I’ve seen several online videos recently of choirs using simple, fun songs as warm-ups.
It looks harmless enough. But some of these songs have dubious content, which I’m sure the choirs weren’t aware of. Even so, it’s our responsibility to check sources thoroughly.
Somebody recently bought my arrangement of the Welsh national anthem, but wanted the lyrics in English.
I put a call out to see if anybody had an English translation which would fit the music and got quite a lot of flak!
Since the Russian invasion began a few weeks ago, many choirs have been showing their support for Ukraine by singing Ukrainian songs.
However, many have been sung in English translation, rather than the Ukrainian original. Why might that be?
When Russia recently invaded Ukraine there was an outpouring of support and solidarity. From money and arms, to thoughts and prayers.
Many choirs have chosen to sing Ukrainian songs as a demonstration of their support. How does this help?
We often think of traditional songs from other cultures as just “out there” for the taking, to be used freely.
But every song was written by somebody, and every song is rooted in a particular culture and context. This hasn’t always been understood or acknowledged by those who have carried the songs into different contexts.
How important is it that the words in songs mean something, or can they be meaningless sounds?
Many choirs sing songs in languages they don’t understand, so does it matter whether lyrics are in a real language?
This is the last in my series of how to honour the source of a song.
I’m going to sum up briefly give an overview of the process and point you to some further resources which might help.
I’ve written before that even if it’s a folk song, somebody wrote it.
The identity of that individual may have been lost over time, but to honour the song, you still have the responsibility to try to find out who it was.
Just because we can sing a song, doesn’t mean that we should sing it.
It is important to honour the cultural and historical origins of a song so we know whether it’s appropriate to sing it in a different context or not.
When using songs from cultures different to ours, we have the responsibility to teach or perform them as accurately as we can.
We honour the song by being as authentic as possible when pronouncing the words, and reproducing the melody and harmonies.
When you learn a song — especially if it’s by ear — you take on trust what you’re told about the song’s meaning. This is particularly relevant if the song is in a foreign language.
But meaning is a slippery thing. Incorrect meanings get passed on like Chinese whispers. Some inexperienced song teachers even make stuff up if they’re not sure (see Bele mama from last week’s post).
When honouring the origins of any song, you need to be as precise as you can about where the song came from.
It might be hard to find out, but there is no excuse for being lazy and saying something like “This song is from Africa.” Here are some things to consider when tracing a song’s origins.
Many songs get handed down by ear and labelled ‘traditional’ without any clear understanding of where they come from.
It’s important to honour the source of all songs and the cultures they originate from. Here’s a guide to the things that you need to consider.
Joseph Jordania has outlined nine different types of polyphonic singing in his book Choral singing in human evolution.
I will be working through each type trying to give a simplified explanation and some musical examples.
This week it’s synthesis polyphony, the last of the nine types of polyphonic singing.
Joseph Jordania has outlined nine different types of polyphonic singing in his book Choral singing in human evolution.
I will be working through each type trying to give a simplified explanation and some musical examples.
This week it’s chordal polyphony.
Joseph Jordania has outlined nine different types of polyphonic singing in his book Choral singing in human evolution.
I will be working through each type trying to give a simplified explanation and some musical examples.
This week it’s overlapping polyphony.
Joseph Jordania has outlined nine different types of polyphonic singing in his book Choral singing in human evolution.
I will be working through each type trying to give a simplified explanation and some musical examples. This week it’s heterophonic polyphony.
Joseph Jordania has outlined nine different types of polyphonic singing in his book Choral singing in human evolution.
I will be working through each type trying to give a simplified explanation and some musical examples.
This week it’s ostinato polyphony.
Joseph Jordania has outlined nine different types of polyphonic singing in his book Choral singing in human evolution.
I will be working through each type trying to give a simplified explanation and some musical examples. This week it’s contrapuntal polyphony.
