John has been singing in a barbershop quartet for twenty years. He and his buds love the sound of rich chords and resonate tag lines.
Recently his quartet went to a weekend of coaching and performance. He was pleased that the experts who give guidance to international winners are also willing to help amateurs like him. The
first question the coach asked his quartet was simple enough.
"What is your goal?"
They had no answer. They just got together to sing, and had never really thought more about it.
Unimpressed, the coach asked another question.
"What do you do in your practices?" John and the guys looked at each other.
"Well, some of us tend to get
there late, but when we all are together someone suggests a song and we start to sing it."
"So you do not know ahead of time what you are going to work on?"
"Well, no."
"How does the practice go then?" He went on.
"Actually we usually have to go over the words and notes, because not all of us tend to know them." This was uncomfortable.
The coach told a
story.
"Once I was coaching a quartet at a competition. In the next room was the quartet that went on that year to win the gold medal. For thirty five minutes, I could hear them matching vowel sounds. No songs, just listening to each other and creating the same ooooooohs, and eeeeeeeehs."
Thirty five minutes of vowels? I am sot sure I would have the attention span for thirty five
seconds.
The coach described what he meant by having a goal. There is a quartet that has won many contests called Old School. Their goal is to sing the familiar songs, with no embellishments, and to communicate the feelings deep within those melodies. John heard them sing and was moved to tears, even though he has sung those very words himself hundreds of times.
The coach described what an intentional rehearsal might
entail.
"Know ahead of time what you are going to work on, so that each of you can prepare. All of you should know the words and notes. Cold. Have an idea of what aspect of the song you are working on each time, and articulate it to each other."
John went on to tell me about the performances of some college quartets that he had heard a few years ago. They were remarkably better this time. They had been getting coaching, and it
showed.
Actually John was very happy about the work they had done, in spite of the discomfort. He believes they will have a better focus, and their music will improve dramatically.
I do not sing competitively. Ten years ago I took voice lessons, but after about five sessions of her telling me all the things I was doing wrong, I quit. My singing has not improved at all, but that is a coincidence.
I do make
quilts. For awhile I entered them in quilt shows, so people could enjoy looking at them. One year, I decided to check the little box on the entry form called "For judging." Great! Now I was going to get to hear from the judges about how beautiful my quilts were. But instead, I got a feedback form criticizing my points and miters. Hmmmph. I like my quilts just the way they are. I never checked the judging box again.
My quilting skills have stabilized.... or flat
lined.
John and I have coached couples as they try to talk with each other. We can help them see patterns that are not working, or encourage them to resist accusations. Sometimes it may feel intrusive to have a witness to our mistakes. Or it can be helpful to finally see them.
We are clear about our goal. It is to help couples communicate the feelings deep within their vows.
whatever you
want.
