made it look easy. Breaking the song down into single lines at a time, they were word-perfect by the end – and what powerful, impressive voices they’ve all developed. Apparently, learning a song in one go helps the brain to recognise the ‘shape’ of the song.

Once the song was learnt, it was back to fun games and running around having fun (or at least, that’s what the children thought they were doing!) before getting back into choir position for one more run-through of their song.

Singing like this isn’t just a talent to be proud of, but an amazing tool for developing confidence. What’s more, I KNOW the technique for learning the song works, because I’m word-perfect, too!

Your child too can be a Little Belter: Contact Claire on 07779 668204 or Tina on 07740 464507

• Email [email protected]
• Twitter: @LittleBelters
• Facebook : Little Belters
• Website: www.littlebelters.co.uk

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