A young singer, with a readiness in her lungs, belts out that high note. It rings like a bell, and then she lands on an “r” — and stays there. The note is ruined, but never fear, the Madrigals were there to help.

The Madrigals are one of the three choirs at DHS, the other two being Concert Choir and Pop Choir. What’s special about Madrigals, though, is that they are the only group a student has to audition for, and they only sing acapella.

The choir, led by their teacher, Kimberly Russell, traveled to Broadview Middle School and Westside Middle School Academy Wednesday, November 9th, to teach workshops for both schools’ eighth-grade choruses.

In the workshops,  Madrigal singers taught the middle schoolers the song, “Carol of the Bells,” which the Madrigals are performing at the DHS holiday concert on Dec. 12.

Along with this, the high schoolers taught the eighth-graders techniques — such as holding out a vowel while singing, instead of a consonant such as “r” — that were intended to better their middle school choirs as a whole, as well as themselves as individuals.

Madrigals hoped to instill in them techniques that they would find fun, but would also get them feeling better about their sound, providing a lasting effect.

One way the Madrigals did this was by teaching them warm ups that worked on something specific, such as diction, but did so using words that made it funny, such as in the warmup titled “super duper double bubble gum.”

Broadview eighth-grader Matt Lucas said the experience helped him “sing with confidence.”

Another Broadview student, eighth-grader Divine Thomas, said, “It was a fun experience to learn new and exciting things from older peers.”

In particular, Thomas said the soprano section of Madrigals taught her, when singing a high pitch, to imagine that the note is on top of hill and sing “over it.”

Westside eighth-grader Jennifer Grant said, “It was the highlight of my day, it was so much fun and with the tips the Madrigals taught us, I know we will sound better.”

Many students in the DHS choir aspire to teach music, so the trip provided the experience to aid in their future endeavors as well as solidify their own techniques and songs, making it a beneficial day for all three schools.

The Madrigals pointed out the passion that the middle schoolers sang with, which inspired themselves to change how they sing.

They also noticed how focused the eighth-graders were and how they absorbed everything the Madrigals taught them.

With that, Russell said to the choir, “You all could learn a thing or two from the middle schoolers.”

Editor’s note: Staff Writer Meghan Edwards is a member of the Madrigals and covered this story while also participating.