choral culture shock

I unwittingly disrupted my rehearsal tonight, in a very subversive and eggheaded way.

I noticed that in a particular section we were singing in unison — and that “unison” didn’t match my part.   Look over one shoulder. Look over another.  Yep, we should be singing harmony.  I ask my fellow singers if we’re supposed to be singing unison.  Yes.  I clumsily point out that the music says otherwise.  Confusion results.  We check with the conductor, and, yes, they had made a change.  Nobody made a note of it, because they’re going by ear and memory (and keep their music in sheet protectors).  Now… they were doing just fine before I asked the question, but once I’d pointed out the discrepancy, many took the time to write in the correct notes (which were all just a third below our part and which, furthermore, they obviously didn’t need since they’d been singing the unison correctly all along).

Aside from feeling guilty about raising needless cain, I came away realizing that I’d underestimated the degree to which this choir is working on a purely aural basis.  From now on, I’m keeping all my fancy-pants questions to myself.  But I will  track down a four-hole punch so I can jettison the sheet protectors and write all over my music.