I’m old. Gimme, gimme, gimme! – Abraham Simpson
Thank you for all the wonderful discussions and feedback I got from my soft reboot post. I would like to address a couple of comments:
1) No. I will not, as you so eloquently put it, “cut off my hands with a chainsaw so you don’t have to be subjected to this garbage.”
2) I assure you I’m not “delusional, deranged, and smelly.” Just because I write these posts sitting in the basement of my mother’s house with all of the lights turned off does not mean I’m a conspiracy theorist.
With that out of the way…
This post is going to address two main things, both related to the growth and development of a cappella.
When I started this blog thirteen (13!) years ago, I was a fresh-faced 29-about-to-turn-30-year-old. I felt like a million bucks. I felt all clean and new, bursting with can-do spirit and a desire to prove myself. The world was my burrito.
I’m about to be 43. Everything hurts. I nap as frequently as Garfield. I now have to accept the fact that I’m a member of the “old guard,” and not the up and coming “new guard.” All my a cappella friends have abandoned me for real jobs. No one in the a cappella community will hire me because I look like a homeless man wandering the halls of a convention.
Okay. This is depressing.
I look back at all of the things I wanted to learn, the experiences I’ve had, the knowledge I’ve acquired. Those were the best years of my life, and I was extremely fortunate that so many people opened up their brains and let me root around inside their consciousness.
But now I look at the new, younger, prettier class of a cappella stars. They have advanced so quickly and so completely that they put my thirteen years of slow, steady work to shame. They’re getting the jobs, making the arrangements, acquiring the notoriety.
I hate them.
I hate them and their stupid faces.
I hate how clever and smart they are.
I hate the way they post long diatribes in the comments section.
I hate how many clients they have.
I hate their constant, upbeat, smiles.
I hate that they have a PhD in “being swell” and a masters in “Everybody loves me!”
I HATE THEM, I HATE THEM, I HATE THEM!!!
[We here at Quest for the A cappella Major would like to apologize for the recent hurtful rants and ravings of a lunatic. Marc’s personal views do not reflect this company, and rest assured we have fed him so he is no longer hangry.]
Whew! Sorry about that. Man, things got REAL there for a second.
Hey younger a cappella stars! I certainly don’t hate you. In fact, I’ve offered advice to many of you and will continue to do so whenever asked. The fact is, I’m jealous. Not specifically of you, but of all the knowledge and opportunities you have laid out before you. None of these books, or articles, or social media posts, or private lessons, or online classes were available to me when I was your age.
Resources like these:
Books: A cappella pop, The Heart of Vocal Harmony, A cappella Warm-ups, A cappella, A cappella Arranging, A cappella Arranging 2, Powerful Voices, Pitch Perfect, A cappella 101, So You Want To Sing A cappella, Teaching Music Through Performance in Contemporary A cappella
Websites: A cappella Masterclass, A cappella Educators Association, CASA, Barbershop Harmony Society, RARB, Varsity Vocals
Media: Pitch Perfect 1, Pitch Perfect 2, Pitch Perfect 3, Pentatonix: On My Way Home, Just Sing, Counterpoint, Talkappella
Education: Competitive Workshop, Arranger Roundtable, ACDA Fusion Choir, Find Your Next Level, Private Voice Studios from A cappella Singers, Viridian Productions, Sing Toronto
I’m definitely forgetting a lot more, but you get the idea.
Oh. And don't forget that you can LEGALLY PURCHASE A CAPPELLA ARRANGEMENTS ONLINE!! This was a thing we did not have 13 years ago.
But I have to remember that it was us, the old guard, who created such things. We created such things so that you could shine like we never could. The happiest moment of a teacher’s career is seeing their student succeed beyond their wildest dreams. And I am genuinely proud to be one of those “teachers.”
Welp, I hope you enjoyed that last bit. Because it’s all downhill from here…
Let’s talk about money.
Several comments from the last diatribe made the argument that the root of this problem may in fact be economical.
I probably should have paid more attention in economics class…
Now I’m not a professional performer and I’m not a member of a professional performing group, so I can’t directly address the specific needs of performing groups; And of course, every group is different and has different priorities. If you want specifics, you’re going to have to ask them. Or, you know, go here: https://www.acappellamasterclass.com
The bit that worries me is how difficult it must be for these group members, many of which I call friends. I want them to succeed. I want them to be able to perform full time and live their dreams. But they’re fighting for stage space like every other musician out there, and they have what seems to be a disadvantage, because they’re a niche group.
It’s this last sentence that really makes my point. I hypothesize that in the last decade, when a cappella was at its peak, it was actually an advantage to be an a cappella group, riding the coattails of Pitch Perfect and Pentatonix. But now it seems like this advantage has turned into a disadvantage, and I wonder why. Of course, this is an educated guess.
For these groups, I offer this, which I blogged about in 2017.
Of course, a cappella is growing rapidly in the scholastic market. Schools are not businesses (suck it David Pickler!) and money is (mostly) available. This can only be good for the community as a whole, but what happens to those a cappella junkies who want to sing a cappella full time when they get out of school? And what happens if the market gets too overcrowded? Again, go here.
So how do these two topics relate to each other? The answer is “mid-life crisis.”
Take my earlier paragraph about being part of the “old guard.”(which, in this metaphor, are the professional adults) In a way, this is a metaphor for what groups are facing right now. It feels like a cappella is getting old (even though it isn’t), and the monetary value of such groups has gone down. Yet, the “young guard” (which in this metaphor represents scholastic expansion) are flourishing, backed by the (mostly) rock solid structure that a school music program can provide. (Do NOT make me go into how that’s disappearing as well. This post is long enough, and I’m already depressed.)
When I asked the question “Is a cappella dead,” I was more referring to the stagnation of our community. It feels like we’re going through a mid-life crisis, just as I am now.
Sorry this has been an overall dour post. To make up for it, here’s a video of someone feeding a baby penguin.
Marc Silverberg
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