Rehearsal comments 03/11/24

Matt continues to emphasize pronunciation; see previous posts. He is also emphasizing proper note duration. Some of this seems to be related to notes on syllables where the note lengths are different from the lengths of syllables that we would use in normal conversation. For example, in Forever Young, Page 4, Measure 17, second time, ‘cou-ra-geous’ would normally be pronounced with syllable lengths of short, long, short. However, the music calls for syllable lengths of long, short, long. SILTMS – Sing It Like The Music Shows.

We are nearly at the time when we start moving the piano to Matt’s right side for rehearsals to prepare us for the piano placement in concerts. Expect more problems with proper timing when this happens. Moving the piano will lengthen the average time for its sound to reach the sopranos by 3/100 of a second and shorten average time for its sound to reach the altos by 3/100 of a second. It will not change the average time for the piano’s sound to reach the men, so they will bumble along as usual. The answer is WTFL, Watch The Fearless Leader. (As we are all aware, Matt spent a lot of time watching cartoon shows. In ‘Rocky and Bullwinkle’, Boris and Natasha, the villains who tried to thwart the flying squirrel and the moose, reported to a boss called Fearless Leader.)

Sunrise, Sunset – Well, we finally wore Matt down. In the word ‘sunset’, ‘set’ is supposed to be sung on a quarter note. According to Fearless Leader, about ninety-five percent of us persisted in singing it on an eighth note, so he has said that we should continue to sing it on an eighth note, although he is not happy about it.

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – You saw it here first (See the comments for the 2/5/24 joint rehearsal). Matt does indeed want us to do the optional hand claps in Let the Sunshine In. Buck up, Buttercup, this is not rocket surgery. The words consist of “Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in.” These words are sung six times by the sopranos, altos, and tenors. The basses don’t sing the first time, so they sing only five iterations, starting when everyone else is on iteration number two. Before anyone starts singing these words, the piano has six measures to play starting at Measure 71. While the piano is playing, do something with your music so that your hands are free. Beginning with the third iteration for the sopranos, altos, and the tenors, and the second iteration for the basses, clap on beats 2 and 4 of each measure, and continue clapping until beat 2 of the measure where ‘=shine’ occurs in the last iteration of ‘Let the sunshine in’. Do not clap on the final iteration of ‘the sunshine in’. Clap precisely on beats 2 and 4.

You Make Me Feel So Young – Page 9, Measure 63, circle the rest in the first beat or do something so you don’t come in too soon. This is at least the third time Matt has mentioned this, and he is starting to sound testy. 

Comments on Music 03/07/24

Matt is now focusing mostly on ‘musicality’. There are two main subdivisions, pronunciation and moving forward.

The type of pronunciation he is looking for seems to be the pronunciation dialect used by the most uppity upper class in the area around London. It goes by several names; “received pronunciation”, “Queen’s English”, and “BBC English”. London is a seaport, so it is also home to some other dialects that are very difficult for outsiders to understand.

Vowel pronunciation is a concern of Matt. Vowels should be ‘tall’ with the chin dropped so that the inside of the mouth is ‘tall’ and the lips should be circular and almost in a duck-lips configuration. Drop your jaw and open your mouth to avoid a nasal twang. On longer notes, do not close to an ending consonant until the end of the note. This is particularly important with an ending ‘s’ to avoid the dreaded snake pit sound. In longer notes containing a diphthong (long ‘I’, actually ‘ah-ee’, or ‘ou’ in ‘hour’, pronounced ‘ow-uh’) don’t change to the second vowel sound until the end of the note. Don’t chew ending ‘r’ but just barely pronounce it. ‘The’ is never pronounced ‘theh’. Before a word beginning with a consonant, it is pronounced ‘thuh’; before a word beginning with a vowel sound, it is pronounced ‘thee’ (note that ‘hour’ begins with a vowel sound). ‘Our’ is pronounced like ‘hour’, not like ‘arrh’. ‘Your’ is pronounced to rhyme with ‘tour’, not like ‘yore’ or ‘yer’.

Moving forward includes techniques to make the music sound like a conversation, not like a robotic recital of the words. The text in the music is hyphenated like it would be in a dictionary but it may need to be sung differently. For example, ‘forever’ is hyphenated as ‘for-ev-er’ but it should be sung as ‘faw-reh-vuh’. Volume should be fairly constant as indicated by the music (or our Fearless Leader} but it should vary slightly as it does in normal speech. For example, in the word ‘volume’, ‘vol’ is slightly louder than ‘ume’. Typically, don’t break in the middle of a long phrase unless indicated by the music or our Fearless Leader. If you need to sneak a breath, it is better to omit a syllable to take the breath so that you don’t come back in later than the rest of the chorus.

Comments on music 02/15/24

Matt wants us to achieve proper choral pronunciation. Expect to hear this repeatedly. Following are things to practice. ‘The’ is never pronounced ‘theh’. Before a word beginning with a consonant, it is pronounced ‘thuh’; before a word beginning with a vowel sound, it is pronounced ‘thee’ (note that ‘hour’ begins with a vowel sound). Vowels should be ‘tall’ referring to the shape of your mouth. Drop your jaw and open your mouth to avoid a nasal twang. On longer notes, do not close to an ending consonant until the end of the note. This is particularly important with an ending ‘s’ to avoid the dreaded snake pit sound. In longer notes containing a diphthong (long ‘I’, actually ‘ah-ee’, or ‘ou’ in ‘hour’, pronounced ‘ow-uh’) don’t change to the second vowel sound until the end of the note. Don’t chew ending ‘r’ but just barely pronounce it. Don’t overstress schwa sounds, such as ‘a’ in balloon, 'e' in problem, 'i' in family.

Stand By Me – Page 12, Measure 81, rit. to end, WTD.

Heading Home – ‘the’ is pronounced ‘thee’ at Page 3, Measure 8, Page 5, Measure 33, Page 9, Measure 64.

Blue Moon – Basses, learn the ‘bom, ba ba bom’ string of words starting at Page 4, Measure 11, and at Page 5, Measure 20, and at Page 9, Measure 53; if everyone is not together, it sounds like mush in the mouth singing.

Sunrise, Sunset – the dim. and rit. at Page 7, Measure 69, does not apply to the first time through, only the second time when the end of the song is coming up.

Go in Peace, Walk in Hope, Live in Love – Vera used a very useful technique in our sectionals to help us memorize the words by having us work on the words of the chorus first. A study of how professional musicians memorize music found that about 15 to 20 percent start at the end, and gradually work their way forward. Their rationale is that as they start moving toward the beginning, they are always headed toward something they know. They are less stressed and find it easier to work on memorizing new material because they will be coming to something that is less work. YMMV. I think the sheet Vera handed out is easier to use than the one that was distributed by email. 

Comments on music 2/5/24 and 2/8/24 joint rehearsals

Comments added for 2/8/24 joint rehearsal. New comments are preceded by ETA.

Music is in performance order.

ETA Concentrate on pronunciation. Vowels should be ‘tall’ referring to the shape of your mouth. Drop your jaw and open your mouth to avoid a nasal twang. On longer notes, do not close to an ending consonant until the end of the note. This is particularly important with an ending ‘s’ to avoid the dreaded snake pit sound. In longer notes containing a diphthong (long ‘I’, actually ‘ah-ee’, or ‘ou’ in ‘hour’, pronounced ‘ow-uh’) don’t change to the second vowel sound until the end of the note. Don’t chew ending ‘r’ but just barely pronounce it. Don’t overstress schwa sounds, such as ‘a’ in balloon, 'e' in problem, 'i' in family.

FIRST JOINT SET

At the Hop – Starting at Page 3, Measure 14, sopranos should continue singing f while the other voices should drop to probably mp. The sopranos have the important words and the other voices should not ‘hop’ so loudly that they cannot be heard. If you are not a soprano and you can’t hear the sopranos, you are singing too loudly. However, ‘hop’ should be sung with a sense of excitement and enthusiasm. Page 5, Measure 26, only sopranos say “Let’s go” while at Page 6, Measure 38, everyone says “Let's go.” Starting at Page 7, Measure 50, once again sopranos go loud while everyone else goes soft. Page 9, Measure 62, only sopranos say “Let’s go”.

Forever Young – Lots of syncopation and two parts staying constant while the other two move. Be alert. ETA Page 3, Measure 13, second time, pronounce ‘sur’ as ‘seh’. Page 11, start slowing in Measure 80 even though the rit is shown in Measure 83.

Sunrise, Sunset – On the iterations of ‘Sunrise, sunset’, swell a little on ‘sunrise’ and then drop back down on ‘sunset’ to mimic the action of the sun. ETA Page 7, Measure 69, is marked dim. and rit. but this applies only to the second time, not to the first time. Last measure of the song, observe the > so our voices match the natural decrease in volume that occurs in the piano.

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In – Starting on Page 8, Measure 77, everyone but the basses sing the same set of words over and over for six times. Basses join in at Page 9, Measure 83, for five times. Matt is encouraging the idea that we should memorize this so we won’t need our music as we slide down the razor blade of life to the end of this piece. This means that he will probably want us to do the optional hand claps starting on Page 10, Measure 89, which in turn means that we will get lectures about how we should clap only on beats 2 and 4. Sigh! ETA Page 3, Measures 25 and 26, crescendo so that the volume reaches mf at Measure 27.

WOMEN ONLY

Dream a Little Dream of Me
I Sound the Song Of Spring
We Are the Voices

MEN ONLY

Stand By Me
Fire and Rain
Heading Home

SECOND JOINT SET

Evergreen – Men, turn to Page 4, quietly, when the women start their last line on Page 3. Page 7, Measure 48, break after ‘beginning’. ETA Page 5, Measure 29, make a mark of some sort so you observe the rest at the beginning of the measure. Page 10, Measure 78, don’t break.

You Make Me Feel So Young -Page 9, Measure 63, there is a rest on Beat 1 so there are actually two beats of rest between the end of ‘balloon’ and ‘You’. Page 9, Measure 64, no break in the middle. Page 12, Measure 89, no break in the middle. ETA Page 6, Measure 36, mp. Page 11, Measure 78, mp.

And This Shall Be For Music -WTD. ETA Page 3, Measure 6, no break. Page 4, Measure 14, no break. Page 10, Measure 62, note that there are two beats of rest at the beginning of the measure.

Blue Moon – Throughout, when the sopranos start singing the real words, everyone else drop volume so that the sopranos can be heard.

Go in Peace, Walk in Hope, Live in Love – This will be our encore which we WILL sing from memory, no music. Use whatever mnemonic tricks work best for you. Page 7, Measure 34, break after ‘peace’.

Comments on music 02/01/24

We have joint rehearsals on Monday, February 5, and Thursday, February 8. No sectionals those days.

Sunrise, Sunset – Page 2, Measure 10, since this is a show tune, ‘little’ should be pronounced ‘little’ instead if the usual pronunciation of ‘liddle’. Page 4, Measures 33 and 34, men sing ‘oo’ for only two measures and then switch back to singing real words in Measure 35. Page 6, Measures 58 and 60, put the ‘t’ on ‘sunset’ on beat 1 of the following measure.

Stand By Me – Matt wants this to have a Brawny towels lumberjack feel, so starting with Page 9, Measure 57, sing ‘oo’ with sort of a marcato feeling, even though the notes are shone tied.

Comments on music 01-25-24

 Additional comments added after BB sectional on 1/29/24.

General – ‘the’ before a vowel is pronounced ‘thee’; before a consonant it is pronounced ‘thuh’; it is never pronounced ‘theh’. If a syllable sung on a long note ends in a consonant, do not close to the consonant until the end of the note. This is particularly true if the syllable ends in ‘s’, or we wind up with the dreaded snake pit effect. Similarly, if a syllable sung on a long note contains a diphthong such as long ‘I’ (actually pronounced ‘ah-ee’), do not change to the second vowel of the diphthong until the end of the note. Do not ‘chew’ ending “r”s but instead barely pronounce them. ‘Our’ is pronounced like ‘hour’, not like ‘arrh’. ‘Your’ is pronounced to rhyme with ‘tour’, not like ‘yore’ or ‘yer’.

At the Hop – Page 5, Measure 28, Page 6, Measure 30, Page 6, Measure 32, Page 6, Measure 34, Page 6, Measure 36, Page 9, Measure 64, Page 10, Measure 66, Page 10, Measure 68, Page 10. Measure 70, basses sing ‘Oh, baby’ while everyone else is silent.

Forever Young – Measure 8 through first half of Measure 12, men do not sing first time through, only second time through. ETA Page 5, Measures 25 and 30, baritones sing middle note. Pages 7 and 8, men don't sing from second half of Measure 47 through first half of Measure 53.

Sunrise, Sunset – Measures 17 through 24, men sing ‘oo’ like in ‘mood’, not ‘oh’ as in ‘nose’. Everybody sings ‘oo’ like in ‘mood’, not ‘oh’ as in ‘nose’ in the last measure of the song. Page 4, men sing 'oo' in Measure 33 and 34 and then resume words in Measure 35.

Aquarius – men don’t sing until Measure 27. Measures 77 through 82, only tenors sing. Basses join in in Measure 83.

Stand By Me – WTD. ETA Page 6, Measures 30 and 31, 'by' is on two notes. Same thing happens on Page 9, Measures 51, 54, and 55, Page 10, Measure 67, Page 11, Measures 70, 71, and 75, and Page 12, Measures 79, 82, and 83.

Fire and Rain – personal note, I am not a James Taylor fan so I don’t recall ever hearing this song before. Apparently that makes things easier for me because the arrangement we are singing is different from what Taylor sang. Measures 5 through 12, everybody ,TTBB, sing.

Heading Home – Measures 4 through 18, basses sing all measures including those marked for baritones only. However, in pickup to Measure 50 through first half of Measure 53, basses only sing and then baritones join basses starting with last note of Measure 53. Measure 83, sfp followed by crescendo. ETA Page 3, Measure 8 and Page 9, Measure 64, 'the' is pronounced 'thee'.

Evergreen – WTD

You Make Me Feel So Young – Measures 8 through 12, all men sing. Measure 64, no break between ‘I’ and ‘are’. Measure 89, no break between ‘young’ and ‘so’.

And This Shall Be For Music – Measure 20, tenors and bass sing whole notes, baritones sing tied half notes. Measure 33, baritones sing middle note.

Blue Moon – WTD.

Go in Peace, Walk in Hope, Live in Love – this will be sung from memory without music, so learn it. Page 4, Measure 17, and Page 7, Measure 34, ‘peace’ should be sung as an eighth note followed by an eighth rest. ETA Page 6, Measure 28, no break between 'way' and 'with'. Page 6, Measure 30, no break between 'day' and 'to'.

First performance order

First joint set

At the Hop
Forever Young
Sunrise, Sunset (From Fiddler On The Roof)
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In 

Women 

Dream A Little Dream of Me
I Sound The Song Of Spring
We Are the Voices 

Men 

Stand by Me
Fire and Rain
Heading Home 

Second joint set 

Evergreen (love theme from A Star Is Born)
You Make Me Feel So Young
And This Shall Be For Music
Blue Moon 

Encore 

Go In Peace, Walk In Hope, Live In Love