Comments for The Old Songs

Comment on Vulnerability by twhitfield

twhitfield — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 22:42:21 +0000

Since cavemen (and cavewomen!) sat around the campfire, singing has been used to tell and preserve a story. Since barbershop quartet and chorus singing began, telling the story with harmony, clarity and emotion have been used to create “entertainment value” (EV) in the minds of the audience. If the audience cannot hear the harmony, or understand the words, or see the emotion involved in the singing, part of the story impact is lost, and the EV suffers accordingly. As singers, we have to realize that if we are flat, slur our words, are deadpan or inappropriate in our emotional content, we create “dissonance” in our story, and risk “losing” our audience (in more ways than one!). John is absolutely right, not only do we have to sing well, we have to know the “story” and be able to express the appropriate emotions using face, and yes our entire body! To do that we must first desire to create the maximum EV for our audience. Yes, openness to the meaning of the song, and vulnerability in expressing it in the singing are essential to getting it’s “story” across to the audience. Sorry guys, if we want that entertainment meter to go up, we’re going to have to learn the language!

Comment on We don’t need no stinkin’ director! by editor

editor — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:17:41 +0000

twhifield makes a good point, and I happen to agree with him. As a singer, I remember being in sync with my chorus director, and able to respond to his subtle changes while on stage. There is a lot to be said about that kind of connection.

What Dr. Drummond was saying, however, was that all too often the performance is about the director and not about the chorus. When the director doesn’t prepare the singers to be the star performers, then he or she does the group an injustice.

I am learning that a properly trained group of singers can understand and own the song, while still communicating through the director to the audience. The director needs to let that happen.

Comment on We don’t need no stinkin’ director! by twhitfield

twhitfield — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 04:39:31 +0000

If I understand him correctly, I guess I would have to disagree with Dr. Drummond. While I have experienced some times when my Director did get in the way, so to speak, it was usually getting to the coffee and doughnuts, or out of the parking lot. I never felt that I could not “own” the song just because he was up there waving his hands and grinning at me. I have always felt that he and I were a team, and needed to be connected visually, even though I may only be watching him out of the corner of my visual field, in order for his interpretation of the song to flow through me to the audience. While consistency of interpretation is appreciated, I would never want to merely memorize it, or take away the Director’s right to change it sutily, and spontaneously, from time to time. For me, beautiful things have happened most often when I and all other singers are “tuned” in and responsive to the Director’s every move and expression.

Comment on Learning music by Woody

Woody — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 23:34:42 +0000

Non-readers need a ‘me sing you sing’ tutorial approach. Sight-singing classes for new members bring a good amount of confidence to new members. Chorus section leaders should be advanced enough to teach sight singing techniques. That will bring a strong personal touch to the learning of the music.

Comment on Learning music by rquinn

rquinn — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 20:39:14 +0000

Here are some techniques on the memorization bit that I use:

*Sectionals work wonders on learning the music and getting singers out of the music.
*The first time I run a piece of music I make certain we leave the piece by singing the first section, perhaps the introduction or just the first few measures, without looking at music, but looking at me, the director, instead.
* I tell the singers to stand and sing this song to me. I don’t ask them to get out the music, we just sing it and they find out they know it better than they think they do. I then go back and fix a spot or two and end by singing the piece without music.
*I don’t mouth the words when they look at me. I ask them to “tell me the story”! It works wonders.