Tag Archives: Barbershop

I was tired…

Last Saturday, I was tired all day.
About 6 pm DT, Hank S. called, he had two tickets to a concert and none of his family wanted to go with him.
He asked if I would like to.
Sure. Why not.
He came and I rode with him. We were delayed by a police officer who claimed Hank’s car was going faster than the speed limit.
That could have been because his speed gauge acts eratically. At one stop light, at a dead stop, it read 90mph.
But despite the delay, we got there on time for the concert to start.
It was the Color Country Chorus-the local Barbershop singers group.
It was in a nice new High School auditorium with a sizeable audience.
The Chorus director was Chris Leonard.
The MC was Scott Fewell. He introduced but also told jokes. The jokes he read from cards,
The ones getting laughs he’d put in his coat pocket to use again he said., the ones that got little reponse, he threw into a convenient trash pail.
The whole show was called “The Truth About Men”.
The men were dressed in all sorts of clothes styles, one guy even wore a carpenter’s tool belt with hammer.
Some of the songs were parodies; some of which were very funny.
There were 3 quartets before the intermission interpursed with the chorus’s numbers.
After that one local quartet and then the guest quartet “McPhly”.
This group started in Denver in 2008 and consisted of four men, one now from St. George, 2 from Denver, and one now from North Carolina.
Curtis Terry, Brian Fox, (Travis Tabares was replaced mid March by) Tyler Wigginton , and Ryan Wilson
Their quartet ranks number 20 in the USA.
And they were sensational.
Stories and jokes and great songs.
They kept asking the audience if we were having fun.
They even had a sing along with “18 wheeler”.
To close the night, all former members of the Color Country Chorus or members of Barbershop from anywhere,
were invited to go to the stage and sing with the chorus “Keep the Whole World singing”.
I joined them too.
It was fun.
I saw and spoke to people I knew in the chorus and audience and meet the McPhly members and chorus members I didn’t know before.
I met and spoke with the chorus director and his wife.
Chris Leonard said that Utah State University in Logan, Utah offers a degree in Music Therapy.
He did a college research paper on the subject.
He told me of research about the emotions music evokes in people from different cultures, ie. western music.
He also referred me to a site on the web. “Music Instinct” (Science and Song)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/
There is information in video about therapy of instruments voice for young and old. Check it out.
It was fun that night and even though I was tired when I got home, I wasn’t dragging as I had been all day.
Music and people are great uppers.
Catch you next time.
Jay

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Have Fun With Barbershop Singing

Some of the most singing fun I have ever had has been with barbershop quartet singing.  The organized group is the Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc.(SPEBSQSA).  Their practice sessions are really fun.  Ladies have their own group the  Sweet Adelines International (SAI).

(SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Founded by Owen C. Cash and Rupert I. Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1938, the organization quickly grew, promoting barbershop harmony among men of all ages. As of 2012, just under 25,000 men in the United States and Canada are members of this organization whose focus is on a cappella music. The international headquarters was in Kenosha, Wisconsin for fifty years before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2007. http://barbershop.org/

The Ringmasters quartet out of Sweden. One member says he like’s all good music. Watch the following video  at the link above.

Ringmasters on NBC’s Today Show
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Barbershop Harmony Society is celebrating its 75th Anniversary in high style. Its current champ Ringmasters appeared on NBC’s Today Show on Thursday morning, April 11, singing I Can’t Give You Anything But Love for Today hosts andEight Days A Week for Hoda and Kathy Lee.

Remember the quartet in Music Man?  See the Buffalo Bills  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhnRuJBHLs

 (SAI) was founded in 1945. A second women’s barbershop harmony organization, Harmony, Inc., broke from SAI in 1959 over an issue of racial exclusion, with SAI (like SPEBSQSA) being a white-only organization at that time. Several international affiliate organizations, in countries around the world, add their own flavor to the signature sound of barbershop harmony.   http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/

Watch  some fine new ladies groups performances at: http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/index.cfm?id=4

Like Mitch Miller (remember his sing-a-long show?) said, “Let’s keep America singing.”

Let’s do!

Get a hold of your local group and start having fun.

 

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Singing – Practice the Fun Way

Here’s an article about practicing.

“Let’s face it, even if singing is your greatest passion, practicing the same exercises over and over again can become extremely boring surprisingly quickly. After a while, you can end up avoiding practicing singing altogether because your brain dreads trawling through the same old songs and warm ups.

The problem is, as soon as you do that, your voice and technique quickly deteriorate and you soon lose morale – perhaps even give up your dream of singing altogether. I’ve seen this happen to so many aspiring musicians and what a waste of talent it is.

Here are a couple of ways you can make the already fun singing practice session more enjoyable.

Sing With Friends

All of us enjoy the company of friends. We love hanging out with them and spending time with them. Why not invite your friends to one of your singing lessons and have them sing along with you or have them as an audience or better yet as critic so that you can even improve your singing.

Play Instruments.. With Friends

Singing lessons and singing in general always must have an accompanying musical instrument. Usually, a voice teacher would use a piano in teaching the student. One way of making singing practice fun is to invite your friends and do a friendly, informal jam session at the same time you continue with your singing lessons applying the theories and principles with you friends.

Sing … Karaoke*.. With Friends

Even after the formal lesson with your voice instructor, you can still practice your singing by singing using a Karaoke machine. This will be more fun if many of your friends join you. This way, you can have a bonding moment with your friends and at the same time you do your singing practice.

Play Computer Singing Games

There are many software products out there about singing. You have an option of purchasing an online singing lesson kit for you to enjoy as well as your friends.

These are just a few ideas on how to make singing practice a lot enjoyable! Hope it sparks some more ideas! Happy singing!”

I totally agree! 

Singing online Karaoke* can be  a lot of fun.  Sites like Sing Snap Karaoke have contests on a regular basis and groups for certain styles of music. Trevor, the boss, tries to always keep it fun. 100 free song to choose to record or you can become a paid member and get a much greater supply. But not all of my cravings for songs are supplied by any Karaoke site so I sing else where. Sure the regular places in the car and bath. “What is this charm music hath? Why does my voice sound so divine in a bath?”( from the movie “Can’t help Singing”   Watch that part of the movie. The singing part is 3 and a half minutes into the clip.

Let’s get in the church choir and local groups. They practice in different ways.

The most fun I’ve ever had at practices is at the Barbershoppers. There are Ladies and men chapters. Look them up in the phone and go have some great fun practicing.

5/7/2013 There is a fun video about practicing you can watch at:                              http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=4YUhjpQze0U&NR=1           And you can then go to this man’s website for his                               http://www.myfreesinginglesson.com/

Go watch and see what you think.

Myself, I’d just start singing.

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