A Cast of Thousands
Thousands of a cappella chorus and quartet competitors from across the globe are already in Hawaii today, rehearsing, making last minute tweaks to ensure peak performances and--of course--shopping at the Harmony Bazaar as soon as it opens! If you've never been, vendors from far and wide set up their elaborate booths, which together fill an entire convention space, selling all kinds of music, entertainment and glamour-related wares. It's like nothing you've ever seen and great fun to experience--even for the men who end up at these conventions, whether they're directors, husbands or other a cappella family members. Yes, I've dragged my husband Bret to one of these (in Las Vegas), and I've never even had the honor of competing on the International stage!
Attend if You Can, Watch if You Can't
Many Sweet Adelines attend these conventions on an annual
basis--even if they're not competing themselves. We have a group of past and
present members from our Acappella Omaha Chorus (AOC) who have been attending
for many years, and I was in a quartet with two of them--current AOC Director
Nancy Goldberg and AOC Manager Jackie Narduzzo--so I attended a few with them
during the 8+ years we sang together. It was great fun and I hope to go back
again sometime as there is just nothing like experiencing this competition LIVE
ONSITE!
In the meantime however, I am delighted at the organization's forward-thinking leaders who several years ago began making it possible for the thousands of us at home to watch the competition by way of a live webcast--thank you--thank you--THANK YOU! By the way, I just looked and this link is currently showing videos, so those of us planning to watch online can test our connections and be ready for tomorrow's live competition performances.
Many of us take days off work to be able to watch these webcasts, but this year--at least in the United States (click here for a timezone converter)--we're several hours ahead of Hawaii and will be able to watch in the evenings. I'm hosting a webcast party Friday night, for the quartet finals--it should be great fun...Getcher Giggle on Gals!
In the meantime however, I am delighted at the organization's forward-thinking leaders who several years ago began making it possible for the thousands of us at home to watch the competition by way of a live webcast--thank you--thank you--THANK YOU! By the way, I just looked and this link is currently showing videos, so those of us planning to watch online can test our connections and be ready for tomorrow's live competition performances.
Many of us take days off work to be able to watch these webcasts, but this year--at least in the United States (click here for a timezone converter)--we're several hours ahead of Hawaii and will be able to watch in the evenings. I'm hosting a webcast party Friday night, for the quartet finals--it should be great fun...Getcher Giggle on Gals!
Remembering Jo Kraut
Sweet Adelines members who have had the
honor of being coached by the late Jo Kraut may recognize the "giggle"
reference. Jo was all about smiling, twinkling, giggling--whatever it took to
ensure a lifted open resonant sound. I have memories of her coaching Acappella
Omaha and saying "giggle" just before we would start to sing. I'll
never forget her own smiling-twinkling-giggling example...in fact, every time I
think of her, she's smiling! She spent many years as director of the
high-ranking Kansas City Chorus and was sought after as a coach by choruses all
over the world. She is sorely missed, but I'm sure doing wonderful things for a
giggling heavenly chorus somewhere beyond...
Vocal Production
It may be doubtful an actual competitor is reading this (as they're understandably very busy this week!), but when I think of where they might currently be focused, here are a few things they--and anyone who sings in a group--might do to give their best performance:
- Pant or beatbox on a "puh" several times to ensure the diaphragm is engaged properly.
- Create a ping in the sound (which leads to ringing chords) by having a focus in the mask area...bubbling a phrase, then singing a phrase is a good exercise for this.
- Keep moving the body to ensure a freer sound.
- Have a common vowel target for mouth shapes and ringing chords by thinking of a consonant at the end of the vowel. For example, if singing "Once Upon a Time", and holding the "ah" vowel on "time", think of the word "tot" (or something similar the whole group has agreed upon), until it's time to turn the diphthong to "ee" and finish the word.
- Listen and blend, listen and blend, listen and blend! ;oD
Vocal Production
It may be doubtful an actual competitor is reading this (as they're understandably very busy this week!), but when I think of where they might currently be focused, here are a few things they--and anyone who sings in a group--might do to give their best performance:
- Pant or beatbox on a "puh" several times to ensure the diaphragm is engaged properly.
- Create a ping in the sound (which leads to ringing chords) by having a focus in the mask area...bubbling a phrase, then singing a phrase is a good exercise for this.
- Keep moving the body to ensure a freer sound.
- Have a common vowel target for mouth shapes and ringing chords by thinking of a consonant at the end of the vowel. For example, if singing "Once Upon a Time", and holding the "ah" vowel on "time", think of the word "tot" (or something similar the whole group has agreed upon), until it's time to turn the diphthong to "ee" and finish the word.
- Listen and blend, listen and blend, listen and blend! ;oD
Be My Tweep and I'll Be Yours!
Can you think of others? Please list them below--I love this stuff and might tweet it @AcappellaOmaha or @iWiNKRandoms with a shout out to you on Twitter.com!
If you're still a Twitter-fearing Sweet, I encourage you to take the leap. It's my very favorite platform as you can follow all kinds of folks and learn TONS! You don't have to tweet yourself if you don't want to...you don't have to read everything from everyone you're following if you don't want to...but the microblogging option is so cool--nobody can have more than 140 characters, so messages are short and to the point. You'll be surprised at how many people-->peeps-->tweeps you can follow and keep up with! You'll find lots of good music advice and links to spectacular music videos, among whatever other interests you might pursue. I highly recommend it--and this is coming from a gal who a year ago could barely be found online (click here for that story)!
By the way, you can follow @AcappellaOmaha on Twitter to watch/hear a cappella videos from groups across the a cappella spectrum and let us know what other a cappella groups we should be following. @iWiNKRandoms is my personal page and more "random", but often musical as well--with a little broader range.
BBShop Doesn't Have to Be Nerdy
Speaking of which, I'm putting my vote in now for some beatboxing in our Sweet future! We need to evolve and think outside the box (or in BBShop, the square!) to attract more young members who are our future, and we could really transform and bring this artform into the 21st Century with this simple inclusion. The way I see it, there could be a beatboxing team in a chorus, so the beat could be passed around and not tire out any one person.
When I heard from one of our assistant directors and showmanship judge candidate--Annette Wallace--that SAI had brought in a cappella heavyweight Deke Sharon for something, I was very excited at what this might mean for our future as an organization--YAY US! I look forward to more information on this soon and am a willing learner if we get this ball rolling...maybe there will be a beatboxing track in future education symposiums...MAYBE we'll even see some beats already sprinkled into some competition performance packages yet this week...watch for it, I feel it coming! ;oD
Best wishes to all the competitors--your sisters in harmony are really looking forward to seeing you strut your stuff--"Hey sistas, go sistas, soul sistas, flow sistas"...but on the stage--not the street! ;oDCan you think of others? Please list them below--I love this stuff and might tweet it @AcappellaOmaha or @iWiNKRandoms with a shout out to you on Twitter.com!
If you're still a Twitter-fearing Sweet, I encourage you to take the leap. It's my very favorite platform as you can follow all kinds of folks and learn TONS! You don't have to tweet yourself if you don't want to...you don't have to read everything from everyone you're following if you don't want to...but the microblogging option is so cool--nobody can have more than 140 characters, so messages are short and to the point. You'll be surprised at how many people-->peeps-->tweeps you can follow and keep up with! You'll find lots of good music advice and links to spectacular music videos, among whatever other interests you might pursue. I highly recommend it--and this is coming from a gal who a year ago could barely be found online (click here for that story)!
By the way, you can follow @AcappellaOmaha on Twitter to watch/hear a cappella videos from groups across the a cappella spectrum and let us know what other a cappella groups we should be following. @iWiNKRandoms is my personal page and more "random", but often musical as well--with a little broader range.
BBShop Doesn't Have to Be Nerdy
Speaking of which, I'm putting my vote in now for some beatboxing in our Sweet future! We need to evolve and think outside the box (or in BBShop, the square!) to attract more young members who are our future, and we could really transform and bring this artform into the 21st Century with this simple inclusion. The way I see it, there could be a beatboxing team in a chorus, so the beat could be passed around and not tire out any one person.
When I heard from one of our assistant directors and showmanship judge candidate--Annette Wallace--that SAI had brought in a cappella heavyweight Deke Sharon for something, I was very excited at what this might mean for our future as an organization--YAY US! I look forward to more information on this soon and am a willing learner if we get this ball rolling...maybe there will be a beatboxing track in future education symposiums...MAYBE we'll even see some beats already sprinkled into some competition performance packages yet this week...watch for it, I feel it coming! ;oD
Today's Quote:
"Perform when you rehearse or you'll be rehearsing when you perform."
-- Anonymous
Updates:
Congratulations to our new 2014 Sweet Adelines International Queens of Harmony:
Love Notes Quartet..."You're a star"!
Congratulations to our new 2014 Sweet Adelines International First Place Chorus Champion: Rönninge Show Chorus..."You're a Winner"!
