Mt. Rushmore Chapter
Shrine of Democracy Barbershop Chorus
Rapid City, SD
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September 2006 edition
Patriotic Polkas
Not enough to do this summer? Too much time on your hands? Or is everything taking up your time besides everyone’s favorite hobby, barbershop singing?
There really is no time to waste for the SOD Chorus. If the performances at the Buffalo Chip, along with Harmony Happenings weren’t enough to get you out to chapter meetings and chorus rehearsals, there’s more on the horizon.
October 14th, we have been invited to sing for the opening symphony concert of the season. It has been requested that we sing for about fifteen minutes in the Civic Center Theater Foyer prior to the symphony’s patriotic concert. Then they would also like us to sing at intermission.
All who are singing, and their wives, will be guests of the Black Hills Symphony for the concert. If you are already a ticket holder, you won’t get any extra tickets. This is expected to be a sell-out performance, so sign up early to assure a seat for the concert.
Then just two weeks later we will again be hosting our (semi) annual Oktoberfest! Beer, Brats, Polka Bands and, of course, our own polka music. It will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall.
The crux of all this? Make sure you know your patriotic music and polkas. And come to rehearsals so that the chorus can sound its best.
Shrine Of Democracy ROARS Into Buffalo Chip
On August 8th, twenty members of the Shrine of Democracy Chorus, plus director Clayton Southwick, had the thrill and pleasure of singing for a special presentation honoring our returning and fallen war heroes, past and present, at the famed Buffalo Chip Concert Stage. On a day that saw the dedication of the Healing Field honoring all 2,500 plus military personnel who have given their lives since 9/11, established by the Patriot Guard Riders, the SOD Chorus humbly took their place on the main stage.
Originally scheduled to sing the National Anthem, along with the Armed Forces Medley and God Bless the USA, we were bumped from the National Anthem in the week preceding the performance. Then while on stage, we were told we would only sing the Armed Forces Medley. OK, so we were still grateful for singing before a record breaking crowd assembled for concerts by Gretchen Wilson and Lynard Skynard.
After a long delay, (we could have done an entire show during the wait) we sang our one song. All of a sudden, we were told to sing the other one. As usual, God Bless the USA proved to be a real crowd pleaser and got a standing ovation. (So, they were all standing anyway!) It did, however, bring on the deafening roar of approval from the assembled Harleys.
As usual, the Shrine of Democracy performance was such a success, the Gretchen Wilson show was delayed for an hour while the crowd settled down. We received many kudos from audience members and military personnel as we were coming off the stage, and wherever they saw us in our chorus shirts the rest of the evening. What a pleasure it was to sing in front of thousands of bikers attending the Sturgis Rally. We all look forward to even more and better next year.
PRESIDENTIAL PONTIFICATIONS
Pete Anderson
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
Thanks to all of you who worked hard to learn two new and difficult songs for the Harmony Happening and then spending all day Saturday practicing with Jim DeBusman and capping it all off with a very successful show at Mt. Rushmore Saturday night. And thanks to the rain god for stopping the rain long enough to dry out the amphitheater for the show.
I think we can all take pride in putting on a great show that really pleased the audience and thrilled all the first timers taking part in the show. I had several guys tell me how glad they were that they had come this year and would try to be here next year. Wouldn’t it be great to have 100 or more on stage? Remember the singouts/events coming up:
Sept. 9 – 6:30 pm – sing at Elks Club honoring First Responders. We and our families are invited to have dinner on the house afterwards. That will be followed by fireworks display for all who want to stay.
Sept. 10 – 2:00 pm – Annual picnic at my place in Silver City. Sing for the locals at 4:00 and eat well afterwards. Tenors and Leads bring salads or hot dish, Baris and Basses bring desserts. Chorus supplies the rest.
Sept. 14 – 11:30 am – Rushmore Honors luncheon for Clayton. The secret’s out. Clayton knows we plan to show up and sing, so please mark your calendars and plan to be there to help honor our “head slavedriver”.
Sept. 23 – Noon to 2:00 pm – Somewhere in that time frame we will sing our patriotic set. More later.
Oct. 14 – 7:00 pm – Sing at Civic Center Theatre lobby for opening of the Symphony season. More later.
Oct. 28 – Del is trying to get all the arrangements made for our Oktoberfest.
For those of you who want to have the Barbershop experience of your life, the 2007 International Convention and Competition will be in Denver next summer. There are several of us who will be going and we would like to see many more, even ALL of you, go with us. We would like to get ticket packages ordered ASAP to get us all together in the best possible seats. International will never be any closer to us than Denver. Ask any of us that have been to one before whether it’s worth going or not. IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!!! Talk it over with your spouses and start making plans now.
BASS-ically,
Pete
BOARD MINUTES
David L'Esperance, Secretary
At the August meeting of the Board of Directors, following a superb presentation and recommendations by John Elving, the Board approved purchase of a portable sound system for the chorus’ use. A modern soundboard, four top-of-the-line microphones, a set of excellent speakers and all the accessories will arrive soon.
Jim Olson, show chair for 2007, reported suggested themes for the Annual Show are swing, Disney or Broadway.
The Elks Lodge Salute to First Responders, in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001, will be held September 9th. The chorus will sing at approximately 6:30 pm.
The chorus has been invited to sing at the opening concert of the Black Hills Symphony on Saturday, October 14th. We will sing mostly patriotic numbers, before the concert and at intermission.
Harmony Happening promises to be great fun, with many guests.
The Next board meeting is September 5th, at the Coldwell Banker Training Office.
FROM THE EDITORS DESK
John Elving
Having trouble keeping your throat clear? Is it all “mucused” (Is that a word?) up and causing singing problems? Never fear! There is help on the way.
Drew Ellis, tenor with Michigan Jake, and Assistant Director of Membership for the Society says, “I have found that Braeburn, Fuji, and Gala apples are THE BEST for ME in clearing out the phlegm and thinning the mucus when I have drainage. Some nurses here in Nashville, (who sing in the TuneTown Show Chorus and work at the Vanderbilt Hospital), introduced them to me when I was having a cold right in the middle of a contest. They got their information from the ENT doctors there at Vanderbilt University. In short, I spat and sputtered through our Friday night set, and when we made the cut for Saturday, I took Ibuprofen that morning (for swelling of the chords) and ate apples all day (probably 6 or 8). I also know that the enzymes in these sweet/tart apples cut phlegm very well. It is the same thing that is in Halls Fruit Breezers with pectin. You can also do an herbal effervescent glass of water - by purchasing the tablets at Wal-Mart or any drug store - “Airborne” is great. A glass of about 6 oz. of water with one of those tablets in the morning will open your sinuses like crazy!
“More than anything is the water suggestion of course. The apples are in addition to the water. Of course, the apples are full of water as well. I have found that drinking water by the Liter (easily refillable and measurable) is great too. At least 3 liters a day if possible, if not 4 leading up to contests or singouts.”
Favorite Barbershop Pastime
If you hear a car horn and immediately reach for your pitch pipe, you might be a barbershopper.
If you have 1-800-876-SING on your speed dial, you might be a barbershopper.
If you look like a bottled water deliveryman, carrying around a 5 gallon jug of water, you might be a barbershopper.
If you let your wife think you’re having an affair so you can slip in one more rehearsal before contest, you might be a barbershopper.
Lift Your Voice and Boost Your Mood
Raising your voice in song can improve your spirits, as was found in a recent study from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, in Frankfurt, Germany. People who sang for an hour in a choir felt happy, relaxed and satisfied. “Singing and well-being go hand in hand,” says study co-author Sonja Rohrmann, Ph.D., a professor of psychology. That’s because singing increases your production of secretory immunoglovulin A, a protein associated with happiness and relaxation. Its presence also bodes well for your immunity. So next time you’re down in the dumps, sing out: You don’t have to sound like Faith Hill to feel like a million bucks.
GUESS WHO?
The tenor started in musical theater, then decided to give opera a try. What really sparked his interest was becoming a New Original.
The Inside Story on the lead is that he’s a student biker.
If you’ve ever wondered why baritones are the way they are, look no further than this bari. You’d think by his name he was at one time a teen idol. NOT! He got this way from getting the pitch from Jason January.
When you get older, you may have started out as a bari, but then someone takes you seriously when you put in a plug to become a bass.
That’s the story and I’m sticking to it!
Barbershop Harmony Society elects officers for 2007
The following officers were elected to the Barbershop Harmony Society Board of Directors at its meeting July 4, in Indianapolis. All terms of office begin January 1, 2007.
Society President
Noah Funderburg
Society Executive Vice President
Bill Biffle
Society Treasurer
Robert Guiggey
Board Member at Large
Alan Lamson
Paired-District Board Member from Cardinal and Johnny Appleseed
Edward “Skipp” Kropp
Paired-District Board Member from Land-O-Lakes and Pioneer Districts
Jim Lee
Paired-District Board Member from Evergreen and Far Western
Lou Benedict
Harmony Foundation Trustees
Robert Brutsman
Susan Sauls
NASHVILLE HARMONY EXPERIENCE
Planning Begins
What will the society’s new HQ look like? Talk to the team planning the public spaces of the proposed facility.
Planning is underway for a public exhibition area in the Society’s new Nashville headquarters. Preliminary plans call for visitors to be able to experience the thrill of ringing a fourpart harmony chord, view recorded performances of championship quartets and choruses, and make contact with chapter representatives near their homes. The society has hired veteran museum planners LaPaglia & Associates of Murfreesboro, TN to help with the effort. Working title for the project is the Nashville Experience.
Got an idea that you’d like the planners to consider? Send an email to NHEIdeas@barbershop.org. The message will reach LaPaglia & Associates and members of the Society Board’s Public Facilities Subcommittee (Peter Feeney, Dick Girvin, Bob Morrissey, Roger Ross, and Rick Spencer).
According to reports from the Nashville Convention and Vistors Bureau, Music City USA attracted more than 800,000 visitors in a recent 12-month period.
Barbershop Dictionary
Grundy - Same as Scissors Movement.
Harmonasties - Harmonet posters who incite conflict.
Harmony Hair - The use of wiglets, falls, and excessive lacquer products, to achieve that “Unit” look. (Found mostly, but not exclusively, in Sweet Adelines & Harmony International.)
Headlights Up! (Spotlight The Balcony!) - An instruction by a director (SAI) to prepare one’s instrument for singing. (Primarily the chest)
Helmet Hair - Too much hairspray, akin to “Harmony Hair”.
Kipp-It - An instruction to a tenor to belt out a note in full voice.
Oh Yeah - An utterance from the chorus, when the director says “for the 2000th time, you’re supposed to get soft here."
Peeling Paint - Locking and ringing a
chord.
Opus Interruptus - When the hotel security guard stops you in the middle of a song, usually at 3 am, Sunday morning.
Overtone - a harmonic produced by proper intonation, tuning, and vowel formation.
Patter - A verbose variation on the theme of a refrain as in “Down Our Way”, also jokes and stuff between songs.
Pick-up Quartet - Any four singers, not an established quartet, singing a song they commonly know. I.E. Barberpole Cat song.
Ping - Focused, bright ringing sound.
Pitch It Higher and Sing It Louder - A sarcastic phrase directed to a foursome who are already singing too high and too loud.
Post - A note, long in duration, sung usually by a lead singer, around which a tag is formed.
Riser Rat - Any chorus member who is not in the front row.
Push-out Quartet (Also known as Tag Quartet) - Four guys start a song and you replace a given singer with yourself.
Rip Face - Imagining a handle on the face of your audience and ripping their faces off. Yuck!
Round Robin - An activity wherein four or more woodshedders sit in a circle and progressively rotate voice parts.
S.P. - Old judging category called Stage Presence and/or a term for choreography. Now known as Presentation.
Oh Yeah Song - A song with an unfamiliar verse and a very familiar chorus.
Five Easy Steps To Good Vocal Technique
By Bill Biffle, courtesy of the Albuquerque Chapter
New MexiChords Serenader - used by permission
(This is part one of a five part series written by Bill Biffle, BHS director, music category judge, Society board member and new Executive Vice President of BHS.)
For the next several... issues, I will be addressing the subject of good basic vocal craft on a step-by-step basis. The idea is to give you one thing to think about while you’re on the risers (or even - perish the thought! - for a few minutes at home each day!) for a month. Then we’ll add a step each month until, VOILA! In six months (issues] you’re ready to help the Shrine of Democracy Chorus wow even the most obdurate crowd!
Well, on to the task, then. This month, the foundation; POSTURE. All right, kiddies, try this:
§ Place your feet about shoulder width apart.
§ Distribute your weight evenly between each foot and slightly forward (on the balls of your feet).
§ The legs should be fairly relaxed with the knees unlocked.
§ Tuck the pelvis slightly to the front to align the spine (and allow deep, back breathing).
§ Raise and expand the rib cage.
§ Relax and lower the shoulders.
§ Center the head over the body with the chin level (or slightly below level) and the neck relaxed.
§ STAND UP STRAIGHT! (LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!)
Like trying not to think of pink elephants certainly produces thoughts of naught else, trying to relax while doing all this will produce a little tension for a while. Don’t despair, happy campers, soon this posture will be as natural to you as smiling when you hear a good barbershop chord. The result will be a comfortable, invigorating posture with a feeling of being READY to sing!
Practice this every day at home and try to think of it every few minutes while you’re singing. (You might try to reinforce it at the end of every phrase or some such.) You’ll be amazed at the difference it will make in the way you feel and perform, and you’ll be ready to add Step Two (breathing IN!) next month.
(A good way to imagine this posture is to imagine that you’re holding a full liter bottle of (insert favorite beverage here) on your head. Balance it there - don’t let it fall).
Good luck, good singing, and remember “neck free!”
Barbershop Singing Explained
Author Unknown, but obviously is a bari
Stolen from The Valleyaires Vocalizer, San Fernando Valley Chapter, Dave Reeder, editor, again from TumbleChords, Colby, Kansas chapter, Owen Herndon, editor, and finally New MexiChords Serenader, Dick Lambert, editor.
The composition of barbershop singing is a study of mystery and intrigue. The voice parts are composed of four sections; BASS, TENOR, LEAD and BARITONE.
BASSES: Are a very obnoxious group whose major attribute is that they are numerous, indicating that it takes a minimal amount of talent to be a bass. Among other shortcomings, they congregate in large numbers and make continual efforts to overpower the other three sections with grunting and belch-like emissions in vain attempts to prove themselves real men, (Ed– It’s true!) and equal. They are a raucous band, and know the dirty version of every song ever written. They know only one level of singing — LOUD. They are frequent patrons of liquor-dispensing establishments.
LEADS: Are a kindly group who hold gala celebrations and let their children out of school every time they hit the same note at the same time. They casually saunter past, flirt with, scoop up on, lean against, or have a nodding acquaintance with the correct note. The rarely land upon it in unison. Leads are gentle-hearted and never sing louder than requested, a circumstance which leads many to believe that none of them has learned his part. Leads generally rely on the basses to sing their pick-ups.
TENORS: As a rule, are charter members of numerous prima donna organizations. They sass directors, show up late for rehearsals, congregate by themselves during breaks, and send their children to private tutors. They base their air of nobility on the fact that they are so few in number. Nobody ever says anything mean to a tenor because he might quit the chapter.
BARITONES: (Ed – you may want an airsick bag nearby!) They save many choruses with their wisdom, foresight and kind hearted actions. They bathe frequently, sing with their eyes glued to the director’s every motion, have their music memorized, and help white-haired ladies across busy streets. The comb their hair smartly, and have all buttons on their sweaters and jackets. Their timbre produces tears in the eyes of the white-haired ladies recently helped across the street.
ADDENDUM: Listening to each of these parts separately is enough to create a feeling of nausea in a suit of armor. It is only after the basses have regurgitated their burps, the leads have learned their notes, and the tenors have learned humility that the baritones can tolerate the mixture enough to make a superb blend of voices. Then, and only then, is the group ready to begin calling its efforts real “Barbershop Singing”.
What O.C. Cash forgot to tell us
by Bill Gibbons
1. Show me a baritone who doesn’t like over-tidileed arrangements and I’ll show you a man with violent opinions. All of them wrong.
2. Contests: You have six minutes to make history or be history.
3. Accept the truth. None of the truly great accomplishments of your chorus happened before you joined them.
4. Their logic escapes me. They tell me to take “big steps” going up the scale and “small steps” coming down the scale. I tried it in the key of C. I ended up in the key of G.
5. Ninety-five percent of all leads are singing out of their range.
6. Every chorus requires a contest to sustain it’s own sense of worth.
7. There is a pessimist in your chapter who thinks the old days were better. You know who I mean. You also know the optimist who believes that things are getting better. Trust me on this one, they’re both wrong.
8. No member of the chorus is completely useless - he can always be used as a horrible example.
9. We spend our lives buying newstuff and throwing away old-stuff. Exception: we never throw away an old pitchpipe. Interesting.
10. The talent of a tenor is inversely proportionate to the weight of his music bag.
11. If there is a nit to be picked, bet on the baritone to do it.
12. I’ve read that ‘the fewer the number of intellectuals, the more popular is the hobby.’ If true, I’ve sung with a few of the most popular quartets our Society has ever had.
13. The shortest measurement ofelapsed time is the time it takes a good woodshedding bari to: Hear the other three notes, Identify the intended chord, and Deliver the missing correct note.
The First Chorus Contests
--From /Heritage of Harmony/, edited by Val Hicks, published by SPEBSQSA, 1988, for the 50th anniversary of the Society.
By 1952, a new facet in Barbershop competition was gaining – contests. In the summer of 1952, both the Land O’ Lakes District and the Johnny Appleseed District held chorus contests with more than 1,000 barbershoppers and members of their families attending each. These were not the first chorus contests in those districts but they were indications of the growing enthusiasm.
Others of the 14 districts had chorus contests scheduled for the late summer and early fall months. The first Michigan District chorus contest was held in July of 1952 with nine choruses competing and roughly 2,100 barbershoppers and their families attending.
The first international chorus contest was held in Detroit at the 1953 convention. The winners, the Great Lakes Chorus of Grand Rapids, Michigan, were acclaimed the “1953 International Convention Championship Chorus.” Fifteen other choruses competed, and the affair was considered a big success.
It was an experiment to test the popularity of the chorus contest idea, but not all districts were represented, so it was not until 1954 in Washington, D.C., that the winning chorus, the Singing Capital Chorus of the host chapter, could be crowned the “SPEBSQSA International Chorus Champions.” Some 889 men in 23 choruses were involved in that contest, which from then on became an official part of the annual convention program.
How To Sprout Quartets
Gary WuIf tells how the Buckeye-Columbus develops dozens of great quartets:
[Editor - This is a portion of an article by Gary WuIf, Co-director, Buckeye-Columbus, Ohio, chapter which can be found on the Society web site in the Quartet Singing section. I have elected to include it here, even though you could go there and find it yourself, because you probably wouldn’t, and it is so relevant to our situation.]
Quartets don’t grow in your chapter by accident. They grow and mature in a chapter that plants quartet seeds, spreads quartet knowledge like nutrient and cultivates growth with care and attention.
Why do chapters exist without active quartets? How can a chapter improve its quartet activity? This article will address these problems and give you some tools to cultivate your own garden of quartets.
As the Co-director of the Singing Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, I have seen how an active quartet program can make a big difference in a chapter. We have always had active quartets, and currently have members taking active roles in 18 quartets. In the Johnny Appleseed District contest last spring (2002], our quartets earned five places in the top ten, including four of the top five finalists.
This doesn’t happen by accident, and the benefits to the chapter are enormous. The more quartets you have, the more community exposure you generate, thus creating an atmosphere for growth in your chorus. Your members learn to sing better, and recruiting new singers becomes much easier. To plant the seed, you must make quartets an active part of your chapter program. Each meeting includes quartet singing.
(At this point in the article, Gary Wuif goes on to explain the techniques they use, which include)
• A quartet du jour, made up of veterans and new members, which sings at each meeting.
• They use the Barberpole Cat program as a training tool.
• They have quartet tag singing contests with prizes. Tag sheets are passed out in advance and time is permitted for practice.
• Quartets lip synch to the recorded music of champions. It’s fun, eliminates the fear of wrong notes while developing performance skills.
• They use teaching quartets to help learn new music.
• They use octets in a variety of ways to develop member confidence.
[Gary finishes with the following thought.]
Plant the seeds, feed and cultivate your quartets and many good things will happen to your chapter. Think of your chapter not as chorus singers, but as a collection of quartet men. All the members of your chapter should experience the thrill of singing in a quartet That is why they joined, and that is why they will stay.
© copyright 2006 Shrine of Democracy Barbershop Chorus