[From the Ontario District's newsletter, The Trillium, issue 59-03, July - September, 2005 , Waldo Redekop, editor.]
[Taken from the June/July issue of Peterborough Chapter’s Aces High Notes, Peter Chrisomalis, editor.]

Singing is thinking

— Turn up the burner

By Fred Rapson

This title is a quote from Bill Rashleigh of Wisconsin. Little did I know when chatting with Bill as we settled into our Guelph University rooms, that he would be our first presenter at Harmony College North. I’ll offer you a number of Rashleigh-isms to remind us of the key areas to look for as we sing.

“For proper dynamic level, sing what the director shows.

“Look good. Sing Better.

“Warming up is soooo important; 90 percent of what we sing is a vowel sound.

“For improved resonance. Note that air creates pitch. Take a water bottle and observe that less leads to more air which creates a fuller sound.

“Nasal muscles should be independently flexed — remember the barbershop greeting.

“The upper lip should act as a bell, not a damper.”

A favourite from Bill: “With increased complexity of what we sing, the brain goes into defib!” This was the message as we sang “Po-To-Lobe-Dominee. Po-To-Lobe-Dominee. Po-To-Lobe-Dominee,” and so on.

Let’s pucker, shall we? Say these expressions five times fast. Toy boat. Unique New York. Red leather, yellow leather.”

“Now give us the best ‘mah-me-mi-moe-moo’ you’ve ever sung.”

Other things we learned at Harmony College were:

• You cannot sing without an open heart.
• Vocal chords need stretching. Vocal chords will otherwise get tired fast.
• The song is the star, the quartet or chorus is the servant of the song.
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