Hey Barbershop Fans, Let’s Have a Show of Hands….or Not.
OK, it’s confession time….”My name is Sheri, and I use my hands way too much in an “I’m directing” sort of way when I sing with my barbershop quartet.” There. I said it.
At the start of barbershopstep.com I said that I might talk about some of my own personal barbershop experiences from time to time, so here’s my story. My new quartet was being coached this last Sunday by Jim Bagby (Baritone, Rural Route 4, 1986 Champs), and one of the things that I was told was that I was trying to guide my quartet to stay with me by using my hands. His suggestion was to stick my hands in my pockets and use the natural inflections of my voice as the guide to the other three members of my quartet. Let me just say that this is a lot harder to do than it sounds. I was able to accomplish what he was asking of me, and my quartet tuned into my sound better. At that point, they had no choice.
So, lesson learned, right? Well, not so much.
The very next evening we were auditioning for two of the three Sweet Adeline International choruses that we represent. My husband was so kind as to make a video tape of our performance for my chorus. Low and behold, despite the fact that I was actually making a conscious effort to keep my hands under control, the old adage of “old habits die hard” reared its ugly head. I could see the times that I was making the effort to either hold my hands still, or even do some other things to add to the story telling process, but there was WAY too much arm waiving going on. I will even admit that it was distracting from the message that I was trying to portray.
So, long story short. “Watch the hand waiving kiddo!”
In barbershop singing, the ebb and flow that must take place in the phrase that you are singing must happen with your own vocal energy. Not by pushing and pulling with your arms to try and “make” it happen.
I’m trying not to be too hard on myself since this quartet has only had five rehearsals together so far, but I don’t like to make excuses. So, I guess I’ll be spending more time with my hands in my pockets until can work my hands in a more relaxed manner.
You should try it sometime. If you do, come back and tell me what you think.