Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America

# Sharp Notes #

Publication of the Regina Golden Harvest Chorus

Golden Harvest Chorus meets most Monday Evenings, 7:30-10:00 at

Knox Metropolitan United Church, corner of Victoria and Lorne, Regina, Saskatchewan
Guests always welcome!

Summer 1998

Summertime, and the livin' is easy, Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high

Summer is upon us. Time for cookouts, days at the beach and summer vacations. Time to kick back and relax. Monday June 29th will be our windup meeting. There will be no meetings in July or the first two weeks of August. Regular meetings resume again on Monday, August 17th. By the time you read this, I'll be kicking back at Harmony Ranch in Ontario -- enjoying cookouts, days at the beach, and evenings harmonizing around the campfire with fellow Barbershoppers.

For those of you who will be out on June 29th, there will be an executive meeting at 6:30; a short meeting at 7:30; followed by pizza and refreshments as we wind down for the summer.

Enjoy your summer, and see you on August 17th.

 

Executive Meeting - Monday June 29th, 1998

Windup meeting - Monday June 29th, 1998

No meetings in July or first 2 weeks of August

Next meeting - Monday August 17th, 1998

Founders' Day Parade (or Buffalo Days as you young pups call it)

The Golden Harvest Chorus will be entering a float in the Founders' day parade to be held on Saturday July 25th. Gord has the wagon, Dave has a place, Stu has some ideas -- now we need volunteers and helpers. If you're around over the next several weeks, give Gord or Stu a call and lend a hand or two.

Taping session

Our taping session seems to have gone fairly well. We were able to record several songs from our repertoire, which will be used for the Founders' Day float, and for a Rider pre-game performance in the fall at Taylor Field.

Barbershoppers give Atlanta something to sing about

10,000 singers. 28,000 chords. Millions of smiles.

It's a convention of barbershop singers,

and it's the biggest week of harmony Atlanta has ever seen.

More than 10,000 close-harmony singers and guests from around the world will bring their unique brand of music to Atlanta this summer, when the barbershop harmony society meets for its 60th-annual convention, June 28- July 4, 1998.

Contests and shows and clinics will highlight the summer meeting of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), the world's largest all-male singing organization.

Hotel lobbies and restaurants will ring with the sound of impromptu harmony, and an atmosphere of uncommon good cheer will prevail. The convention crowd is expected to bring about $10 million into the local economy.

The week's activities open with CELEBRATE YOUTH on Tuesday, June 30. Combining the fun of an old-fashioned sing-along with the excitement of young barbershop quartets, the free event showcases the commitment to young singers that is the cornerstone of SPEBSQSA's service project, SingAmerica.

A noontime MASSED SING will draw more than 7,000 singers together for a FREE concert in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Wednesday, July 1. Everyone is welcome to hear some great performances, and share the fun of singing as a community.

The first major public shows occur Wednesday evening. SPEBSQSA's ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS will rock the Civic Center at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Seven past champion quartets and the AIC Chorus are featured on the show. Tickets will be available at the door and in advance by call 800-876-SING.

The INTERNATIONAL QUARTET CONTEST opens Thursday, July 2, with 48 quartets representing the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Sweden competing for the world championship. The top twenty quartets return for the semi-finals Friday night, with the top ten survivors battling it out in the Saturday night finals.

More than 1,200 men will take the stage Friday, July 3, for the INTERNATIONAL CHORUS CONTEST. The Vocal Majority, the 1997 champion, will sing away the trophy to the best of 22 competing choruses from the USA, Canada and Great Britain. Young singers from across North America take the stage in the finals of the MBNA America College Quartet Contest on Saturday, July 4. Twenty top collegiate quartets will vie for the title, captured last year by FREEFALL from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Champion quartets and choruses from six separate men's and women's organizations are featured in the WORLD HARMONY JAMBOREE at the Atlanta Civic Center Theater on Saturday afternoon, July 4. The world-champion YESTERYEAR quartet headlines the gala concert, along with Georgia's own STONE MOUNTAIN CHORUS and women's champs from Sweet Adelines International and Harmony Incorporated.

The INTERNATIONAL QUARTET CONTEST FINALS conclude on Saturday night, when the Society's 59th quartet champion is crowned. A special presentation will honour the fiftieth anniversary of The Pittsburghers championship performance from 1948.

To cap the Independence Day festivities, eight-time chorus champions, THE VOCAL MAJORITY, will perform with the Atlanta Symphony in a FREE CONCERT IN CENTENNIAL PARK.

Of course, hospitality rooms and hotel lobbies will continue to ring with the sound of good close harmony throughout the night.

Can't Make it to Atlanta?

In anticipation of the international convention and the imminent roll-out of a new site design, the SPEBSQSA Jukebox Beta Test Site is now operating at http://www.spebsqsa.org/jukebox. Get ready for the "World Series of Barbershop Harmony" by listening to championship performances from the past. This beta test site offers a few audio clips and one video clip. We want to see how the server will handle the load once people starting hitting it, so we appreciate your patience as we bring the service online. You will need the free RealPlayer to listen to these performances. Get the RealPlayer at http://www.real.com.

Or you can check out the up-to-the-minute convention reports at The Harmonet Reporter Home Page at http://timc.pop.upenn.edu/harmrepo/homepage.htm Here you'll find news, stories and photos of some of the major events of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America.

Stage Presence

  1. When I’m talking about SP I’m NOT talking about putting in meaningless gestures or motion. I’m talking about something that supports and expresses the sentiments and ideas of the songs.
  2. It might be better to call SP body language. SP (stage presence) has become synonymous with something added to the music. It’s not. It is simply the physical expression of the words and message of the music. That’s why it must be part of the initial introduction of the song. The music may suffer a bit while the SP is being learned but the end result will be more satisfying.
  3. You can be a part of the music committee and help plan the SP. Just volunteer.

Why Have SP?

  1. A certain percentage of communication is done with the face and body. Using body language with our music is more natural. Can you imagine speaking to your wife, family or anyone else without facial and body language? They would think you were strange, or at least a very cold fish. It would be very unnatural to stand like a stick when we talk to someone. SP allows us to be more natural in our presentation.
  2. SP helps to connect your thoughts. Your performance will flow because it is connected by your body language as well as your thoughts and words.
  3. You will find it easier to remember the words and which verse you’re in. You’re not as likely to get lost or forget where you are. (This is because we do not generally perform the same SP in repeats.)
  4. It’s more interesting for the audience. Many people find barbershop music boring anyway because of the repetitive chording. (Ken’s done something about this by introducing more popular songs) People are visual creatures. They understand more if they see what they are hearing. We don’t want to bore our audience.
  5. Music is an emotional vehicle. It allows us to express sentiments and feelings we might not otherwise be able to express – especially as men! In life feelings and emotions are always expressed with accompanying body language.
  6. SP allows for the introduction of humour, and even visual stunts. These can add a great deal of entertainment value to our performance. We are entertainers, not just singers. (Our recent show was a success and audience approval was high. Note: the script was based on humour; the first and headline quartets were comedy, the other quartets used humour, and the curtain even got into the act. They loved it!)
  7. The big international choruses do it, and they have a much bigger and better sound than us. They could probably entertain without it, but it’s an integral part of their performance too. We have even more reason to use everything we possibly can to entertain our audience.

Ron Evans

SPEBSQSA Update: Music Premiere release announced

The spring issue of Music Premiere (six arrangements and a demo tape) was scheduled to be available during the first two weeks of June. Under the Barbershop Classics Series is:

In the "as sung by" Gold Medal Series:

Learning Tapes

We have learning tapes for most of our repertoire. Purchase tape 1 and 2 for $1.50 each. If you have an 'old' tape, turn it into Ron and get a new one with the new repertoire on it. Learning Tape 2 Side B has been updated, and now contains the following songs:

  1. Irish Blessing
  2. Five Foot Two
  3. Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight
  4. Yesterday
  5. Candle on the Water
  6. Barbershop Strut (Instrumental & vocal versions)
  7. Somewhere Out There
  8. How Could You Believe Me …? (8 part)

Tape 1 has the following music: Side A: Just Plain Barbershop, Young Men in Harmony (6 songs); Side B: Strictly Barbershop

Tape 2 Side A has the following music

  1. Dream
  2. Georgia On My Mind
  3. I’ll Fly Away
  4. I’m Alone
  5. I’m Sittin on Top (different version)
  6. If I Could Write A Song
  7. My Daddy’s Still Singing
  8. O’ Canada
  9. Shenandoah
  10. So Long Mother
  11. (I’ll be a) Song and Dance Man
  12. They Wrote ‘em in the Good Ol’ Days
  13. Under the Boardwalk
  14. What a Wonderful World
  15. Who’s Sorry Now
  16. Home on the Range

Computer Music Program

If you love music and have a computer, you may be interested in writing, composing, arranging, playing and printing music. I am producing our learning tapes on a computer music program when vocal learning tapes are not available from SPEBSQSA. That is why they are instrumental.

I am using Music Time Deluxe, which can be purchased at Long and McQuade (north of Superstore) for about $100.00. I will share any of my music files if you’re interested. You can also learn how to produce voice predominant tapes, and even assist the music team with production. Join the fun!

Ron Evans

Recreation Club

Baldwin, Ontario, Canada

A Barbershopper's Dream Come True...

We invite all barbershoppers to visit Harmony Ranch, a campground in the heart of Ontario cottage country, built by, and for, barbershoppers, their families and friends...
Our gates are open to welcome you for...

Here's what you can enjoy...

For information, bookings and reservations, contact:

  • Wayne Sedore, resident manager
    Box 67
    Baldwin, Ontario, Canada
    L0E 1A0

    • Phone: 905-722-8858 | Fax: 905-722-8163

    AHSOW

    Barbershoppers have asked: Is woodshedding an art one has to be born with, or can it be learned?

    As with most other skills, effective woodshedding is -- and can indeed be -- learned. A basic sense of Circle-of-Fifths (Barbershop) chord-progressions is necessary. Barbershoppers can gain this sense in several ways. Folks with jazz or piano backgrounds have a beginning advantage, as should anyone with a year or two of college-level Music Theory. Barbershoppers who have sung more than one voice part in their chorus or quartet also have an initial advantage. Barbershoppers who don't read music, or those whose first or only musical experience began when they entered Barbershopping, can also most definitely learn to woodshed. The prerequisite is an understanding of scales and intervals (the space between one note and the next).

    AHSOW strongly recommends that prospective woodshedders invest in the voice-part-predominant Polecat tapes produced by SPEBSQSA. The Polecat songs are especially strong, pure Barbershop, and listening to them intently and repeatedly will impart a strong sense of the *patterns* typical of each of the Barbershop voice-parts.

    Another brand-new resource is the Barbershop Multimedia CD-ROM, recorded by the Studio One quartet (http://www.studioonequartet.com/arts/CD_ROM /CD_ROM.htm). Studio One has recorded all 65 songs in the Heritage Harmony Songbook, with four-part separation. Each recorded song is available for playback from CD-ROM software. Go to the web address above, or contact Dave Warkentin <d-warkentin@usa.net> for more information. This sounds like a wonderful way for Barbershoppers of all levels to learn more about the various Barbershop voice parts and the patterns most common to each.

    Here are some realizations and hints about woodshedding:

    The Barbershop Bass part is not always as low as someone new to the part might be tempted to sing it, and the Barbershop Tenor part is not always as high as one might be tempted to sing it. Barbershop is "close harmony. "When the melody is on a lower note, the Bass usually has the right to the highest note below the melody that makes the most sense. When the melody is riding high, the Tenor generally has the right to the lowest note above the melody that makes the most sense. There are infrequent exceptions. Trust your ear.

    The Tenor and Bari rarely have to make LARGE jumps from one note to the next. Depending on what the melody does, the Bass will be obliged to move in intervals as small as a half- or whole-step (either up or down) or in intervals as large as 4, 4.5, or 5 notes (either up or down) or by 6 or 7notes (usually up). Trust your ear.

    The Bass can do the most for any chord, and for the Tenor & Bari, when he can sense when to sing a root or 5th (a "strong-feeling" note) of a chord and adjust to sing whichever one of those that the Lead isn't singing, when the Lead is on one or the other. The Bass is entitled to the highest possible Bass note that will not create an incomplete chord (per whatever note the Lead is on) and which will not lock the Bari out of a note that the Bari should be singing. Trust your ear.

    Very generally speaking, the Tenor will usually have success when harmonizing in 3rds above the melody. (If only one other singer were harmonizing along with a melody, this would be what would naturally happen.) The Tenor will generally be singing a preponderance of 3rds &7ths of chords -- and whichever of these the Bari is not singing, in most of these cases. Trust your ear.

    The Bari will sing either below or above the melody. Many brand-new Bari woodshedders tend to sing too high, or almost always above the melody, which obliges the Tenor to shoot for a note considerably higher than the note the Tenor might naturally opt to sing. When otherwise in doubt, the Bari's salvation can be to sing the 7th of a chord. The Bari should seek to sing an internal note in the chord that neither "doubles" the melody-note nor doubles the Tenor note an octave down. The Bari should listen to the direction of the melody-line -- if the melody is going upward, and especially if it SKIPS upward, the Bari is most likely going to go DOWN, and vice-versa. Trust your ear.

    Harmony-part singers: A good general guideline is to stay on the note you're on until your ear strongly suggests that you must move to another. Especially if you have little formal musical experience, and when you're newer to woodshedding, this sense will be more "intuitive" than anything else. That's fine! Resist the temptation to "get fancy" for its own sake, and try to avoid unduly second-guessing yourself. Just relax, listen, and move when required -- either when you sense that the chord must change (has changed) from the one you were on, or when someone else is taking your most recent note, or when you sense otherwise that the chord being sung is somehow "incomplete," or it's not fulfilling or "ringing." Trust your ear!

    The Woodshed Lead needs a certain set of skills beyond what he may have learned in chorus rehearsal or for quartet performance. The purpose of woodshedding is to ring chords rather than to sing songs. Thus, the Woodshed Lead who wishes to find himself most in demand will sing more slowly than he might opt to sing in a performance environment. He will be aware of where harmony-part swipes may or should occur, especially at phrase-endings or where the harmony of the song is changing. He will realize that chords falling on "weak beats" in a measure of music (beats #2 & #4 in 4/4 "foxtrot" meter, beat #3 in 3/4 "waltz" meter) are equally as important to tune/lock/ring as are chords falling on stronger beats. He will be constantly alert to melody-notes he should "hold" for as long as it takes for one or more harmony-voices to locate a good note. He should ensure that songs are pitched wherever the singing is most comfortable for the participants, especially if someone is off his natural voice-part (e.g., a Bass 'shedding the Bari part). The Woodshed Lead gains credibility and authority when he refrains from singing until the first four-part chord of the song to be woodshedded is locked and rung, with everyone sure of his starting note. This keeps one or more 'shedders from being lost for several notes or measures before finally getting a harmonic bearing. The Woodshed Lead needs to listen, too.

    The savvy Woodshed Lead will choose melodies to which written or familiar Barbershop arrangements do not commonly exist. This lessens the risk of replicating existing repertoire and enhances the experience and value of truer woodshedding. Especially when one or more harmonizers is new to this art, the Woodshed Lead will ideally sing a melody through, solo, at least once, before the harmonizers join in. This helps everybody's ears.

    Since there is never a need to woodshed "in a hurry," it's valuable for all four singers to sing the melody in unison until they are familiar with it. As there should absolutely never be any pressure to "finish a song and move to the next one," it is also highly advisable to spend plenty of relaxed time harmonizing just the first phrase or two of the selected melody. Go over and over each phrase until all participants are satisfied and comfortable. Enjoy the absence of time-limits.

    Woodshedding is best done at moderate or soft volumes. For one thing, this allows the singers to hear themselves and what's going on.

    Every woodshedder should be able to sing melodies when called upon. When we remember that melodies are pitched where they're comfortable to sing, more woodshedders with natural Bass range can have the chance to sing melodies. This permits more fellows to swap voice-parts with each other.

    For beginning woodshedders especially, the best melodies to undertake are those originally written in B-flat, A-flat, or C. Beginning woodshedders are advised to initially avoid melodies written in E-flat.

    The serious woodshedder (or anyone who merely wants more chances to sing with a wider range of harmonizers) will seek and learn as many melodies and lyrics as possible. With several notable exceptions, the best melodies for woodshedding were written between approx. 1895 & 1925, with the optimal ones written largely between 1905 & 1919. In the U.S. at least, one can find compatible old songs at garage sales, antique-shops or auctions (don't pay more than about $3 per song, even for a gem!), in the piano benches of grandparents or similarly seasoned citizens, and especially in the heads of long-time SPEBSQSA members! The latter should be exceptionally pleased to oblige. Too often, we overlook the incredible knowledge and experience of our longest-tenured Society mates, and that many such guys have a largely untapped musical wealth that can be ours if we only ask.

    Woodshedders should be able to create, hear, & recognize these primary chords:

    1. Major Triad: "My *WILD* I-rish *ROSE*" (as in Polecat version)
    2. Barbershop 7th: "*MY* wild I-*RISH* ro-*OSE*"
    3. Diminished 7th: "The swee-test flow'r that gro-*O*-ows; *YOU MAY*"
    4. Minor Triad: "Shine *ON* me, in the eev-ning" (= the 2nd time through).

    These chords make up the vast percentage of the chords employed during woodshedding. And avoid sweating the chord names or types; they're mentioned here only so you can consciously inform your ear about the chords you ought to listen for. Inform yourself consciously once, then trust your ear to handle the rest.

    If authentic woodshedding is to be its most rewarding and fulfilling, it must be the BEST SINGING THAT WE EVER DO. Continuous sound, matched/sustained vowel targets, supported breathing, great intonation, and taking proper tune-up/initial chords are crucial to the ringing of chords and the natural satisfaction that we get from it. If we don't bother to do what it takes to make the chords ring, then why bother to woodshed at all? If one or more woodshedders fails to apply any of these fundamentals to his efforts, the likelihood increases that one or more others in his woodshed quartet will excuse himself "to go to the restroom" after a song or two. After all, one of the true joys of woodshedding is to stand with the same three other guys from midnight till 4 a.m., switching parts and extemporaneously arranging an inexhaustible supply of melodies -- with no one getting tired of any of it!

    Barbershoppers have also asked about publications on woodshedding. Two excellent sources of information (and melodies) are available for order from the SPEBSQSA "Harmony Marketplace" in Kenosha (1-800-876-7464): Woodshedding Folio (stock #4040; $3); and Pocket Woodshedder #1 (stock #6021; $2.95). Prices are assumed current. The above two items and the part-predominant Polecat tapes are excellent investments for anyone wishing to prepare himself or his chapter for the fulfillment of woodshedding activity. Lady Barbershoppers can benefit similarly from these products, too. The intense popular demand for more material on woodshedding has encouraged AHSOW to produce such material. Stay tuned for more news on this! Feel free to contact AHSOW, Inc. with inquiries.

    ANCIENT HARMONIOUS SOCIETY OF WOODSHEDDERS, INC.

    Toban Dvoretzky, Pres.

    14531 Ella Blvd., # 3806

    Houston, TX 77014-2558, U.S.A.

    AHSOW web page: http://www.ahsow.org

    TBone@jetson.uh.edu (O); TBone@selec.net (H)

     

    COMING EVENTS

    Executive Meeting 6:30 pm, Monday June 29th

    Windup Meeting for the Summer 7:30 pm, Monday June 29th

    Pizza and refreshments Monday June 29th

    1998 International Convention, Atlanta, Georgia June 28th-July 5th

    No meetings in July or first two weeks of August

    Founders' Day Parade Saturday, July 25th

    Harmony College, St. Joseph's MO August 2nd-9th

    First Regular Meeting after Summer break 7:30 pm, Monday August 17th

    LOL District Contest, Fargo, North Dakota October 23rd-25th

    COTS/Top Gun, Bloomington, MN December 4th-6th

    Articles in this bulletin do not necessarily reflect the views of the chapter. Unless carrying a byline, they are those of the editor. Items received may be referred to the executive before publication. All chapter officers and members are encouraged to submit articles to the Sharp Notes. Submissions will be credited to the author. Please address any comments, suggestions or submissions to the editor -- Bruce Fish.

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