From emillign at oakleaf.com Tue Dec 9 20:24:57 2008 From: emillign at oakleaf.com (Eileen Milligan) Date: Tue Dec 9 20:33:01 2008 Subject: [Songfest] Fwd: Food for thought... Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20081209202331.02d6cb80@mail.oakleaf.com> > From NPR's "This I Believe", an essay by Brian Eno. (Broadcast on Sunday > Nov. 23.) > >---------------------------------------- > >I believe in singing. I believe in singing together. > >A few years ago a friend and I realized that we both loved singing but >didn't do much of it. So we started a weekly a capella group with just >four members. After a year we started inviting other people to join. We >didn't insist on musical experience ? in fact some of our members had >never sung before. Now the group has ballooned to around 15 or 20 people. > >I believe that singing is the key to long life, a good figure, a stable >temperament, increased intelligence, new friends, super self-confidence, >heightened sexual attractiveness and a better sense of humor. A recent >long-term study conducted in Scandinavia sought to discover which >activities related to a healthy and happy later life. Three stood out: >camping, dancing and singing. > >Well, there are physiological benefits, obviously: You use your lungs in a >way that you probably don't for the rest of your day, breathing deeply and >openly. And there are psychological benefits, too: Singing aloud leaves >you with a sense of levity and contentedness. And then there are what I >would call "civilizational benefits." When you sing with a group of >people, you learn how to subsume yourself into a group consciousness >because a capella singing is all about the immersion of the self into the >community. That's one of the great feelings ? to stop being me for a >little while and to become us. That way lies empathy, the great social virtue. > >Well here's what we do in an evening: We get some drinks, some snacks, >some sheets of lyrics and a strict starting time. We warm up a bit first. > >The critical thing turns out to be the choice of songs. The songs that >seem to work best are those based around the basic chords of blues and >rock and country music. You want songs that are word-rich, but also >vowel-rich because it's on the long vowels sounds of a song such as "Bring >It On Home To Me" ("You know I'll alwaaaaays be your slaaaaave"), that's >where your harmonies really express themselves. And when you get a lot of >people singing harmony on a long note like that, it's beautiful. > >But singing isn't only about harmonizing pitch like that. It has two other >dimensions. The first one is rhythm. It's thrilling when you get the >rhythm of something right and you all do a complicated rhythm together: >"Oh, when them cotton balls get a-rotten, you can't pick very much >cotton." So when 16 or 20 people get that dead right together at a fast >tempo that's very impressive. But the other thing that you have to >harmonize besides pitch and rhythm is tone. To be able to hit exactly the >same vowel sound at a number of different pitches seems unsurprising in >concept, but is beautiful when it happens. > >So I believe in singing to such an extent that if I were asked to redesign >the British educational system, I would start by insisting that group >singing become a central part of the daily routine. I believe it builds >character and, more than anything else, encourages a taste for >co-operation with others. This seems to be about the most important thing >a school could do for you. > >----------------------------------- >_______________________________________________ >Schola Cantorum Singers Mailing List >singers@scholacantorum.org From emillign at oakleaf.com Tue Dec 9 22:12:59 2008 From: emillign at oakleaf.com (Eileen Milligan) Date: Tue Dec 9 22:13:16 2008 Subject: [Songfest] Singing in December Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20081209220830.02d98de0@mail.oakleaf.com> Hi all, I don't usually send out notices about Schola Cantorum's events, but thought some of you might be interested in the Christmas Carol Sing-Along or the Messiah Sing-Along. Come Home for the Holidays http://www.scholacantorum.org/sched0809.php#holidays with Schola Cantorum Saturday and Sunday, December 13 & 14 then Join Schola for the Bay Area's oldest Messiah Sing-Along (http://www.scholacantorum.org/sings.php) Monday, December 15, 7:30 pm Mt. View Center for the Performing Arts (http://www.scholacantorum.org/mvcpa.php) Love to sing Christmas carols? Join Schola on Sunday, December 21, at 3:00 pm for our Christmas Carol Sing-Along (http://www.scholacantorum.org/sings-carols.php) Los Altos United Methodist Church (http://www.scholacantorum.org/laumc.php) Eileen (Songfest = Karaoke Unplugged) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.npcconsult.com/pipermail/songfest/attachments/20081209/8ac2f4ad/attachment.html From uggla at earthlink.net Wed Dec 24 07:39:03 2008 From: uggla at earthlink.net (Joyce Uggla) Date: Wed Dec 24 07:40:54 2008 Subject: [Songfest] New Year's Eve In-Reply-To: <959cc8713cd5fafdbd07520488e5791d@sbcglobal.net> References: <166903.29666.qm@web81801.mail.mud.yahoo.com><4951A586.6010906@rulise.net><1f18d19d0812232116m401e7e66v41879ea58c37bbba@mail.gmail.com> <959cc8713cd5fafdbd07520488e5791d@sbcglobal.net> Message-ID: Please join us for New Year's Eve. Singing, dancing, games, and conversation. 8:00 -- ??? Bring family, friends, songbooks, dances, and food to share. Joyce, Dave, and Jordan Uggla 2061 El Sereno Ave. Los Altos, CA 94024 650-965-9169 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.npcconsult.com/pipermail/songfest/attachments/20081224/e315e7bd/attachment.htm From trudkin at msn.com Mon Dec 29 14:44:54 2008 From: trudkin at msn.com (Tom Rudkin) Date: Mon Dec 29 15:54:10 2008 Subject: [Songfest] Fw: Nicky sings the blues Message-ID: I'm sure we could come up with some new songfest material from the followingideas :-)----- Original Message ----- From: "Caroline Lambert" Subject: Fw: Nicky sings the blues *Subject:* Nicky sings the blues HOW TO SING THE BLUES: If you are new to Blues music, or like it but never really understood the why and wherefores, here are some very fundamental rules: 1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning..." 2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town." 3.The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes - sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher and she weigh 500 pound." 4.The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch...ain't no way out. 5.Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft andstate-sponsored motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die. 6.Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis. 7.Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or anywhere in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Memphis, and Nawlins are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in any place that don't get rain. 8.A man with male pattern baldness ain't the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg 'cause you were skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chomping on it is. 9.You can't have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster. 10.Good places for the Blues a. highway b. jailhouse c. empty bed d. bottom of a whiskey glass 11.Bad places for the Blues a. Nordstrom's b. gallery openings c. Ivy League institutions d. golf courses 12.No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old person, and you slept in it. 13.Do you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if: a. you're older than dirt b. you're blind c. you shot a man in Memphis d. you can't be satisfied No, if: a. you have all your teeth b. you were once blind but now can see c. the man in Memphis lived d. you have a 401K or trust fund 14.Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the Blues. Sonny Liston could have. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the Blues. 15.If you ask for water and your darlin' gives you gasoline, it's the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are: a. cheap wine b. whiskey or bourbon c. muddy water d. black coffee The following are NOT Blues beverages: a. Perrier b. Chardonnay c. Snapple d. Slim Fast 16.If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So are the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broken-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction. 17.Some Blues names for women: a. Sadie b. Big Mama c. Bessie d. Fat River Dumpling 18.Some Blues names for men: a. Joe b. Willie c. Little Willie d. Big Willie 19.Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Jennifer, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis . 20.Blues Name Starter Kit a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Pegleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.") 21.And I don't care how tragic your life is, if anyone in your family plays soccer, you can't sing the blues. 22. Blues euphemisms (among 1000's) for "Doin' It" a. wing dang doodle b. bakin' bread with your damper down c. mule kickin' in the stall d. pattin' the poodle e. rockin' and/or rollin' f. shakin' g. changin' the lock on the door. h. diggin' potatoes . -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.npcconsult.com/pipermail/songfest/attachments/20081229/b9b8555f/attachment.html