"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee
Marian Anderson could sing. If anyone remembers her.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
I have to say, slightly off topic, that I am a bit taken back by the apparent racism that exist on this forum. Does it really matter what color the person singing is? Are white folk not just as guilty of fuggin' up the Anthem? I seem to recall a string of them that bobbled the words, forgot words, sung off key...
It's one of the hardest pieces of music in the world to get correct because it wasn't written correctly to begin with. It was a poem set to music, not lyrics written to notes. I am not giving them a pass on the personal liberties taken with it, but I will say the darkie comment is just plain sh*t.
It's true that a few here are very racist. However, there are many others who aren't so much total racists but are fighting back against the deep racism coming from the white house, news media, and Black Lives Matter. I've had the acquaintance of some very good black folks over the years but I highly resent what's now being crammed down our throats by the liberals and black racists.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
I have to say, slightly off topic, that I am a bit taken back by the apparent racism that exist on this forum.
As a person that tries not to be racist, they have been making it very hard the last several years, not to be. Our current President and several in the House and Senate have helped Him in this effort. I do think it is not appropriate for this site, but I just try to look past it and look at the good things. miles
I make a raciest joke from time to time, and I'll admit that sometimes raciest feelings come out, but I'd like to think my jokes aren't vicious. Of course there are people who are always looking for something to be offended by so they can pump up their crusade.
Turns out, there is an answer to that question and we have just the experts here on staff who can help us out. I interviewed Kenneth Slowik, the Director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society.
"It has a lot to do with the range," he said. "It's a very wide range. Basically, the notes are very high." Okay, fair enough, but how high are we talking?
"High f—it's traditionally sung in Bb major because going higher than that makes it hard for the altos and basses singing to get to the high note, and going lower makes it hard for the tenors and sopranos to manage," he said.
Educator Dan Holm, a tenor who frequently sings the Star-Spangled Banner for, and much better than, me during the Flag Folding Ceremony, agrees, "I'm always practicing the first part of the song to make sure I'm low enough, but still starting in a comfortable place so I can hit both the high and very lowest note. If I don't, I just switch the octave I'm singing in."
Folk musician Pete Seeger might agree. In this video from Smithsonian Folkways, he invites the audience to join in and assures him he's using a "a very, very low key, so everybody can sing it," which they do.
Even trained choirs and singers have trouble with the song, and some flat out refuse to sing it because it is too difficult. So if people whose livelihood is singing can't do it, what are the untrained to do?
Kenneth offers sage words of wisdom: "Probably, it's best to be sung the way it was originally intended, that is to be sung as the Anacreontic Song, that is to say, a traditional British Gentleman's Club song—where you can really belt out the top."
Another important tip: get the lyrics right. If you think "O'er the ramparts" is a tough line, just be glad we typically don't sing beyond the first stanza, which contains challenging phrases such as "foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes" and "fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?"
Part of the difficulty with “The Star Spangled Banner” is its wide-ranging melody that skips around a lot, Henderson said. “Most popular songs today are not written with that wide of a range.”
There’s also the bit at the end, the last stanza where singers have to hit a particularly high note on “free” in the last line: “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
“In most people’s voice, in the traditional key it’s sung, that’s a difficult place even for professional singers to make sound good,” Henderson said.
Add to that the fact that most people often forget the lyrics—originally a poem written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 after the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812—and the song becomes a land mine of potential blunders.
NATS member Robert Edwin believes that a lot of people forget the lyrics because very few understand what is actually going on in the song.
“Only a very small number of people have come into my studio with any idea of the ‘who, what, where, when, why, and how’ of the song,” Edwin wrote in the association’s Journal of Singing. “In order to diminish the chances of public failure and subsequent embarrassment for your students when they perform our national anthem, a short history lesson should precede any singing.”
I am in agreeance that the current administration has done more to create a racial divide than anyone in history. I will also admit that subcultures in this country are riddled with ignorance and small mindedness (of all colors). I can see where folks would become jaded, but lets not forget; you should not discriminate against those that were born as they were, but more so against someone who has chosen to be what they are.
And I stand by my comments as well. Any singer that cannot sing 1 and a half octaves, the range from low b flat to f, needs to find another teacher. Most people have about two octaves minimum. You DO have to find the proper key, like anything else. Pretty easy piece, really. Nessun Dorma, from Turandot, goes from low d to a high b natural. NOT an easy piece, especially since (unless sung as a concert aria, not in the opera) it must be done in the original key. Just my opinion as a lifelong professional singer with decades of study.
Not a singer in any way!, however our former babysitter is, won multiple national contests, has a masters degree in performing arts. She is scared to death to sing the National Anthem, as was her school mates, and signing it, or learning to, was a requirement for one of the core courses.
So why are they all nervous signing it? I've heard her sign it and she nails it every time, but:
1) Usually you are solo, no music, so pace is an issue 2) It's a wide range of notes 3) the people listening are all VERY aware of what it should sound like, so don't miss a single note.
Rucker has been singing it pretty much that way at various sporting events since at least 2010, and he still gets the gigs. You can find the video from this year's Indy 500 on Youtube. It sounds like he embellished it a little more this year, but it is still basically the same arrangement.
I don't care for it, but it apparently doesn't offend the people who pay him to perform.
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
Sounds like ANY performance, to me. Singing is hard stuff. When you perform live, people only remember the one goofy note, no matter how good the rest was. You get one chance. Makes ya kinda edgy....Everybody has their Waterloo. The people I sang with were not intimidated by the National Anthem, but everybody has something. The Anthem has taken on this mystical air of difficulty. I dunno why.
Leave it up to a darkie to ruin the singing of our National Anthem
It's just a song. And I sincerely doubt the singer caused nearly the harm to the song that years of complacent neglect, destructive back-biting, and acquiescence has done to our culture and it's essential place in the world.
We may know the time Ben Carson lied, but does anyone know the time Hillary Clinton told the truth?
Immersing oneself in progressive lieberalism is no different than bathing in the sewage of Hell.
Leave it up to a darkie to ruin the singing of our National Anthem
And here I was thinking Whitney in her day hit it clear out of the park....
Birdwatcher
"...if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them." Canasatego 1744
While I don't like the racism perpetrated by our current potus or the thug lifestyle it's not as simple as color, it's a matter of choices and dignity
I'm pretty certain when we sing our anthem and mention the land of the free, the original intent didn't mean cell phones, food stamps and birth control.
This is how it needs to be done. The yodeling and voice fluctuations are like tattooed people trying to signify their individuality. Save it for bar fights and beach parties, the National Anthem is more than just a song...
Deja vu singing (and ruining) the national anthem tonight on the NBA game (Cavs - Warriors)
"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee
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