An e-mail came last week, inviting me to sing Vivaldi's 'Gloria' at a church in the suburbs. I was tempted. Since retiring, my world has been getting smaller and smaller, and I wanted new music and new people in my life.

But could I learn challenging alto parts for the 12 sections of the Gloria in two weeks?

Enter MIDI. Thanks to the generosity of music lovers, I can now download the alto part and sing along with my computer. It's wonderful! I'm learning the parts, and I can hear my voice improving every day I sing.

My music software is Noteworthy Composer, which costs about $50. (check that at NoteworthyComposer.com) It is wonderful what power it gives one over MIDI music files. Are the violas drowning me out? Alt-s-d, they are gone! Is the music going too fast? Give me a T, and I'll change it. Is the intro taking too long? Highlight it and delete it.

I could change the key or the clef, too, but of course in this case that wouldn't be helpful.

If you perform music and can read it, I really recommend having music software. There is an incredible amount of music to be had for free on the Internet.