'playing in' a song

Subject: RE: 'playing in' a song
From: alanabit
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 01:00 PM

I have a song, "East Looe Boys", which I try to sing as dispassionately as I think the fictional narrator would. The first few times I did it, I had to stifle a little sob in the voice, which would have been irritating for the audience. You learn how to handle these things by breathing properly and that sort of thing. At the end of the day, the audience wants you to tell the story rather than emote about it.

Subject: RE: 'playing in' a song
From: Scrump
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 06:03 AM

Unfortunately, some songs have been parodied and it's very difficult to sing the 'straight' version without thinking of the parody. I'd be more likely to 'corpse' (as they say in the theatre) than burst into tears, overcome with emotion.

Subject: RE: 'playing in' a song
From: GUEST,johnmc
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 06:00 AM

Thanks for mentioning these titles, Snuffy. I don't know a couple, but I take your point about "Nobody's Child" - it's not even just the words, it's the tune!

Subject: RE: 'playing in' a song
From: Bert
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 08:06 PM

... without fear of being overcome in the process...

I would say that showing some emotion is fine as long as it doesn't stop you from finishing the song.

I don't know of any funny songs that are too extreme, but then again nobody has yet written any songs about the stories in the "Neighbors hate me" thread. I don't think I could sing them without rolling on the floor.

Subject: RE: 'playing in' a song
From: Snuffy
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 07:04 PM

As I read the question, Archie was not talking about competence and practice, but about giving yourself enough prior exposure to the song so you can be sure you won't be overcome by emotion when you try to perform it.

For myself, there are some songs where I'm never sure if I'll get all the way through: "Foggy Foggy Dew" and "D-Day Dodgers", for example. And I wouldn't even dream of trying to sing Cecily Fox-Smith's "Home, Lads, Home"

And you need a heart of stone to keep from laughing when singing "Nobody's Child".

Subject: RE: 'playing in' a song
From: M.Ted
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 04:00 PM

Regardless of the nature of a song, you have to have completely mastered it, and decided for yourself what it's meaning is and how to best express that, before a song is ready to perform.   The trick is that, regardless of how a song effects you personally, you have to find the way that evokes the emotions that you want it to evoke from your audience.

We've all missed a punchline, on one ocassion or another, because the joke teller was so amused by the story that he couldn't get it out properly. A sad song, sung with an inappropriately cheerful attitude becomes amusing. And we all have seen how asinine a person can look, in both real life and art, when they overplay anger.

It is not an accident that in our great body of traditional and folk song, narrative tends to be matter of fact, rather than emotional--songs that allow the audience to infer their meaning last longer.

Subject: RE: playing in a song
From: Leadfingers
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 03:22 PM

In my experience , most songs require a certain amount of playing in before they are up to standard for public performance . Sometimes I find that a song that initially really appeals , turns out to be not suitable for my performance - Obviously , it is better to find this out before you get in front of a paying audience .

Subject: "playing in" a song
From: GUEST,johnmc
Date: 21 Nov 06 - 02:01 PM

I heard Archie Fisher discussing this with Dave Burland. There are some songs which
provoke such a strong emotional response in the singer that, in order to perform them without fear of being overcome in the process, he/she has to "play them in" (in the privacy of their own homes). Now, we can all imagine the sad ones which do this, but are there any too funny, too embarrassing, too angry etc? I think I would struggle to get through "The Bantam Cock" by J Thackery, for example, in front of a maiden aunt.