Examining authentic expression

First of all, thanks to Tom Metzger for creating this engaging and valuable site. I hope this guest blog contributes to the cause!

As Mr. Metzger has mentioned, I'm a choral clinician who wrote the book, Choral CHARISMA: Singing with Expression. And while I've worked mostly with traditional choirs, I do have some experience with barbershop -- as performer, rehearsal guest, audience member, and club moderator (working with high schoolers). Suffice it to say, I love barbershop singing!

Impressively, barbershoppers place a great deal of emphasis on expressive singing. That said, I believe that the widely accepted barbershop approach to expression could be more genuine, for the standard performance paradigm tends to be more external than internal, more inauthentic than authentic. End result? Many barbershoppers work much harder than they need to, and end up with a final product which is not nearly as engaging as it could be. I propose a paradigm shift: Toward authentic expression.

To answer those who might be skeptical, not only do I think authentic expression exists, I think we can actually agree on what it is and isn't -- once we examine it more closely.

Let's look at some basic psychobiological principles applicable to the vast majority of us:

If we want to sing with the same authenticity and organic expression, all we need do is transfer our speaking process to our singing. When we do so, we express thoughts and feelings just like we do when we speak; our mind/body connection is virtually identical. So, applying this notion to barbershop, can you tell which scenario describes authentic singing, and which describes inauthentic?

Scenario A: You're singing My Wild Irish Rose. Your director tells you to emote and sell the song. You do so, consciously invoking your face to fit the words, the sentiment, and the musical expression of both in the song. You've got your eyebrows working, your body leaning forward and into it, your hands moving subtly in the direction of your Rose, your head moving side to side with poignancy, and your face artfully molded into a liquid mask of yearning and loving -- smiling with that fond and slightly hopeful anticipation that Rose might let you deflower her someday(!). While you sing, you constantly monitor and guide your overall expressivity, making sure that you are always "on." Hopefully, the audiences and judges will notice. When you finish, your director applauds and nods approvingly: "You really sold it, folks!"

Scenario B: You're singing My Wild Irish Rose. You're aware that were you to say these words in real life, you would know a few things. For starters, 1) Who is this "Rose"? What does she look like? What exactly is your relationship with her? Why or how is she "wild"? Have you kissed her? What's that like? What else have you done with her? What was that like? Why is she so beyond "compare"? What do you imagine it will be like when she lets you "take the bloom" from her?  2) Who are you talking to and what's your objective? Are you arguing with your friend who says you should find someone new because Rose is being too coy? How does your friend react? Or maybe you're in a pub, and you're bragging to your buddies about your wonderful new girlfriend, letting them know to stay away? Perhaps you're talking to your best friend about Rose, trying to encourage HIM to ask a certain woman out on a date? Maybe you're even talking to Rose, teasing her about her standards so she'll loosen up! (If your interpretation is different, some of these guiding questions would be different as well.)

As you analyze both A and B, notice that in the fully authentic scenario (B) you NEVER ONCE think about what your face or body is doing, nor about expressing a certain feeling, looking a certain way, or emoting. All that happens automatically when you have all those other details in place. Just knowing such details will flesh out your truthful connection to text, so before you even begin singing you have a mental picture of Rose, a "memory" of Rose, and an attitude toward Rose -- and all of this within a context that compels you to sing. As you sing through the song, you will continue to have authentic images, hopes, fantasies, and objectives -- all connected to the text and your overall story. And all authentically expressed.

The result? You will be just as engaged and engaging as if you were actually talking about a woman you're fawning over ... to a friend at that party I mentioned earlier! Your face, body, and voice will be "on," but without pretending or controlling. And since you're being authentically expressive, you will affect both your friend and Steven Spielberg more powerfully and poignantly. Since you're really into it, so will they be. Ultimately, your audience will be connected to a deeper, richer, and more satisfying experience of our shared humanity. To my way of thinking, authentic expression is truly "the sweetest flower that grows." 

All my best,

Tom Carter