The Quest For The A cappella Major

Monday, October 9, 2017

A cappella Power

Okay. This one is going to get about 10% political. Apologies in advance…

I’ve been unable to blog the past couple of weeks, once because I had the black plague and the other because I felt that whatever I blogged about was just not important. The crisis in Puerto Rico. The shooting in Las Vegas. We seem to be hit with a large number of catastrophes lately and many of us have felt almost powerless to do something about it.

If you’re reading this, then you are part of an elite group of human beings who have the ability to make music. And not just any kind of music…a cappella pop music.

A cappella pop music goes a long way.

So firstly, I need you to keep an open mind.

Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican…

Liberal or Conservative…

Dog person or Cat person…

Morning person or Night owl…

Iphone or Android…

Coke or Pepsi…

It doesn’t matter.

Because you’re an a cappella person.

And an a cappella person can help people in need.

You see, I don’t think you really understand how much power you have. You have the ability to sing the music that people actually want to hear.

I’m not trying to put down unfamiliar music. We all need to experience unfamiliar music, because listening to unfamiliar music is how we grow as musicians.

But let’s be honest. The average non-musician doesn’t want to hear unfamiliar music. They want to hear “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, that’s great, because we can sing Bohemian Rhapsody. We can perform the entire song without instruments in any acoustical space.

We can travel. We can sing in any environment. We can sing any song we desire. We can design a set of songs for a specific audience who only wants to hear Michael Jackson.

We have that power. And we have to put it to good use.

How you ask? It’s simple. We sing.

We put on benefit concerts that raise money, even if it’s just $100.

We make inspirational videos that give hope to anyone who watches.

We write and perform songs that show others we are watching, and we do care.

As an a cappella person, I’ve felt powerless these last two weeks, thinking there was nothing I could do to help.

I’m done feeling powerless. I’m ready to do something, even if it’s just a little something.

And so, if you’ve stuck with me to the end of this post, you have been challenged. I challenge you to use your a cappella powers to help.

It doesn’t matter who you help, or what cause you believe in. You can reach the masses faster and more efficiently than other artists.

I’ve been working on something myself, and when the time comes, I hope you’ll participate. I’ve been (slowly) planning and designing a collaborative album of a cappella superstars and any a cappella singer who wants to participate. I plan to record and release the album and donate 100% of the profits to organizations I support.

I don’t know how it’s going to work yet. I don’t know who’s going to help me. I don’t know if it’s going to fall apart before it even begins, thus ruining my credibility and reputation. I don’t know any of these things.

But I’m going to try, because as an a cappella person, I have the power to do something.

And so do you.

Marc Silverberg

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*A portion of the blog post above was taken from Theoatmeal.com. You can read the original comic here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

The Case for Curriculum

There has been a lot of debate and discussion lately about whether contemporary a cappella should be included in the music curriculum, whether that be a cappella examples in the general music classroom, a cappella ensembles at the college level for college credit, or most importantly, the creation of a four-year degree in contemporary a cappella.

Today, I make my case.

Including a cappella music into a formal curriculum has far more advantages than detriments.

Before I begin my incoherent rant, I must clarify the argument I’m making. I’m making the case for adding a cappella music into a formalized school curriculum. I’m not addressing education initiatives such as Next Level, A cappella Academy, Camp A cappella, or the A cappella School. I love and support all of those creations, but none have specific ties to a formal college or degree. I’m suggesting we take the model that the aforementioned organizations have already devised and add it to a degree-granting institution.

The benefits are:

1) Popular Music Base

This is nothing new. Most students respond better to popular music than they do classical music because it is familiar and more representative of the current music trend and their culture. But choral teachers are still hesitant to include popular repertoire into their curriculum, because popular music is made for the masses, and the simplistic, repetitive composition of pop music yields little material to study and analyze.

But (of course) I disagree with the above assessment. If utilized correctly and fully, a general music classroom can go a full year teaching new musical concepts with just a popular music base, and nowhere is that more prevalent than a cappella.

Last year, I joined the Association for Popular Music Education (APME), an organization that promotes the inclusion of pop music into the classroom, not as a one-off lesson anomaly, but as the fundamental basis for all musical learning. It’s entirely possible (and utterly plausible) that your kids aren’t ready to appreciate the complexity of Mozart, the uniqueness of Stravinsky, or the thematic development of Wagner. So I say, screw it. Don’t teach it until they’re ready, even if that means they won’t be ready until they go to college.

2) The End of Mediocrity

Behind closed doors, buried deep within the confines of Facebook comments, there is a word understood by many a cappella professionals who dare not speak its name. It’s called mediocrity.

True, the a cappella community has never shone brighter, thanks to all of the educational initiatives and the sudden expansion of a cappella companies. But for every new bright star, five more groups are struggling to keep up, unaware that educational resources are easier to find than ever.

An a cappella major, or a cappella college classes would help in the fight against mediocrity. Imagine if you will, a recent college graduate who has had 3 dedicated semesters of a cappella arranging, covering everything from medleys to barbershop, 2 semesters of recording techniques covering everything from tracking to mixing (not mastering because there just wasn’t enough time to squeeze it in), a full semester of vocal percussion techniques and live sound, a comprehensive knowledge of contemporary a cappella history, and seven semesters of training in pop vocal styles.

I imagine if a college began churning out students like that, the fight against mediocrity would be more evenly matched.

3) Ensembles for College Credit

When a college includes a dedicated a cappella ensemble as part of the course offerings (as they do in many colleges such as Wright State, Tiffin, or UCD), it sends a clear message that a cappella is considered to be a legitimate style of singing.

Let’s take the age-old Pentatonix discussion: Pentatonix, and Ben Bram, wanted to be known in the music industry as a band. Not an a cappella group…a band that just happened to use no instruments. Their desire to send a message was clear: "A cappella is as legitimate a musical style as pop, hip-hop, or heavy metal." The unique characteristic that this particular group sang without instruments was less important than the fact that they SAAYNG. (pronounced “sang” with extreme emphasis on daaaammmmmnnnnn!!!)

They have made many strides in this endeavor. Now, it’s education’s turn. To truly legitimize a cappella music as an art form equal to classical choral music, educational institutions must transform it into a credit-worthy ensemble, under the umbrella of the music program.

4) Better for Beginners

I teach a for-credit a cappella ensemble where I work. The ensemble is unique for three reasons: one, we exclusively sing contemporary a cappella arrangements from a variety of arrangers, two, it is a non-auditioned ensemble so anyone can join, and three it is made up of mostly beginning singers who can’t even identify a treble clef, let alone sight read.

By the end of the semester (or more likely two consecutive semesters), several changes have occurred: The students can sight read, but only in a stepwise direction, the students have learned the basics of pop vocal production, the students have sung complicated, syncopated rhythms, and the students have freely improvised over a simple chord structure. True, none of these advancements are at an expert level, but the change from day one to the end is significant, and I believe the unique characteristics of chosen a cappella arrangements contribute to it:

A. I choose arrangements where the background voices serve as chordal accompaniment so that the voice leading is simple and stepwise.

B. I choose arrangements where the pitches are almost identical, but the rhythms are very challenging and fun to sing, requiring a high level of concentration and internal counting.

C. I choose arrangements with repetitive chord progressions so that the students can have the freedom to improvise a section.

D. I choose arrangements with a limited range so that I can demonstrate healthy chest singing and the transition from chest voice to head voice.

What do you think? Does a cappella belong in the school curriculum?

Marc Silverberg

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Monday, September 11, 2017

Where Do I Sing?

One of the biggest challenges of being in a cappella group (in my opinion) is finding and landing a gig. A cappella has the distinct advantage of being portable and adjustable- the group can basically go anywhere and fit in almost any space (assuming they aren't using microphones).

However, a cappella has the distinct disadvantage of being insanely dorky, shunned by the traditional choral community, and in need of amplification, whether that be from the acoustical environment or with sound equipment.

These disadvantages may seem overwhelming but fear not. A cappella groups can sing in more places than you realize...

Allow me to list 100 places where an a cappella group can find a gig:

1) Be an opening act for another group

2) Local television appearances

3) Radio appearances

4) Sporting events

5) College a cappella shows

6) Public school concerts

7) Workshop demonstrations

8) A cappella festivals

9) Local theatres

10) Nightclubs

11) Corporate gigs

12) Private parties

13) Amusement parks

14) Specialty fairs

15) In the studio

16) Weddings

17) Funerals

18) Private shows for one or two people

19) Restaurants

20) Gigsalad.com

21) Charity events

22) Religious houses of worship

23) Marathons

24) Caroling door-to-door

25) Caroling door-to-door on a day that isn’t Christmas

26) Music festivals that are for voices

27) sonicbids.com

28) gigmasters.com

29) Family gatherings

30) ACDA festivals

31) NAfME festivals

32) Your local music organization’s festival

33) Post on Youtube

34) Post on Dailymotion

35) Post on Vimeo

36) Career fairs

37) Libraries

38) Public parks

39) 4^th of July festivals

40) Pet adoption places

41) Music stores

42) Open Mic Night

43) Comic conventions

44) Other conventions

45) Planetariums

46) Museums

47) Malls

48) Famous landmarks

49) Cruise ships

50) Movie theatres before the movie starts

51) Country clubs

52) Local sports games

53) Zoos

54) Comedy clubs

55) Casinos

56) Outlet malls

57) Bowling alleys

58) Private classes

59) Cocktail hours

60) Wineries

61) Tastings

62) Camps

63) Flea markets

64) Farmer’s markets

65) Ski resorts

66) Beaches

67) Boardwalks

68) Playgrounds

69) Fashion shows

70) Gigfinder.com

71) Mini golf courses

72) Botanical gardens

73) Penitentiaries (Don’t laugh…it’s been done)

74) Boy scout meetings

75) Girl scout meetings

76) Fraternity houses

77) Sorority houses

78) Showcases

79) Tournaments

80) Another country

81) Another island

82) Magic shows

83) Aquariums

84) Monuments

85) Gift shops

86) Auctions

87) Veterans Hospitals

88) Any hospital

89) Nursing homes

90) Assisted living centers

91) Banks

92) Rooftops

93) Public pools

94) Rec centers

95) Gymnasiums

96) Game rooms

97) Arcades

98) Proposals

99) Hallways

100) Make your own damn concert

There. Now you have no excuse.

But wait! There's more!

I would argue that finding and booking a gig is as important, if not MORE important than rehearsing whatever score you're working on right now. You NEED to spend time hunting for gigs.

I firmly believe that if the group does not have an upcoming gig, there is no reason to practice.

That's not saying there's no reason to meet/hang out/sing together and improvise. But as far as practicing and perfecting scores, a live performance is the main motivator.

How do you find gigs? Here are some ideas:

1) Gig Committee

Assign 2-3 people from your group to be part of the gig committee. The SOLE PURPOSE of the committee is to do the legwork on finding and booking gigs. And yes...it requires work. Gigs don't fall out of the sky like cupcakes in my recurring dreams.

2) Gig-finding Party

Assign part or all of one rehearsal for researching, finding, and booking gigs. It's a lot of hard, annoying work, so anything you can do to make it more fun should be encouraged.

3) Hire a Manager

My group has discussed this option in the past. The advantage of a manager is that he/she takes care of all that annoying work so you can focus on singing. The disadvantage is, of course, money. Plus, professional managers probably aren't sure where to book an a cappella group.

Is there someone you know personally, whom you can hire (pay a small fee) to be your unofficial manager? I know if someone gave me money, I'd work much harder for them.

4) Gig Websites

Websites like Reverbnation, Gig Salad, and others charge a monthly fee for membership. In return, the company frequently contacts you about possible gigs. Yes, you have to do the follow-up leg work (calling, texting, begging, crying) but the difficulty of finding the gig is made much easier.

Find a gig. Do it. Now.

Marc Silverberg

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