Chorus Notes # 10 - March 4, 2008 Chapter Meeting

Special thanks to Dean Rust for this week's chorus notes!


General

- Be ready to sing at all times; must do better as "first note singers".

O Holy Night (to be recorded March 11)

- Starts soft, but still resonate through "all four speakers", keep sound connected and don't let it get wimpy.

- Bass: wrong notes evident, fix them before next Tuesday, 1st and 2nd endings are different.

- "Fall (oh fall) on your knees":
-- bass, take breath after first "Fall" but make sure it's full duration, don't get too heavy on "on your knees"
-- non-basses, support the bass octave jump.
-- all, need movement on "knees" and watch for cutoff on "knees."

- "the angel voices": watch for cutoff on "voices".

- "night" in both endings: Stay on the vowel, watch for placement of "t".

- 1st ending: take a breath before the last "O night divine" and carry that phrase over into repeat of "Fall on your knees."

- Sing "D(ih)vine" not "D(ee)vine"

- If you are reading this please send me an email to let me know that you have read this.

Happy Feet (to be recorded March 11)

- "Wha da dance, do we do": crescendo on dance carries over into "do" before slight softening and another crescendo on the 2nd "do"

- Bass/bari,"Lordy": fast swipe, don't change voice production when moving to different register.

- "Happy Feet, I got those Happy Feet...": crescendo on 1st "feet" carries over into "I got those" before slight softening and another crescendo on 2nd "feet"

- "give them a low down beat": affect on "low"

- "I can't control": don't rush quarter notes (think subdivide)

- bass pickups: must be rock solid.

- "Hey! Hey! Say!": sets up 42nd St, not a throwaway, sing it with anticipation.

- 42nd Street:
-- "Come and meet (come meet)": soft and smoky, but not wimpy. While volume is lower, you're still producing fully resonant sound through all "four speakers."

-- "dancin' feet": Placement of "t", 1-2-3-"t"

-- Bass: sing through the low notes with authority, must hear them.

- Downtown Strutters Ball:
--Bass: make it less wordy, quiet jaw, don't change vocal production as register changes, connect all the sounds, no holes.

-- non-bass: eliminate affect, sing pure vowel sounds.

- Charles-ton:
-- disconnect between "Charles" and "ton" but don't take a breath; crescendo on "ton"

-- "Rhumba": hard roll of the "R" and pronounce "roomba"

- Reprise and Tag:
-- "cause I've GOT hab, hab, habby feet when I'm dancin": "got" not "have" in m 89
-- "Wha-daaaaaaa-dance", Last phrase of song: tall vowels, quick slide, and leave room to grow on "dance."

I Love You Truly (review last week's notes)

- off the sheet music please.

- Bring a high degree of compassion and love to this song; show it in your face and body. Need to develop emotional plan, including climax.

- Word changes in verse (underlined below):
"Coming home to you is all I need to know, coming home to you is my life. All alone with you ever sets my heart aglow, all alone with my sweetheart, my life (my life). Bass - swipe on "sweet" of "sweetheart."

- "Coming home": big rich chord on "home".

- "life" (at end of phrase): execute a quick, clean crisp "f" at the cutoff.

- "Gone": quickly through the "G" to the target.

- Leads, look at "so come be..." (ms 48-49, going into the Tag): it's 1/2 step up from "so" to "come" and a full step down from "come" to "be".

- Word changes in Tag for Lead, Bari, Bass. Rather than sing the whole note "please" in m 57, sing "please be all" with each word on the same chord written for the whole note, then move to the first chord in m 58 and change the word to "mine", and then finish as written with "all mine."

Clap Yore Hands (recording mic malfunctioned; limited notes on Mike Kelley's coaching)

- Chorus performance sounds like a good learning tape; now need dynamics and emphasis on alliteration (repetition of similar word sounds).

- "Come on you children......" Nothin' but trouble..." dynamics: follow Joe's direction, Mike suggested building the dynamic through each of these first two lines of the verse.

- "Let me lead the way, Jubilee today.": Remember avoidance of downbeat and full metric value. Smooth but keep underlying subdivision in mind.

- "He'll never hound you...": Getting ready to have a party, don't let it drag going into the chorus.

- "Come on": invitation to the party.

- Bass, "rebel, you just" (m 51): bring out this arpeggio (right before 1st "send him to the devil").

- "Send him to the devil (1st time). Clap-a yore hands" (ms 52-53): Think ahead. Big change in register. Prepare to move quicky to target sound on "Clap". You do get a breath before "Clap."

- No more big, fat, stupid mistakes: Lead, "...slap a yore thigh, don't ya lose time etc." (ms 81-82): keep it high and light on "thigh etc."

- Bass, new tag, "C'mon you children gather around": take it easy on "C'mon", it's high and you double with Baris. But let's hear it as you peel off on "you children gather around."