(no subject)
When I first got to band camp, one of the major approaches during the inside music rehearsals really grabbed my attention. I was very impressed by the cleverness of the idea as well as the effectiveness of the method. The practice to which I am referring is that of the band singing. In high school, my band did a little bit of singing like during warm-up exercises, but not really any other time. It didn't seem to show much of an effect. Here, it is clear that it has made a huge difference in intonation, tone, musicality, and memory/knowledge of a particular instrument part. This is amazing to me. I play the piccolo better, including better in tune, than I ever have before. The task of tuning to other piccolos during a song is not as difficult or strenuous as it would have been had I not been introduced to this singing concept.
I wonder why I never thought of or about this before. It makes sense now that I examine it. Choirs many times use accompaniment with their songs, and often it keeps them in tune as long as the accompaniment is tonal, and not something like a non-tonal percussion instrument. Some choirs even rely on the accompaniment (let's just say the piano since it's the main form) to keep from falling or rising in pitch, though the former is much more common. Also, for singers to learn their parts, they play the pitches on the piano, and imitate them. Good singers learn to listen to other singers when they sing to find the exact pitches they are supposed to be on so that everyone sings in tune.
Relating this to band, it makes sense that the band should be able to sing their parts as a way to know them better and get them better in tune. The band members ("bandos") would listen to other people on their part as everyone sang so that they would be in tune within the section as well as with the rest of the band. Singing parts also helps with remembering them due to reinforcement. I was completely awed by the fact that during one of the first music rehearsals, during Henry V, the whole band sang in at least 8 part harmony for quite a few measures, holding their parts and staying in tune, even with the chord changes. It can take a choir instructor quite a bit of time to get singers to do that. It's just so impressive!
I wonder why I never thought of or about this before. It makes sense now that I examine it. Choirs many times use accompaniment with their songs, and often it keeps them in tune as long as the accompaniment is tonal, and not something like a non-tonal percussion instrument. Some choirs even rely on the accompaniment (let's just say the piano since it's the main form) to keep from falling or rising in pitch, though the former is much more common. Also, for singers to learn their parts, they play the pitches on the piano, and imitate them. Good singers learn to listen to other singers when they sing to find the exact pitches they are supposed to be on so that everyone sings in tune.
Relating this to band, it makes sense that the band should be able to sing their parts as a way to know them better and get them better in tune. The band members ("bandos") would listen to other people on their part as everyone sang so that they would be in tune within the section as well as with the rest of the band. Singing parts also helps with remembering them due to reinforcement. I was completely awed by the fact that during one of the first music rehearsals, during Henry V, the whole band sang in at least 8 part harmony for quite a few measures, holding their parts and staying in tune, even with the chord changes. It can take a choir instructor quite a bit of time to get singers to do that. It's just so impressive!