tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-275785582024-03-12T19:19:51.124-04:00Harmony Grits BlogThis blog is for the use of all members of The Fearrington Village Singers, a singing group whose members live in Fearrington Village and Galloway Ridge in North Carolina. A few members are accepted from the surrounding area. It was formed by the merger of the Village Voices (women) and the Harmony Grits (men). Singing season is from September through May. Email us at fvsings@gmail.com for more information.TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-19221834873235102772024-03-12T19:19:00.000-04:002024-03-12T19:19:12.735-04:00Rehearsal comments 03/11/24<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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. </span></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-47914893690582311742024-03-10T12:37:00.001-04:002024-03-10T12:37:53.812-04:00Comments on Music 03/07/24<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Matt is now focusing mostly on ‘musicality’. There are two main
subdivisions, pronunciation and moving forward.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.</span><o:p></o:p></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-50222941413746953872024-02-18T17:09:00.002-05:002024-02-18T17:10:10.292-05:00Comments on music 02/15/24<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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,<span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;"> 'e' in problem, 'i' in family.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Stand By Me – Page 12, Measure 81, <i>rit</i>. to end, WTD.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Heading Home – ‘the’ is pronounced ‘thee’ at Page 3, Measure 8, Page 5,
Measure 33, Page 9, Measure 64.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Sunrise, Sunset – the <i>dim</i>. and <i>rit</i>. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156;">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.</span> </span></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-77527817038389881782024-02-07T18:17:00.003-05:002024-02-10T18:01:14.192-05:00Comments on music 2/5/24 and 2/8/24 joint rehearsals<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Comments added for 2/8/24 joint rehearsal. New comments are
preceded by ETA.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Music is in performance order.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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,<span style="background: white; color: #4d5156;"> 'e' in problem, 'i' in family.</span></span><span style="background: #D3E3FD; color: #040c28; font-family: Roboto;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">FIRST JOINT SET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">At the Hop – Starting at Page 3, Measure 14, sopranos should
continue singing <i>f </i>while the other voices should drop to probably <i>mp</i>. 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”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Forever Young – Lots of syncopation and two parts staying
constant while the other two move. Be alert. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">ETA
Page 3, Measure 13, second time, pronounce ‘sur’ as ‘seh’. Page 11, start slowing
in Measure 80 even though the <i>rit </i>is shown in Measure 83.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">ETA Page 7, Measure 69, is marked <i>dim</i>. and <i>rit</i>.
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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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! <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">ETA
Page 3, Measures 25 and 26, crescendo so that the volume reaches mf at Measure 27.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">WOMEN ONLY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Dream a Little Dream of Me<br />I Sound the Song Of Spring<br />We Are the Voices</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">MEN ONLY<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Stand By Me<br />Fire and Rain<br />Heading Home</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">SECOND JOINT SET<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Evergreen – Men, turn to Page 4, quietly, when the women
start their last line on Page 3. Page 7, Measure 48, break after ‘beginning’. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">ETA
Page 6, Measure 36, <i>mp</i>. Page 11, Measure 78, <i>mp</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And This Shall Be For Music -WTD. <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Blue Moon – Throughout, when the sopranos start singing the
real words, everyone else drop volume so that the sopranos can be heard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">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’.</span><o:p></o:p></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-12968140501786338582024-02-04T16:05:00.000-05:002024-02-04T16:05:02.475-05:00Comments on music 02/01/24<p><span style="font-size: medium;">We have joint rehearsals on Monday, February 5, and Thursday,
February 8. No sectionals those days.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">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
<i>marcato </i>feeling, even though the notes are shone tied.</span><o:p></o:p></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-31015336962186343082024-01-29T13:06:00.001-05:002024-01-30T14:27:26.706-05:00Comments on music 01-25-24<p> Additional comments added after BB sectional on 1/29/24.</p><p>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’.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Aquarius – men don’t sing until Measure 27. Measures 77
through 82, only tenors sing. Basses join in in Measure 83.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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'.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Evergreen – WTD<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Blue Moon – WTD.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">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'.</p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-36283116351184041672024-01-15T10:24:00.007-05:002024-01-15T10:26:48.541-05:00First performance order<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">First joint set</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">At the Hop<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Forever Young<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Sunrise, Sunset (From
Fiddler On The Roof)<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Aquarius/Let the Sunshine
In</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Women</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Dream A Little Dream of Me<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I Sound The Song Of Spring<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">We Are the Voices</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Men</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Stand by Me<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Fire and Rain<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Heading Home</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Second joint set</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Evergreen (love theme from A
Star Is Born)<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">You Make Me Feel So Young<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">And This Shall Be For
Music<br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Blue Moon</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Encore</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Go In Peace, Walk In Hope,
Live In Love</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-61891823278775045352023-09-25T10:13:00.000-04:002023-09-25T10:13:26.051-04:00Order!<p> These numbers – 8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7,
6, 3, 2, 0 – are in a logical order. Do you know what it is?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The probable performance order for
our fall music is:<br />First joint set:<br /><i>In Dulci Jubilo<br />Celebrate, It’s Hanukkah<br />Pavane for a Silent Night<br />Ring Silver Bells</i><br />Women:<br /><i>A Festive Noel<br />Let Us Walk in the White Snow<br />Jingle Bells (Sort Of)</i><br />Men:<br /><i>Do You Know the Way to Bethlehem?<br />The Holly and the Ivy<br />God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen</i><br />Second joint set:<br /><i>The Holiday Tango!<br />In the Stillness of Winter<br />The Christmas Song<br />It Was a Joyful Night</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The numbers eight, five, four,
nine, one, seven, six, three, two, zero are in alphabetic order.<o:p></o:p></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-48016884649344132332023-03-04T17:24:00.004-05:002023-03-04T17:24:58.545-05:00COMMENTS ON MUSIC THREE<p> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Comments three</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Water Is Wide: Page 3, Measure 27, <i>crescendo</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Don’t Be Cruel: Page 2, Measure 4, tenors sing <i>mf</i>. Page 6,
Measure 35, baritones sing <i>mf</i>. Page 7, Measure 44, and Page 10, Measure 62, ‘cruel’
is short so don’t hold on to it. Page 11, Measure 74, softer. Page 12, Measure
79, louder and <i>crescendo</i>. Page 12, Measure 83, stay on vowel sound (WTD) until
cutoff and give a strong ‘v’ sound on cutoff.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And All That Jazz: Page 4, Measure 23, the first word of the
second ending is ‘do’, not ‘all’. If necessary, write in a reminder up in
Measure 16. Page 11, Measure 61, there is an extra measure of rest than what
has been normal previously; do not sing a solo.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Music Lead the Way: Page 5, Measure 25, “o’er” is short so
do not hold it out. Page 8, Measure 43, “passed” is short so do not hold it out.
Page 11, Measure 75, “passed” is short so do not hold it out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Celebrate Music: Page 6, Measure 41, put a quarter rest at
the end of the measure. Page 10, Measures 78 through 82, <i>crescendo</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-2683721820856169062023-02-27T11:37:00.004-05:002023-02-27T11:37:43.326-05:00COMMENTS ON MUSIC TWO<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> Another Op’nin’ Another Show: Throughout, “an-oth-er” is
pronounced as “a-nuh-ther” and don’t chew on the ‘r’ at the end. Where it is
held out, don’t close on the ‘r’ until cutoff. Page 13, Measures 135 through
140, baritones take middle note with all tenors on top note.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Water Is Wide: Page 3, Measure 21, through Page 4, Measure
30, more volume from baritones.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Don’t Be Cruel: Page 6, Measure 5, baritones
sing <i>mf </i>while others sing <i>mp</i>. Page 7, Measure 44, ‘cruel’ is short so don’t hold
on to it. Same at Page 10, Measure 62, and Page 11, Measure 72. Page 11,
Measure 74, softer. Page 12, Measure 79, louder.</span></span>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-7956482886645071602023-02-20T11:29:00.001-05:002023-02-20T11:29:32.274-05:00COMMENTS ON MUSIC<p> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Posted 02/20/23</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Probable performance order is in the right sidebar.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And All That Jazz – The piano introduction is four measures
long because the first two measures are repeated; don’t come in too soon.
Measures 3 through 16, all people including men sing the soprano/alto notes,
men an octave lower, the first time through. Second time, split to normal
staves. Page 3, Measure 13, first time, replace ‘ice’ with ‘gin’. Page 4, second
ending, Measure 23,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the word is ‘do’
instead of ‘all’ so the phrase is ‘and do that jaeeazzz.’ Page 6, Measure 40,
replace ‘weird’ with ‘queer’. Page 7, Measure 45, each part splits to its own
staff. Page 11, Measure 61 is a whole measure of rest, so don’t sing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Another Op’nin’, Another Show – Page 4, Measure 30, note the
flat which is different than you expect. Page 4, Measure 31, men, first note is
C flat, same as B natural, once again different than you expect. Page 11, Measure
115, men, first note is C flat, same as B natural. Page 16, Measure 161 to end,
is all one uninterrupted note, so stagger breathing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As Time Goes By – Page 2, women start singing first and men
don’t sing until last note of Measure 8. Page 5, Measure 32, break but no breath
after ‘do’. Page 7, Measure 49, break but no breath after ‘do’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Celebrate Music – Lots of syncopation. This publisher tends
to follow an unofficial convention used in newer works to indicate syncopation.
For example, in Measure 8, ‘world’ is paired with two tied eighth notes instead
of a quarter note. This indicates that ‘world’ begins on the ‘and’ of ‘two and’.
Page 6, Measure 41, put a quarter rest at the end of the measure to provide a
break. Note that the altos are moving in the measure so don’t cut off too soon.
Page 10, Measures 84 and 85, sing notes staccato.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Fields of Gold – The first five measures of the song are <i>a
cappella</i>. After that, tenors sing alone through Page 4, Measure 16. Note that
this publisher also tends to follow an unofficial convention used in newer
works to indicate syncopation. For example, in Measure 16, ‘fields’ is paired
with two tied eighth notes instead of a quarter note. This indicates that ‘fields’
begins on the ‘and’ of ‘two and’. Page 6, Measure 35, break, no breath, after ‘sky’.
Page 15, Measures 85 through 90, no breaks so stagger breather. Break at end of
Measure 90.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Joint Is Jumpin’ – Page 7, Measures 59 and 60 and Page 9,
Measures 83 and 84, use original lyrics; replace ‘Let the party now begin’ with
‘Get your pig feet, beer, and gin’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Music, Lead the Way – This uses straight rhythm, not swing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Riversong – This should be sung smoothly, with emphasis on syllables
varying as if speaking; don’t stomp on the words. Page 11, gradual <i>decr.</i> start on
this page at differing measures for the differing parts so that the volume goes
from <i>f</i> at the start to <i>mp </i>at Page 12, Measure 95. WTD closely starting at
Measure 95; there is only one word so you can look up from your music, there is a <i>rit</i>. in Measure 95, and further
<i>decr </i>in Measure 96.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Don’t Be Cruel – Wherever ‘ah’ is written, sing ‘oo’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For The Beauty Of The Earth – Page 2, Measure 10, ‘the’ is pronounced
‘thee’ because it precedes a word beginning with a vowel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Water Is Wide – Throughout, ‘neither’ is pronounced as ‘neyether’
even though it really should be pronounced as ‘nayther’. Page 6, Measure 50,
tenors should pronounce ‘dew’ as ‘dyew’. Page 7, Measure 57, break between “o’er”
and “and’. Page 8, Measure 70 to the end, WTD. There are breaks before ‘my’ and
after ‘love’. There are multiple <i>fermatas</i>. On the final word ‘I’, do not close
to the ending ‘ee’ of the diphthong but instead stay on the beginning ‘ah’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">General Stuff – Do not ‘chew’ your ‘r’s. For example, ‘our’
is pronounced like ‘hour’, not like ‘arrh’ (pirate speak). On longer notes, do
not close to the final consonant or the final sound of a diphthong until
cutoff. This is particularly important on words ending in ‘s’ or ‘z’ to prevent
the dreaded snake pit hissing sound. Vary the intensity of words much as you
would in conversations so that you don’t get a stomping effect. Typically, you
will need to enunciate more clearly when singing softly.</span><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-79853910137025540912022-12-23T12:25:00.001-05:002022-12-23T12:25:19.818-05:00Spring 2023 Audio Files<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> We will be singing eight joint songs, three women's songs, and three men's songs in Spring 2023. Audio files for all but one of the joint songs are available on Stanton Jukebox. One of the joint songs, Fields of Gold, is on YouTube. The version on YouTube is SAB, but it is close to the SATB version we will be singing.</span></p>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-31859091556003354902021-05-31T12:39:00.001-04:002021-05-31T12:39:12.998-04:00Matt's PresentationsNotes from Matt's presentations on Music Theory and How to Sing In Different Styles are now on separate pages in this blog. <a href="http://harmonygrits.blogspot.com/p/matts-music-theory-stuff.html" target="_blank">Music Theory</a> and <a href="http://harmonygrits.blogspot.com/p/how-to-sing-in-different-styles.html" target="_blank">Different Styles</a>TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-42227225311192100152020-06-21T20:08:00.000-04:002020-06-21T20:08:07.816-04:00NC SYMPHONY HONORS MATTFrom the NC Symphony:<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Jackson Parkhurst Award for Special Achievement is named for
the Symphony’s former director of education in recognition of his longstanding
service and commitment to young people in the state of North Carolina.</span><span style="font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
<h4>
<span style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif", sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2052 alignleft" height="400" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://www.ncsymphony.org/wp-content/uploads/Fry-EDAWARDS2020-brdr2-scaled.jpg" width="308" /></span></h4>
<h4>
<strong><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2019/20 Honoree:
Matt Fry</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Matt Fry, currently in his 32nd year of teaching, is the Chorus
Director at Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City, North Carolina, where he
was named Teacher of the Year for 2006/07 and again for 2017/18. He is a
graduate of Missouri Western State College in St. Joseph, Missouri, where he
received a bachelor’s degree in education, with honors, and was named the
Outstanding Graduate in Vocal Music in 1988. He is a member of the American
Choral Directors Association (ACDA), National Association for Music Education
(NAfME), and North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA).</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Mr. Fry taught for 12 years in Caruthersville, Missouri, where his
choirs and soloists consistently received “Superior” and “Excellent” ratings at
district and state music festivals. He taught for one year at Eaton-Johnson
Middle School in Henderson, North Carolina, before finding his home at
Jordan-Matthews. His choirs have achieved “Superior” and “Excellent” ratings in
the annual North Carolina Music Performance Adjudication. Several of his
students have participated in NCMEA’s High School Honors Chorus and All-State
Choral Festival.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In addition to his teaching, Mr. Fry is also the director of the
Fearrington Village Singers and the choir at Rocky River Baptist Church in
Siler City. He sang for nine years with the Duke Chapel Choir and for several
seasons with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Durham, both under the baton of Dr.
Rodney Wynkoop.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Mr. Fry is a founding board member of the Jordan-Matthews Arts
Foundation, an organization promoting the student artists at Jordan-Matthews.
His philosophy of education is inspired the name of his school’s mascot, the
Jets: <em><b>J</b></em>ust do your job. <em><b>E</b></em>xpect excellence from
yourself and others, <em><b>T</b></em>each others what you know, and <em><b>S</b></em>how
up!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "MS Reference Sans Serif",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27578558.post-16950222867645699532014-04-03T10:05:00.000-04:002014-04-03T10:05:05.965-04:00<div class="indexcopy">
<strong>JMArts donates baby grand piano<br /> for students at Jordan-Matthews</strong></div>
<div class="indexcopy">
SILER CITY, N.C. — The idea took root two years ago when the All County Chorus performed at Jordan-Matthews. It was an evening of glorious choral music, performed beautifully by the community’s best vocalists. But there was only one wrong note: the piano.</div>
"When we wheeled out the old upright from the chorus room, it looked really sad, and its sound didn’t come close to matching the quality of our students' performance," said chorus teacher Matt Fry. "That's when we started wondering if there was any way we could buy a new piano."<br />
But budgets were tight at the school and district, and requests through the usual funding channels didn't bear fruit. So last fall, JMArts, the Jordan-Matthews Arts Foundation, took up the cause and began a fundraising drive to purchase a used baby grand.<br />
"We were a little nervous about committing to raise the thousands of dollars even a quality used piano would cost," said foundation president Rose Pate. "But Matt kept saying he thought we could pull it off. And he was right.<br />
"The outpouring of support from all over the county was incredible, particularly from the Fearrington community. By January, just a few months after the campaign began, we had enough gifts and pledges to cover not only the cost of the piano, but also the cost of maintenance and building a secure place to store it.”<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5rleJtyzPz03-wp4JbwTcPxmpi8_sHCSduqEcNuqQcUL9_mudnc6DiU_1MFlCS5A0jNTTfZAUDDLCkI9eiORnnTKYNbsNXWsbgomAl_l0WLsmeyY4JHtAuombRstrpsL_HgJ/s1600/Matt+and+Piano+web+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV5rleJtyzPz03-wp4JbwTcPxmpi8_sHCSduqEcNuqQcUL9_mudnc6DiU_1MFlCS5A0jNTTfZAUDDLCkI9eiORnnTKYNbsNXWsbgomAl_l0WLsmeyY4JHtAuombRstrpsL_HgJ/s1600/Matt+and+Piano+web+page.jpg" height="363" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and new piano</td></tr>
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TheGritshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04006486757278536001noreply@blogger.com0