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First of all, there is no such thing as "conducting" in Sacred Harp singing, only "keeping time" or "beating time" with the hand. "Beating" should not be considered as forceful, but more like the beating of a pendulum, a smooth motion which never stops except to change direction.
Second, there is no place for sudden or jerky movement or anything resembling a "tomahawk chop," only gentle motion: downward in the first part of a measure, upward during the second part (half or third of the measure, depending on the mood of time). The purpose is not to point at the ictus or beat, the way a conductor does, but to indicate which part of the measure we're in.
This is true for the leader, but even more true for those following the leader, who may keep time during the singing. Doing so, the front row tenors may help the altos, who may not be able to see the leaders hands well. Keeping time with the hands may indeed help the singers stay together. In any case, the motions should be smooth and modest.
I hope these suggestions will prove useful in your choir, and that you and some of your choristers may be able to attend Sacred Harp singings in Illinois, Missouri or Kentucky.
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Warren Steel mu...@olemiss.edu
Professor of Music Emeritus University of Mississippi
http://home.olemiss.edu/~mudws/
On May 20, 2022, at 6:55 PM, David Olson <da...@thirdculture.com> wrote:Dear Carbondale Maestro & Other Singers who have taken control of their personal musical destinies,I began singing fasola 2003 in Los Angeles, and by 2004 began to wonder about the appropriateness of the "Alabama Model" being applied without variation everywhere and anywhere.An utterly taboo topic, to raise this question...So I sat in the bass section singing, a missionary kid who learned hymns from adults trying to implant South Dakota-style rural church life in urban Japan, now singing with atheists having IQs of 145 and up trying to implant Alabama-type rural church singing in the world's capital city of narcissism, population 17 million.A source of humor perhaps, but every three years, fewer and fewer singers available to volunteer when time came for Los Angelesto host the All-California Convention at Angel's Gate."The floggings will continue until morale improves"The phrase became tiresome when we all had to volunteer for at least two tasks, and we developed stronger frontalis muscles for lifting our eyebrows as we volunteered for three, the same phrase being given by way of explanation, the taboo continuing to this very day.The "hatchet chop" might be a foe of the Alabama Model but an ally to the Carbondale Hollow Square. There must be at least one song in each tunebook that good-naturedly lends itself to being led in the manner to which tomahawkers are accustomed."When making a hatchet handle, the model is not far off."in the transmission of pre-modern skill sets, the less teaching, the more osmosis, the betterThe Alabama Model is useful as a point of reference, but if your singers glom onto something else, I think your choice is to become either a missionary of a foreign religion or a flexible tribal elder of I Belong To This Band Hallelujah.• maybe tomahawking is an asset by way of creating identity & in-jokes• maybe begin limiting the damage• " it works with this song, but not that one"The reference image for leading a song in fasola is not conducting a choir but driving a team of mules.If your mules decide to speed up because they know they're almost home, what are you going to do?David Olsonp.s. when high-IQ person repeats the same crude phrase year after year (we also need volunteers for the Regional) -- how can this not be an indicator that no real thought is going on?