Blue Ridge
Vocal Connection
In my last rehearsal, I struggled with a new problem; just knowing exactly where the heck we were in our musical score. My mentor Joe is typically by my side, but there were times when director Thomas hung out doing accompanying at the piano and Joe took over with the baton. So when I got lost, I had nowhere to turn, literally.
Musical scores are intensely complex, and each song seems to work with a similar but varying format. There are places in the song Delta Dawn, for example, that have five parallel sets of 5 lines for the various voices (S, S/A, A, and two for P). Bridge over Troubled Waters has five as well, but they’re different (One, Two, S/A, T/B, and Pno.). And five flats, constant, with more intermittent flats. And then it jumps from page to page with shocking frequency. Where the hell are we?
So I muddle along, singing when I can and then just humming when I can’t.
As my musical experience continues, it turns out that a friend is literally a world-class opera singer. Rob spent a career as an operatic headliner in Europe before coming home and now teaches voice. Susan suggested I ask him for voice lessons. Me? Teach me? Well, momma used to say, “It never hurts to ask; the worst they can say is ‘no’” So later this week, I’ll get my first private lesson from Rob.
Stay tuned.