The Orange Spiel Page 1 April 2018

Volume 38 Issue 4 April 2018 We meet at 7:30 most Thursdays at Shepherd of the Woods Lutheran, 7860 Southside Blvd, Jacksonville, FL Guests always welcome Call 355-SING No Experience Necessary

WHAT'S INSIDE CHAMPIONS AGAIN

Title Page he Big Orange Chorus (with most of the Palmetto Champions Again 1,3 Vocal Project and several from the Orange Blos- Editorial 2 som chorus and the BarberGators chorus dual Singing Without Fear 4-5 T membering with us) won the Sunshine District Barbershop History Questions 49 5 chorus championship for the tenth time. We had already April Fool 6 earned the right to compete at International chorus con- Each And Every Man... 7 test in Orlando this July as a wild card at last fall’s Sun- Free Your Voice 8 shine District contest. Free Singing Tips 8 Just Thinking You Don’t Have Enough 9-10 Two weeks later the Palmetto Vocal Project (with most of Barbershop History Answers 49 11 the Big Orange Chorus dual membering with them) won 33 Most Effective Singing Tips 11 the Carolinas District AA chorus championship, along Can You Help The Chorus 11 with a Most Improved Chorus award, and the right to Magic Choral Trick #372 12 compete as the Carolinas District representative at next Chapter Quartets 12 year’s International chorus contest in Salt Lake City. Top 5 Apps For Singers 13 They would have won the overall District Chorus champi- Spring Show 14 onship as well, if they weren’t singing off the trophy from Quartet Corner 15 winning it last year and not being eligible this year. Chapter Member Stats 15 Board Minute Summary 16 With several quartets also participating in the contests, it Mel’s Musical Musings 16 was a busy and fun month. Upcoming Schedules 17 Birthdays / Guests / New Members 17 Directing Team / Other Leaders 18 Chapter Officers / Music Team 19

(Continued on page 3) The Orange Spiel Page 2 April 2018

2018 Board of Directors Committees EDITORIAL President: Show Chairman: Brian Kerr Jason Boddie It’s an exciting time to be a Big O. Our new director is moving to town this month and will be with us Immediate Past Pres: Webmaster: on a weekly basis. We’ve got an annual show and Terry Ezell Frank Nosalek an international competition for which to prepare.

Executive VP: Chorus Manager: We’ll be continuing our partnership with PVP, but Jason Dearing Jason Dearing that doesn’t mean we don’t need to grow our membership here at home. Keep those guests VP Music & Performance: Uniform Manager: coming. John Alexander Dave Walker It’s also time to be serious about our new culture. VP Membership: 2018 Music Team Everything we do must be the best that we know Daniel Proctor how, every time. We will be learning how to be Music Director: better and applying those things we learn across VP Marketing & PR: Jay Giallombardo the board. Robert Reeves Associate Director: Each and every man, improving just a little bit, Secretary: George Gipp each and every day, will result in huge improve- Ken Tureski ments for the whole chorus. Music VP: Treasurer: John Alexander Gregg Flowers Section Leaders: Finance Chairman: Terry Ezell Tenor Rick Morin Jason Boddie Lead Brian Kerr Bari Daniel Proctor Bass Big O Bucks Learning Materials: Coordinator: Daniel Proctor Mike Sobolewski Presentation Coord: Bookkeeper: Mike Sobolewski Rick Morin Music Librarian: Eric Grimes

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 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 South- side Blvd. For more information visit our website, http://www.bigorangechorus.com. Articles, pictures and address corrections may be sent to the editor.

John Alexander, Editor For more detailed, 2429 Southern Links Dr timely information Orange Park FL 32003 see my weekly [email protected] publication: 904-278-3987 Orange Zest The Orange Spiel Page 3 April 2018

CHAMPIONS AGAIN (continued)

HAPPY EASTER

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. The Orange Spiel Page 4 April 2018

4. Be passionate about your performance. Believe SINGING WITHOUT FEAR - the lyrics and find the emotion, then live it. BECOME FEARLESS 5. Use humor. Humor is such a powerful tool for reducing anxiety. It's also a wonderful way to by Audrey Hunt gain audience acceptance, and we know that a from hubpages.com fear of audience rejection is one of the most common fears leading to stage fright. Causes of Fear Anyone can experience fear, depending on the In the Book of Lists, Wallace, Wallechinsky, situation. I, too experienced fear in the early stages and Wallace ranked fear of public speaking of my career as a professional singer. Then one day and singing as the number one phobia in I asked myself this question. What is the worst pos- America. Fear of dying is number six. Anyone sible consequence that could happen during my can experience fear or stage fright, not just shy or in- show? I imagined what it could be and came up with secure people a great solution. That was the end of my fear.

Let's take a look at a few main causes of fear: Become As A Little Child

• You make predictions about every situation When we were children we sang freely, without fear you're about to enter. As a performer you imagine of judgment, and our voices rang with confidence. a number of things that might go wrong. These We made up our own lyrics as we went along with fear-provoking thoughts come from your own past no concern about rhythm or rhyming. Our songs failures, observing others who have made mis- were our dreams and we wanted to share them with takes, or simply having an active imagination. our friends. • You experience anxiety as a result of your fear- provoking thoughts. Your feelings and emotions We knew something the grown-ups didn't know. We are produced by your thoughts. If you believe knew that singing is simply dreaming out loud. No you're going to have difficulty, you will become fear or concern is present. We connect with our in- frightened. ner self. • Since the brain can only focus attention on one complex mental task at a time, the more you fo- Celebrate By Singing cus on assessing your anxiety, the more the task you are performing will be interfered with and in- As children we celebrated everything with a song. terrupted. Birthdays were honored with a special verse of • The main cause of fear and stage fright is the "Happy Birthday To You." So what if we mispro- fear of negative evaluation . nounced a word. Who cared if we left a word out. We dreamed about our own birthday party and the How To Control Fear excitement of sharing our cake and special surprises with friends. We dreamed of a brand new bike that Learning to recognize your fear and the causes of we might get this year. fear is one of the first steps in learning to control it. But never, were we afraid to sing. Singing was a 1. Your prediction about how well you think you will natural form of self-expression and communication. perform, determines your failure or doom. The more you predict failure, the more fear you will Helpful Tips To Overcome Fear experience. 2. Your evaluation of the importance of the conse- https://youtu.be/FFkPMRSHDJY quences of performing determines the level of fear you experience. Singing Reawakens What Has Been Tucked Away 3. Be prepared. Before my students sing or act in a performance, I put them through weeks of train- Why do we forget and dismiss this power as we ing under various conditions. This consistent grow older? We silence ourselves and lose touch practice teaches them to focus on the business at with our own imagination and our own voice. hand and not at distractions. Know your material inside and out. (Continued on page 5) The Orange Spiel Page 5 April 2018

SINGING WITHOUT FEAR Fear is negative. It exists only in your own mind. (continued) With practice you will overcome this debilitating emotion. You will become fearless. (Continued from page 4) We are taught to discount our inner voice and when You truly are a unique and beautiful diamond. You we do that we lose touch with ourselves. How sad are part of nature. You are the very source of your this is. Is it any wonder then that we grow up hating own energy. Don't bury your diamond under a rock the sound of our own voice? of fear and self-judgement. Let your diamond spar- kle and shine. We are missing so much by refusing to dream out loud through singing. Most of all, we are missing that Celebrate your own uniqueness and become fear- deep connection within ourselves because to sing is less. to feel.

Dreaming about love brings a strong emotion. Sing- ing about love allows us to bring the dream to the present and experience those feelings stronger than ever.

When We Sing Or Speak We Vibrate

Vibrations are not only heard, they are felt. These vibrations are felt by both the singer and the listener. This is why 'goosebumps' will be felt on the skin and BARBERSHOP HISTORY inside surface when you hear a beautiful singer or are deeply touched by certain music. QUIZ 49

by Mark Axelrod These same feelings can occur when someone says something that really moves you. When this happens, from probeweb.org fear does not exist. 1 - Name the only person ever to direct a first-place Then why do we fear? Can fear be reduced? chorus in both our Society and Sweet Adelines Inter- national (SAI) international contests. For extra credit, My Final Thoughts About Reducing Fear identify the choruses and the years in which they won. Carolyn Sloan, author of "Finding Your Voice",feels that "The body, the emotions, and thoughts are all 2 - In a previous quiz it was noted that the oldest one. Singing is holistic in nature. It supports our man ever to win a gold medal in an international wholeness as human beings." quartet competition (Rod Nixon) was 61 years old at the time he triumphed. How old was the oldest man I believe with everything that is in me that it is natural ever to compete in an international quartet contest, for us to sing. I know that it is unnatural for us to re- (who was not in the seniors division)? fuse to sing and release our emotions regardless of how we sound. When we dream, even if it's a bad 3 - What is noteworthy from a barbershop perspec- dream we are free to express our true feelings. tive about the Slamka family?

Singing allows us that same freedom. We are not al- 4 - What is noteworthy about the ranking in the 2001 ways free to speak our true feelings, but we can say international quartet competitions in the Society, exactly what is in our heart through singing. Sweet Adelines International and Harmony Interna- tional? Feelings are neither right or wrong - they just are. In singing, let go of all judgement and especially the 5 - Has a Society international competition ever need to be right. This is negative and keeps you from taken place outside of North America? being what you truly are. Answers on page 11 The Orange Spiel Page 6 April 2018 APRIL LIRPA FOOL LOOF The Orange Spiel Page 7 April 2018

evaluate ourselves, so please, think about the time EACH AND EVERY MAN… you spend each week actively listening vs. passive by Brian Kerr listening. Perhaps it’s time to change habits after an honest evaluation. “At Me Roy”

e have a cousin named Brandon who is about 8 years old now. A few years ago, he had quite a W few speech issues. One of the funniest things my kids ever found him to say was “At me Roy” and it took us all quite a while to determine what he actually meant. Eventually we discovered that my kids were “play fighting” with him and they would say, “Come at me Bro” and this is what he mistakenly heard as “At me Roy”. It was absolutely hilarious to hear him say this, but as cute as it was he had to move on eventually and learn that this wasn’t what he was hearing, nor was it what he was supposed to be saying.

As singers, sometimes we think we’re hearing a particular vowel or combination of sounds but if we were to investigate further we’d realize that we are singing something incorrect. Unfortunately, as adults we aren’t nearly as cute as Brandon and if we’re willing to face the facts then we’ll face the reality that it doesn’t sound good to have incorrect vowel sounds in our singing.

This is something our music leadership has worked on in the past and will no doubt continue to work on in the future, but for each and every man, it is our responsibility to each take it upon ourselves to better discern what comes out of our instruments.

Active listening is the key. If we don’t hear the fine intricacies of a sound, how will we be able to repli- cate it perfectly. Active listening as opposed to passive listening, is the type of listening that demands our full attention. In some cases this means head- phones, or an otherwise quiet room when we’re otherwise alone. Passive listening is what we tend to do often times, and that is listening while in the car (can we be fully engaged in the music in the car and still be 100% involved in driving?), or in other situa- tions where the music is in the background rather than the main activity at the time.

Think about how a director feels when he has to ask the chorus whether or not there is a breath in meas- ure X and nobody seems to know the answer. Maybe we should learn our music better.

We all need to consider this very carefully and The Orange Spiel Page 8 April 2018

our natural voice is your best voice. A = Airflow. Never hold your breath while The voice that simply falls out of you singing. The airflow is what creates and Y with minimum physical effort and carries your vocal tone, so keep it flow- maximum physical freedom is ing. Avoid Clavicular Breathing and Belly loaded with resonance and is the founda- Breathing -- instead, learn the proper way to tion of all your singing. It connects to your emotions breathe for singing, called diaphragmatic breathing. and your soul. Simply allow your voice to spill out. Ex- Fill the lower portion of your lungs as if you had an cessive effort and muscled technique can disconnect inner tube around your waist that you were evenly you from your natural voice. Get yourself out of the filling. way. Let it out. FREE SINGING TIPS Learning to release your true, natural voice, and doing it consistently, will leave you ideally placed to receive by Nicole LeGault training in a variety of singing styles. You will have a from a2z-singing-tips.com foundation for those other genres, along with greater flexibility to adapt to other training. By mastering the A is for Attitude. How many singers does it natural voice, you will find that adapting to other genres take to change a light bulb? Only one, but requires only subtle adjustments instead of major ac- the world has to revolve around them, ha tions. I urge all singers to discover and master this ha. All kidding aside, being a vocalist is a natural approach before embarking on training for spe- very courageous and naked way of expressing cialized vocal styles. Let it out. yourself. If you aren’t open and unashamed, your audience will not be able to develop an empathetic Your voice is yours alone. No one else has it. At- rapport. tempting to sound like your idol rarely leads to long- term success, if ever. Learn from other singers you admire, be inspired by them, but do not copy them. FREE SINGING TIPS They achieved their best by learning how rto use their by Mick Walsh own unique voices, not by imitation others. You must from a2z-singing-tips.com learn how to sound like you. Remove unnecessary ac- tions and thoughts - such as trying to sing like some- A. Air. Learn to control your airflow. Make one else - and release your voice freely. Because of sure you breathe from the diaphragm and habitual muscle and thought patterns, it may suddenly not from the upper chest area (also known feel like your singing is ‘out of control.’ But that is free- as Claviculur Breathing.). Try to imagine dom. With that freedom, your voice can connect prop- your lungs filling up from the bottom to the top…… erly to your true emotions. Release your natural voice OK, who’s that student at the back standing on their and your soul together through music. Let it out. head? That’s not what I meant!!!

A sculptor selected a large chunk of marble and began chipping and carving,. In time, the sculpture was fin- FREE SINGING TIPS ished. People told him he had created a beautiful statue. The sculptor said he created nothing. The by Teri Danz statue was always there. He had merely cleared away from a2z-singing-tips.com the outer pieces. A = Athlete -- Singers need to train their Many singers should do the same. Remove unneces- body like an athlete. Your body is your in- sary muscle habits and complicated thought patterns strument. Put a priority on: 1) taking care of so you can reveal the true, natural voice that is already your body -- rest, food and warming up to there within you. So many singers do not know what sing, and 2) building and maintaining your instru- they have within them, due to restrictive habits and ment. thoughts. Let it out. The Orange Spiel Page 9 April 2018

certain amount of money, so with each selection, they JUST THINKING YOU DON'T win or lose some amount of money. HAVE ENOUGH TIME (EVEN Two of the decks are “good” decks, where there are IF THAT'S NOT TRUE) more gains than losses, while the other two are “bad” decks, where the participant will end up losing more NEGATIVELY AFFECTS than they’ll gain. And the objective is to figure out PERFORMANCE which are the good decks as quickly as possible to maximize how much money they can earn in the time by Dr Noa Kageyama allowed. from bulletproofmusician.com Time pressure? ave you ever had one of those days, where from the The control group was told that they’d have enough moment you squint at your time to complete the task. And even though both H phone and realize you’ve hit groups would be given the same amount of time, to snooze one too many times, it feels create the perception of time pressure, the experimen- like you’re running around from one thing to the tal group was told that they’d probably not have next like a headless chicken, just trying to keep enough time to complete the task. everything from falling apart? A big difference And sure, sometimes we manage to get through the day without any major mishaps, but some- As expected, the perception of time pressure did in- times you don’t….and drive through a half- deed correspond with a difference in performance be- opened garage door in the rush to get the kids tween the two groups. to school, or forget to put your violin in the case in your haste to be on time for rehearsal… While both groups selected more cards from the good decks as the game progressed, the “enough time” Known as time urgency, the pressure to do group selected 22.49 cards from the good decks over- more in less time has been linked to accidents, all, compared with only 9.14 cards for the “not enough increased stress, reduced creativity, and all time” group. sorts of other undesirable things.

What’s interesting about time pressure though, is that some of this might be in our heads.

Meaning, whether it’s preparing effectively for tomorrow’s orchestra rehearsal, completing your theory homework before class, or getting the chicken (no, not that chicken) into the crock pot before it’s time to leave for soccer practice, the mere perception that you don’t have enough time might be enough to derail your efforts.

How so?

Show me the money

A pair of researchers recruited 163 students to participate in a decision-making challenge called the Iowa Gambling Task. Apparently, being worried about not having enough time seemed to keep them from focusing as effectively Essentially, a participant starts off with $2000 in on the task at hand. play money, and is then presented with four decks of cards. Each card is associated with a (Continued on page 10) The Orange Spiel Page 10 April 2018

JUST THINKING YOU DON’T HAVE TIME lence is, and just start. Often much sooner than (continued) you feel ready to.

(Continued from page 9) But if you rush walking out on stage, rush through Which seems to make pretty good sense. And as tuning, and rush into getting started, chances are, former US Congresswoman Pat Schroeder once you’ll take that rushed feeling into your perform- said “You can’t wring your hands and roll up your ance too. sleeves at the same time.” If you’ve ever watched a great tennis player pre- But what are we supposed to do with this informa- pare to serve, it often looks as if they have all the tion? Especially when we have real deadlines, and time in the world. Everything is smooth, effortless, actual time constraints? and easy. They go through their routine, and if they have a bad toss (or two or three), they just Take action reset and try again.

I haven’t come across any silver bullet or foolproof Like that tennis player, the idea is to focus less on life hacks for dealing with time pressure, but the time, and more on the sound and feeling of tuning key seems to center around training ourselves to and getting connected with your sound and instru- focus more of our attention on the task at hand, ment. To engage in your pre-performance routine, and less on whether we’ll have enough time. and hear what you’re going for . And to practice and record your starts and transitions in run- Time pressure in the practice room throughs, mocks, and other performances, so you not only get comfortable taking your time, but can Which sounds super obvious, I know. But I think prove to yourself from these recordings that taking when we are feeling pressed for time, it’s really time only feels awkward, and you’re not actually tempting to dive right in and neglect to take a few taking an excessive amount of time. moments to clarify our objectives, prioritize our goals, and make a plan for how to achieve them. After all, it’s not like the audience and audition So we end up spinning our wheels pretty fast and panel can leave. What’s a few more seconds here feeling busy, but not actually achieving as much as or there, if it’ll help you get settled and perform we could. As someone once said, “Give me six even a little bit better? hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

It also helps to cut down on clock-checking. Check- ing the clock every minute just wastes time, exac- erbates your anxiety, and keeps taking your focus away from what you’re doing. So aim to cut down on glances at the clock by 50% to start. Maybe set a 5-minute repeating timer instead, so you can avoid looking at the clock entirely, and just rely on a gentle nudge every so often to keep yourself moving, if you’re worried that you might lose track of time.

Time pressure on stage

On-stage, time pressure manifests in this weird tendency to feel like you need to get started right away. Especially at auditions, where you sense from the proctor or the silent panel behind the screen that everyone just really wants to get on with things and go home already. So it can be really tempting to succumb to the voice in your head that’s screaming about how awkward the si- The Orange Spiel Page 11 April 2018

BARBERSHOP HISTORY CAN YOU HELP THE CHORUS EARN ANSWERS 49 SOME NECESSARY FUNDING? By Rick Morin by Mark Axelrod

from probeweb.org non-profit organization like ourselves has to earn the money we Answers to this month's history/knowledge quiz: need for essential items. Things A like paying our director, coaches, 1 - Tom Gentil directed the Southern Gateway Chorus to paying for music and learning tapes, vari- the top spot in 1973 and the Seven Hills Chorus to the ous materials, upkeep, etc., costs a lot of money. pinnacle on the gals side in 1981. Sure, we earn money, at least lately with our shows, Singing Valentines, and the stadium. 2 - Keith Houts was one month shy of his 75th birthday However, more could be found to add to our bal- when he competed in the 2004 international quartet con- ance, and to help keep us off of a shoe-string test. Go Keith - you're an inspiration! budget.

3 - The international quartet champs, Power Play, is Two methods that can help us are with corporate comprised entirely of members of this family - a father, sponsorship and corporate grants. Please notice two sons, and a cousin. Probably an even tighter quartet that I separated them from each other. from a genetics point of view is the Schmitt Brothers, quartet champs in 1951 and really brothers, all four of A grant is defined as a charitable giving of funds them. with nothing in return except goodwill, which can include naming the grantor in our show programs. 4 - All three 2001 silver medalists ( Uptown Sound, Brava and Diamond Girls ) in all three 2001 internation- A sponsorship is when money is given and some- als repeated as the silver medalists again in 2002. What thing tangible is received in return. This would be are the odds against that? Any statisticians out there? like our Bronze sponsorship. The company gives us $500 and in return they get 2 tickets for the 5 - No, but three have taken place outside of the USA, next two shows, and a quarter page ad for each all in Canada - Toronto in 1963, Calgary in 1993 and show. The tickets and ads have a value of $250. Montreal in 2003. Most sponsorships like this are generally around the 50% level. 33 MOST EFFECTIVE A lot of the businesses we individually do busi- SINGING TIPS ness with, such as Publix, Winn-Dixie, Home De- from how2improvesinging.com pot, Staples, Bank of America, etc., will not do these things at the local store level. They are required to go through their corporate offices. If #3 by Robert Lunte you approach a business to try to sell them an ad Sing Deep And Back in the upcoming program, and they inform you that we must go through their corporate office, “The singing tip that has had the biggest im- please gather that info and provide it to me. I am pact for singers is understanding that the fre- trying to generate letters to these corporations to quency should not be perceived as “up / see if we can arrange some funding. down” & “low / high”… this creates a bodily response to push or struggle for higher notes. Lastly, the chorus would like to start a Friends of Students should train their mental imagery to perceive the Big Orange program, similar to what Tampa higher frequencies in training and singing as “deep” or does. These are for individual donors, just like “back”… which is closer to the objective reality of the the corporate program above. I would like to ask situation because higher frequencies are achieved by for one or two people to volunteer to chair/co- learning how to shift formants, or mastery of the acous- chair this program and get it off of the ground. tics of singing. Please enjoy this video I produced on this point.” Please see me at a rehearsal. https://youtu.be/ervWc78UeOk The Orange Spiel Page 12 April 2018

chorus experience will be richer than you ex- MAGIC CHORAL TRICK #372 pected. FIVE STEPS TO BECOMING A BETTER CHORUS SINGER by Janet Kidd from betterchoirs.wordpress.com

sat down to write a new one of these – but realized that all of this is still valid. And since it’s buried almost 100 posts Ideep, I thought reposting it might be useful….

1. Use technology. Record yourself – then listen to the recording and assess what you could be doing better. Like our speaking voices, our singing never sounds the way we think it does – so we don’t know what we’re working with until we hear ourselves recorded. Please try not to be discouraged – almost nobody likes what they hear initially when they first record CHAPTER QUARTETS themselves. Work regularly with your Korg Chromatic Tuner https://betterchoirs.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/ magic-choral-trick-21-the-korg-chromatic-tuner/ and www.metronomeonline.com Care about improving your ability to sing in tune, and in time.

2. Do some vocal technique – even 5 – 10 minutes every day. Legato exercises on one clean target Facts Only vowel at a time https://betterchoirs.wordpress. com/2011/11/22/magic-choral-trick-5-target-vowels/ – Brian Kerr, tenor something simple, like half scales, up and down: Mark Graham, lead C D E F G F E D C, then D flat E flat F G flat A flat G Mark Roblez, bari flat F E flat D flat, then D E F# G A G F# E D… John Alexander, bass Also – recognize that your body is your instrument, and treat it well. On Point

3. When you’re given learning tools – learning sound Gavin Andrews, tenor files, or choreography notes or video – please, please, Daniel Pesante, lead please, please use them. Timothy Keatley, bari Alex Burney, bass 4. When you have a concern or complaint, mention it ONLY to someone who can do something about it. Slice!

Dissent about even relatively minor things can infect a Terry Ezell, tenor chorus quickly, even fatally, if complaints are passed Eric Grimes, lead around from one willing ear to the next – with no intent Jason Dearing, bari to follow up and fix the problem. It takes courage to Daniel Proctor, bass actually take steps to shift this mindset – and to take an issue directly to the person assigned to handling that facet of chorus life. Practice your bravery (Thanks Room For More to my sister Maeve for this phrase, which she in- vented to encourage her sons) How about We put 5. Give more of yourself than is expected, and your Your name here? The Orange Spiel Page 13 April 2018

correctly. TOP 5 APPS FOR SINGERS AND SINGING PRACTICE 4. Harmony Voice

from voicecouncil.com Singing and creating harmonies is a difficult skill to learn, but Harmony ine tune your ears and refresh your theory Voice will work out your own harmo- knowledge with these essential apps for sing- nies and practice them. ers. F With this app you can listen to the harmonies the 1. Virtual Piano Keyboard app creates while you sing the melody line, or sing harmony line on top of track imported from your Not everyone is lucky enough to have a music library. Unfortunately, this app is only avail- keyboard or piano to practice with, able on iOS, but if you are an Android user, why which is why Virtual Piano Keyboard is a not try a recorder like the J4T Multitrack Record, great app to have. so that you can record one or two lines and practice singing another over the top. This app is a portable keyboard and voice recorder that is perfect for finding your starting notes and keys, 5. ABRSM Aural Trainer and recording your practice sessions. One bonus about this app is that the keyboards range is not lim- Aural tests and ear training can ited and unlike other apps, you can easily scroll be- sometimes feel repetitive and boring, tween octaves when practicing. but ABRSM is an engaging way to practice your aural skills, whether you 2. iRhythmic are working towards an exam or not.

Metronomes are so important, espe- The app will work you through aural exercises that cially when learning quick and difficult increase in difficulty, which means you can prac- runs, and iRhythmic is the perfect com- tice and improve your aural skills. Make sure you bination of metronome and teacher. use the interval trainer this app provides. It is the perfect tool to use when you want to improve your This app allows you to change the time signature, as sight singing. Although this app isn’t available for well as the tempo and also enter your own rhythms Android, you can use AuralBook for ABRSM, into the app. This is great when you are trying to learn which will provide the same progressive training specific rhythms that you are finding difficult to work and the official ABRSM app. out! The fact you can change so much within the app sets iRhythmic apart from other Metronome apps. Un- Bonus – Voice Cross Trainer fortunately, it is not available on Android, but don’t worry because Jelly Metronome is a great substitute This app crosses several singing with a fun interface and very similar features. boundaries – so didn’t fit neatly into our single categories above. But 3. SwiftScales those serious about developing their singing will want to get Voice Cross Trainer de- Warming up properly is vital in any signed by top vocal coach Kim Chandler. singers’ routine, and SwiftScales provides a variety of scales to help you do This app provides a training course of essential so. pop vocal skills and concepts combining video demos, written descriptions and sing-along audio With SwiftScales you can use the pre- clips. It’s much more than a warm-up tool; it set warm-ups specifically suited to your range, or cre- teaches exercises with modes, rhythms and inter- ate your own scales and save them to the app. The vals which will be common to singers in contempo- best thing about this app is that once you have created rary genres. your own scale, you can share it with other people with ‘Scale Codes’; perfect if you want to swap routines, or share scales with students to ensure they warm up The Orange Spiel Page 14 April 2018

The Orange Spiel Page 15 April 2018

CHAPTER MEMBER STATS

he following are our current membership statistics:

T type active lapsed Lifetime Regular 0 0 Regular 46 3 Senior 50-Year 6 0 Qualified Senior 2 0 Senior 15 0 QUARTET CORNER Youth 1 0 by John Alexander Under 26 5 2

Slice and Facts Only competed at district contests. Total Membership 75 5

What is YOUR quartet doing? Don’t have one? Find three other guys and start one! Can’t find a PAST DUE MEMBERS 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 he following members are listed separately those really fun things that you don’t fully under- on the BHS website as past due or within stand until you’ve done it. two weeks of due. They will automatically T be removed from the society roll at 180 It’s never too early to be thinking about Singing Val- days overdue. entines. Quartets are always needed, officially formed or pickup. It’s only a few easy songs. Learning more than one voice part to these songs Gavin Andrews can help make you easier to fit into a pickup quar- Todd Hastie tet. Ryan Henry Wally Krupka Men who have indicated interest in forming quartets C J Shaw (entertain, compete, or both) include:

Don Hartsfield COMING DUE MEMBERS Brian Moore Ken Moyer he following members are coming due in the next 60 days. ...and hopefully more who haven’t contacted me yet. T

Alexander Burney Michael Garand Timothy Keatley The Orange Spiel Page 16 April 2018

BOARD MINUTE SUMMARY MEL’S MUSICAL MUSINGS by Mel Knight The board did not meet in March. from Timbre

The next regular meeting is scheduled for 26 April ome 5 years ago I wrote an article at The Loop. All members are invited to attend. for “Mel’s Musings” about posture and alignment. After having ob- S served and coached a number of quartets at all levels since then, it would seem good to revisit the subject. Let me repeat a few aspects of good posture and body alignment that can enhance well supported, resonant vocal production.

Stand tall. Have a feeling of being lifted from the back of the head by a rubber band. The neck should be slightly lengthened in the back. Keep the head level. Shoulders should be rolled back and let drop. Never raise the shoulders, especially during inhala- tion .

The chest should be high and wide. The lower rib cage should be comfortably expanded.

Hips should be forward and in line with the upper body. A “swayback” posture will not allow the proper use of the abdominal muscles and diaphragm. Knees should be relaxed and slightly bent…never locked. Feet should be shoulder width apart. Never let the body weight rest on the heels.

HAPPY EASTER If the posture is correct, there will be an imaginary line straight down from the ear, through the tip of the shoulder, middle of the hip, back of the knee and front of the anklebone. There should always be a feeling of total support and lift, without any tension. ..not a stiff military-like posture.

So, that's what a singer should look like, ready to perform whether in rehearsal or on stage. We know, of course, that there are instances in performance when ideal posture is not possible. When movement or choreography is required, always try to keep the upper body aligned as much as possible to allow for good breath support. Sloppy posture will always produce sloppy singing. Give yourself every chance to be a good singer and look good too!

Special Note To Chorus Directors - You are a mirror for your singers. If your posture is sloppy, expect it from your singers. It’s the old “monkey see, monkey do” routine. Set a good example and I know you will appreciate the results. The Orange Spiel Page 17 April 2018

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE BIRTHDAYS

Thu 05 Apr Shepherd of the Woods Paul Stiles 15 Apr Thu 12 Apr Shepherd of the Woods Jason Dearing 20 Apr Thu 19 Apr Shepherd of the Woods Steven Cragg 27 Apr Thu 26 Apr Board Meeting (Loop) Howdy Russell 28 Apr Thu 26 Apr Shepherd of the Woods

Thu 03 May Shepherd of the Woods Sat 05 May Bishop Kenney HS Thu 10 May Shepherd of the Woods Thu 17 May Shepherd of the Woods RECENT GUESTS Thu 24 May Board Meeting (Loop) Thu 24 May Shepherd of the Woods Bob Ice Charlie Young Thu 31 May Shepherd of the Woods Barry Flynn Pat Eimers Juan Stegmann Grant Gladden Ted Louckos Shamus McIver PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Matt Watts Jake Stonecypher Josh Sanders Matt Setor Sat 05 May Annual Spring Show (2) David Pesante Pat Glenn Fri 06 Jul International Contest Dale Pratt Cary Quick Sat 27 Oct Sunshine District Contest Ken Mull John Kerr Sat 10 Nov Carolinas District Festival Jeff Verhoot Juan Stegman Sat 01 Dec Christmas Show Mike Pruitt William Watts { Big O Buck$ } WELCOME

BIG O BUCKS SCHEDULE NEWEST MEMBERS

Thu 05 Apr USA v Mexico Soccer Sean Barry Feb Sun 08 Apr Dwight Yoakum Adrien David-Sivelle Feb Fri 20 Apr Thomas Rhett Seth Elsheimer Feb Fri 04 May Skillet Patrick Glenn Feb Thu 10 May Post Malone John Klotzbach Feb Sun 13 May Steely Dan & Doobie Brothers Michael Mancuso Feb Wed 16 May Odesza Tour Brian McGee Feb Sat 23 Jun Bobby Tarantino James Rogers Feb Fri 29 Jun Tedeschi Trucks Band Michael Stehlik Feb Sun 01 Jul 30 Seconds To Mars Tour Jason Boddie Oct Sat 07 Jul 3 Doors Down Bill Conway Oct Sun 08 Jul Cooheed & Cambria Soren Dillinger Oct Sun 22 Jul Chicago & REO Speedwagon Clayton Echan Oct Sun 05 Aug O. A. R. Jim Ford Oct Fri 17 Aug Jason Mraz Mike Garand Oct Mon 20 Aug Lindsey Sterling Jay Giallombardo Oct Thu 23 Aug Jeff Beck Kevin Gillett Oct Tue 02 Oct Need To Breathe Tour Richard Harris Oct Derek Street Oct ...more to come Philip Wilcox Oct Andrew Wohl Oct See Mike Sobolewski to help us fund the chorus. Timothy Workman Oct The Orange Spiel Page 18 April 2018

2018 DIRECTING TEAM

Jay Giallombardo George Gipp Jason Boddie Chuck Griffith Front Line Associate Assistant Director Director Director Director Emeritus

2018 OTHER CHAPTER LEADERS

Dave Walker Jason Dearing Jason Boddie Vacant Uniform Chorus Show Youth In Harmony Manager Manager Chairman Coordinator

Frank Nosalek Mike Sobolewski Rick Morin John Alexander Webmaster Big O Bucks Big O Bucks Bulletin Technology Coordinator Bookkeeper Editor

EDITOR’S NOTE Print off two copies

Article and column submissions are solicited. of this newsletter Help make this a better bulletin. Send me stuff! The deadline for May is 26 April. to share - one with Items without a byline are from the Editor. your family and The Orange Spiel John Alexander, Editor one with someone 2429 Southern Links Dr Orange Park FL 32003 you are bringing to a chapter meeting. Back issues are available online at: www.bigorangechorus.com/newsarchive.htm Let them know they More specific and timely performance information is in my weekly sheet, Orange Zest. belong here! The Orange Spiel Page 19 April 2018

2018 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Brian Jason Dearing John Ken Tureski Gregg Flowers Daniel Kerr Executive Alexander Chapter Chapter Proctor President VP VP Music Secretary Treasurer VP Membership

Terry Ezell Robert Rick Morin Jay George Gipp Immediate Reeves Finance Giallombardo Associate Past President VP Marketing/PR Chairman Director Director

2018 MUSIC TEAM

John Terry Ezell Jason Boddie Brian Kerr Daniel Proctor Alexander Tenor Lead Bari Bass VP Music Sec Ldr Sec Ldr Sec Ldr Sec Ldr

Jay Giallombardo George Gipp Mike Sobolewski Daniel Proctor Front Line Associate Presentation Learning Materials Director Director Coordinator Coordinator

Imagine 80 men on the risers Be a singer-bringer

John Alexander, Editor 2429 Southern Links Dr Orange Park FL 32003

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