The Old Songs

In this final discussion about ACE IT, I conclude my observations on how to make every song come alive for you, the singer, as well as for your audience. After all, isn’t that one of the many joys of singing barbershop?

So the accuracy is down, you are singing with confidence and energy, you have understood the interpretive plan of the song. The only thing that is left is the performance of the song. That is the T in our word puzzle.

Putting it all together

The T in ACE IT stands for the total package or total performance of the song. It is where you put the many hours of preparation into practice. It is where you realize the potential of the song.

We have all heard it, and perhaps even experienced it first hand. You know you are “in the groove” when time seems to stop. Nothing else matters right then. You are focused completely on the song, the emotion, the message. I recall such a moment when, in finishing a tender ballad that I and everyone else was engaged in, there was no applause from the audience for what seemed to be hours. Then there was a collective inhale and sigh from the audience before they burst into applause. They got it.

That moment would not have been possible without all of the preceeding steps. I knew my notes. I was confident in my knowledge. I had the energy to do what was in the interpretive plan. In the final analysis, it was the total effort there on stage that produced that emotional reaction from the audience. And this was just one song!

Performance process

Everyone is counting on you. Your fellow singers depend on you to be consistent. It takes time. It takes your willingness to go through the performance process one step at a time. That’s what this is. It is not so much a learning process of a song we are going through, but a performance process. We all are learning how best to perform a piece of music. Go to your chapter or quartet rehearsals now with a new attitude, a new insight. You’re not just learning the music, you are learning how to perform the music.

So there you have it. I hope that this helps you “ace” your next performance.

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