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Page 4 InCider Press January 2007 |
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How are you coming with putting your costume together for the show? If you have questions about it, don’t be shy to call Nancy Calhoun (if you are a tenor); Carolyn Dreiling (if you are a lead); Dorothy Dickerhoof (if you are a baritone); or Karen Nanninga (if you are a bass). If they are unsure, you can ask Don Thomson (he may have an idea of how to help as well). We will have a COSTUME NIGHT on March 22nd. We want to be sure that everyone is comfortable with what you are wearing, and be sure that it looks compatible with others on the risers. We hope to see every Thursday evening, but March 22nd will be an important evening for everyone! |
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Costume Night! |
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We will have several 7:00 – 7:30 rehearsals for selected individuals between now and the show. We have started already and you may have heard some of the quartets practicing during this time frame. The next group to be asked to come at 7:00 is the first two rows for the second half of the show (not the first half). You will have received a new “standing chart” at the rehearsal on January 18th. Please look at it carefully, and if you are on the first two rows, we need you there at 7:00! We will be rehearsing the choreography for “Do You Hear The People Sing”, which will be one of our “feature” songs for the show. Don Thomson Associate Director ♪ |
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Special rehearsals |
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Best—How Do We Make it Better? This is Your Chapter—Help Make it Come to the: Planning and Fun Retreat Sat, February 3, 2007 8:30 a.m. to 2:p.m. Harris Activity Center 1st United Methodist Church
Little Apple Chorus Manhattan Kansas Chapter Barbershop Harmony Society |
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How can I memorize text and music to new songs more efficiently? It seems that I lose a little or a lot of memorized songs after a few days without practice. Do you have some ideas of how to memorize and then how to keep the memory accurate? When we first get music new and old to memorize for performance, Ken spends some time acquainting us with it. We sing a bit or a lot, depending on the complexity of the tune. And Ken often discusses the origin of the song, the type of music involved, etc., which helps make the music come to life, and makes memorizing more pleasant. Of course, the time in rehearsal helps some of us memorize text and music; any of our work on a song begins imprinting it in our brain. However, given the amount of music we must learn and the limited amount of time for rehearsals each week, for most of us that means we must work on it at home. Okay, now comes the rub; when do we find time to practice outside rehearsal, and where, and how do we practice best? For anyone past six or seven years old, memorizing gradually requires more time and attention. And at sixty or seventy the task demands a lot of time and, perhaps, organization. Young children have almost no inhibitions; adults often have a truckload of hang-ups that slow down the learning process. A medical guy (G. Lozanov) did a lot of research and experimentation with the idea that a positive attitude, relaxed situation and copious materials could result in great increases of acquisition of knowledge and skills. To a great degree, I believe that Little Apple Chorus has all three prerequisites. The next step involves our individual approach to practice. Here’s my guess at what works well, at least for me. Try to get in at least three days of extended practice each week, i.e. a half-hour to two hours each day. Memorize the text after getting acquainted with the tune. Use a pitch pipe to check the accuracy of your singing from time to time, often at first every note, and intermittently later. Now, of course, this quick and dirty overview skips past a lot of detail. And what works for me may not work at all for another person. We could discuss techniques sometime and share ideas. Most of all, keep in mind that most learning comes gradually and never disappears – it just hides in the subconscious. Loren Alexander, Baritone ♪ |
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Memorizing |