Mt. Rushmore Chapter

Mt. Rushmore
Shrine of Democracy Barbershop Chorus
Rapid City, SD


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October - December 2004 edition

Prez Says
by Steve Ferley

It's great to be a Barbershopper! Our hobby does help give us an insight into the lives of others in a way many others cannot imagine. Partly because we feel the words we sing and we sing how we feel.

I spent an afternoon with four members of the Kiev Symphony Chorus. This was by chance, but nevertheless it happened. Beth-Anne and I were invited to lunch at a friend's house. Jim and his wife Linda had four guests from Ukraine staying the weekend and he thought we might enjoy some salmon on the grill and some conversation with one of the guests, as only one of them spoke English. I did not hear the concert the previous evening at the Cathedral. As we introduced ourselves to the Ukrainians, we could see and hear that they wanted to enjoy a meal, and some light-hearted laughter with friends around the table. The guests were anxiously trying to involve each other in chatting as the one fellow acted as interpreter for us Americans. Through the interpreter we asked all the questions that we thought we wanted to know. The answers were sometimes given quite seriously by AhIla (a middle aged lady who is a widow only a year), one younger lady (not married), and the two guys who had families back in the Ukraine. After a great meal we were served ice cream followed with brownies, cookies and apple crisp.

One of the fellows really liked the ice cream and brownies and this started some fun and jokes with him about eating all the sweets. It was like there was no language barrier between us for a short time. All of us were laughing with each other. Throughout the table talk during the meal they all realized that all of us Americans at the table really liked music. I asked them to sing a little. They knew what to do. Their love of music immediately became apparent.

First the widow sang a beautiful song from her past. She had a great soprano voice. At first she sat on the chair beside me singing and as she got more emotional about her song, she stood up and you could see those stomach muscles tighten and her throat opened up and a truly amazing sound came from this Ukrainian lady. We applauded and then our big eater stood up and announced through the interpreter that he was going to sing a song from an opera. His voice was like no other I have heard in a long time, he called himself a baritone, but his voice was a bass. His resonance was amazing and the fullness of his sound shook the patio doors. He sang "O Solo Mio in Italian". WOW! They couldn't quit now. We wouldn't let them. After a short Ukrainian discussion, all four voices erupted in musical verse. Now, all of a sudden it reminded me of the times we as barbershoppers sit in a restaurant and we decide to sing for the people around us. We all know that feeling. We listen for those voices around us and like to blend with the others in our group. The young lady started singing, a bit slumped in her chair, but not for long. It was those stomach muscles and other parts of the body that started producing a mezzo soprano sound (as she told us later). We could hear the pronunciation of each word. Even though we could not understand the language, we could feel the story.

Here we were sitting at a table listening to four part harmony in Ukrainian!!!!! After a few more songs at the table we moved into Jim's living room. At this point I called my daughter Jessica and asked her to sprint over to Jim's house to hear this terrific sound. Jessica joined us as we were sitting in Jim's living room. The Ukrainians just happened to know there was a baby grand piano there. The big eater sat down at the piano and played (without sheet music) a few songs, both fast and slow, with ease. We later learned he teaches at one of their music academies in Ukraine. Again, they sang their songs in their language, and also a couple of solos in Italian. They asked us to sing with them and we found a common song we all knew, "America The Beautiful". My posture was better than at practice as I sat there ready to sing. Stomach muscles tightened and throat open. What will they think when I open my mouth and a sound comes out? Will I do all the things Clayton, Al and Jim have taught us? They said they usually do the song with orchestra, but we didn't care. What a thrill to sing four part harmony with the Ukrainian singers. The afternoon was filled with more music, both piano and voice. Music is a universal language. Enjoy the gift of your voice. It's great to be a Barbershopper. Be proud.

Del's Doodlins'
by Del Beck

What a treat to have had Jim Bagby heading up our Harmony Happening festival. Jim is a "Presentation" judge for our Society. He represents the notion that the way we barbershoppers present ourselves and our music is a significant part of every performance. In contest, presentation makes up one-third of the total score. It has been written that body language can represent up to 80% of the message we convey through our communication efforts. Presentation is what the listener remembers when we communicate by speaking, singing or whatever. "Presentation is an attitude", said Jim Bagby. What a pro-found statement. An attitude is our approach to thinking, feeling and acting. Do we want to be part of this performance? Do we really want to sing and present the story of the song? Our body language answers those questions. Proper posture, animated faces and energy in our bodies and voices are the ways of conveying our attitude to the audience along with the words, notes and story of the song.

Have a great attitude.

IT'S POLKA TIME! Oktoberfest is scheduled for October 23. The game plan is the same as last year. The prep time will be limited because of contest, so please work on your polka music at home. Plan on setup time Saturday morning on the 23rd.

How to be a great Tenor
Submitted by Don Kahl, tenor, Rural Route 4, 1986 International Quartet Champion

Describing how to sing great tenor is a bit like demonstrating how to dry one's back without using one's hands. You pretty much learn by doing and not by reading. Does reading an article in a golf magazine help your game? There are, however, some tips that are translatable to your tenor-singing techniques.

Sometimes, in our attempt to conserve enough air to maintain support through a phrase, we don't achieve preparatory breath well in the first place. Make the breath part of the release while forming the next intended target.

Barbershop performers are always behind the focus of the ensemble sounds we create. Listen carefully.

Shift body weight at appropriately frequent intervals. Maintain shoulder posture, and keep chin and Adam's apple in a comfortably low position.

There is no such thing in justly-tuned barbershop tenor singing as a half step. Tenors need to work diligently to sing in tune with the lead. Be alert to the need for lifting or settling certain intervals as you rehearse and perform.

The chord that the audience perceives as ringing is because of instantaneous adjustments. A tenor and his lead can never duet too much.

Imagineering or looping one's performance is excellent for creating a consistent and positive frame of mind. Run through your entire performance in your mind. The more you prepare yourself the more confident you'll be. Rehearse not just enough to get it right, but enough to never get it wrong.

Every tenor I ever heard, to a greater or lesser degree, was and is one of my favorites. But there are three men who are at the top of my personal list. Each of these men was blessed with consistently accurate melody singers. (Tuning is less a problem when the melody is well sung.) Two of these men may not be as well known as the third, but they are giants to me and taught me well.
But, as I said earlier, and I mean it, every tenor is my hero. To Gene Cokecroft, Dale Radford and the late Ed Rooker, my everlasting thanks for what you taught and gave me. Now, if anybody wants to know even more firsthand how we pass on the gospel of great barbershop tenor singing, come to Harmony College someday, and I'll see you in class.

Don's eight tips for better tenor singing

How to be a great Bass
Submitted by Bill Myers, bass of Revival, 1998 International Champions

The bass singer delivers the essence and character of the barbershop sound. I just love to sing along with recordings featuring good, quality bass singers and from there develop my own style of singing bass. It's fun and you learn a lot from the experts. You learn how to sing intervals with ease and accuracy, how to balance chords and how to sing with quality all up and down the scale. Why wouldn't any bass singer want to sing along every day with the best we have? It's difficult to pin down just three of my favorite barbershop bass singers, but here's a start. These three are also genuinely nice guys and fun Barbershoppers to be around. What a wonderful combination!

Jim Henry - Here's a guy who puts more of his personality in the music he creates than any other barbershop bass I know. I respect his commitment to a quality sound all up and down the scale. Jim gives enough of his ego away to complement his quartet with just enough sound to blend and match to perfection. Yet his dominant bass color is always evident when The Gas House Gang (1993 champion) sings. I sing bass with him by tape every day.

Don Barnick - Really not a bass singer, by his own admission, but probably the very best at making the vocal apparatus work for the job; he was a gold medal tenor with Grandma's Boys in 1979. However, using all of his resonators, Don was able to command the rich, quality, up-front ping in the bass sound all up and down the scale with the 1992 international champion Keepsake. You will not find a finer example of one using what the good Lord gave him to work in his favor. I sing bass with him by tape every day.

Rick Staab - One of the all-time greats. Here's a guy who was born with a golden bass voice. He'll be the first to tell you, "It was a gift from above." I think he sang a bad note once in 1977. Not sure which note it was, but at least one. Always, always, with quality and richness, always resonant, always accurate. Just the kind of bass singer most leads pray for. His voice was made to order for the legendary 1978 champion Bluegrass Student Union. Ah, I remember them well! I sing bass with him by tape every day.

Bill's ten tips for better bass singing:
Bill Myers teaches "How To Be A Great Bass" at Harmony College.

How to be a great Lead
submitted by Joe Connelly, two-time quartet gold medalist

When the audience is leaving the auditorium after a show or contest, what will they be humming? The melody, of course (music judges excluded, for reasons we can't explain here).

It is the lead singer's job to execute (no pun intended) each melody line with precision and flair. It is this "recognizable line" that is familiar to audiences and puts them at ease. Although this makes the lead part the easiest to learn, it also means that the lead singer is the most vulnerable. When you sing melody, you can run, but you can't hide.

Top Ten Habits of Highly Effective Lead Singers

Barbershop Craft

Good vocal technique can become a habit.
This whole concept starts with POSTURE. Every performance deserves a full effort of the basics listed here:
posture
- feet at about shoulder width
- distribute weight evenly per foot, but forward, heels bear little weight
- legs are somewhat relaxed, knees flexible and ready to move
- rib cage up, shoulders down
- head centered over body, back/top of head as high as possible
- relaxed neck, free of obstruction to air flow

face
- basic look = smile, adjust for various emotions
- basic look = eyebrows up, adjust for various emotions
- basic open mouth formation = vertical, very little adjustment needed
- chin is level or slightly lower, chin movement is minimal

OK, now you are at square one. Remember to get the pitch and inhale the starting vowel sound so you can get off to a great start.

How to be a great Baritone
An oxymoron, perhaps... but it's worth exploring.

submitted by Ron Knickerbocker, The Regents, 1974 champion

There are only two things one must do to be a great baritone: use proper vocal production and understand (and obey) the baritone's job description. For purposes of this discussion, let's pretend we all produce sound correctly and focus on the job. A quartet baritone or baritone section in a chorus has three basic responsibilities:
In both tuning and balancing it is critical to know what part of the chord you are singing. For mathematical reasons, fifths should be sung a tad sharp, and minor (barbershop) sevenths need to be tuned a bit flat. Thirds should be sung sharp (because we habitually sing them way too flat). As a general rule, it is easier to tune to the bass than to the lead.

A bari's balance responsibility is dictated by two things. The first is where your note is with respect to the melody. Bari notes above the melody need to be sung somewhat softer (how much softer depends on how far above the melody your note is), while notes below the melody should be sung relatively louder. Some coaches maintain that balancing isn't necessary as long as your quality matches that of the lead. I agree that a bari can sing a bit more loudly if he matches the lead well, but the melody must still be predominant. Thus, balance is no less important than it used to be thought, just a little easier to do. The second factor in balancing chords is the part of the chord you are singing. As a general rule, sing roots and fifths more loudly than other parts of the chord.

Staying out of the way means the bari must do whatever he can to enhance the musical flow. Maintain vowel integrity, energize singable consonants and soften hard consonants. Most of the time it is desirable to substitute softer consonants for the hard ones, like using d instead of t. The substitutions must be subtle, however. Don't hit the listener over the head with the fact that you are using a different consonant.

Most rules have exceptions, but if you adopt these general suggestions, you will be well on your way to becoming a great baritone. Now, if we could only find a bass that deserves you!

Ron's 10 tips for better baris



© copyright 2004 Shrine of Democracy Barbershop Chorus