Contests

As the 3 vocal group I'm a part of gear up for next week's contest in Boise, a lot of excitement is in the air. For those not familiar with the idea of "barbershop contests", the United States and Canada are divided up into districts. In each district, there are divisions that make up that district. In my district, the Evergreen district, there are 6 or 7 divisions (I can't remember how many exactly). The first contest of the series is the division contest where choruses and quartets compete again other groups within the same division. Then, the groups that score high enough move on and compete against other groups from around the district. If you score high enough at THAT contest, then you move onto the international contest in July 2009. This cycle repeats every year and is always very fun.

Barbershop has always been very much about inciting an emotional response in the listener, whether that be an audience member, or a contest judge. Some people get wrapped up in THE CONTEST and get into "We're-going-to-sing-the-crap-out-of-our-songs-and-STOMP-everyone-else-in-the-competition" mode. That is the way it is with most competitive hobbies in life. You become the best you can and try to show off a little bit and beat other people. This is certainly true for some groups in the Barbershop Harmony Society. I am lucky enough to not be in any groups that think that way. Sure, there are a few members here and there who sometimes will make a remark about the superiority of our group, but our leadership always brings them back in line. The mindset for the groups I am a member of is usually that we should be prepared, and sing well, at the contests because it is a performance, and we are committed to singing well at performances. Some vocal groups do it just for fun, with very little attention to the craft. Others spend all their time on the craft and miss out on the fun of giving a gift to an audience participant. We try to mix both because giving due attention to the craft CREATES a better experience for the listener. If you go to the contest with that view of the judges...that they are simply evaluating your ability to move an audience effectively...it greatly decreases the amount of nervousness in your system and, I believe, gets you in a better mental place.

One of the highlights of any barbershop competition is that you can go up to some of your local singing heroes and sing a song or a tag with them, which is very cool. After the contest is over, there is usually LOTS of tag singing all around the contest venue until the wee hours of the morning. At that point, there is usually zero ego left in anyone and it's all about singing for fun. Some of the craft, at times, goes out the window because the contest is done and the need to save your voice isn't as prevalent in your mind anymore :).

A final note about ego and humility, since I do see this consistently in the world of barbershop and it can be somewhat frustrating. Perhaps some of the people that engage in that sort of thinking might read this someday! ;)



1.) It's not about you.

You've probably heard this phrase in many contexts whether it be in sermons, or motivational messages. Well, you know what? I think it applies to our hobby more than we think. Certainly, a singer needs to have a high enough level of confidence so that he can perform well. Certainly, we need to be conscious of always increasing the level of the quality that we bring to the stage...being stagnant is no fun for anyone. However, what I don't understand is how some people can just be absolutely ignorant of themselves and their own personal pride, and then wonder why they aren't being approached by prospective members in light of that. It's not about you. It's about everyone else.

2.) If it IS about you, you are detrimenting our hobby.

When someone wants to sing barbershop, and they experience being put off by another member, that affects what they think of everyone as a whole. It doesn't matter if that's not how it is, or if you were having a bad day. People make opinions about EVERYTHING in life, and all it takes is someone to say "They did OKAY, but we are better than them" and that can turn people off.

3.) Be genuine and enjoy what you are doing.

A novel concept, huh? Enjoy what we like to do? WHAT!? Some people seem to have lost the joy in what they do. Remember the reasons why we all started singing and your humble beginnings (everyone has humble beginnings, you just have to go back far enough). And, for pete's sake, be genuine. Don't stand in front of audience, freak out, do a stiffly muscled choreo move, and expect a standing ovation. People want more than that because they KNOW it's out there and it happens often so when you don't give them your heart, they know it.

Hopefully, some of this stuff will be helpful to someone!

Cya,
Jamie