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The Orange Spiel October 2015

Volume 35 Issue 10 October 2015 We meet at 7:30 most Thursdays at Shepherd of the Woods, 7860 Southside Blvd, Jacksonville, FL Guests always welcome Call 355-SING No Experience Necessary

WHAT'S INSIDE Title Page Barbershop Extravaganza 1 Editorial 2 Youth Harmony Day 2015 3 Barbershop History Questions 13 3 Practicing Choral Music 4 Rob Mance Coaching: A Summary 5 Straight Talk 5, 8 Free Your Voice 6 Free Singing Tips 6 Magic Choral Trick #338 7 Do You Rehearse To Practice Or 7-8 Use One Voice Throughout Your Range 9-10 Structural Engineering 10 Let’s Strive To Be Excellent 11 Barbershop History Answers 13 11 Tips For Successful Recruiting 12 Quartet Corner 13 Chapter Member Stats 13 Board Minute Summary 14 Life On The Lighter Side 14 Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, And 14 Upcoming Schedules 15 Birthdays / Guests / New Members 15 Directing Team / Other Leaders 16 Chapter Officers / Music Team 17

BARBERSHOP EXTRAVAGANZA by John Alexander

B arbershop Extravaganza, billed as The Super Show, was a gigantic success. The Heart Of Florida Chorus hosted the event, held in The Villages, their home turf. The Atlanta Vocal

Project traveled down to join in. The combined Tampa Heralds and Jacksonville Big O rounded out the cho-ruses. International medallist quartets Main Street and A Mighty Wind also graced the stage. Two well at-tended shows with wildly enthusiastic audiences made for a fantastic time had by all in the house.


The Orange Spiel is published monthly and is the official publication of the Jacksonville Big O Chapter of the Sunshine District of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The Jacksonville Big O Chapter is the home of the Big Orange Chorus. The chapter and chorus meet most Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm at the Shepherd of the Woods, 7860 Southside Blvd. For more information visit our website, http://www.bigorangechorus.com. Articles, information and ad-dress corrections may be sent to the editor:

EDITORIAL by John Alexander

Tis the season to be learning our Christmas Show tunes. Don’t see the reason to spend all the time and effort for only one or two performances? Hey, consider doing some independent/assisted living centers, hospitals, malls, etc. You can be a part of the chorus, an ensemble, or a quartet. It may not pay much, but it is a lot of fun. You can do as many performances as you want. The people will love it. Tis the season. Are there any good Halloween songs? Maybe somebody should write a few...

2015 Board of Directors President: Terry Ezell Music & Performance VP: John Alexander VP Chapter Development: Ryan Henry Marketing VP: Howdy Russell Secretary: Daniel Proctor Treasurer: Cheryl Ezell Immediate Past President: Dave Medvidofsky Social Media: Robert Reeves Members at Large: Steve Mullens Jeff Packer

Big O Bucks Coordinator: Mike Sobolewski Bookkeeper: Rick Morin

Committees Show Chairman: Dave Medvidofsky Chorus Manager: Ken Moyer Chorus Contact: Bill Vockell Webmaster: Frank Nosalek Youth In Harmony: Dave Parker

Music Team Music Director: Tony DeRosa Associate Director: George Gipp Assistant Director: Jason Lee Director Emeritus: Chuck Griffith Section Leaders: Terry Ezell Tenor Robert Reeves Lead Steve Mullens Lead Jeff Packer Bari Jason Dearing Bari John Alexander Bass Dave Medvidofsky Bass

John Alexander, Editor 2429 Southern Links Dr Orange Park FL 32003 [email protected] 904-278-3987

For more detailed, timely information see my weekly publication:

Orange Zest

Mandatory viewing for barbershop singers and indeed all vocalists. Deke Sharon is the doyen of modern a cappella and an impeccable musician of the highest order. Heed the words and make the music real. https://www.facebook.com/megmadams/videos/vb.1209474372/10207678150571007


YOUTH HARMONY DAY 2015

LEADERS OF EXCELLENCE by Dave Parker and Charlie Young

T his year’s Big Orange Youth Harmony Day on October 22 promises to be the best ever. The following leaders have volunteered to contribute their outstanding a cappella tal-

ents to the high school singers of Jacksonville. Female Clinician Karen Breidert is Past International President of Sweet Adelines Inc. and currently on the International faculty. She is director of interna-tional competitor “Spirit of the Gulf” Chorus and a popular coach in barbershop circles. Karen was bari-tone of the 1985 International Champions “Jubilation” and has sung with several other Interna-tional Finalist quartets. Karen, and husband Bob, lead of International Finalist “Tin Pan Allies”, live in both New Hampshire and Florida. Male Clinician Mitch Greenberg is perhaps best known as bass of the “Hot Shots” quartet, 2006 Sun-shine District Champion of the Barbershop Harmony Society, arguably the most creative quartet in Flor-ida. He has sung in several other quartets and cho-ruses in South Florida since joining the Society in 1994, as well as being vocal coach to many others. He has been director of the “Women of Note Cho-rus” since 2010 as well as serving as VP Marketing and PR for the Sunshine District. Male Demonstration Quartet: “Orlando Exchange” has been together since 2012, sharing the excite-ment of barbershop harmony with many Florida communities. They have encouraged youth partici-pation and were instrumental in creating two new youth choruses in central Florida. Female Demonstration Quartet: “Novella” is a new combination of four experienced competition singers from award winning SAI quartets in central Florida. They will bring fresh techniques and proven solu-tions to youth singers in Jacksonville. All of these leading a cappella singers look forward to passing on their harmony skills to the High School singers of greater Jacksonville on October 22.

BARBERSHOP HISTORY

QUIZ 13 by Mark Axelrod

from probeweb.org 1 - George Feldner's article, elsewhere in this is-sue, taught us all about the Hallmarks. The other Teaneck Chapter quartet ever to make it into the top ten in international competition was, of course, the Playtonics, which placed second. One other lo-cal area quartet also placed second. Name it and the chapter it represented. (hint - this quartet was active during the same time that the Playtonics were). 2 - The lead singer of the quartet you were asked to name in the previous question was also a top-flight chorus director and a great quartet coach who worked with many top ten quartets. Name him. 3 - The fourth quartet from our neck of the woods ever to break into the top ten also made its mark as the only local area quartet ever to sing in a Broad-way show. Name this quartet and the chapter it rep-resented. (hint - this quartet, too, was active during the same time period as the Playtonics) 4 - Name the Broadway show referred to in the question above. 5 - The quartet referred to in question #3, replaced a renowned (and the original) quartet in the Broad-way show. Name this original quartet and the rea-son it dropped out of the Broadway production.

Answers on page 11

If it’s not worth doing well, Why do it?


voice part just sang the note. Maybe it was just in the accompaniment. Do you know what note of the chord it is (e.g. I’m singing the root of this chord)? There is nothing worse than “sheep sing-ing” (blindly following what the person next to you is singing). Take responsibility for being able to enter on your own.

5. Don’t just sing through the parts you already know. You’ll be wasting your practice time. Identify prob-lem areas, analyze why you’re having a problem with that spot, figure out ways to solve the problem area.

6. Solve the problem area. Break it down to some-thing you CAN do. Then add something to it. Prac-tice with repetition, but only if you’re sure you’re doing it right! Start with just the pitches slowly (dare I say on solfege syllables?). Then add the rhythm to the pitches. Next, add in the lyrics. Make sure you slow down the tempo the each time you add another layer. No need to practice with dy-namics, articulations, and breaths until you have mastered pitches, rhythms, and lyrics.

7. Work backwards to forwards. How many times have you felt great about the beginning of a piece, but completely unsure of the ending? During your own practice time, work on the ending section and progressively add sections, each time going through to the end. If you think of your piece as “ABCDE,” practice E, then DE, then CDE, then BCDE, and ABCDE.

8. Audiate your part. Sing your part through in your head. Do this while you are walking somewhere. Do this in your car while you’re waiting for some-one. Do this before you go to sleep. Do this ALL OF THE TIME. (Friendly reminder: Audiating is virtually impossible if there is other music playing. Carve out some quiet time in your life.)

9. Use your pencil. Mark your score while you’re in rehearsal so you remember what was giving you problems. This will save you time when you plan out your next practice session.

10. Just practice. 99% of the time I don’t want to prac-tice. No one does. But 99% of the time, once I start practicing, I get stuff done. I stop when I lose focus or I run out of time. I NEVER regret spend-ing a little time practicing something. Do yourself a favor and make it part of your daily routine.

You have the ability to do these ten things. Do them. You will reap the benefits of being more confident with your part, which will allow you to contribute to the en-semble in a more meaningful way. And your own vocal technique will improve, because you’ll be able to con-centrate on how you sound instead of always worrying about how your part goes. You’ve got this.

PRACTICING CHORAL MUSIC: TEN IDEAS FOR THE SINGER

WHO DOESN’T THINK THEY CAN

PRACTICE ON THEIR OWN by Doreen Fryling

from doreenfryling.com

C ongratulations! You’ve now been told for the millionth time to practice your music for your next choir rehearsal.

But if you are someone who hears that and thinks, “I don’t play piano. I can’t do this without someone helping me,” here are some ways you can practice on your own and improve your singing. Grab your music and a pencil. Many of these steps can be done in a public place. No need to head to the practice room (stop using that as an excuse). 1. Start with the text. Make sure you know

what you are singing. Think about the text. Find a translation if it is in another language. Write the poetic translation above/below the lyrics. If you want to go deeper, use a trans-lation site to translate word for word (especially if there’s a word that you sing over and over again. You should know what that specific word means). Do you know who wrote the lyrics and why? Can you put the piece into historical context?

2. Listen to a recording. We live in a time of unbelievable access to recordings. Find them. Listen to more than one recording and compare them until you find one or two you really like. Follow along with your score. Lis-ten while paying attention to all of the parts. Listen while paying attention to just your part.

3. Analyze your music. How is the piece organ-ized? Does it have sections? Are there re-peated parts? Does your part occur in an-other voice part? Are there key changes or meter changes? Is there a repeat sign/first and second ending/coda? How would you describe the organization of this piece to someone who has never heard it?

4. Find your starting pitches. For every en-trance you have, figure out how you are go-ing to find the starting pitch. Maybe another


You have achieved success when you don’t know if what you are doing is work or play...

STRAIGHT TALK by Marty Monson

from The Harmonizer

S inging is at the root of our passion. For us, that passion is applied to a style of Americana music called Bar-bershop. But we never forget that our

passion is rooted in singing. Have you ever had a time where you can’t get one of those songs out of your head and you want to go to sleep? Or a tag (end of a song) that you could sing 100 times over and over and never get tired of ringing every chord, per-haps a little differently than before? (Apologies to my wife!) But after you sing, you feel recharged and invigo-rated again. That singing helped you be a better man and a better support for your spouse, parents, siblings and co-workers! All of this is rooted in the joy of singing. Isn’t that why we sing along to music in the car? When we work out? When we are hosting a little neighborhood get-together? Do you have music in the background, and then occasionally someone starts singing along? What if all of that went away?

The value our members bring

Our 2014 annual report demonstrates just some of the value of activities that our 22,000 member/artists share through lifelong singing in our nearly 800 communities in North America. We love to sing and especially ring that barbershop chord. So much so that we’ve all been known to sing all night long, even when we are in our 80s! Now there is wellness!

For the Joy—that comes from singing. We all love to hit the stage and wow the crowd. It’s what we do. It’s what we’re known for. And every time we do—trophy or no trophy—we’re making a difference in people’s lives.

For the Joy—that comes from joining together. We come from different places and different back-grounds. Yet when we come together, we share some-thing that is bigger than any of us alone. Something that is making a difference in people’s lives.

For the Joy—that comes from genuine friendships.

Real friends are forged, not forced. Growing and learn-ing from each other binds people together in powerful

(Continued on page 8)

ROB MANCE COACHING:

A SUMARY by Ralph Brooks

from NewTra Notes Main Premise: If we become better singers as individuals, then the improvement in the chorus will be huge and ensemble unity will be enhanced as well. Key Points: Warming up - Warm ups are the most important part of the rehearsal. They set the energy and tone for the entire session. Warm ups are for mental engagement and ensemble skill building. Singers should arrive physically warmed up.

• There is only one vocal resonator – the space between your vocal chords and your lips. Eliminate all unnecessary muscle ten-sion. Any tension in the body will cause vo-cal tension.

Relax your tongue. Tension in the root of your tongue can cause uncontrolled vi-brato. Keep your tongue against your lower gum line.

• The posture of each singer is basic to im-proving your sound. A good vertical posture is a strong foundation "If it doesn't feel un-comfortable then we haven't done anything!"

Align the body vertically The notion that pressing forward creates involvement is false. (What you get is a bunch of uninvolved guys leaning for-ward.) “Involvement” will show on the face.

Suggestions for Proper head position. Center the ears over the shoulders. This was the biggest adjustment for most of us. We tend to carry our head in front of our shoulders. Pulling the head back and up, extending the back of the neck, straightens and opens the vocal cavity and im-proves resonance.

• Keep your head level, chin slightly down. (Raising your chin distorts the vocal cavity.)

• Keep your head still. Use your lower jaw to open your mouth.

• Relax your neck. Relax your shoulders. Rob demonstrated many techniques and devices to help us reinforce proper singing position.


FREE YOUR VOICE by John Newell, Lead, Realtime

from “Let It Out” Vocal Performance Coaching

Facebook page I encourage singers to master the natural tongue position and the natural ‘ring’ in the nasal resona-tors before attempting to lift the soft palate. Mastery of the former means the powerful frontal reso-nance should not disappear when applying the latter. Drop your jaw open, as described earlier. Let your tongue rest in a loose and completely unforced po-sition. Look in the mirror. You should see plenty of your tongue’s front surface area, as if the front of it is like a ramp sloping down to your lower lip. If you do not, and you see your uvula behind a tongue "furrow" or "channel", you are tensing the rear of your tongue unnecessarily. A natural tongue posi-tion should be with the tip resting behind the front lower teeth or even on top of them. ————— The tongue is the bane of many singers' existence. An overly tense tongue impedes the channel for your breath and sound, and thus restricts your resonance. Essentially, the less your tongue does when you sing, the better. Stop over-achieving with it. It does not need to be used with Olympic-level muscle power for pitching or shaping or anything. You DO need subtle control over the muscles, no question. You DO need to know how to: 1. use the tongue in extraordinarily subtle and tiny movements, 2. make those adjustments and movements as re-laxed as possible, and 3. execute those subtle movements in isolation from other muscles in and around the throat. ————— In my coaching experience, 9 out of 10 singers have some level of unnecessary tongue tension. Even the 1 out of 10 must still work to avoid it, too.

FREE SINGING TIPS by Yvonne DeBandi

from a2z-singing-tips.com U = Unique Voice Under Construc-tion. Remember that your voice has its own unique fingerprint and is constantly changing with our actions, environment, health habits, etc. With this in mind, listen to your own voice often and use vocal training tools to keep your voice on the right track.

FREE SINGING TIPS by Nicole LeGault

from a2z-singing-tips.com U is for Undaunted. People often take their singing ambitions very seriously, and then along comes some person of authority who says “It’s unrealistic to think you’ll ever be a professional” for whatever reason. Think for a moment and try to come up with the names of five superstars to whom this person would be likely to say the same thing!

FREE SINGING TIPS by Mick Walsh

from a2z-singing-tips.com U. Understanding. If you don’t understand what your coach has told you or why you are doing a particular exercise please ask. We need feed back in order to provide you with a better service and sometimes we make mis-takes. Last week I told a 6 foot four 185 lb MAN that he was a Soprano. Duh!! I didn’t even realize I’d made that mistake until he came back the next week and told me what I had said. So don’t be afraid to ask questions if there’s something you don’t under-stand. Still can’t believe I said that!!!

FREE SINGING TIPS by Teri Danz

from a2z-singing-tips.com


MAGIC CHORAL TRICK #338

HOW MUCH SINGABLE

CONSONANT IS ENOUGH? by Janet Kidd

from betterchoirs.wordpress.com

T he first question that comes up when you ask chorus members to really sing the L’s, M’s, N’s, V’s, NG’s and

Z’s is: Is all the effort worth it? Absolutely. Not only does singing through these sounds lock in the synchronization, mainly because people are listening so much to each other, but the legato im-proves. The whole effect is suddenly richer and smoother, because other than for planned breaks in the sound (breaths), the sound never stops. The chord continues to sound – but through the M or the NG or the L. And when a phrase ends on one of these sounds – it feels complete, tidy and clean. Like the diphthong resolution vowel though, it still needs to be very short, but very intense. Song = Saw………………NG Smile = sMah……eeL I find that I don’t hear the singable consonants unless each member of the chorus is singing them at about 3 times the intensity of the target vowel. I say this mainly so that each mind in the chorus is actually thinking the singable consonant at exactly the same time. I find when I give my singers an instruction as specific as “3 times more intense”, they find it easier to focus their minds at exactly the time that it’s needed. To the singers it feels ridiculous at first – but the overall smoothness in the sound makes it a habit really worth instilling.

DO YOU REHEARSE TO

PRACTICE OR PRACTICE

TO REHEARSE? by Dr Noa Kageyama

from bulletproofmusician.com

A few days ago, I watched an up-and-coming young quartet pub-licly rehearse a Haydn quartet that they were beginning to work

on. One of those in attendance was vio-linist Laurie Smukler, who remarked on an aspect of their rehearsal that I had never really thought of, but which totally makes sense. She commented on how well they could play their individual parts. And as a result, how flexible they were.

How quickly and effort-lessly they were able to adapt, adjust, change, switch directions, and try new ideas from moment to moment. Whether it meant playing louder, softer, shorter, longer, more vibrato, less vi-brato, swelling to the middle of the phrase, or tapering off to the end, the quartet could freely

experiment with a whole range of possibilities. Maybe that seems obvious, but it reminded me of something a tennis coach once told me. He said that the casual player plays tennis to get in shape, while the player who is serious about their game gets in shape to play tennis. Smukler’s point was that ideally, rehearsals are for rehearsing – not practicing one’s part. And that if each player comes to rehearsal with their part down cold, the group can get done a lot more done in the same amount of time. Not to mention enjoy the proc-ess of diving into the really subtle, nuanced, artistic fun stuff.



basic essentials already largely automatized, our cog-nitive and attentional resources are freed up to focus on the bigger picture. Where we can listen, look, and use our senses to really engage with the music and each other. Where we need only to conceive of an idea, and our fingers effortlessly bring it to life.

Take action Abraham Lincoln once said “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharp-ening the axe.” So along those lines, if we want to make the most of a rehearsal, increasing both our efficiency and pro-ductivity (not to mention enhancing artistic growth and maximizing fun), it helps to invest some time in preparation for the rehearsal. The primary objective being, to reach a level of automaticity in the practice room that minimizes the cognitive resources needed to play the notes. So that in rehearsal, we can spend fewer of our precious brainpower reading the notes or thinking about our fingers, and more of it devoted to listening to and engaging with the magic being cre-ated around us.

It’s great to be a Big O

(Continued from page 7)

I think this all makes perfectly good intuitive sense and the advice stands on its own…but just for kicks, let’s throw some research into the mix anyway.

Stages of learning Back in the 60’s, psychologists Paul Fitts and Mi-chael Posner proposed a 3-stage model of motor learning, which describes the progression we go through when learning a motor skill. Cognitive The first stage is the “cognitive” stage – so named because there’s a ton to think about, and we can easily get overwhelmed with all the new information we must attend to. What note comes next? Is this the right rhythm? Wait, what key am I in again? Be-cause of the cognitively demanding nature of learn-ing a new piece of music, our poor little brain doesn’t have enough brainpower left to pay much attention to the rhythmic figure in the pianist’s left hand, or no-tice that the violist has the most important material at this particular moment. Or as one of the quartet members remarked, it’s hard to read and listen at the same time. Associative There’s still quite a bit of thinking in the “associative” stage, but at least our attention is focused less on what to do, but more on how to do it better. Like, what fingering should I use? On what string? Up bow? Down bow? Tip? Middle? Frog? Breathe here? Or there? Playing still requires a good amount of conscious effort, as we work to figure out how to get everything sounding just so, on a consistent ba-sis. By no means can we play it in our sleep, but we might occasionally be able to glance up at the cellist to match strokes, or try to match the qualities of their vibrato in a passage where we are engaged in a back and forth exchange. Autonomous The “autonomous” stage is where awesome hap-pens. This is the stage when everything is so well learned, that we don’t have to think, we just do. We don’t have to keep our eyes glued to the music, think about the individual notes, or devote much con-scious attention to how to produce them. With the

DO YOU REHEARSE TO PRACTICE

(continued)


moments. It makes a real difference in people’s lives.

For the Joy—that comes from making a difference in people’s lives.

We’re a worldwide movement of Barbershoppers who are passionate about singing and performing. And who take great joy—and unabashed pride—in touch-ing people with our music, and making a difference in their lives. For those 22,000 members, pat yourself on the back. We had a fantastic year, and the future looks bright. For those reading about us for the first time, we welcome you with open arms. And remem-ber, if you’re interested in getting more people singing in your community, give our organization an opportu-nity. We are here to help. A Better World. Singing.

STRAIGHT TALK

(continued)


Concepts

• The register break, or passaggio (Italian word meaning “passage work”): This is where the singer undergoes an abrupt vibration change in the larynx. With practice, the movement through the passaggio can become natural for the singer and undetectable to the listener.

• Singing vs. speaking voice: The singing voice should be just as natural as the speaking voice. No difference should be felt just be-cause you are singing.

• Vocal registers: Most vocal authorities agree there are three voice registers—chest, mixed and head registers. May I add a fourth for bar-bershop singing style: falsetto, the voice regis-ter used by our barbershop tenors.

• Practice, Practice, PRACTICE! Use the below exercise daily—as many times as you possibly can to blend your “voices” into one voice.

Exercise

Start in your falsetto range on a high B flat singing an “oo” vowel. As a lead, when you reach the F (4th note down), allow your voice to transition smoothly into your head voice. There should not

be a noticeable difference in the sound between the falsetto and the head voice. Spend time allow-ing your voice to slide through this part of your range to find the correct sensation to maintain a

consistent quality as you descend to the B flat at the bottom of this two-octave scale. There should not be a discernible difference in vo-cal quality throughout your range. Always work toward blending your registers to avoid a change in vocal quality. Practice the descending scale un-til you learn how to easily blend your vocal regis-ters. Then, try blending your registers with an as-cending scale and recreate the same sensation

you had when you did the descending scale. The break point, or passaggio, is different

for each voice part. The basses, when doing the previous exercise, may start to feel a register


USE ONE VOICE

THROUGHOUT YOUR RANGE by Jim Casey

from The Harmonizer

Y ou’re on stage and getting ready to go for that high note on the tag. Suddenly, your note is not there! Quickly you try to remem-ber proper singing techniques, but you finally

just muscle your way to the note. The results are not very good. You turn red, your neck veins bulge, and the group has to adjust to your flat pitch—that’s what happens when you use muscle rather than support and proper placement. Having been in that spot long ago, I promised myself that I would learn to properly produce those high notes or I’d quit singing! I’ve since learned that most of us have more than one voice, or more precisely, we have several vocal registers. An understanding of how to use your voice in each of its registers will put you well on your way to being an excellent singer.

Multiple voices

When you go from the top to the bottom of your range, do you hear a change in quality that feels as though you are shifting from one voice to another? A lack of trained vocal coordination prevents your voice from shifting be-tween vocal registers with equal quality. This dreaded register break is the “yodel” sound that is so embarrassing that men push their voices too hard in an effort to avoid it—but pushing only makes the problem worse. If you haven’t experienced that feeling, the rest of us envy you! Most great singers have had to practice the techniques of singing with one voice throughout their range. You can do it, too. Your voice can sound like you on the highest and lowest pitches of your range. Below are some concepts and exercises for combining your many registers into one voice.


forward vowels almost immediately guarantee lock and ring, once all four parts are on board. Optimal production remains consistent for every-one. Engaging certain core musculature enables us to articulate and resonate good sound. As a side note, one of the reasons I suggest using the mirror for practice, is that once these structures are under-stood and identified, you can make corrections and create faster results. Every singer faces the same basic vocal compo-nents, but in a somewhat varied way, as our indi-vidual muscle stress, vocal weight, passaggios and speech patterns come into play. Focusing on be-coming the same internal instrument as your neighbor on the risers, allows us to resonate con-sistently, as well as eliminate the challenges asso-ciated with the vast dialect and regionalism issues that impact the overall blend of a group. Structurally maintaining the height and support of our resonating instrument will not only give us bet-ter sound individually, but when combined with other voices in a chorus or quartet setting holding steady in the same way, exponentially impacts tar-get sounds, as well as locking and ringing. This at-tention to detail, using the musculature as the stabi-lizing structure, takes the game of singing to a whole new level that anyone can attain!


change around D and baritones around E flat. Ten-ors should be encouraged to sing in falsetto as much as possible to strengthen that register. If a tenor goes below B flat (third line of the treble clef), they should be singing in their mixed register.

When you are singing through the passaggio

1. The sound should feel like it’s being produced be-hind the teeth—very forward. 2. There should be a feeling of slurring or sliding through the break change. 3. Produce an inward smile feeling, which lifts the soft palate. 4. Sing easily through the break. Never force the voice. 5. Make certain the tip of the tongue is gently pressed against the bottom front teeth. 6. When warming up the voice, make certain that the scales are all descending, to develop the transition from the falsetto/head voice to the mixed register. 7. Remember, use your ONE voice— your very best voice throughout all of your range!

USE ONE VOICE THROUGHOUT YOUR RANGE

(continued)

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING

FOR THE BARBERSHOPPER by Debra Lynn

from belcantobuzz.wordpress.com

R ecently I was asked how I am able to diagnose a singer’s is-sues so quickly. Part of the an-swer is that I watch, as well as

listen. If I had my ears covered, I would be able to “see” the sound, as many of our good coaches do throughout BHS, SAI and Harmony, Inc. Tuning via the vowel, as well as the pitch, is another unusual aspect to this work. A singer can be on the correct pitch and still be out of tune, if a vowel sound is resonating too far back in the mechanism. For me, an interesting component of bel canto is re-lentless forward vowel production. Instead of having to push or press the sound forward, a singer just naturally sustains forward vowels by maintaining their “buzz” or forward lift. Of course, these coveted


BARBERSHOP HISTORY

ANSWERS 13 by Mark Axelrod

from probeweb.org Answers to this month's history quiz: 1 - The Hometown Quartet, representing the Lodi, NJ, Chapter 2 - Don Clause 3 - The Easternaires, from the Jersey City, NJ Chap-ter 4 - The Music Man 5 - The Buffalo Bills which left the Broadway show to go out to Hollywood where they appeared in the movie production of this great musical

on Monday, prepared and ready to contribute to the chapter’s goals. We need to be excellent in our non-singing activities as well. An example is our participation in the Dis-trict conventions. As the largest chapter in the Dis-trict, others look up to us, and we should be proud of that role. This means attending, whether we are competing or not, to support the District. This means cheering not only for our quartets but all of those who are competing. And it means cheering on whoever the District representative to Interna-

tional is, much like they do for us. It means that, for one or two days twice a year, we take the time to participate in these events. While the word excellence is a noun, we should view it as an attitude—not an attitude of superiority but one of commitment. Excellence is not telling someone that they are doing some-thing wrong, it is helping them do it

right. Excellence is being prepared for rehearsals and respecting those around us. And excellence is getting involved in the many different things that are part of being a great chapter. Great things are going to happen to this chapter when we all commit to being “Excellent.”

LET’S STRIVE TO BE

EXCELLENT by Greg Roembke,

President Central City Sound from The Beat

W e often talk about our having a great chapter and all the different things that are involved in that. While we are first and foremost a singing organization,

there are many other things that make us great. We have elected to sing at a high level at all times. We are “going back to school” as the professors of CCS University offer lessons in everything from singing to performance to devel-oping and delivering our shows. We have instituted the Private Vocal In-struction program to help us identify ways to make us better individually. We know that every member matters, from the person attending his first rehearsal to those who have been members for decades. We have elected to become a force in the District and lead by example. And we value the time that we can spend with each other and our families. We are a great chapter, but there is always room for improvement. You only have to think back to our evaluations after a competition to see that it ’s those little things that will take us to that next level vocally. The higher you rise, the harder it becomes to move up. So, it seems that the next step we need to take is to be excellent in everything we do. Like the contest scores, there is not a big difference between being great and being excellent. It’s those little things. There might only be one or two little things that you take away from your Private Vocal Instruction, and it more than likely won’t cause our scores to rise by themselves. However, if we all commit to fixing those little things, collectively it will pay off. Excellence requires a commitment of both time and energy. You have to commit to spending time dur-ing the week working on your words and notes, while using the tools that CCS University provides us. You have to spend time in front of a mirror (I know that for some of us that is painful) working on your presentation skills. And you have to show up

EXCELLENCE IS

NOT A SKILL.

IT IS AN ATTITUDE.


on him. Oscar was out of town but is planning to attend this coming week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. My way to share this great hobby may not be your way, but you are welcome to try it. Be prepared to talk (text). It will be a lot of fun!

FISHING FOR MEMBERS By Steve Salmon

from Probemoter

I want to tell you about my last two experiences using social media to attract new members for our chorus. I truly believe we have the ability to grow to become a 100 man chorus. Just as strongly, I believe that Jim has

the talent and skills to lead a chorus of this size so I think we owe it to him to grow. About a year ago, I wanted to see if I could get any responses from individuals about our cho-rus. I went to Facebook, and in the “Find a Friend” bar at the top of the news feed, I typed in “Men in Las Vegas who love to sing.” To my surprise, pages and pages of men showed up. All men, living in Las Vegas, and all in their Like section had selected singing. I messaged a few of them just to see what would happen. After messaging a few, I realized I could just copy and paste the same message over and over. After just a few minutes, people started responding. I became scared because I hadn’t thought it out that far. Who would want to talk to a stranger? Wouldn’t my “message” just be ignored like junk mail or letters? I found myself overwhelmed by the responses. Here was my generic message: “I am the President of the Barbershop Harmony Society in Las Vegas. I see you love to sing! Please accept my friend request!” Not only did they accept my friend request, several of them started conversa-tions with me on line. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do next. At a Leadership Academy, I had learned the phrase “Where do you like to sing?” So I asked them. From there, I started directing people to our website for more information. That night, I realized that there are a lot more people out there willing to engage in conversation about singing than I thought. I also realized that you have to talk to them one-on-one. Do you remember the young DJ and photographer Kyle Cooper who joined our chorus? I first “Text -Talked” with him that night when I suggested we could be friends. (Kyle is now in Denver but we still keep in touch on Facebook. I’m glad we connected that night.) Last Thursday, I was again thinking “How can I get more men in the chorus?” I sent a little note to the “Huntridge Neighborhood” group of which I am a member. I thought it would be cool to have some guys from the ‘hood share my hobby. Here’s the message I put out to the group on Face-book. “Any men in the hood want to try out for the Silver Statesmen A Cappella Barbershop Chorus tonight? Re-hearsal 7-10 then the afterglow for the die-hards. All music has digital learning tracks to assist. It’s fun, and a lot more social than Facebook.” Three people responded. The group only has 934 mem-bers. This time I was prepared. I’ve been talking with each of them. John came out that night and had a great time. Alex doesn’t think he sings well enough, so I’ll keep working

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL

RECRUITING from North Shore Harmony Rag

via In Tune via The Voice Of Rushmore

• By arriving ahead of time, you will tell guests,

“I don’t want to miss a minute of my Thursday night meeting. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.”

• By arriving late, you will tell guests, “I really don’t expect to have any fun here tonight.”

• By having your music prepared, you will tell guests, “I take pride in my chorus’ artistry as a group and my artistry as an individual.”

• By not knowing your music, you will tell guests, “I really don’t care too much for sing-ing this song.”

• By greeting guests enthusiastically, you will tell guests, “I’m really glad to meet you. You are important to me.”

• By not greeting guests and showing some en-thusiasm, you will tell guests, “It’s not impor-tant to me that you showed up tonight.”

• By being attentive to our director or whoever has the floor, you will tell guests, “I respect these gentlemen who are my comrades in har-mony.”

• By not being attentive to our director or who-ever has the floor, you will tell guests, “What our musical leader and administrative leaders have to say isn’t very important to me.”


COMING DUE MEMBERS

T he following members are coming due in the next 60 days.

David Holzwarth Chris Hurst Chuck Steiner III

QUARTET CORNER by John Alexander

No reports from chapter quartets this month. Maybe some guys should START one... What is YOUR quartet doing? Don’t have one? Find three other guys and start one! Can’t find a match? Drop me a line and I’ll run a list of guys looking to quartet up here in the bulletin. It’s one of those really fun things that you don’t fully under-stand until you’ve done it. It’s not too early to be thinking about Valentine’s Day quartets for next year. It’s a lot of fun and we always need more quartets (we have to cut off sales when the quartets are maxed out). It’s only two easy polecats. Learn more than one part and you’ll be more in demand. Form a quartet early and have a different song in your quiver (like Caro-line or Sweet Adeline, And changing the lyric to, say, Valentine).

Knowledge is realizing that the street is one-way, wisdom is looking both directions anyway.

CHAPTER MEMBER STATS

T he following are our current membership statistics:

Regular Members (RG) 75 Life Members (LF) 1 Youth Members (Y2) 7 Senior Members (SN) 13 Senior 50-Year (S5) 5 Senior Legacy (SL) 9 Total Membership 110

PAST DUE MEMBERS

T he following members are listed separately on the BHS website as past due. They vary from 1 days overdue to 178 days overdue. They will automatically be removed from the

society roll at 180 days overdue.

Keatin Cecrle Bryan Hevel John Humble Dave Jacobs Jerry Johnson Alan Kelly Joe Plumlee Daniel Proctor Lee Sobania Jack Stimis Ken Tureski Andrew Wohl


LIFE ON THE LIGHTER SIDE from The Voice Of Rushmore

I'm not saying let's go kill all the stupid people. I'm just saying let's remove all the warning labels and let the problem work itself out. I changed my car horn to gunshot sounds. People move out of the way much faster now. You can tell a lot about a woman's mood just by her hands. If they are holding a gun, she's probably an-gry. You know that tingly little feeling you get when you really like someone? That's common sense leaving your body. I don't like making plans for the day because then the word "premeditated" gets thrown around in the courtroom. I didn't make it to the gym today. That makes five years in a row! I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better say-ing I went to the Jim this morning. Dear paranoid people who check behind shower curtains for murderers, if you find one, what's your plan?

BOARD MINUTE SUMMARY

by John Alexander The board did not meet in September. The next board meeting will be 22 October, 6:00 p.m. at The Loop. All members are invited to attend.

EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, AND NOBODY by Stephen Rafe from Probemotor

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it. However, Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

___________________________________________________________

The key to a chapter's success is the involvement of the members -- with each member taking on a job that is appropriate to his skills, his time, and his desire to contribute.


REHEARSAL SCHEDULE

Thu 01 Oct Shepherd of the Woods Thu 08 Oct Shepherd of the Woods Thu 15 Oct Shepherd of the Woods Thu 22 Oct Board Meeting (Loop) Thu 22 Oct Shepherd of the Woods Thu 29 Oct Shepherd of the Woods Thu 05 Nov Shepherd of the Woods Thu 12 Nov Shepherd of the Woods Thu 19 Nov Shepherd of the Woods Thu 26 Nov Board Meeting (Loop) Thu 26 Nov Shepherd of the Woods

BIRTHDAYS Daniel Proctor 30 October Ken Tureski 29 October Terry Garvin 09 October Joseph Hopkin 09 October Dave Medvidofsky 05 October Robert Reeves 12 October

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Sat 12 Dec HoH Christmas Shows Sat 19 Dec Christmas Show Sat 30 Apr Spring Convention (sing off)

NEWEST MEMBERS Robert Lau Matt Lawrence Jason Dearing Chris Hurst Chris Barthauer Alexander Boltenko Frank Bovino Jr Richard Casanzio Matthew Crisostomo Dave Cross Michael Cross Daniel Deignan Christian Espinoza Gregory Garvin Terry Garvin Robert Hargen Bryan Hevel Lynn Hineman Brian Hutchison Marty Jahnel Joseph Kane Alan Kelly Drew Kirkman Christopher Kline Steven Matheson Edward McKenzie Art McNeil David Mills Charles Nelson Marty Port Russell Powell Jeremy Reynolds Chris Rodgers John Santamaria Andy Schrader Robert Slaney Lee Sobania Keith Starks Paul Stiles Jerry Tobin Brian Wunderlin Daniel Wunderlin

RECENT GUESTS Bill Andrusk Scott Chatten Sean Ciske James Cox Cody Creamer Larry DeLorenzo Clay Harland Kenneth Harland Murray Hertz Bill Jones James Matti Chuck McMorran Josiah Shepherd Roger Walker

WELCOME { Big O Buck$ }

BIG O BUCKS SCHEDULE Fri 09 Oct NBA Atlanta v New Orleans Sun 11 Oct Festival of Praise Fri 16 Oct Chris Tomlin Sat 17 Oct Def Leppard Sun 18 Oct Jags v Houston Thu 22 Oct Jason Aldean Sat 24 Oct Katt Williams Sun 25 Oct Jags v Buffalo Sat 31 Oct Florida v Georgia Thu 19 Nov Jags v Tennessee Sun 22 Nov Toby Mac Sun 29 Nov Jags v San Diego Fri 11 Dec Trans Siberian Orchestra Sun 13 Dec Jags v Indianapolis Sun 20 Dec Jags v Atlanta


EDITOR’S NOTE Article and column submissions are solicited. Help make this a better bulletin. Send me stuff! The deadline for November is 26 October. Items without a byline are from the Editor. The Orange Spiel John Alexander, Editor 2429 Southern Links Dr Orange Park FL 32003 Back issues are available online at: www.bigorangechorus.com/newsarchive.htm More specific and timely performance information is in my weekly sheet, Orange Zest.

DIRECTING TEAM

Tony DeRosa Front Line Director

Chuck Griffith Director Emeritus

Jason Lee Assistant Director

OTHER CHAPTER LEADERS

Bill Vockell Performance Coordinator

Ken Moyer Chorus Manager

Frank Nosalek Webmaster Technology

Dave Parker Youth In Harmony

Coordinator

Mike Sobolewski Big O Bucks Coordinator

John Alexander Bulletin Editor

Rick Morin Big O Bucks Bookkeeper

Dave Medvidofsky Show

Chairman

George Gipp Associate Director

Print off two copies of this newsletter to share - one with your family and one with someone you are bringing to a chapter meeting. Let them know they

belong here!


2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Terry Ezell

President

Ryan Henry VP Chapter Development

Cheryl Ezell Chapter Treasurer

Daniel Proctor Chapter Secretary

Steve Mullens At Large

Howdy Russell

Marketing VP

MUSIC TEAM

John Alexander VP Music & Performance

Mike Sobolewski Presentation Coordinator

Dave Medvidofsky Bass

Asst Sec Ldr

John Alexander Bass

Sec Ldr

Imagine 100 men on the risers

Be a singer-bringer

Jeff Packer Bari

Sec Ldr

Daniel Proctor Learning Materials

Coordinator

Robert Reeves Lead

Sec Ldr

Terry Ezell Tenor Sec Ldr

Jeff Packer At Large

Dave Medvidofsky Past

President

Robert Reeves

Social Media

John Alexander VP Music & Performance

Jason Dearing Bari

Asst Sec Ldr

Steve Mullens Lead

Asst Sec Ldr

John Alexander, Editor

2429 Southern Links Dr

Orange Park FL 32003

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