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 been doing quite a bit of chorus coaching lately and have found myself repeating a couple of concepts over and over so I thought that I would just share them here.

Basically, as an audience member, I am GREEDY. When you are performing a song, if you don’t go above and beyond to express the story to me from every angle, you lose me. I don’t think that I am all that different from most barbershop audience members. Some are like me and are watching very intently to see the expression and emotion that are being portrayed, while others don’t necessarily know what they are looking for, but they definitely know when they don’t see/feel it.

We’ve all been there… you look out into the audience and you can see the people that are engaged in the performance and the ones that are NOT. I wish there were some kind of scientific research that had been done so that I could quote the answer to a question that I often ask…
“Do you know how long it takes to get an audience member back once you’ve lost them?”

I don’t know the EXACT answer, but I do know that whatever it is, it is TOO LONG.

So where does “Deliver +1” come in? This is my basic statement of how to work on emotional involvement and grow it into a full blown production each time that you perform barbershop music and barbershop choreography. Every time that you try to put your best effort into a rehearsal, “Deliver +1”. That way you don’t have to feel like you are being asked to duplicate and triplicate your effort level. Just think to yourself, every time that you perform, to add “+1” to what you did the last time that you performed that song. By the time that song is ready to be performed for an audience, you will have added, and added, and added emotional impact.

The final product will be worth the effort and your GREEDY audience members will thank you AND remember you.

OK - so to recap, we now know that the word ENERGY appears in some form in all four categories of the Sweet Adeline judging system. 

What are some other ways that we can view across all four categories and make some connections?

One that I found is the word CHARACTERIZATION.  Now, this one isn’t as easy as the word energy because it is more the concept that carries across the categories instead of an actual word.

If it appears as CHARACTERIZATION in the Showmanship category, what is it called in the other three?

Expression Category = Emotional Communication and/or Finesse

Music Category = Musical Artistry 

Sound Category = Vocal Style

In my opinion, to achieve CHARACTERIZATION, you must have a VOCAL STYLE that can use MUSICAL ARTISTRY and FINESSE to create an EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION/CONNECTION to your audience.

Once again, just like with the concept of ENERGY it is easy to see how important it is to consider the interlocking relationship between ALL of the Sweet Adeline judging categories to get the most bang for your buck in your contest performance.

Contest season is just around the corner, so consider this as you begin to create your musical plans.

OK, so now the secret is out.  The word ENERGY appears in all FOUR categories of the Sweet Adelines judging system. 

What does this mean to you?  It means that when someone tells you that only one judge is looking at you in an effort to minimize the showmanship category down to the obvious “visual” impact that it has, you should think twice before agreeing with them. 

We’ve already established that the word ENERGY appears in the Sweet Adelines International Showmanship Category. 

How does it appear in the other three?

In the Sweet Adelines International Expression Category the word ENERGY appears.  

In the Sweet Adelines International Music Category the words MUSICAL ENGERGY appear.

In the Sweet Adelines International Sound Category the words ENERGIZED VOCAL LINE appear. 

So even though choreography may play a part in how your quartet or chorus chooses to rev up the energy in your performance, you have to remember that the energy has to be something that the judges can HEAR, and not just SEE. 

There are some other items that appear in all four Sweet Adeline judging categories, but I’ll save those for another post. 

I am teaching a class this weekend for the Sweet Adelines International - Region 7 Quartet Music School where I will talk about ways that the Sweet Adelines International Showmanship category can reach across and touch all FOUR categories - I am going to post a series here where I give you the Net-Net of what the class will entail.
 
When your barbershop quartet starts to think about the Showmanship category, what do you think of first?

Choreography is the easy answer and one that usually comes to mind first for all of us in the Sweet Adeline and Barbershop world.  Choreography is very specific per the song that you are singing and per the group that is performing.  So what I want to focus on is something a little bigger than that.  Something that reaches the Sweet Adelines International Showmanship judge; but also reaches out and touches ALL FOUR categories.  Fellas, keep in mind that your Presentation category may not follow these exact guidelines, but this concept works for you as well.
 
Here is a list of words that are used in the official category description for the Sweet Adelines International Showmanship category:

PERFORMANCE (0-70 Points)

VISUAL COMMUNICATION OF MUSICAL PRODUCT
Vocal Skills
Poise and Command
Entrance/Break/Exit
Pitch Pipe Technique
Physical Expression
Posture
Unity
Choreography
Characterization
Audience Rapport
Energy

PREPARATION (0-30 Points)

VISUAL PLAN
Entrance/Break/Exit
Costume
          Makeup/Grooming
          Choreography
Creativity
 

Do you want to know what one word appears in all FOUR Sweet Adelines International judging categories?
 
ENERGY
 
Think about it…….
   

Sometimes chorus members do not seem to understand why a choreographer or presentation team may decide to choreograph a certain song or why they choose to choreograph it differently than another.  I thought I would just write a short list of reasons to choreograph a song as well as give choreographers a little food for thought.

Obviously  95% of uptunes are choreographed, especially ones being used for contest, but what are the reasons?  And why are you seeing more choreography in ballads?

• -  Choreography is placed on a song to further the story of what we are saying and portray the energy of a song’s intent.   A choreo team should create moves that are within the style of the song and allow audience members to further understand what you are singing. Don’t move just to move.  Fun, jazzy moves don’t work with a “good-bye, take the dog he’s yours” kind of song any better than strong arms, and forceful stepping work with “don’t sit under the apple tree”.   In the same token as you wouldn’t put a big costume change in a song where it doesn’t make sense, just because your director likes to wear hot pants.
• Choreography can be used to help chorus members remember the words of a song.   It sounds strange, but muscle memory of choreography CAN help actual memory lapses during a song.   If you have one verse where the song uses the word “march”, and the next verse where it is all the same except this time you “salute”, then it would make sense to place choreography moves that do those two things if your chorus seems to get the two verses mixed up.   That is sort of an extreme example, but you get the idea.
• Choreography can be used (especially in ballads) when you have a chorus that doesn’t tend to move well on their own.   Even simple moves like a “sway”, a “step on the outside foot”, or a “slight lift of a hand”, can be choreographed where it just look like natural movement.   The audience doesn’t need to know its and actual move, but it keeps the chorus from getting too grounded and not moving at all.
• Choreography can be used to break up visually what can be a vocally long song.  Medleys seem to be a big culprit here.   For those that don’t move naturally to keep their vocal energy up, the stamina to sing a medley with 6 or 8 songs in it can get to be too much.  By the end, you’ve lost energy and your audience may have lost interest.   You don’t have to choreograph every song within the medley, but if you put some staging in even 3 of those songs it creates a better ebb and flow of energy and interest within the song.  This is for both your chorus members, and for your audience.
• Ballad choreography seems to be becoming more popular these days.  I am all for it.   Many of the ballads that we sing are fraught with great emotion.   I am always stunned at the number of people who can sing those songs without moving.  Putting those planned moves in helps further the emotional level for all and will get your non-movers involved as well.

Of course there are many reasons and many ways to choreograph or stage a song; these are just the tip of the iceberg.  However, I hope they help you review your song selections and work choreography and staging into them more often.

PS – Just for all the directors out there, remember that I never recommend moving in a way or during a song where it gets in the way of the singing.  

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month so I wanted to do my part to raise awareness here on BarbershopStep.

Breast cancer is the leading cancer among American women and is second only to lung cancer in cancer deaths. This year in the United States, 212,920 women and 1,720 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,970 women and 460 men will die from the disease. When breast cancer is found early (and confined to the breast), your chances for survival are the greatest. For information on general breast health, early detection, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment and support, please visit the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation’s ABC’s of Breast Cancer.

Also, can go to TheBreastCancerSite.com, where your click on the “Fund Free Mammograms” button helps fund free mammograms, paid for by site sponsors whose ads appear after you click and provided to women in need through the efforts of the National Breast Cancer Foundation to low-income, inner-city and minority women, whose awareness of breast cancer and opportunity for help is often limited.

Now that you know a little bit about me, I’ll tell you why I have started this blog.  I think that there can never be too many resources for education and improvement of ourselves and the art form of barbershop.   While there are many out there that teach and share knowledge with us, there aren’t very many web resources for us to use on a continuing basis.  Barbershopstep.com can help fill in the gaps in between music schools and conventions. 

While I’ll never claim to know it all, my experience as a quartet member, a chorus member, and a coach affords me the opportunities to see where there are information gaps than can be filled and or places for improvement.

I plan to offer up articles that will provide tips and techniques for both chorus and quartet members as individuals as well as those that are team leaders and are looking for new ideas to share with their choruses. 

If you like what I have to say, then there may be opportunities for us to work together in the future. (You can contact me at sheri@barbershopstep.com)  I also have no problem with you printing and using these articles in your chorus newsletter.  All I ask is that you list barbershopstep.com and me as the source reference.  Also, I would love for you to include a link to barbershopstep.com on your chorus website where your members can visit and learn as well.

Some things that I detail here may seem elementary to you, but as a whole I may feel that they need to be shared.  Hopefully you will find the information helpful and possibly open a dialogue where we can either share ideas or I can answer your questions. 

Sometimes I may even write about whatever hot topics are floating around the barbershop community or give you a personal update on my chorus and quartet just for fun.

Overall, I hope to become one of your barbershop education resources, so stay tuned.

Up next…..  100% On All of the Time?… Get Real!

Welcome to my new barbershop blog.  My name is Sheri and I have been performing barbershop for 12 years. 
I consider it as much a part of me as the fact that I have brown hair.
You’ll notice that I said that I “perform” barbershop as opposed to saying that I “sing” barbershop.  This is because while I, of course, value the singing and amazing sounds of 4-part ringing chords, the focus of this blog is going to be the art of performance.

My “expertise”, if you can call it that, is more attuned to what the men call Presentation and the women call Showmanship and Expression.
Don’t get me wrong, singing is always #1.  I have been singing since I was 5 years old, and I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Music-Voice Performance from The University of Kansas.
I know that no choreography will make it across the footlights if the singing is not done well.

For the purpose of basic introduction, I will tell you that I sing in an International Medalist Chorus in the Sweet Adelines International organization where I am on the front row, the choreography team, and serve as one of the two front row captains.  I am a past Regional Quartet Champion lead, and I am starting a new quartet venture as we speak.  I currently coach choruses in the Sweet Adelines organization and the Barbershop Harmony Society.

I love barbershop; listening to it, watching it, performing it, and coaching it.  If you do too, the I hope you will stay tuned and visit often.

Next up… Part Two - Why am I Here, and Why Should You Care?