The Acorn - Oak City Sound's Weekly Newsletter - April 7, 2023
| Type of post: | Chorus news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | Nic Cols |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Fri, Apr 7 2023 |
1. Notes for this week
- Apr 3: Very nice performance at Springmoor this past Monday evening.. We had 17 singers, plus three of our recent week's guests came out to to witness the concert: Mike Carney, Michael McQueen, and Patrick O'Hannigan.
- Good Afterglow at The Sawmill Taproom with 10 in attendance, including the-now-regular-Afterglower Patrick O'Hannigan.
- Here Comes The Sun: Yeah we pulled that one off pretty well! Congratulations! Please check out the short video of Here Comes the Sun, just measures 6 and 7 on the piano, with Lead notes (only) at slower speed that was emailed to you last weekend. This should help a lot in fixing notes and timing problems,
- Thanks also to the quartets who performed as part of the show: newly minted Mixed Nuts, the old-standby Never Home 4, and the "new" quartet Another Dimension (a slightly off-beat reconfig of 7th Dimension).
- Apr 10: Regular rehearsal at our regular location at our regular time. Song set
- Star-Spangled Banner
- Desperado
- Honesty
- Two Less Lonely People
- The National Anthem
- Hanukkah Song
- Carol of the Bells - I'm going to add a new intro for COTB!
- And be ready for other repertoire songs, as the spirit moves! Stay flexible
- Apr 17: Regular Monday meeting at our regular time at our regular place: Searstone Retirement Community.
- Apr 23 (Sunday): Sing National Anthem at UNC Baseball game in Chapel Hill. Call time is Noon. Perform at 12:45pm.
2. Carol's Korner
- We did a pretty good job on our debuts of "Here Comes the Sun" and "You've Got a Friend in Me!" Now we can really get to work on making music with those tunes!
- We will start really digging into "Desperado" and "Honesty" on Monday and will also start working on "Two Less Lonely People." Please remember to defer to the tracks over the paper for that last one. I will try to get those corrections on paper this weekend, but it's a busy weekend!
- We will also spend some time getting folks up to speed on the National Anthem, so please be ready for that.
- And let's toss in some holiday stuff: Hanukkah Song and Carol of the Bells - I'm going to add a new intro for COTB!
3. Ben's Buzz
10 Steps to a Note
1. Hear a Pitch. See Nov 25 detail.
2. Find Your Note. See Nov 30 Detail
3. Check Your Posture
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Basic Stance. See Dec 7 Detail .
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Balance. See Dec 14 Detail.
-
Straight and Tall. See Jan 18 Detail.
4. Drop the Jaw! See Feb 8 Detail.
5. Form a Vowel. See Feb 15 Detail.
6. Open Your Throat. See Feb 22 Detail.
7. Open the Vocal Folds. See Mar 30 Detail.
8. Take a Singer's Breath
We've talked about this before!
This is a deep breath using the abdominal muscles to help the diaphragm go down and create the vacuum. The abs relax down and out, and the air just comes in to fill the vacuum. Pretend the lungs are in your tummy – it helps.
The air going into your lungs should go to the BOTTOM of the lungs first. The abdomen should relax outward, and you should feel that you have air all the way down into your abdominal area. The “Straw Breath” is a good drill for that. Purse your lips very tightly and inhale noisily (your LIPS are making the noise, not your vocal cords). Your Abs should expand AND the area around your waist in the back, your ribs in the back. You should be able to do all this and get a full breath in “real life” as you sing, (a normal breath, not the Straw Breath) in an eighth rest’s worth of time.
This is a deep breath using the abdominal muscles to help the diaphragm go down and create the vacuum. The abs relax down and out, and the air just comes in to fill the vacuum. Pretend the lungs are in your tummy – it helps.
The air going into your lungs should go to the BOTTOM of the lungs first. The abdomen should relax outward, and you should feel that you have air all the way down into your abdominal area. The “Straw Breath” is a good drill for that. Purse your lips very tightly and inhale noisily (your LIPS are making the noise, not your vocal cords). Your Abs should expand AND the area around your waist in the back, your ribs in the back. You should be able to do all this and get a full breath in “real life” as you sing, (a normal breath, not the Straw Breath) in an eighth rest’s worth of time.
- Expel Stale Air - See Nov 2 Detail.
- Breathe Silently - See Nov 17 Detail.
4. Future Notes
- Apr 29 (Saturday): Cary Spring Daze [changed!] booth AND concert. Booth will need to be manned all day. Call time for concert is 11:00. On stage from 11:30 to 12:15. We need volunteers to man the booth throughout the day. How about you?
- May 8 (Monday): Oak City Sound in concert at Templeton Retirement Village. Vern Pike lives there now and is our contact. The Templeton is located at 215 Brightmore Dr, Cary, NC 27518, across Kildaire Farm Rd from WakeMed Cary.
5. Long Range
- Monday May 29: Is Memorial Day. Searstone is not available to us. Make suggestions on what would be fun to do.
- June 5: 7:15pm: Concert at Searstone! Please show up at 6:30.
- August 4 to 6, 2023. [changed!] The chorus leadership has decided not to attend Dixie Lakeside Harmony weekend at Clemson University in Clemson, SC.
- Oct 22, a Sunday afternoon. Oak City Sound in concert at Preston Pointe in Morrisville.
