Dede Nibler came to Australia to work with
choruses all over the country and we
were lucky enough to have her in
Wollongong for a day.
Dede has been a member of Sweet Adelines International
since 1976 and has
been a musical director for over 30 years.
She is a member
of the International Faculty and has achieved
Master Director status with 2
choruses. In her other life Dede worked in
public school education as a music
teacher and administrator.
She has been actively involved with the Young Women
in Harmony program
and has sung baritone in a quartet on the International
stage 9 times.
On Sunday 3rd August our chorus shared an afternoon
workshop
with Out of the Blue.
Here she is looking ageless ...
Words from Dede
We learn heaps over a cuppa
Smiling faces
Out of the Blue - about to perform
WHC an attentive audience ... Now its our turn
Here we are all together
When Singing Is and Isn’t Barbershop by Dede Nibler
“I’m a singer. So what’s up? I’ve been singing in my church
choir forever, and
I was in the Community Women’s chorus for a few years. I
also sang in the
school choir — hey, I’m experienced. How can singing in a
Sweet Adeline chorus
be that much different than any other chorus?”
Well, it is! On the surface, singing seems like it would be
pretty standard,
but barbershop singing can take us to a new and different
musical place.
Apples and Oranges
Many of us have a history of choral singing either at the
school or community level.
While these singing experiences are important and
valuable, they do not lay a
complete musical foundation for barbershop singing.
Many classical singers
experience a shock (Yes, I mean shock) when barbershop
style greets a non-barbershop
singer. All that rubato on slow songs, no crisp
consonants (you don’t want a
healthy T on the end of the word?), turning of
diphthongs, reading bass clef notes and
the melody is where? More than a few
women who visit our choruses will be
mightily confused during the first several
rehearsals. As we better understand the
uniqueness of our art form, we can do
two things: teach it to our guests and
singers and sing it better!
Knowledge is
power!
Voicing
Let’s begin with the first confusion — for those of us who
grew up singing classical
literature, having the melody sung by an inner voice
is “just plain old wrong.” The
melody is always on top! Sopranos always get the
chosen part. Wrong — not in
barbershop! In barbershop, it is the lower voices
on the treble clef, the soprano/high
alto vocal range, which get the prize:
they get to sing lead, the melody part. This may
throw a monkey’s wrench at
those sopranos who must sing light harmony, in tune,
and with a controlled
vibrato. And a word of caution — not all sopranos can sing
tenor, the top
barbershop part. The timbre of the voice may not be sweet enough,
the voice may
be too heavy, or the vibrato may be a bit uncontrollable.
To blend with the
other three voices, the tenor has to float, but be able to sting l
ike a bee
when her notes call for it.
Women who sing bass and baritone know that this type of
singing just doesn’t exist
in the classical world. I never felt like a true
vocal artist until I sang baritone. This is
the reaction of many women who come
to barbershop from other voice parts in
classical choral ensembles. As an alto,
I never really felt challenged — but as a
baritone? Many bass singers
originally sing men’s tenor and they find a home in
barbershop. Many leads
don’t necessarily possess the range to sing soprano, but are
born entertainers
and feel a strong connection with the melody. Tenors might have
found their
voice to be too light to sing a soprano solo, but really shine as a
barbershop
tenor. That is part of the satisfaction of the barbershop genre – singers
finally feel like they have found the voice part that is right for them.
Balance
The balancing of the four voice parts is one of the main
differences between singing
barbershop and classical women’s music. A classical
cone shows all parts, 1st soprano,
2nd soprano, 1st alto, and 2nd alto, sung as
four equal voices. This also applies to
classical mixed voicing, SATB (soprano,
alto, tenor, bass). Since most classical
repertoire has the melody in the 1st
soprano, the other three parts function as
supporting voice parts to the
soprano. Barbershop coning is different. A few differences
are: The bass must
provide a strong foundation, the baritones must fill around the leads,
the
leads must command authority and the tenors may not overpower the leads.
Only
in barbershop do voice parts have actual musical responsibilities that must be
accomplished before the famous lock and ring of chords happens.
Blend
Blend requires greater emphasis in barbershop than in
classical ensembles. Voices
must not stick out of the unit. That’s why a common
vocal production is important for
barbershop singers. Along with having good
breath management and an active soft
palate (lifted but not stretched), we
learn to sing in the masque to make those chords
ring! There is a big
difference between a voice produced with the sound hitting the soft
palate
(like singing into a pillow) and a voice hitting the hard palate (like singing
in the shower).
We practice finding the hum/ring/buzz spot in order to
increase
the resonance factor and hopefully, the ring of overtones.
Classical ensembles,
more often than not, are not trying to create overtones.
Their sound beam is
placed farther back in the mouth cavity; therefore, overtones
are not produced.
Other Musical Emphases
Other musical factors that are required to attain the
barbershop sound are: breath
management so that phrases do not end prematurely;
physical involvement/energy
(most classical ensembles do not move around, smile
much, or look like they’re
entertaining performers); tuning conducive to ringing chords (this could be the subject of
entertaining performers); tuning conducive to ringing chords (this could be the subject of
another article); articulation
that does not interrupt the flow of sound with hard
consonants (we have
imploded consonants, not exploded); pure vowel sounds
and turned diphthongs;
voices with controlled vibratos that allow the chords to ring;
and voices that
are free but energised and resonant.
Now What?
The Sweet Adeline family has international and regional
faculty members, coaches,
directors, section leaders and choreographers who
understand barbershop. One of the
most important things a chorus can do is to
use as many of these talented people as
much as possible and on a regular
basis.
All members need to attend regional music schools. These
events are planned with
the members in mind and provide great education in the
singing of barbershop.
Most of all, however, all of us should make a commitment to
improving our
personal barbershop technique. Until we decide to play by the
barbershop rules,
the results will be mixed and, perhaps, disappointing. The
quartets and choruses
on the move are those who dedicate themselves to those
musical principles, which
make barbershop different than any other kind of
singing in the world.
Barbershop can be a most challenging and rewarding
experience!
