| Links to Organizations,
Choruses, and Singing Groups |
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The Barbershop Harmony Society - the worldwide organization
for men's barbershop quartets and choruses. Information (singing,
administration, training, chapters, districts, quartets, international
conventions, etc.), music, sheet and program music, society articles,
CDs and DVDs available. |
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Ontario District - for the Barbershop Harmony Society. Information
on conventions, training, chapters (choruses), and more. |
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Harmonize for Speech - The charitable branch of
Ontario District - supporting a variety of speech projects. |
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Sing Canada Harmony - a not-for-profit organization
to provide financial support for young Canadians interested in learning
the wonderful art of four-part a cappella harmony singing. |
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Capital City Chorus - Our cross town brothers in
harmony. |
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Barbershop and A Cappella choruses and groups in
Eastern Ontario.
The emphasis is on barbershop. Looking for a place to sing? Looking
to contact a barbershop chorus - mens or ladies? Look here. |
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Barbershop Harmony Web Ring - web sites of quartets
and choruses, male and female that are part of the world of barbershop
singing. |
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A Cappella Web Ring - web sites that relate to a
cappella singers, quartets, and choirs and related information. |
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Yahoo Mail - Our e-mail hosts |
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Northern Stars Chorus Members Only Area |
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Affiliate Organizations |
| AAMBS
- Australian Association of Men's Barbershop Singers |
| BABS
- British Association of Barbershop Singers |
| BinG!
- Barbershop in Germany |
| CASA
- Contemporary Acapella Society of America |
| DABS
- Dutch Association of Barbershop Singers |
| HI
- Harmony, Incorporated |
| IABS
- Irish Association of Barbershop Singers |
| LABBS
- Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers |
| MENC
- Music Educators National Conference |
| NZABS
- New Zealand Association of Barbershop Singers |
| SAI
- Sweet Adelines International |
| SNOBS
- Society of Nordic Barbershoppers |
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| Singing Skills,
Preparation, and More |
| The
Barbershop Society - staying healthy, vibrato, interpretation,
motivation, tuning, etc. information |
| National
Centre for Voice and Speech - voice tutorials and learning
aids. And links. |
| Information
for Singers - from the National centre for Voice and Speech |
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| Other Sites of
General Interest |
| A
Cappella Music Site - A cappella music from a vairety
of groups. For purchase and downloading. Some mp3 sound clips
available. |
| General
Tips - Tips to Help You Maintain Youself and Body in Good
Shape |
| Music
Theory - plenty of information of all types, trainers,
and utilities |
| Vocal
Information - Exercises of many types, voice training
information, and many links. |
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A full site list is available
here. |
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| Additional Information
about Singing |
| We present articles from e-mails received
and links to articles about
singing improvement, singing techniques, vocal warmup, a cappella
groups, etc. |
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Learn the Secrets of In-Tune
Singing
Why can't I sing in
tune? |
| (This is an article previously available
from the Barbershop Harmony Society web site and that no longer
appears in the Singing Skills section. It is provided here
on the assumption that it was missed when their web site was
revised last and not that it was incorrect with its information.) |
Singing out of tune is a recurring problem that we hear
from performers. An important element of the barbershop
"lock and ring" sound is in-tune singing. We need
to sing quality musical tones that are specifically in pitch
to the anticipated melodic line. To make this happen, we
must sing in tune both horizontally and vertically.
Do we sing out of tune because we can not hear the pitch
we are trying to sing, or because we just can not support
the pitch in good quality in which we are trying to sing?
The answer is support. Chest breathing or shallow breathing
causes the pitch to sag at the middle or end of every phrase.
A freely produced, well supported, resonant quality tone
with a good head voice will solve many tuning issues. Poor
posture, mental and/or physical fatigue can also have significant
influence on horizontal and vertical tuning. Spend time
on good diaphragmatic breathing exercises every day to help
develop better support and, therefore, better tuning.
Singing with a heavy vocal production throughout your
range can also cause flatting, especially as you carry the
weight of your chest voice up into your head voice. Learn
to keep your head voice in your voice throughout your range.
Furthermore, the use of warm air to support every pitch
of every phrase will open up all the spaces needed for quality
singing.
Some other more obvious reasons: singing wrong intervals,
or taking too small of a step in an ascending line, or too
large of a step in a descending line. Spend time singing
major, minor and chromatic scales, both ascending and descending,
with accuracy. Relaxing support when you're singing descending
lines can also allow you to flat. Reaching for high note
without lightening up and using your head voice can also
cause flatting.
Scooping is another cause of tuning problems for your
quartet, especially for the lead. Spend rehearsal time duetting
in your quartet practice. It will make a difference in the
overall sound and tuning of your quartet.
Lastly, it is important to pick songs appropriate for
your quartet's vocal range and to sing them in the right
key for your group. Avoid songs written too low for the
quartet to sing comfortably. Be warned that if the melody
has too many thirds or sevenths, there is a good chance
the quartet will go flat |
How to Memorize Vocal
Music
by Bruce Schoonmaker |
| 1. Brute repetition. Speak the text repeatedly. Sing
the text repeatedly. |
| 2. The rule of three: Work a long phrase until you
can repeat it perfectly from memory three times consecutively.
Do the next phrase the same way. Combine the phrases
and work them as one longer phrase. Build by phrases
until you sing perfectly from memory an entire section
of the aria/song three times consecutively. Build by
sections until you have memorized the whole song. |
| 3. Memorize the text without the music. In other words,
memorize it as a poem, rather than as a song. Then put
it with the music. |
| 4. Speak the rhythm. Sing the rhythm, on one pitch.
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| 5. Try memorizing while lying on your back. Studies
have shown that actors memorize roles faster while working
on memorizing in a supine position. |
| 6. Memorize the song backwards. Memorize the last
section first, then the next-to-last section, working
your way forward. |
| 7. Reward: Reward yourself with each song memorized.
Get a frozen yogurt or goody that you really like. Don't
get it until you've sung the piece successfully in the
presence of others (in other words, performed it from
memory under pressure). |
| 8. Write the words on paper while repeating the song
from memory. |
| 9. If you visualize the words in order to memorize,
visualize the words in the upper left quadrant of your
vision. I read this in a book on Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
Oddly enough, it seems to settle in the memory quicker
and more deeply by using the upper left quadrant. |
| 10. Try to "hear the piece in your head,"
and to "listen" to it, preferably right before
you go to sleep -- or to "hear" it while you
are listening to something else. |
| 11. Delay Gratification: When working on an entire
role (opera, musical, or song cycle), memorize your
favorite piece last. Memorize the most difficult music
first. Memorize ensembles before solos. In other words,
delay the gratification of memorizing your favorite
parts until the other sections are memorized. |
| 12. Try working on memorization while doing some mindless
chore. Repeat phrases over and over again while cleaning
up or washing dishes or sweeping. Refer to the score
when necessary, then return to the mindless task and
work the memory. |
| 13. Get a friend to "repetiteur" for you,
playing the piano accompaniment over and over again
while you sing, in order to memorize. Don't try to make
the song technically perfect while doing this kind of
drill; you may even "mark" the voice. Just
repeat the music many, many times in order to drill
it into your mind. |
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| How do I sing more loudly? |
Trying to "push" your voice to be loud is
counter-productive. The best way to achieve more volume
is to learn to sing with forward placement (sometimes
called "the mask" or "masque").
A good singing teacher, who can work with you one and
one, is the best way to learn proper placement; it won't
happen overnight, so be patient. It usually takes months
to truly master this part of technique.
To find what forward placement is, hum until you feel
your front teeth and/or lips vibrate. Once you have
that buzz, take note of the sensations in your mouth.
Then, go directly from humming to singing vowels: "Hmmmmmeeeee.
Hmmmmmaaaay. Hmmmmmoooo." Etc.
Again, take note of those sensations and try to duplicate
them when you sing a song. Some people feel very subtle
vibrations, while others feel the vibrations intensely.
Your teacher can give you additional exercises, tailored
to your personality and voice, to help you with placement.
(Singing with forward placement should never sound nasally
or thin.) |
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A Poem
Orignailly published
in the May 1945 issue of The Harmonizerm Carroll P.
Adams, editor, and re-published in theJuly - September
2007 edition of Thhe Trillium, Waldo Redekop, editor. |
A lady stood before a judge,
Her face with woe constricted.
It only took but half an eye
To see she was afflicted.
"My tale, good judge, is long and sad.
I don't know how to tell it.
I hope that you with wisdom rare
Will know how to dispel it."
"My husband's such a different man.
He used to be quite grouchy.
And even in his daily traits
Was known to be right slouchy."
"He joined a club the other night,
Just common men ne betters.
I do not know the name of it
Except a lot of letters."
"And now he sings the whole night thru.
He sings while he is shaving,
And if the razor cuts his lip,
He sings, instead of raving."
"The songs he sings are all nice tunes,
If only he could sing 'en.
I don't know what's come over him,
Or what of help to bring him."
It is the great change I fear,
Tho I can't help but like it,
But if it's going to do him harm
I'd like some plan to spike it."
The judge bent forth with kindly look,
"Your husband is not loony.
S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A.
Has made him extra-tuney."
- Bob Easton. (Mukegon Chaper)
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| Clip art of singer and bird from Clipart
from Clipartheaven.com |
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