Northern Stars Chorus

 

Ontario District - for the Barbershop Harmony Society. Information on conventions, training, chapters (choruses), and more.

 

Harmonize for Speech - The charitable branch of Ontario District - supporting a variety of speech projects.

In Canada, Sing Canada Harmony (SCH) is the official Charity of the Barbershop Harmony Society. SCH was created to build a better Canada through singing based on the belief that vocal music, particularly four-part a cappella harmony in the Barbershop Style, plays a vital role in the development of healthy, creative and responsible members of society. This belief results in a commitment towards ensuring equal access to vocal music arts for people of all ages, but particularly the children and youth of Canada, and the men and women who facilitate their learning to enrich lives through singing. 
The Sing Canada Harmony Scholarship Fund is a registered Charity

 

Barbershop and A Cappella choruses and groups in Eastern Ontario.
The emphasis is on barbershop. Looking for a place to sing? Looking to contact a barbershop chorus - mens or ladies? Look here.

Northern Stars Chorus Members Only Area

 

Northern Stars Chorus Members Only Area for Messaging

 

AAMBS - Australian Association of Men's Barbershop Singers

BABS - British Association of Barbershop Singers

BinG! - Barbershop in Germany

CASA - Contemporary Acapella Society of America

DABS - Dutch Association of Barbershop Singers

HI - Harmony, Incorporated

IABS - Irish Association of Barbershop Singers

LABBS - Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers

OMEA - Ontario Music Educators Association

NZABS - New Zealand Association of Barbershop Singers

SAI - Sweet Adelines International

SNOBS - Society of Nordic Barbershoppers

National Centre for Voice and Speech - voice tutorials and learning aids. And links.

Music Theory - plenty of information of all types, trainers, and utilities

Vocal Information - Exercises of many types, voice training information, and many links.

 

We present articles from e-mails received and links to articles about singing improvement, singing techniques, vocal warmup, a cappella groups, etc.

Learn the Secrets of In-Tune Singing

Why can't I sing in tune?

(This is an article previously available from the Barbershop Harmony Society web site and that no longer appears in the Singing Skills section. It is provided here on the assumption that it was missed when their web site was revised last and not that it was incorrect with its information.)

Singing out of tune is a recurring problem that we hear from performers. An important element of the barbershop "lock and ring" sound is in-tune singing. We need to sing quality musical tones that are specifically in pitch to the anticipated melodic line. To make this happen, we must sing in tune both horizontally and vertically.
Do we sing out of tune because we can not hear the pitch we are trying to sing, or because we just can not support the pitch in good quality in which we are trying to sing?

The answer is support. Chest breathing or shallow breathing causes the pitch to sag at the middle or end of every phrase. A freely produced, well supported, resonant quality tone with a good head voice will solve many tuning issues. Poor posture, mental and/or physical fatigue can also have significant influence on horizontal and vertical tuning. Spend time on good diaphragmatic breathing exercises every day to help develop better support and, therefore, better tuning.

Singing with a heavy vocal production throughout your range can also cause flatting, especially as you carry the weight of your chest voice up into your head voice. Learn to keep your head voice in your voice throughout your range. Furthermore, the use of warm air to support every pitch of every phrase will open up all the spaces needed for quality singing.

Some other more obvious reasons: singing wrong intervals, or taking too small of a step in an ascending line, or too large of a step in a descending line. Spend time singing major, minor and chromatic scales, both ascending and descending, with accuracy. Relaxing support when you're singing descending lines can also allow you to flat. Reaching for high note without lightening up and using your head voice can also cause flatting.

Scooping is another cause of tuning problems for your quartet, especially for the lead. Spend rehearsal time duetting in your quartet practice. It will make a difference in the overall sound and tuning of your quartet.

Lastly, it is important to pick songs appropriate for your quartet's vocal range and to sing them in the right key for your group. Avoid songs written too low for the quartet to sing comfortably. Be warned that if the melody has too many thirds or sevenths, there is a good chance the quartet will go flat

 

How to Memorize Vocal Music

by Bruce Schoonmaker

1. Brute repetition. Speak the text repeatedly. Sing the text repeatedly.

2. The rule of three: Work a long phrase until you can repeat it perfectly from memory three times consecutively. Do the next phrase the same way. Combine the phrases and work them as one longer phrase. Build by phrases until you sing perfectly from memory an entire section of the aria/song three times consecutively. Build by sections until you have memorized the whole song.

3. Memorize the text without the music. In other words, memorize it as a poem, rather than as a song. Then put it with the music.

4. Speak the rhythm. Sing the rhythm, on one pitch.

5. Try memorizing while lying on your back. Studies have shown that actors memorize roles faster while working on memorizing in a supine position.

6. Memorize the song backwards. Memorize the last section first, then the next-to-last section, working your way forward.

7. Reward: Reward yourself with each song memorized. Get a frozen yogurt or goody that you really like. Don't get it until you've sung the piece successfully in the presence of others (in other words, performed it from memory under pressure).

8. Write the words on paper while repeating the song from memory.

9. If you visualize the words in order to memorize, visualize the words in the upper left quadrant of your vision. I read this in a book on Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Oddly enough, it seems to settle in the memory quicker and more deeply by using the upper left quadrant.

10. Try to "hear the piece in your head," and to "listen" to it, preferably right before you go to sleep -- or to "hear" it while you are listening to something else.

11. Delay Gratification: When working on an entire role (opera, musical, or song cycle), memorize your favorite piece last. Memorize the most difficult music first. Memorize ensembles before solos. In other words, delay the gratification of memorizing your favorite parts until the other sections are memorized.

12. Try working on memorization while doing some mindless chore. Repeat phrases over and over again while cleaning up or washing dishes or sweeping. Refer to the score when necessary, then return to the mindless task and work the memory.

13. Get a friend to "repetiteur" for you, playing the piano accompaniment over and over again while you sing, in order to memorize. Don't try to make the song technically perfect while doing this kind of drill; you may even "mark" the voice. Just repeat the music many, many times in order to drill it into your mind.

 

How do I sing more loudly?

Trying to "push" your voice to be loud is counter-productive. The best way to achieve more volume is to learn to sing with forward placement (sometimes called "the mask" or "masque").

A good singing teacher, who can work with you one and one, is the best way to learn proper placement; it won't happen overnight, so be patient. It usually takes months to truly master this part of technique.

To find what forward placement is, hum until you feel your front teeth and/or lips vibrate. Once you have that buzz, take note of the sensations in your mouth. Then, go directly from humming to singing vowels: "Hmmmmmeeeee. Hmmmmmaaaay. Hmmmmmoooo." Etc.

Again, take note of those sensations and try to duplicate them when you sing a song. Some people feel very subtle vibrations, while others feel the vibrations intensely. Your teacher can give you additional exercises, tailored to your personality and voice, to help you with placement. (Singing with forward placement should never sound nasally or thin.)

 

A Poem

Originally published in the May 1945 issue of The Harmonizer Carroll P. Adams, editor, and re-published in theJuly - September 2007 edition of Thhe Trillium, Waldo Redekop, editor.

A lady stood before a judge,
Her face with woe constricted.
It only took but half an eye
To see she was afflicted.

"My tale, good judge, is long and sad.
I don't know how to tell it.
I hope that you with wisdom rare
Will know how to dispel it."

"My husband's such a different man.
He used to be quite grouchy.
And even in his daily traits
Was known to be right slouchy."

"He joined a club the other night,
Just common men ne betters.
I do not know the name of it
Except a lot of letters."

"And now he sings the whole night thru.
He sings while he is shaving,
And if the razor cuts his lip,
He sings, instead of raving."

"The songs he sings are all nice tunes,
If only he could sing 'en.
I don't know what's come over him,
Or what of help to bring him."

It is the great change I fear,
Tho I can't help but like it,
But if it's going to do him harm
I'd like some plan to spike it."

The judge bent forth with kindly look,

"Your husband is not loony.
S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A.
Has made him extra-tuney."

- Bob Easton. (Mukegon Chaper)

 

Clip art of singer and bird from Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

 

 

Songs to Sing in the Car for Kids

This might seem like a strange topic and link to include on a barbershop chorus Links page.  However, there is a very interesting story behind it.

Every webmaster must wonder when they post material and ask questions such as
- will anyone ever see this page?
- will anyone take time to read the page?
- will anyone read far enough down this page to arrive at a particular article (that the webmaster considered interesting)?
- will anyone even take time to click on more than one link?

Once in a while a webmaster receives some feedback that makes the effort of putting a web page together.  And this happened with our Links page.  In the fall of 2016 we received a message from the leader of a Girl Scout Troop in California. It was a note of gratitude on behalf of the leader and her Girl Scouts indicating she had been using our Links page to help her girls work toward earning the "Musician" performance badge.

Part of her message read, "As another small token of our appreciation, we thought it would be nice send along a helpful resource that we came across. It's http://www.titlemax.com/songs-to-sing-in-the-car-for-kids/ and it has great and fun songs on it."

I tend to agree with this gesture because in our opinion, singing cannot start at too young an age.  In fact, ne of our members has a young son.  When we was a few weeks old, I was in a quartet with the father on our annual show who sang 'Kentucky Babe' to him as part of the show.  The father really liked the song and had chosen it to sing in a quartet and proposed singing it in the show.  Now, the young son knows and sings a barbeershop song (we have heard him on the phone singing it).

If you wish to take a look at the location of the Troop and some of their activities (some of the country is rugged), check out their web site.  I think they're an awesome group to take on such challengers and for the leaders to give of their time, talents, and energy for youth development.  Congratulations.