Learn to Leyn
A 10-week week course where we learn to sing the words of our Torah.
Have you ever wanted to read the Torah? To make it your own and to be able to chant it using the ancient melodies of our ancestors? To get nerdy about it with a bunch of lovely queers? Our Sweet Singer of Israel Mich Sampson leads this friendly, chilled introductory course in leyning [chanting] the Torah.
About the course
Part 1 (5 one-hour sessions)
This covers the what, why, and how of chanting the Torah. We’ll learn some basic principles and some of the most important melodies in our tradition. We’ll be using the Western Ashkenazi Shabbat trope [collection of tunes], most commonly used in the UK. We’ll be on Zoom, and we’ll use a mixture of whole class teaching, work in small groups, and (gentle!) individual, optional homework.
Part 2 (5 one-hour sessions)
In Part 2 you take ownership of a piece of Torah and learn how to chant it! To do this we’ll also learn and practise more of the melodies you need, and at the end of the course we’ll celebrate our learning by chanting our Torah portions to each other.
Times and costs
Regular cost
The entire course costs £100, meaning each lesson costs £10.
Supporter cost
The entire course costs £200, meaning each lesson costs £20. By paying for this level, you can support another student in their studies.
Supported cost
The course is free. We don’t ask for proof of income, but the amount of Supported places is limited and on a first-come first-served basis.
MONDAYS
A ten-week course starting 29 January, 7:30pm-8:30pm, with a week break after 5 sessions.
TUESDAYS
A ten-week course starting 30 January, 10:30am-11:30am, with a week break after 5 sessions.
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You do need to be able to read Hebrew (that is, Hebrew that has the vowels written in), but you don’t need to be fast!
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No opera-level singing required! It’s more important that you feel confident to sing, and if you know that people usually recognise what you’re singing, even better!
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All sessions are recorded so you can watch back if you need to miss a session for any reason.
