Forget the Jazz Hands

Hello, blog readers, my sincere apologies are coming your way. Last week I had to unexpectedly leave town for a family issue, therefore my recent blog posts have just been kind of...meh. I know it's not an excuse, but I'm just now getting caught up on school work. In my case, it's a good thing marching season is over because now I actually have time to do my homework and get caught up on life.

Anyway, today I'm going to talk about something that's recently been added to my life--jazz choir. A couple months back, my show choir director pulled me out of practice one day and asked me to sing some jazz music for him. At the time, I thought nothing of it, it was whatever. When I asked him why I was doing this, he told me that he noticed my good ears and jazzy style of singing. Okay, I thought, so this is a compliment. He wants me to sing jazz music, I can probably do that.

A few days later, the list for my school's jazz choir, Moonlight Express, was posted. I hadn't noticed the list posted outside the choir room, nor had I cared, since I hadn't gone to the auditions and wasn't really worried about jazz choir. When multiple people came up to me that day, saying something along the lines of "Congratulations!" or "Wow, you're so lucky! Good for you." I  smiled and nodded but I had no idea what they were talking about. Eventually I just asked one of them why they were congratulating me. "Uh, you made Moonlight," said my friend Robert. I stared at him for a moment. "Hello, you made Moonlight," he said, waving his hand in front of my face. It hit me then--when my director had asked me to sing jazz music, I was actually auditioning for jazz choir. Once I got over the initial shock of being one of sixteen singers chosen for this choir, I was seriously PUMPED. I couldn't wait to learn how to sing jazz music, though I quickly found out how new of a concept it really was.

For starters, jazz singing is nothing like choral singing.  You have to sing with bright vowels, use less vibrato, and slide pitches around. So here I am, at my first Moonlight rehearsal, trying to sing beautifully with tall vowels and vibrato, as I had been taught all my life. Then, the director tells us we're singing jazz wrong--and we have to do it the exact opposite. Confusing? You bet.

After a few rehearsals, I find myself enjoying jazz singing very much. I like the way it's so free and you can improvise and do whatever you want with it. I also find singing jazz very natural. Instead of having to constantly think about tall vowels and diction and beautiful tone, you can focus more on the musicality of the piece and have fun with it. I wouldn't say it's easier, or uglier than choral singing, it's just very different. It's spontaneous and instinctive, much like a new relationship or the weather in Autumn.

I look forward to participating in Moonlight Express for the rest of the season, as well as increasing my knowledge about jazz music. I'll share my experience with you as time goes on, I promise!