The Art of Barbershop - Step by Step

I had someone ask me for some tips/tricks for calming performance nerves when performing with their barbershop chorus or barbershop quartet. So, I thought I would address the topic here.

 I’m sure that you have heard all of the silly things like picturing your audience in their underwear and such.  Frankly, I don’t want to see my audience in their underwear any more than they would want to see me in mine.  :)

 I can tell you some basics like, never approach a performance apologetically, (i.e. telling people you haven’t rehearsed in a while, or that a song is new) or always stand up in front of others whether on stage or in a small “sing-out” environment with presence, but there is really only one way to calm your nerves.

 Be prepared.

 If you are truly prepared to perform, you have rehearsed every aspect of the performance, and you know that you are ready to do the best performance that you are capable of, then you shouldn’t be nervous.  I know that the only time that I personally get nervous is if I don’t feel prepared.

 This can be as easy as knowing that your barbershop quartet needs to be fully warmed up and have sung through whatever music you plan to present before going on stage.

 Nervousness can happen because you haven’t taken the time to talk about how you’re going to enter the stage and take the pitch.  Or, you don’t know how long to bow in between songs.  Maybe you’ve made some changes to your interpretive plan and haven’t gotten them solidly in your memory bank.

 I’ve had it happen where the quartet had a singing engagement and we hadn’t had time to really work the script.  I’m a pretty confident speaker, but if unprepared, even I will throw in some “uh…ummm..whatever” type phrases because I get nervous.

 One major culprit of this can also be making changes too close to your performance or Sweet Adeline Regional Contest or Barbershop Harmony Society District or Prelims.  I am a firm believer that you should not be coaching contest music with less than three weeks to work the changes that will be discussed.  If you coach the same week of a contest or make interpretation changes in your hotel room, you are not going to be able to be as confident in your ability to “do the plan” when you get on stage.  Or worse, you will be concerned about the others in your quartet or chorus and their capability to remember and execute all of the changes and not allow yourself to get past that and sing the emotional message of your songs.

 I hope that you weren’t looking for some magic potion or pixie dust to make it all better.  It really is this simple, so I will say it again.

 BE PREPARED.

I have always been a very emotional person.  It is sort of a joke amongst my friends that it takes very little to bring me to tears in either a happy or a sad moment in time.  I’m a firm believer in wearing your heart on your sleeve, so I am not apologizing for this piece of my character.  I am just bringing it up to discuss the topic of portraying emotions while singing.

My mom used to remind me to “cry pretty”.  Remember to cover my mouth and not scrunch up my face to terribly much when in a situation where you are crying in front of a large group of people.   Now, in private I suppose that I can cry however, I darn well please, but when performing or participating in part of a performance I need to not make a scene.  At least that’s how I see it.

How does this apply to barbershop chroreography?  Recently, my chorus began signing the song “There Goes My Heart”.   We always try to find the lighter aspects of ballads and the most positive emotions that can be portrayed in an effort to not make a song too heavy.  However, with phrases like “There goes my happiness, it couldn’t be. There goes somebody else, in place of me” there are only so many ways to try to spin that emotion.  By the end of this song, there is total devastation and isolation.  “There goes my heart….. and here am I”  So we are faced with our only option - try to portray these emotions without singing too heavy and creating a visual that is too disturbing or ugly.  (If I can use that word).

I’ve been working with the chorus to bring the emotions out and to the next level, but I am finding that many are scrunching up their faces and truly looking unpleasant.   I am also concerned about what all of this face scrunching and mouth twisting is doing to the musical product that they are creating.

Therefore, I offer this advice.   Spend time in front of the mirror.  It is completely possible to display despair, loneliness, and devastation while maintaining a raised eyebrow and lifted cheekbone to keep the ping in your sound.   Work in front of the mirror and choose selected phrases of the song to sing and see what exactly it is that you are doing with your face and body.   Keep the eyebrow lifted, remembering that it is OK to furrow it a bit to portray and emotion now and then.  It is OK to show some teeth without appearing to be smiling.   Choose words that work for you.  If “devastation” is too strong, think “despair” and so on.

Also, remember that your body plays as much a part of the emotional portrayal as your face.  Use your shoulders, your chest, a tilt of the head, or a quick look down and back up to make the true emotion of what the song is saying come to life.   Say the words of the song out loud as if it were a spoken piece of poetry and see what your body does.  

What if you were performing this poem at an open mic night at a club? Would you stand there with your feet glued to the ground and not move your hands, arms, shoulders, or head?  I’m going to assume that the answer to that question is “no”.   Once you see some of your natural movement, work to incorporate that into your musical message.  Don’t be afraid to experiment.  Once you find something that works for you, something that you think is powerful, remember it.  Use that movement every time you are at that place in the song.  It is best to rehearse these types of emotions and have a plan in place.  This way you can tell a compelling story without having to remember to move once the performance zone hits you.   Your audience will not know that you have “planned” that tilt of the head or lift of the hand; they will just see the emotional message portrayed by your entire body.

So… recite the song – watch how you move in the mirror – incorporate the movement and facial expression into your musical product.   And don’t forget to “cry pretty”.
 

**THIS IS A RE-POST OF AN ARTICLE LAST WRITTEN LAST APRIL - HOWEVER, IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON COMPETING IN SPRING REGIONALS OR PRELIMS, THESE ARE THINGS YOU NEED TO BE IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING SO I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GOOD TO RE-POST THESE TIPS - BEST OF LUCK!** 

The months of March, April, and May mean only one thing in the Sweet Adelines International organization.  Regional Competition.  It’s a time of year when all of the hard work that you have put into learning music, practicing choreography, passing your songs to compete, and finding costumes, etc. finally have a chance to pay off.

First, let me send my best wishes to all of you that have already or are preparing to walk across the competition stage either in your barbershop quartet or barbershop chorus.  No matter what the actual outcome of the contest, you should all consider yourselves a winner for being brave enough just to compete.  It is a rare opportunity offered to all of us that most people don’t get in their adult life, a chance to compete to be the very best at something.  Plus, these Sweet Adelines Regional Competition’s are a stepping stone for you to possibly compete to be the very best in the world at something.  How many of your friends and co-workers get that opportunity?  It’s unique, and a thrill that can be tough to explain to those who do not participate. 

If you’ve been working your way towards this chance to compete, what are some of the key steps that you have taken?  I’ll list the ones that I think are vital, but I would love to hear what you and your quartet or chorus do to prepare for contest.

- Song Selection –

This can be the most important part of the whole journey.  Typically, you are looking for an Uptune and a Ballad that are considered “contest material” that follow all of the rules for chord and song structure to satisfy your music judge.  Keep in mind that the rules only tell you to sing two songs, so you could sing two uptunes or two ballads if you like.  I personally don’t recommend it, only because it doesn’t always show off the range of what you are capable of singing to the judging panel, but if you can sing the snot out of two ballads and think that is the best for you, then go for it.  A lot of people will work a swing song in to replace one or the other of those choices to show some versatility as well.  The most important thing is to find songs that adequately represent the personality of your chorus or quartet, while playing to the strengths of what you do best.  If you know that your bass section struggles with higher notes, don’t pick a song that is voiced high for them. No matter how great the song may be, if it doesn’t work for one part, then it doesn’t work for the group as a whole.  People often wonder why you hear the same songs over and over and year after year at contest.  That is because they are songs that are well written to show off all of the marvelous aspects of our barbershop art form, and tend to score well for that reason.  Why try to reinvent the wheel when there is something that already works?  Don’t always pick the song that is “cool” or “popular” right now; pick what is right for you.  So many people pick a song that they just heard the new Queens of Harmony perform at contest that sounded so great.  Well, guess what…. we can’t all sing like that.  It sounded great for them because it worked for those four people with extraordinary skills, so their song or their interpretation of a song might not be the best vehicle for you and your group.  Just be smart about it from the start and I promise you that it won’t be such a struggle to learn and polish the music that you choose.

- Learning the music –

A chorus will probably provide the opportunity to hear your music team sing the song, have section rehearsals, and then probably provide some type of learning resource.  (CD/tape/mp3 or something of that nature)  Take your time to learn the notes and words with great accuracy.  You will spend lots of time doing all of the finesse, polish work, dynamics, and visual plan, so you want to make sure that you know the song accurately to build all of the other layers onto.  A quartet may not have those resources, so you have to be more creative.  While you don’t want to try and recreate what they did exactly, it doesn’t hurt if you can find a recording of a song just to get familiar with it if you aren’t already.  There are all kinds of resources available for CD’s, whether it is directly from a quartet or chorus, or from the various compilation recordings from International Contests.  If someone in your group is a better sight reader or piano player than others, have them make a tape for all four parts.  If you really learn better with a learning tape, there are more and more resources to purchase learning CD’s these days.  Two that I would recommend are http://www.kimkraut.com/ and http://www.timtracks.com/.  Kim is member of the Sweet Adelines International Faculty, the Kansas City Chorus, and the quartet PRIMO!.  She is also the director of the St. Joseph Show Chorus and a former opera singer with a degree in Voice. Tim Waurick is a young man with extraordinary talent that currently sings tenor with the 6th place International Medalists in the Barbershop Harmony Society, Vocal Spectrum, and sings with the International Championship Chorus the Ambassadors of Harmony in St. Louis, MO.  He is also studying for a degree in Music Education.  Both are extremely talented and can offer you superior services for learning CDs. **** UPDATE - Three months after this post was published, Tim’s quartet, Vocal Spectrum, went to their 2nd Barbershop Harmony Society contest and came home with GOLD medals.  He is now an International Champion Quartet Tenor - Way to go, Tim!****

- Story Time –

You have your two songs, and know your notes and words…now what?  Take the time to find out who you are when you are singing these two songs.  Is your uptune a funny, tongue in cheek message, or are you actually angry or sad?  Is your ballad a happy memory of past love or a sad story of love lost?  You can decide.  Even if people always sing a certain song a certain way, you can decide that you want to tell the story differently.  Just remember that if you are going to go against what people are used to, you had better REALLY sell what you are trying to say.  A technique used by a chorus and several quartets that I work closely with is to actually write a story.  Tell a story with a real message that has specific keywords you are trying to portray.  One place in the song is “matter of fact”, but then it moves into “pensive” and then to “despair”.  Maybe then you see the end of the tunnel of despair and end with “hope”.  I think you can see where I’m going with this.  Be specific, making sure that all members of your chorus or quartet are on the same page, telling the exact same message at every moment of the song.  Most of all, you have to buy into it.  Don’t settle for it unless it really means something to you.  It will pay off in your Expression and Showmanship categories.  Really.

- Visual Planning –

Now that you know who you are and what you want to say, put a visual plan to it.  It can be very specific “we all move together” choreography, or you can put moves in that just look like natural movement, but are actually well crafted to send a specific visual image.  Work to accent the rises and falls in the story and vocal line.  Don’t try to do too much just for the sake of moving, and have it get in the way of the musical product.  Find a plan, implement it, tweak it, decide on the final product, and then do it that way, exactly, every time that you perform the song from that time out.  The more that it becomes second nature, the more likely you are to perform it that way on the contest stage.  And, if you are doing the moves easily, it will give a more polished and professional look to the judges.

- Coaching –

Depending where you are located, find all of the coaching resources that you can.  If there aren’t any big name coaches in your area, take advantage of the opportunities at your regional music schools.  You can also call on a director, choreographer, or section leader from a chorus that you respect in your region that you think could help you.   Try to get a few different people that have different areas of expertise.  Find one that is great with music and sound and one that can work expression and showmanship.  (of course for Expression, Showmanship or Presentation, you can always contact me at sheri@barbershopstep.com – how convenient)  Each coach will have a unique way of expressing their thoughts and it helps to have different ideas to consider and use.  My personal recommendation is to quit coaching at least two to three weeks out before contest.  You can always have someone encouraging and helping you really keep everything together, but quit making major changes and adjustments.  This is so that you can really drill the exact plan that you want to put on contest stage.  If you make a major change to choreography, interpretation, or music right before contest, it might sound cool when you do it, but it is highly likely that all members will not have it “saved” well enough to not forget in the excitement of the contest stage.  When contest is near, be consistent; sing the set from top to bottom over and over without stopping in between the two songs of your set.  Make your comments and minor adjustments and then sing it through again.  You would be amazed at how many people don’t think about how it feels to sing the songs back to back until it is too late.  It takes a tremendous amount of stamina to do what we do.  The ability to maintain breath support, energy, and vocal production through a contest set does not happen over night.  You have to practice it that way.

- Perform –

Try to find a way to perform for a live audience as much as possible.  If your chorus has a Friends and Family night before contest that is a great way to sing for an audience.  If they don’t, try to invite people to stop by and watch, or book a performance (even if it is for free) where you can sing for a live audience.  It makes such a difference in how you perform.

- Enjoy –

Once the contest weekend starts, don’t spend the entire time rehearsing with your chorus or quartet.  It is what it is at that point.  Enjoy the contest, cheer on your peers, sing in the hallways, meet new people and enjoy this fantastic art form we call barbershop. 

You’ve done your homework and you are ready.  Go for it!
 

Many showmanship people will talk about standing up straight, shoulders back; chin up with your weight evenly distributed on each foot when they are talking about how you should stand in your space on the risers.    I guess in some way, all of these things make sense and describe the process in a very technical way, but I prefer to discuss the issue as “having presence”.

Presence (as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
1) a: the bearing, carriage, or air of a person; especially:stately or distinguished bearing
b : a noteworthy quality of poise and effectiveness

Now doesn’t that say so much more?   I love the part about “a noteworthy quality of poise and EFFECTIVENESS.” 
When we enter the stage and take our place on the risers, what better way to carry ourselves than with distinguished poise and the idea of being ready to be effective in our performance.   Each member of EVERY chorus should enter the stage in a way that lights up the stage and tells the audience and/or judges that they are about to see and hear something very special.  In many regional contests and certainly international contest there are no curtains to “hide” the chorus as they enter the stage.  No matter how “cutesy or clever” front rows try to be up front to “hide” what is going on behind them, the audience and judges can see every member as they come on stage.  You should never walk on stage with the idea that the performance hasn’t started yet, or that no one is noticing you.  It is simply not true. 

Now, the judges do not begin scoring until you start singing, but you can bet that they notice how a chorus approaches their performance.  Whether they want it to or not, it will have an impact on how they perceive the performance.  You NEVER have a second chance to make a first impression.

My challenge to you and your chorus is to practice that your performance starts the minute the first foot of the first member steps on the stage, and ends when the last foot of the last member leaves the stage.  When your foot hits that stage, take deep breath, put your chin up, smile and walk with pride and presence.  Even if you have trouble walking and need to go a little slower, just remember that no one has a problem with that.  Show them that even though you may struggle to get there, you are proud to be a part of what is about to take place. Never, no matter the size of your chorus or  how nervous you feel, enter the stage in an apologetic way.  Or worse yet, like you’re trying to be quiet about it.  Make a statement.

Once you have your place on the risers, visualize that you are filling up your personal space with your presence.   Every atom in the space around you is buzzing with the energy that you have bottled in your body at that moment.  You own that spot on the risers for that 6 or 15 minutes and no one can take it away from you.  It doesn’t matter who stood in the spot before because you are the owner now.

As the pitch blows, think “PRESENCE”, breathe deep, smile and prepare yourself to be the most effective member of the chorus that you can possibly be.  It will make a difference how your chorus and your performance are perceived as well as how you perceive yourself as a performer.

Say it with me….. “PRESENCE!”

If not, let me help.

If moving your body to the rhythm or the soul of a song doesn’t come naturally it can be hard to do the things being asked of you by your showmanship or presentation team.  With a little focus and attention, you still may not be the best performer in your barbershop chorus or quartet, but you can learn to move your body and fit in to the overall look of your group.    Of course if you can master these techniques, you may be the best performer yet.

Let’s talk about some easy things that you can do to help move you in the right direction.  (Keep in mind that these are the things that you do when there is no “planned” choreography move)

Legs and Feet:
This is a simple as shifting your weight from one foot to another.

Try picking a foot up and shifting to the outside of your stance instead of just shifting.  Even on the risers, you have a small box of space that is yours to use.  Step forward slightly; step back slightly, to the right or to the left.  You should find that it frees you up vocally when you allow yourself to move this way.

Bend your knees and grow upward at the end of a phrase or where your dynamic plan has a shift.

Arms and Hands:
Make sure that you let your arms hand where your thumbs are pointed out to the audience, not the backs of your hands.  It looks unappealing and it tens to accentuate poor posture.

Allow your arms to move freely at the sides of your body instead of having them plastered to your sides.  Don’t get overzealous and move to the point of distraction, but a slight lift of the hand at the end of the phrase, or letting your hand float slightly upward so that you can make a “move” out of bringing it back down to your side can be very effective.

Remember that your hands are a separate extension of your body above and beyond arm movements.  Allow for a slight turn of the wrist, turn your hand out slightly so that the palm can be seen and bring it back.

Bend your elbow slightly – it will, in turn, bring your hand up above or at your waist.  You can also do any of these suggested moves with both hands at the same time.

When bringing your hand up in a slight move, think about leading with your wrist and thumb instead of your fingers.  It will put more presence in your move than just a “fan-type” hand move.

If you happen to stand on the outside of a row in your chorus or as the outside person in your quartet, always be conscious that you don’t move your hand in one similar way over and over.  For some reason that tends to happen and it can be very distracting during a performance.  Try to switch things up.
Head and Shoulders:
Never move your head and shoulders in a way that would negatively affect your singing instrument. 

However, a slight tilt to shake of the head in a plaintive or passionate movement is very effective.  Try a slight shrug of one should and then bring it back down.  Or, a very slight chin down and then bring it back up within a line of a song.

Putting it all together:

Now, of course, I haven’t mentioned every possible way that you can move, but you get the idea with these suggestions of ways to move from head to toe.

My challenge to you and/or your group:

Take these moves, and others that you know or have seen done, and try to sing a ballad with them.  Stay in CONSTANT motion.  Not jerky, big moves, but small, subtle, and smooth moves.  Keep moving from note to note, word to word, phrase to phrase.  At first it feels very uncomfortable, and it may, in fact, be too much.  But, if you do this enough times, you will free yourself up for movement while experimenting and finding the moves that worked for you and work for the song that you are singing.

A trick that you may, or may not know, is the “planned unplanned move”.  You will see people that are tremendous performers that move and make it seem so natural and spontaneous.  9 times out of 10, they have moves that are not part of the “planned” choreography, but they are “planned” for them.  They will do the same move in the same place of the song, every time that they sing it.  They have found something that is comfortable and tells the story of the moment that they are sharing and they stick to it.

Once you find moves that are comfortable for you and fit your music, you can put them in as your won “planned” moves even though your choreography didn’t dictate those moves.

Work this concept, over and over and over.  It will help.  I am a firm believer that if you can‘t move with the rhythm of the moment of the song (not the actual rhythms and beat, but the emotional rhythms) then you cannot portray the song to its fullest potential.

Keep Moving !!

I’m not content with just hearing the words and music in a barbershop performance.  I want you to “Show Me What You are Saying”.  OK, so I don’t live in Missouri, but close enough.  Show Me!!! 

This can be a ballad or an up-tune, it doesn’t matter.
I was working with a men’s chorus recently and really had to stress this point, so I thought it was worth addressing here.  So often barbershop performers are told to “smile”, or “raise your eyebrows” and that somehow constitutes and exciting visual performance.   I do not agree.  Sometimes you are singing something that has no real deep meaning or is just silly and fun and you might get away with the overall “excited” or “happy” look throughout.  However, most of the time, a song has an actual message.  Even if it is not profound, it is still a message that needs to be portrayed in order for the audience to really experience a song.

Let’s talk specifics…..
The chorus that I was working with is getting ready to compete at the men’s international contest in Indianapolis and is taking the popular up-tune Runnin’ Wild.  The intro of the song goes like this:

“Once I loved a hard hearted gal.  That hard hearted, mean tempered, two timing, man hating, back biting, brow beating gal brought me down; down to the ground.   I cursed that evil woman, stood up and turned around.  That gal won’t make a fool of me now, no not now.  Cuz now my heart’s (this poor shattered, torn tattered heart) – got a brand new start”

You cannot achieve a true performance of this song with just a general “excited” look on your face.  Think about those words….you’re saying some pretty spirited stuff about this gal.  Then, you admit that she basically brought you to your knees.   Then in a fit of anger and resignation you cursed her, stood up, and turned around to start a new life.  (Admitting briefly that your heart is torn and tattered)

Can you follow me on this?   Can you envision the difference between a generally “excited” look and someone that can portray this moment’s ups and downs more completely?

Let’s get even more specific…..

“Once I loved a hard hearted gal.”  (General excited energy, you’re getting ready to tell the story of what happened here)

“That hard hearted, mean tempered, “(This can have an angrier look to it)

“Two timing, man hating,” (this can be more desperate.  Descending into the pit of all that she was – portrayed almost unbelieving that she could be that way)

“Back biting, brow beating gal “ ( back biting is pretty bitter,  brow beating is more resigned like “oh for the love of God will she ever quit nagging at me””)

“Brought me down;”   (this descends to exhausted)

“Down to the ground.”   (Then resigned)

“I cursed that evil woman,” (OK, now he’s getting his spirit back)
“Stood up and turned around.” (He’s seeing that there is life after her)

 “That gal won’t make a fool of me now, no not now.”  (Now he’s standing up for himself – standing a little taller)

“Cuz now my heart’s” (this poor shattered, torn tattered heart)– (Admitting that his heart was broken)

“Got a brand new start” (standing up, brushing off his going out clothes and ready to hit the town with his buddies)  

So now he is ….  You guessed it….. “Runnin Wild – Lost Control”!!!!

It runs a gambit of emotions and it’s only the intro to the song.  It says all that and more, and not just because I say so, but because the WORDS demand it.

Other phrases -
“Runnin Wild – Lost Control” – the guys are getting wild

“Now I’m free, reckless too” - Finally FREE, even to the point of being reckless

“Don’t love nobody, not worth while” – Dismissive

There is a whole section in the middle of the song that talks about being the villain, and playing the villain’s part.   The music makes a definite style change to represent this “mood change”, so visually you have to change as well or the work that the composer and arranger did was mute.    Look evil, mysterious, and ominous.

At one point it says – “See me laugh…in an evil way”   This can be played with an ironic smile and joyful move during “laugh” and then it comes back to being evil.   A quick show of two entirely different emotions.

My point is that most songs have a lot to say.  The lyricist went to the trouble to write the words the way that they felt told the most compelling story.  It seems tragic (especially the loss of points) when the words and their meaning are lost when the song is performed with one general happy/sad/excited/lonely feel.   Even really sad love songs typically have a section that should be performed more wistful or as if you are remembering the good times.

Don’t sell your barbershop chorus or barbershop quartet short by not exploring all of the meaning of all of the words in every song that you sing.  It makes for a much more energetic, compelling, and interesting performance for your audience. And, it is so much more fun and compelling for you as a performer as well.

I’m sure that I am not the first barbershop choreography coach to tell you that it is important to not lock your knees while you are on the risers.  However, since it is a very important concept, I think that it is worth repeating.

Why does it matter?  Let me count the ways…

If you lock your knees very solidly, whether it is due to nerves or any other reason, you can end up fainting. The science behind that is pretty simple.  If you lock your knees, you are restricting the blood flow. You are remaining motionless so your feet and leg muscles aren’t helping at all. Combine this with a stressful situation (barbershop contest, a chorus performance, or just thinking too hard while rehearsing) and your legs are preventing a nice fresh flow of oxygenated blood to the control center where it is needed to keep you in the upright position.  In short, the blood is not getting to your brain and that’s makes your brain very unhappy.

Less severe than that reaction, and one more connected with barbershop performance mode is just the fact that if your knees are locked, you aren’t moving.  Brilliant! You say?  I know it sounds obvious, but if you are not moving, it is highly unlikely that you are emoting in any significant way.  Whether it be a ringing barbershop contest uptune, or an emotionally charged barbershop ballad, it makes the music less enjoyable for both you and your audience.  If you don’t feel a song in your body, there will be little chance that you will express a song’s intent on your face.  It is all connected.

What to do you about it… well, if you have a habit of locking your knees, you need to make a conscious effort to break that habit.  Even if it means telling yourself, mentally, to move every time you start singing barbershop (or any other type of music, but for the sake of this example, we’ll talk barbershop).  If it is difficult to remember, ask a neighbor on the chorus risers to help you out.  They don’t have to talk and annoy those around you, just ask them to put their hand on your back or elbow to be a reminder to you to start moving.

Just bend your knees, or shift your weight from one foot to another.  It is that simple, to start off with.

Of course, your choreography, presentation or visual team will ask more of you, but trust me when I tell you that they will be thrilled that you have started moving at all.

Once you conquer the impulse to stand stock still all of the time, then you can work towards other levels of comfortable, natural, body movement when you are singing those good old barbershop chords.

Try it, you’ll like it.

My first instinct this morning was to write a funny, bogus post only to proclaim “April Fools” at the end.  Then I decided that this site hasn’t been around long enough to build the kind of credibility it takes to pull something like that off.  I didn’t want a new visitor to stop by, read a few lines of a post and decide that I wasn’t in my right mind.

So instead, I’ve decided to debunk a barbershop myth that I hear quite often when coaching barbershop quartets and choruses.

Barbershop Myth #1:  “It doesn’t really matter how I perform in rehearsal, it only matters how I perform on stage.  I’ll “turn it on” when I’m in front of an audience”

There are two fundamentally wrong things about this particular statement.  First, there is the truth behind the idea that “practice makes permanent”.  We all know that the contest and performance stage bring a lot of unknowns to every performance.  When nerves play into the mix and there are the distractions of bright lights, or the amplification sounds strange, these distractions can throw a wrench into your plans.  In order to perform your very best when these things occur, you need to have practiced exactly what you want to put on stage.  Almost as if you could perform on auto-pilot.  This applies to both the physical and the musical parts of the performance.  I know there are many people, myself included, that can come off of the contest stage and not remember most of the performance.  So how did I do my plan?  My body literally has muscle memory of how I want to perform because I practice it that way every time.  As mentioned in a prior post, you can relax in between songs, or when your director or coach is giving you instructions.  Then when it is time to sing, you should be “on” all of the time.  It is the only way to assure that you will be ready no matter what distractions are thrown at you.

The second part of the statement about turning it on for an audience is almost more laughable than the first.  Ask anyone who has ever been contestant #1 how it feels to perform to a mostly empty audience.  Especially during the chorus contest when most of the people are waiting in the traffic pattern to perform with their chorus.  The judges don’t care that there isn’t a deafening applause when the curtain goes up, so neither can you.  I can speak from the experience of being in very large chorus that we have had performances that we were hired for where we outnumbered the audience.  It’s a little awkward, but you still have to hit them with all that you’ve got.  How about some other scenarios, the quartet gig where you “stroll” around and are basically singing to no one, or the one where you perform at a nursing home and some of your audience members fall asleep.  You can’t count on an audience to help you perform.  That is not what they are there for.  They are there to be entertained by you, even if they are not as large, energetic, or interested as you would like for them to be.

And that’s no joke!

If you have never had the opportunity, or taken the time, to attend a contest weekend in a region/district outside of your own, you are missing out.  Being able to take in the sights and sounds without the pressure of competing and having the opportunity to meet people that have a passion for music the way that you do is a fun and energizing experience.

This past weekend, my quartet had the opportunity to be the mic tester quartet at the Region 23 Sweet Adelines International Regional Competition.  What a treat!

As mic testers (also an experience I would recommend), we were able to experience the contest stage environment for the first time in this quartet without the pressure of actually competing.

As audience members, we were able to enjoy our hobby being on fine display by people that we are not familiar with.  It is fun to see how universal that experience was even though we were half way across the country from home. I enjoyed it very much and I highly recommend to you for when/if you get the chance.

A quick “shout out” to my new friends in the Tune Town Show Chorus in Nashville, TN.  They took the stage as a mid-size chorus with 59 members and outscored the large chorus in their region that has a history of wining.  And, they did it with a total of 623 points! (They also received the Most Improved Chorus award by raising their score 44 points from last year)

Way to go ladies, you truly were a “Dixieland Delight”.

You can always learn by watching and listening to others.  Each chorus and quartet in our organizations brings something different to the table.  You can take concepts or ideas from those that do well and use them in your own performances.  Or, you can see the things that got in the way of success for those that struggled and work to keep those things out of your repertoire.

With Region 23 and the Dixie District of the Barbershop Harmony Society having their contests the same weekend and in adjoining venues, we were able to see some wonderful performances with a large variety of performers.  It was a great barbershop weekend indeed.

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.