A Quick Lesson in A,B,C’s

I recently had a choreographer of a mid-size barbershop chorus ask me this question:

“How can I get my “C” level chorus

to move at an “A” level?”

Well, the short answer to that question is:  You can’t.

Now, let me explain….

You won’t be able to move at an “A” level until you can sing at an “A” level.  Now obviously, in barbershop contests, you can get “B” or “B+” scores in the other categories and get an “A” score in showmanship or presentation, but to me, the overall effect is that it has to go together.

There are lots of steps that you can use to start building your visual package, but you can move like Cirque du Soliel and it won’t really matter if you are not singing barbershop harmony well. The visual is only really scored in one category; the singing is scored in all of them.  And those that think that the music performance does not play a role in the showmanship/presentation categories are sorely mistaken.

Just know that if you tailor a simple plan that enhances the music and does not interfere with your work on the vocal product you will have much better results than if you try to dance “Richtones” level but cannot support it musically.

Stay tuned for more tips and techniques to help you continue to build the visual.  I will just take you on the Sweet Adelines International and Barbershop Harmony Society honor systems that you are already addressing the musical product.

Best of Luck!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 21st, 2006 at 9:50 pm and is filed under Basic Barbershop Philosophies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “A Quick Lesson in A,B,C’s”

  1. Dancin Says:
    March 22nd, 2006 at 7:44 am

    Too funny. You told me to come check out your website, and when I do you just answered the question that I asked you at our winter music school. Just for the record, I was getting asked about this by some front row members that wanted to move more. It helped to be able to sit them down and talk about the various things that you told me. Deep down, they all knew that answer, but to tell tham that I had talked to you about it and gotten some advice seemed to help.

    You know how it is… no matter how smart a leadership team is, when you bring someone else in, everyone really listens.

    Thanks!

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