WELCOME TO CUESHEET, a performance guide published by the Education Department of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. This Cuesheet is designed to be used by students and teachers before and after attending a performance by the vocal group Street Sounds. What s in Cuesheet? Who is Street Sounds? page 2 The Human Voice, page 3 Making Music, pages 4 and 5 African-American Music and its Message, pages 6 and 7 The Audience: You, page 8
2 Who is Street Sounds? An a cappella quintet that celebrates African-American song traditions A cappella is an Italian musical term that means to sing without instrumental accompaniment. Quintet a group of five persons or things. In music, it is a group of five musicians. The Quintet Louise Robinson, Artistic Director, a native of New York, received a B.F.A. from Howard University in Washington D.C. She is a founding member of the internationally known a cappella quintet, Sweet Honey in the Rock. In addition to singing, Louise has directed, produced, co-produced, and has acted both on and off-broadway. In 1989, Louise formed the a cappella quintet Street Sounds and has performed for the United Nations World Conference of Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Michelle Jacques, a musician and singer, began studying acting, modern dance, tap, ballet, and violin at a young age. She is an original member of Street Sounds. Michelle now performs, records, and makes radio and television commercials. Rhonda Crane is an accomplished musician originally from Brooklyn, New York. Although her vocal talents were developed early in the Baptist church, her vocal training began Left to Right: Steven Thomas, Michelle Jacques, Louise Robinson, Rhonda Crane, Bryan S. Dyer in secondary school, continuing through college, where she founded and organized the Rhonda Hudson Singers. She is currently a member in the Bay Area Chapter of the Edwin Hawkins Music and Arts Seminar. Bryan S. Dyer began his musical career at an early age singing in the children s choir at church. Membership in the Oakland Youth Chorus led to the formation of an a cappella group known as The Five Spots which he was a member of for over five years. His musical career includes work with radio stations and tours throughout the world including France, England, Germany, Jamaica and Japan. Steven Thomas began dancing in 1966 under the direction of the Oakland Ballet. He has since choreographed for Oakland s Civic Theatre and the Performing Arts Committee. It was during Steven s work in the Theatre Works production of Dreamgirls that he began singing, which led him to many singing roles and studio background vocals for numerous Bay Area artists. The following eight terms identify the number of musicians in a musical group. In the box next to each term, write the number between one and eight that correctly identifies each musical term. trio octet septet solo quartet duo sextet quintet
An Amazing Instrument 3 The Human Voice The members of Street Sounds play the world s oldest musical instrument the voice. All people have this precious and powerful instrument, but few learn how to play it. Breathe Deeply! Singers support their vocal sounds by controlling their breathing. Many singers use this exercise to improve breath control: 1. Stand up straight. 2. Inhale deeply through your nose. 3. Blow out slowly through your mouth, making a hissing sound sssssssssss, for as long as you can with one breath. 4. Try the exercise together with a friend. Time yourselves to see who can hiss longer. The voice is one of the simplest instruments to play, but one of the most difficult to play well. Singers must keep their voices in good working condition, and must also remain healthy to ensure that their instruments work well. Singers stay in shape by exercising their voices every day. They do this by exercising the muscles involved in singing: the diaphragm, which controls breathing, and the muscles around the vocal cords in the larynx. mouth larynx and vocal cords windpipe lungs Vocal Play Street Sounds singers use their voices to make a variety of sounds. With a friend, try imitating some of these sounds: popcorn popping clock ticking whistle blowing brakes screeching horn honking motor humming waves crashing wind rustling larynx the upper end of the windpipe (trachea) that contains the vocal cords vocal cords folds of membrane that vibrate to produce sound Did you know? diaphragm When you breathe out (exhale), you make sounds. Air is pushed out from your lungs by your diaphragm. This moving air causes your vocal cords to vibrate. The pitch (high or low) of your voice is controlled by the tightness (tension) of the cords. The volume (loud/soft) is controlled by the amount of air passing through the vocal cords. horse galloping heart beating dishwasher running dog barking diaphragm muscles and tendons that Try to imitate other sounds, and ask a friend to identify them. control the flow of air in and out of the lungs
4 Making Music Melody, Harmony, and Unis Composing, Arranging, and Improvising Music Music can be invented in many different ways. Members of Street Sounds create music by composing, arranging, and improvising. Composing means inventing new music and writing it down. Written music is known as a score. Scores tell musicians which notes to sing and play and which parts, if any, they may improvise. Scores written in SATB specify the Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass vocal parts. Arranging means adapting a previously composed piece of music for another style of performance. A piece of music originally composed for instruments may be arranged for voice. Music composed for one voice (solo) may be arranged for five voices (quintet). Improvising means inventing music on the spot. Street Sounds will improvise and create new music during the performance. Vocal Range A singer s vocal range is the span of pitches between the highest and lowest notes the singer can produce. Females tend to sing in the higher ranges, while male voices fall in the Melody: When people listen to music, the tune, or musical line, that is easiest to hum along with is usually the melody. The person who sings the melody is called the lead voice. In many types of vocal music, the highest voice often sings the melody ssss, while the other voices sing different notes. Harmony is created as different notes are sung at the same time. Each combination of different notes creates a new harmony. Compose and Improvise Step 1: Compose a simple sentence, such as As I was coming to school this morning, something unusual happened. Step 2: With no preparation, create a story that continues from your sentence. Now you are improvising! lower ranges. The Italian musical terms used to describe singing voices are: Soprano the highest female singing voice Alto a low female singing voice, usually in the range between soprano and tenor Tenor the highest adult male voice, usually in the range between alto and bass Bass a male singing voice of the lowest range In Street Sounds, Michelle Jacques sings soprano, Louise Robinson and Rhonda Crane sing alto, Steven Thomas sings tenor, and Bryan S. Dyer sings bass. When all voices sing the same melody notes together, they are singing in unison. When the singers in Street Sounds arrange music, they often weave the melody through the musical texture, so that different members take turns as the lead voice.
5 on Singing Listening Attend a rehearsal of your school s choir. Listen for and hum along with the melody. Listen for the voices singing in unison. Listen for the melody being sung by the highest voice. Follow the melody as it is sung by different voices.
6 African-American Music a In almost every culture in the world, the voice has been used as an instrument, but each culture plays this instrument differently, and has a unique style of expressing itself through song. African- American vocal traditions have their roots in African music, language, and rhythms. Have you heard... jazz music by Wynton Marsalis? Traditional African Musical Traits Melody that reflects the sounds and patterns of speech. Call and response Powerful rhythms Improvisation Repetition African-American Musical Traditions Rap is a musical style based on speech patterns. Scat singing, created by African-American jazz singers, is performed by improvising and repeating nonsense syllables to imitate the sounds of language. For example, Bi-ba-DA bo-ba de-de? might be patterned after Will you come outside and play? In gospel music, the music of many African-American churches, a musical leader sings out a word or a phrase, and the congregation echoes it. For example, if the leader calls out Celebrate! the congregation responds, Celebrate! Most of the popular music heard today has a heavy beat that makes you want to dance. Strong rhythms played by drums are an essential part of rhythm & blues and rock n roll musical styles. Latin American music (like salsa and calypso) also inherited complex rhythms from traditional African drumming. Many African-American musical styles, particularly jazz, involve the creation of new music on the spot during a performance. In jazz performances, musicians often take turns improvising. In African-American religious music, such as spirituals or gospel music, words and phrases are often repeated several times. For example: I believe, I believe, I believe, I believe. In blues musical traditions, the first two lines of each three-line stanza are always repeated. For example: I woke up this morning, and saw that you were gone, I woke up this morning, and saw that you were gone, Now you re far away, and I m here all alone. blues by B.B. King? rap music by Will Smith? CeCe Winans sing gospel music? African-American vocal groups like Boyz II Men? Check your local library for recordings by these wellknown artists. Listen for repetition, improvisation, and call and response. Feel the strong rhythms in each musical style. To learn more about African- American musical traditions, read Black Music in America by James Haskins, Thomas Y. Crowell Jr. Books, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.
d Its Message 7 In traditional African societies, music was instrumental in maintaining and continuing culture. African songs were ways for people to tell news, talk about their neighbors and community, express spiritual beliefs, and describe their past. Communicating through Song African Americans have continued this tradition of communicating their history, heritage, and culture through song: f Work songs from the times of slavery tell of planting cotton, building railroads, and other hard labor. f Spirituals often make references to stories and characters from the Bible. Their words, or lyrics, expressing Christian beliefs, often have double meanings that expressed slaves desire for freedom. f The lyrics of Gospel music often celebrate, uplift, and inspire. f Songs of protest from the Civil Rights movement were motivational, calling people to action. f Many songs honor ancestors and important figures in African-American history. f African Americans honor their heritage by singing in African languages. What s the Message? The following lyrics were taken from different African- American songs. Use the information about Communicating through Song (at left) to figure out what might be the message of each song. (Note: There are many ways to interpret each of these lyrics.) This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine The people of Montgomery sat down to talk It was decided that all God s children should walk Until segregation was brought to its knees And we obtain freedom and equality When Moses was in Egypt land, Let my people go Tshot sho losa, Sara go demo So we dedicate this song to thee For being a symbol of our dignity Thank you, Sister Rosa You bettah, bettah get up get up get up I m gonna fly away Bale o cotton, break my back Writing Lyrics Write original song lyrics that describe important experiences from your life. For example, write about your feelings when your closest friend moved to another city, or about your first exciting trip away from home. You may want to incorporate African-American musical traits or traditions into your lyrics.
8 The Audience: You This performance has singing, There will also be quiet times, when the movement, and hand-clapping. music softens, inviting you to be still and There will be times during the concert when the Street Sounds singers pay close attention to the song lyrics. Watch and listen carefully so that you invite you, the audience, to participate. know when and how to respond to the performers. During the Performance After the Performance Look for ways the performers Did each performer move his or her own way, or did move their bodies as they sing. the quintet move together as they sang? How did the performers movements help you to feel the rhythm of the music? Listen for call and response. Who was the musical leader when the group sang in call and response? When was the audience invited to participate in the call and response? The Kennedy Center is a living memorial to John F. Kennedy, a popular president of the United States from 1961 to 1963. As a living memorial, the Kennedy Center is a place where dance, music, theater, and film can be experienced every day. There Listen to how each song is arranged. Look and listen for improvisation. Listen carefully to the words, or lyrics, of each song. Listen for each singer s individual voice. See if you recognize any of Street Sounds songs. When did the group sing in unison? When did the performers take turns singing the melody? Were there any solo performances? Did the performers take turns improvising or did they improvise together? Which song was fast and loud? What was the message of this song? Which song was slow and soft? What was the message of this song? What were relationships between a song s message and music? What was the message of your favorite song? When could you hear the difference between the women s voices and the men s voices? When could you distinguish the soprano from the bass? the altos? the tenor? Did you hear any familiar songs? Did you hear any new arrangements of familiar songs? are six theaters in the Kennedy Center. You will attend a performance by Street Sounds in the Theater Lab. James A. Johnson, Chairman Lawrence J. Wilker, President Derek E. Gordon, Vice President, Education Street Sounds Cuesheet Editor: Rosalind Flynn. Writer: Marcia Daft. Design: Paul Dupree Communications. Cuesheet is funded in part through the support of the U.S. Department of Education, The Kennedy Center Corporate Fund, and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. 2000 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.