CHECKLISTFORMUSICSELECTION(Bailey,Diamond,Gooch,McNeill,Barrows,Breidart)ToriPostmaRatethefollowingfrom1-5with1beingweakand5beingstrong.SongTitle:______________________________________________________________Interestingmelodyline?

_____Eachvoicepartperforminginheroptimalrangemostofthetime?Lead____Bass_____Bari______Tenor______

_____Smooth,singablepartlineforLead_____Bass_____Bari_____Tenor__________Strongmusicalclimax?Balladlyricscreatetensionforemotionalimpactleadingtoastrongmusicalclimax?_____Strongintrothatsetsupthestoryline?_____StrongTagthatreinforcestheending?_____Goodpotentialfordynamics?_____Effectivetempopossibilities?_____Potentialforeffectivechoreography/characterization?_____Feworsimplekeychanges?_____Clearmessage/tellsaninterestingstory?_____Messageappropriatetotheperforminggroup?_____Physicalenergydemandsmatchthegroup’sabilities?_____Rhythmicanddynamicpatternsmatchthewords?_____Riseandfallofthemelodyfitsthelyrics?_____Embellishmentsaddinterest,butdonothindertheperformance?_____Challengesinthevoicepartsmatchstrengthsofthegroup?_____Chordvoicingsstrong?_____Strongbarbershopflavor?UseinRepertoire:ContestBallad______ContestUptune______ShowOpener_____ShowThemerelated_______Showfinale_____Swingballad_____Comedy/novelty_____HeavyBallad______DrivingUptune______Choreographyshowcase_______Solo_____Eightpart______Signaturesong_____

DIFFICULTYFACTORSinWOMEN’sARRANGEMENTS1.Rangeforeachvoicepart-besureitfallsintothe“comfortzone”Lead:BbbelowmiddleCtoBbabovemiddleCBass:EbbelowmiddleCtoF/GabovemiddleCBari:BbbelowmiddleCtoBbabovemiddleCTenor:EabovemiddleCtoFaboveCprime.2.Smoothnessofthemelodyline.Avoidwideintervaljumpsintheleadpart,particularlyinfastpassages.WeexpecttheBasstojumparound,buttoomuchwillcausedifficulty.Wideintervaljumpsmaketuning,tempoandsyncherrorsprobable.3.SpreadVoicings(twooctavetypechords)Theyarebeautiful,andoccasionallyaregreatforvarietyandbalance,buttheyarehardtobalanceandsingwithstrength.4.Checkthebaritoneinrelationshiptotheleadline.Youdon’twanttoseethebaritoneconsistentlyabovetheleadthroughout.Forbestbalance(cone)theyshouldbebelowtheleadoramixtureofaboveandbelow.5.Breathingplaces.Besuretherearesome!6.VoiceLeading.Singthrougheachpartseparately.Eachshouldflowsmoothlyandbereasonableeasyforthesingertohearandexecute.Baritonesaremoreusedto“illogical”intervalsthantheotherparts,andcanhandlethem.7.EnergyRequirements.Besurestaminaoftheensemblecanhandlethearrangement….uptunemedleyscantaxstrength.

8.Thekeyofthesong.Somekeysarejustmoredifficult.AnythinginCforexample….mosteasilysungkeysforoursingers’voices:Ab,Bb,Eb,andF9.KeyChanges.Canbeexciting,buttheypresentchallenges.10.Accidentals.Themoresharpsorflatsthatoccuroutsideofthekeysignature,themoredifficultthemusic.11.Lyrics.Lookforsingableconsonants.MNLNG…..Somesoundstopperconsonants…TCHKandScancausedifficultyinfastmovingpassages.Lookforopenvowelsoundsononchordsthatwillbeheld.EEandOOaredifficulttosingwithqualityonhighvoicedchords.ToriPostmaMusicSelectionCredittoVickiUhr

TRAPSHOOTINGANDMUSICSELECTION

ToriPostmaTLC2016Trapsinthearrangement1.AnchoringAnchorsarenotesthathelpthesingertotunesuccessivechordsinaprogression.Anchorscanbe:Themelody,repeatednotesinanypart,4thand5thintervalsinthebasspart.Lackofanchorsinaphraseoftenleadstodifficultytuning.2.LeadlineintervalsArangyleadlineaffectstheabilityoftheaverageleadsingertoperformwell.Oftenthisissuecanproduceintervalproblemsintheotherpartsaswell,causingerrorsinTempo,tuningandsynchronization.3.TessituraofthesongIfpartlinesplacethesingerconsistentlyatthetoporbottomofherrangeitwillcausedifficulty.Ifthearrangementisvoicedtoolow,theresultwillbea“muddy”sound,andtoohighwillproduceashallow,or“soprano”typesound,inappropriateforBarbershop.4.SpreadVoicingsWhilespreadvoicings(beyondthe10th)arebeautiful,theyshouldbeusedappropriatelyandincombinationwithclosedvoicings.Theaveragefemalebarbershopsingercannotsustainthekindofvocaloutputcalledfor,whenspreadvoicingsareusedthroughoutasong.Thisiswhymen’sarrangementstransposedforwomen’svoicesseldomwork.5.BaritoneabovetheLeadArrangementswhichplacethebariconsistentlyabovetheleadinterferewiththenaturalstructureoftheCONE,resultinginalackofdepthofsound.Whenweseethiskindofproblem,itisusuallyduetooneoftwothings:Thestructureofthesongbeingarrangedissuchthatitisnotagoodcandidateforwomen’sbarbershop,orithasbeenarrangedinthewrongkey.6.DivorcedVoicingsChordvoicingswhichgiveanytwoadjacentpartsanintervalofmorethanoneoctave,aregenerallyunattractivetolistento,producingan“empty”sound,andmoreoftenthannot,causebalanceproblemswithinthecone.7.PoorVoiceleading/IllogicalintervalsAnygivenpartlineshouldflowsmoothly.Avoidlargeintervaljumps,andbereasonablyeasyforthesingertohear.Thebasspartincludesintervalsofa4thor5th,sothesearenottheintervalstowhichwerefer.Illogicalintervalsaremostoftenfoundinthebaritonepart;agoodbaritonehastheabilityto“hear”awkwardintervals.Tenorstypicallyhavedifficultywithwideintervaljumps.Agoodarrangementkeepstheuseofillogicalintervalstoaminimum.8.Toomuchharmonicchange(overarranging)Particularyinuptunes,thiswillcausesyncandtempoproblems.

9.HarmonicAnticipationChangingthechordbeforeitislogicallycalledforinasong.Harmonicchangemostoftenoccursatapulsepoint,suchasonthefirstbeatofameasure.Themostcommonanticipationerrormakesthechangeonechordtoosoon,justbeforethebarline.NOTalwaysavoidable,butsingerswill“stubtheirtoes”onthese.10.Noplacetobreathe!Agoodarrangementshouldhavethebreathsasrestsinthemusic.Thiswaythesingerknowsthelengthofthebreathanditavoidssyncherrors,orlackofstamina.11.ProsodyTheinappropriateaccentofasyllableasitrelatestothepulseofthesong.Example:havingtosing“harMOny”ratherthan“HARmony”12.Lyric/harmonicincongruityThishappenswhentheharmonicplanofthesongdoesnotmatchtheinterpretiveplan.Example:Theuseofclosely-voicedchordshighinthesingers’rangeswouldcallforvolume.Usingthosechordsforaphraseexpressingtendernessorintimacywouldbecounter-productive.“Stair-stepspreads”bythebass/tenor,orbari/tenorlinescallfordynamicgrowth,andthesingerwillfighthavingtoreininonsuchapassage.13.VowelsingabilityMismatchedvowelsandvoicingsmakeitdifficultforagivenparttosustainatonewithquality.Example:AlongeeevowelonahighGhangerfortenors,orpeakofthesongnotfeaturingasingableopenvowel.Partssustainingdifferingvowelsthroughechosorembellishmentscanalsocausedissonances.14.ParallelmotionAllpartsmovinginthesamedirectionfromonechordtothenext.Thiscausestuningproblemsandoftena“lock”isneverattained.Atleastonepartshouldstayonthesametoneasinthepreviouschord,ormoveinacontrarydirectionfromtheotherparts.Notalwaysavoidable.Oneexceptiontotherulesofparallelmotion:Abarbershop7thchord,tightlyvoiced,movingchromaticallyup/downahalfstep,isgenerallyeasilyheardandhandledbythesinger.15.CrossrelationshipsUseofachromaticallyalteredtoneinapart,whereinthepreviouschordthattoneun-alteredwassungbyanothervoicepart.Confusing!!Example:IftheLeadsingsAflatinonechord,itwillbedifficultfortheBaritonetosingAnaturalinthenext.16.Pythagoreantuning.Ifthemelodyorthebasslineareconsistentlyonthe3rd,6thor7thscalestep,orhaveaplethoraofaccidentalsthroughout,thearrangementwillbedifficulttokeepintuneandinkey.CreditandthankstoVickiUhrBarbMcNeill