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Ah Si Mon Moine Voulait Danser is sung in Canadian French. Here is the English translation!

| 1 Ah, if my monk wanted to dance,
Ah, if my monk wanted to danse,
A hood I would give him,
A hood I would give him.

You don’t hear the danse!
You don’t hear my mill-lo-la,
You don’t hear my mill running.
| 2 … A belt…
| 3 … A rosary…
| 4 … A woolen frock…
| 6 If he hadn’t made a vow of poverty,
Many other things I would give him.

courtesy of https://www.madbeppo.com/french-songs/ah-si-mon-moine-voulait-danser/

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- The song "Tongo" is from Polynesia and was used as an echo song for people on the water. It was meant to keep the rhythm for the rowing and also pass time.
- The song is listed that it's from the Polynesians, but some sites say it's from the Philippines as well. This suggests, it most likely originated from Polynesia but may have been sung in the Philippines.
- Tongo means mangrove in the Kiribati and Tonga languages. Mangroves grow in saline water on the coast.
https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=4388

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Music Video

Photos

Map

Food in polynesia

Fish

Breadfruit

Taro

Coconuts

Sugarcane

Sweet potatoes

Music in Polynesia

JAMAICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SLIDE SHOW:
Scroll over image and click "Play"

Song Lyrics

TONGO

Tongo
Jimnee bye bye oh
Tongo
Oom ba de kim bye oh
Ooh a lay
Mah le ka ah lo way

Background

"Tongo" is a Polynesian "echo" song. The leader sings one line and the group echoes the words. For example:
LEADER: Tongo
GROUP: Tongo
LEADER: Jimnee bye bye oh
GROUP: Jimnee bye bye on
etc...

Tongo is a "work song" used while rowing to help keep everyone rowing in rhythm with each other and to help pass the time.

Fun Facts

Polynesia means "many islands" in Greek

The Polynesian islands were settled in 2000 BC

The settlers of the Polynesian Islands called themselves "Maoris."

New Zealand, Tahiti and Hawaii are 3 of the many Polynesian Islands

Language:

The languages of the Polyesian Islands include: Native languages of the islands; Maori; Tahitian; French; EnglishGREETINGS:

In Tahiti, many people greet each other by saying:
"Where are you going?"

The answer is either, "Inland" (away from the coast) or "Seaward" (toward the coast).

The response might be:
"What's new at the inland/seaward end?"

This is how many conversations start.

How do you start a conversation?

Beef, tomatoes in a papaya fruit

Fish steamed in taro leaves

Counting in hawaiin

Sports in Hawaii

Surfing is a very popular sport in Hawaii.

surfing in hawaii

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Fish Breadfruit Taro Coconuts Sugarcane Sweet potatoes JAMAICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SLIDE SHOW: Scroll over image and click "Play" TONGO Tongo Jimnee bye bye oh Tongo Oom ba de kim bye oh Ooh a lay Mah le ka ah lo way "Tongo" is a Polynesian "echo" song.

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"It's All Right" was originally by a group called The Impressions. The Impressions were formed in 1958. They released "It's All Right" in 1963. The rendition we are performing was adapted by Jon Batiste and was released in 2013.

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To me, the lyrics of It's All Right are very relatable. A lot of people wake up sad and feel that way throughout their day because of numerous reasons. However, it's important to have hope and remember to remain positive, because things will eventually get better.

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My favorite lyric in It's All Right is "Give your self a chance", because giving ourselves a second chance is a great show of love and also compassion.

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two characters from the soul it’s all right music video - Vivian Ewell

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There are many series of clapping throughout Tongo, some of which are in unison, while others are call and response clapping. The claps for each voice part are displayed above. This image is from the first page, so everyone claps the same rhythm: 1 +2 +, 1+ 2; or short-long-short, short-short long.

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"When you wake up early in the morning"
Is my favourite lyric because I feel like it is very reassuring to anyone that is having a bad day, and telling them that everyone has bad days, you are not alone.

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John Batiste, the composer for the Jazz compositions in Pixar's Movie Soul, had a major role in the writing of this piece. Both him and the movie Soul were huge inspirations for this composition of "Its Alright."

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It is a song that's supposed to be "uplifting" and Mayfield (composer) compels us to leave our troubles behind and have a good time

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It's All Right from the movie Soul. The music is upbeat, determined and fun.

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Jon Batiste, Celeste - It's All Right (From "Soul"/Duet Version/Official Lyric Video)

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Rejoice, Rejoice!
Christ is born
Of the virgin Mary,
Rejoice!

It is now the time of grace
That we have desired;
Let us sing songs of joy,
Let us give devotion.

God was made man,
And nature marvels;
The world was renewed
By Christ who is King.

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One challenge in this piece: is singing the high notes with the proper tone. Specifically, the lines "Jim-ne-bye-bye-oh" and "Oom-bah-de-kim-bye-oh" are really high, and for some of us are difficult to sing.

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It is a Christmas carol that was composed in the 16th century. The Latin text is a typical medieval song of praise, which follows the standard pattern for the time – a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary, the Saints or Yuletide themes.

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During It's All Right we have a pianist to accompany our singing. She has a very important job because she needs to keep us in time, on the correct pitch and add another layer of music into the piece.

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"Gaudete" is an old Latin Christmas carol originally from a Finnish/Swedish collection of songs called Piae Cantiones and a modern arrangement made by Mark Burrows. The song starts mezzo-forte as the Basses, Tenors, Alto, and Sopranos build upon each other and when we all finally join together we sing forte meaning loud. Then the Sopranos ones branch off to sing the first verse as the rest of the choir sings mezzo-piano meaning medium quiet. This often repeats until we perform a section we call the "break down" where all the vocal parts separate and layer on top of each other. Then at the end of the song, we all sing Fortissimo bringing the song to a powerful end.

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We rehearsed singing with tall tone in class. We have a movement we use when we sing the vowel "oh" where we move our hand across our face to create a round space. We try to sound mature.

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As seen in the image above, the key signature of "Tongo" is F major. This is because there is only one flat shown which is B flat (Bb). Additionally, the time signature is 2/4. This refers to the fact that there are two beats in each measure, and a quarter note receives one beat.

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Tongo is a canoeing song so during class we passed around this paddle. We had a mini lesson where we learned how to properly hold it. One hand is placed on the grip and the other further down the paddle. The exact placement isn’t important, but rather it depends on the level of comfort. You have to chose a place where you have a lot of control and power, but don’t strain your arms.

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This picture is of a cave in the Polynesian islands. The class chose it to imagine we were canoeing through it while rehearsing our song.

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This is a map of over 1000 different islands full of beautiful land. "Tongo" was written in this wonderful place.
https://geology.com/world/solomon-islands-satellite-image.shtml.

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A political map of the Solomon Islands and a large satellite image from Landsat.

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The Polynesian languages are a group of about 30 languages spoken by fewer than 1 million people.  The best known Polynesian languages are Samoan (200,000 speakers), Maori which is spoken in New Zealand (100,000 speakers), Tahitian (unknown amount of speakers but widely used in French Polynesia), and Hawaiian (few remaining speakers but one spoken by around 100,000 people).  Tongan is the official language of the Kingdom of Tonga.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Witi-Ihimaera

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The song is from the Polynesian islands but specifically the Solomon islands. There are 992 islands in that part.

https://www.unocha.org/office-pacific-islands/solomon-islands#:~:text=The%20Solomon%20Islands%20is%20an,on%20the%20island%20of%20Guadalcanal.

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During the time of the renaissance men would often wear colorful tights and stockings with a shirt and a coat. The coat was generally tight fitting and was called a doublet. Hats were often worn by both men and women. Women wore gowns comprised of a tight-fitting bodice and a fuller skirt that would hang down to the ankles.

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Blackbird is a single off of The White Album. It was one of the first songs recorded and was written by Paul McCartney. They recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London. Tensions and stress was high during the process of this album, with Ringo Starr even walking out for 2 weeks. This album sold 24 million copies and the Beatles were bigger than ever, with Blackbird skyrocketing off the charts.

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Through hearing this song, you can interpret it as a love song. From slow and pretty tempo to the meaningful lyrics. "You were only waiting for this moment to arise" and "take these sunken eyes and learn to see". It could be seen as a someone who is in love and is about to meet their future lover because they talk about waiting for a certain moment to finally happen.

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Looking in the time signature, Blackbird is in 3/4, meaning that there are 3 beats per measure, and the quarter note gets the beat.  While the original song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney was written in G major, we are singing it in F major.  You know this from looking at the key signature and seeing that there is only one flat (b flat), which indicates that the song is in the key of F major.

Catie Gaffoglio

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you can see the progression of the scale by half steps 

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The word chromatic comes from the Greek chroma, color; and the traditional function of the chromatic scale is to color or embellish the tones of the major and minor scales. It does not define a key, but it gives a sense of motion and tension. It has long been used to evoke grief, loss, or sorrow. It is used often in this arrangement of Blackbird.

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To learn the various parts of Gaudete, our class would work in sectionals, each section running through pitches and markings. Each part would then be called up to the piano by our teacher Ms. Cardillo to go over tone, height, and depth. By the end of each period we would be able to build the maturity of the sound more and more. We also had to work on pronunciation as this song is in Latin. What you are about to hear is the months of practice taken on this song. This song was one of our more challenging pieces and by far my favorite, enjoy!

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Blackbird Interpretation 2: Civil Rights

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Blackbird Interpretation 2: Civil Rights

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"Blackbird" was released in 1968, one of the most disruptive and defining years of the United States during the 20th century.  In one interpretation of "Blackbird," McCartney captures the struggle for justice and equality during the Civil Rights Movement. The blackbird may represent one of the black girls of the Little Rock Nine (since girls were were called “birds” in England during the 1960s) and her role in fighting for the desegregation of schools in America.

In 2018, McCartney told GQ: “I was sitting with my acoustic guitar, and I’d heard about the civil rights troubles…in Little Rock in particular." McCartney hoped that "if ["Blackbird"] ever reached any of the people going through those problems, it might kinda give them a little bit of hope." A beautiful song born from the horrors of racism, "Blackbird" reminds us that history. is now, in this moment, when we must once again fly “into the light of a dark black night.”

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Paul McCartney tells the story about Blackbird, Toronto, August 9, 2010 Unique Video

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It can be suggested that the origins of Tongo can relate back to the island of Tonga specifically. Tonga is known as the Friendly Islands, having 176 islands where 36 are inhabited. It is close to Samoa and has a population of a little more than 100,000 people. There are many volcanoes and low coral islands.

https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/tonga.htm

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For Gaudete, one of my biggest challenges was learning the pronunciation and also singing the tenor part when I normally sing the alto part in choir. It was also at first difficult to remember what part of the piece came next, but as a choir we overcame this trouble by using the "roadmap" method.

Dina Guemeryl

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Tongo is a Polynesian folk song about people canoeing in the waters of Polynesia. This picture is a map of the Polynesian Islands and nearby continents.

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Our very own choir teacher, Ms. Cardillo, arranged Remedy for choirs. This is Ms. Cardillo's first year as choir director at RHS. Ms. Cardillo went to the University of Delaware and was part of one of their a cappella groups, Vocal Point. She originally arranged Remedy for University of Delaware's group - University Singers. Ms. Cardillo is happy to have the chance to direct Ridgewood's Treble Choir in performing her arrangement.

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Church Slavonic text:
Богородице Дево, радуйся,
благодатная Марие, Господь с тобою.
Благословена ты в женах,
и благословен плод чрева твоего,
яко Спаса родила еси душ наших.
English translation:
Rejoice, virgin mother of God,
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
for you have borne the Savior of our souls.

Source: https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Bogoroditse_Devo_(Sergei_Rachmaninoff)

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Several a cappella arrangements contain vocal percussion as a tool to enhance the sound and depth of the piece. In the professional recording, there are multiple beatboxers layered over each other to provide more depth to the section and have multiple beats occur at once. For our concert, this was not possible so I had to pick and choose which sounds were most important to use for the performance. The most frequently used sound during the performance was the bass drum. This sound is executed by making a harsh "b" sound with your lips. Out of the several sounds the beatboxer has access to, the bass drum is frequently used to emphasize important moments in the music (for example, the end of a measure or the start of a strong chord). Overall, the vocal percussion in We Found Love is a great touch to the closing measures of the piece. It allows the listener to experience the most rhythmic section in its full effect and is a unique addition to a choral performance.

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Key Signature: G flat major
Time: Common time or 4/4
Dynamics: Starts off in pianissimo but has varying dynamics ranging up to fortissimo

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Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who was very popular in the late Romantic period. His personal style of music has been described as expressive and melodicism, taking influence from famous composers such as Tchaikovsky. He wrote the piece Bogoroditse Devo during World War One in Russia and it premiered in his composition All-Night Vigil, which was an all a capella piece.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Rachmaninoff

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The location for the Moscow Synodal School (located in Moscow Russia), the first location Bogoroditse Devo was performed.

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Bogoroditse Devo was first written in 1893 and was performed later that same year by the Moscow Synodical Chorus. At the time Alexander Kastalsky was the choral director of the group who most notably brought the schools famous choir into the Moscow Conservatory program in the early 1900's.

Source: https://imslp.org/wiki/O_Mother_of_God_(Rachmaninoff%2C_Sergei)

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We chose to sing in this space due to it's acoustics. Traditionally, when recording, a space with limited reverberation is chosen for it's better post production abilities. However, as singers it is much more insightful for us to be able to hear how our voices interact together, and a
reverberant space allows for this. Additionally, this piece is typically sung in church, spaces that usually have large cathedrals that create big reflections. We used the stairwell to help imitate being in a space like that.

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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"We Found Love" by Rihanna portrays a simple, yet hard to accept message. The theme of the song is a forbidden or "hopeless" love; it's life damaging. Whether the love be a person or anything else, it consumes the victim, but the best option is to let it go. The love does not fit into their life: "Love and life I will divide", and the hard choice must be made between life or love. The relationship was unfortunately doomed from the start, but the "heartbeat in one's mind" overwhelms logistical thinking, and suffering becomes inevitable. In the end, the person makes the right choice and lets their love go, but not before a period of painful doubt.

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I made artwork for this piece, encapsulating some of the feelings that come along with the lyrics. Despite the somewhat somber tone, it is a happy song and i wanted to represent that in this piece.

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"We Found Love" by Rihanna is a sad but hopeful song. Especially when sung acapella, the arrangement portrays the emotions that consume the audience while this song is being played. It is about finding love, but also being able to let it go for the greater good. The lyric "turn away cause I need you more" means that although she would like to run to who she loves, she can't, so it is easier if they walk away.

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UChicago's Voices In Your Head 2012 ICCA Video

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UChicago's Voices In Your Head 2012 ICCA Video

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Voices In Your Head from University of Chicago placed fourth in the finals of the International Competition of College A Cappella with their set of "We Found Love", "Titanium", and "Little Lion Man". They won best arrangement for "We Found Love" in both their Quarterfinal and Semifinal. Their arrangement of "We Found Love" is still widely considered one of the best collegiate a cappella arrangements of all time.

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Voices in Your Head | ICCA Finals 2012 (We Found Love / Titanium / Little Lion Man)

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As this piece was originally sung in Church, it is very different from any song we've sung before. It challenged our breath support, focus, and diction. The long, extended vowels made it difficult to align every voice into one unified sound, but with months of hard work, we have developed a balanced blend.

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The lyrics of Bogoroditse Devo are especially challenging for the altos because of the section spotlight in the second half of the song. The part consists of lots of movement and differing diction that requires attention to detail and active listening. When intentionally sung, the alto part adds special depth to the piece and contributes to the fluid feel of the sound.

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Time: Common time (4/4) , but switches to 6/4 for a few measures at the end.
Key Signature: F major

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Throughout the piece, we are never accompanied by the piano, so the piece is a cappella. The sopranos and altos start the song by singing the "sparkle" part. Towards the end of the piece, our beatboxer comes in and makes this a full acappella vibe.

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The spinning top, referred to as the "monk" in the song - colored pencils and pen

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Ah! si mon moine voulait danser - Artwork

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Ah! si mon moine voulait danser - Artwork

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Adele has always been one of my favorite artists. I loved being able to hear one of her songs arranged into a choral piece. Having only heard Adele's' way of singing it, listening to new dynamics and voice parts was refreshing and fun to learn. I really enjoyed working on this piece, and I think everyone's voices blended beautifully.

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I have taken French since 5th grade, however, this was the first time I have ever sang in French. A specific challenge I noticed was learning to combine the correct pronounciation of the language with a proper choral sound (such as tall vowels, intonation, and breath placements). To help treble choir with this challenge, one of the high school's French teacher's, Madame Polk, came to our class, helping us learn the right pronounciations for the piece

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Ah! Si mon moine voulait danser is arranged in 2/4. It is in the key of G.

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One of my favorite lyrics while singing the song "Remedy" by Adele was "....and I will always love you, love you, love, you, love, love, love, love..." Not only do I like this line because it has a nice message, I like it more so because of the way we sing it and the way the lyrics repeat as we get louder. The whole choir sings with forte and I feel that is a very powerful part of the song.

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Remedy is in the time 6/8. The way to count it would be one two three four five six. It is also in the key of D Major.

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One of the challenges of remedy was to not run out of breath while doing the ooos. Another thing was so sing tall when singing ah,ooh, or ooos. The dynamics were a challenge also because we wanted to sing loud, but a soft loud not an aggressive loud.

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During class, I got the wonderful opportunity to ask Janet, our accompanist, a few questions. Here were her answers.

“When did you start playing the piano?”

I started playing piano when I was 6.

Why do you like playing for the RHS Choir?

This is one of the finest choirs I’ve played for. From the minute I stepped in here, I felt welcomed.

“If you could choose, what’s your favorite song to play?”

It’s hard to choose. I really like it when the piano part is interesting and challenging to play. For instance, in this program my favorite piece to play is Ah! Si Mon Moine Voulet Danser.

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"tu nén-tends pas mon mou-lin, lon, la"
This is my favorite lyric because it was one of the more challenging ones to determine the correct pronunciation, but it was also the most fun line to learn.

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This is French piece but it is originally from French Canada! Whats interesting about this is that Français québécois has some different pronunciations and stresses than the French language

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The most challenging parts of learning this piece were memorizing the words and learning the pronunciation. It took a lot of time to do so but we used the "roadmap" method to memorize. Additionally, we received help from a french teacher in learning the pronunciation.

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Although we have turned this piece to fit an all-girls choir, there are still many aspects that are similar to the original. We have the same number of verses and choruses. At the end of the song, you will notice that there is still a soft chorus and a belting chorus. The pitch in the song is also the same as in the original.

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https://youtu.be/U3ASj1L6_sY

After 6 years, Adele finally released her single "Easy On Me" accompanied by an emotional music video. Though at first the class felt like this song sounded like a lot of her previous releases, after looking at the meaning behind the lyrics we agreed it was a great song for Adele to come back with. Our song "Remedy" has similar emotional appeal to "Easy on Me", so watching this music helped us connect to the emotion that Adele is trying to portray through her lyrics and melodies.

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My favorite lyric in It's All Right is "it's all right" because its nice sounding.

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Stained glass style drawing depicting a classic "madonna and child" scene. markers and pencils.

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Bogoroditse Devo is often sung in large cathedrals flooded with light, so a stained glass window is an appropriate piece. The song also sounds like a lullaby, so the peaceful expressions on Mary and Jesus' faces are fitting.

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First off, this piece is in 4/4 AKA Common Time. Second is there are two distinct parts, the Treble and Bass Clefs. They also both have two sharps in the key. In the Treble it is F and C and so is it in the Bass.

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Ya got soul, yeah you, ya got soul.
Kaiden L. Handley

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Tongo is a very original and creative piece. One of my favorite things about Tongo is that it is call and response: when one group sings Tongo, the other group echos it back to them while adding claps.

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There are over 1,000 Polynesian Islands.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/polynesian-countries/

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Blackbird can be simply interpreted as a piece about a lovely Blackbird that one of The Beatles may have encountered. The song talks about how it speaks and what is seems to symbolize. "You were only waiting, for this moment to arise," could be described as a blackbird leaving the nest and becoming free and independent. The song uses these descriptions of a blackbird flying to describe the beauty of seeing one fly about in the air.

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Pictured above are the chords needed to play "Blackbird"

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The guitar accompaniment for "Blackbird" was inspired by Bach's Bourrée in E minor for lute. The song features the first four bars of Bach's piece then followed by Paul McCartney's variation. The song was originally played on classical guitar, an instrument both Paul McCartney and George Harrison learned to play as kids. In our concert, I am playing acoustic, which is very similar to classical. When learning the song, "Blackbird" has increased my skill level and dexterity in forming chords and fingerpicking. The song is a good medium between "difficult" and "easy", making it a fun song to learn while you are stuck in that "middle stage" of studying the instrument. My teacher and I have worked on the accompaniment for the last couple of months to fit the choral piece seamlessly while still keeping in mind the original song. The song is played a whole step lower than the original piece to fit the key of the choral arrangement. Coincidently, the song "Yesterday" was written in the same tuning! (D,A,F,C,G,D)

Source: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-beatles/blackbird

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Mark Burrows was the arranger of Gaudete. He took the original composition from 1628 and arranged it for modern choral notation. He was born in September of 1955. He received his undergraduate in music education from Southern Methodist University and his graduate degree from texas Christian University.
-Ava Paliotta

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The Swingles - Blackbird/I Will (The Beatles A Cappella Cover)

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The Swingles - Blackbird/I Will (The Beatles A Cappella Cover)

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They included a lot of different harmonies and slowed down the tempo of the song. They didn't add too much background singing where it was overwhelming, but just enough where you were able to hear each part. The original blackbird song by the Beatles was also in a lower key, while The Swingles' version focused more on the soprano part. - Gianna Scott

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The Swingles - Blackbird/I Will (The Beatles A Cappella Cover)

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Greg Gilpin the composer for Tongo. He was born in 1964 in Missouri. He has a bachelor's degree in vocal education, grades k-12. He also has received the ASCAP award!
Sources:
http://greggilpin.com/about.php

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A time signature specifies how many beats are in a measure and what kind of rhythm gets the beat. 3/4 means there are three beats and a quarter note gets the beat. 4/4 means that there are four beats and the quarter note gets the beat. The meter change works to accommodate the number of notes in the measure and the rests in between.

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A lot of challenging parts were getting the beat right, and harmonized. I really enjoyed performing it.

Cait Feeney

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In our song "Gaudete" two of our talented RHS students are performing a challenging percussion performance. Here's a few things about them to get to know them better.

Rolan Bansil - Rolan (Junior) has been playing the drums for 7 years. He will be playing the tamborine part in "Gaudete".  His favorite hobby is playing the drums and his favorite color is pink.

Michael Brescia - Michael (Sophomore) has been playing the drums for 10 years. In "Gaudete" he will be playing the hand drum. Michael's favorite hobby is also playing the drums, and his favorite color is sky blue.

Both Rolan and Michael are a part of the RHSMB drumline and will continue to pursue great things in the future!

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There were many different parts of this piece that were difficult to learn. It was very complicated to understand the language along with the notes and the beats, and everything overall took a lot of time and effort but I think it turned out really well.

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Travaille avec Mme.working with Madame Polk 

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Travaille avec Mme.working with Madame Polk 

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Receiving pronunciation advice from Madame Polk was very helpful. It was fun to work briefly with younger French students. It was also our first opportunity to perform our song.

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A challenge that many of us faced was reaching up to the high notes without losing the tall and mature sound the rest of the song had. The higher notes were hard to hit but over time we got better at it! We also really had to work at making the verses sound strong and clear to then transition into the choruses.

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There were many different parts of this piece that were difficult to learn. It was very complicated to understand the language along with the notes and the beats, and everything overall took a lot of time and effort but I think it turned out really well.

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This song was written in 2/4. It was in the key of G.

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There are many differences in our rendition of Remedy from the original version, the most obvious being that we are singing as a group while Adele is a solo artist. Because of this, we have been able to incorporate harmonies that add even more depth and emotion to the song. We have also included very deliberate dynamic changes that may have not been so noticeable in the original version. We also sing a portion of the song a cappella which Adele does not include in her version.

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Tongo is a Polynesian folk song. Tongo means mangrove and it is a traditional song from the Solomon Islands.
-Katie L

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One challenge about clapping in this piece is making sure everyone keeps their hands flat while clapping. Another challenge is making sure the claps blend in all together.

Imogen D.

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Here is a short clip of our group practice Tongo at our lunch rehearsal! 

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Here is a short clip of our group practice Tongo at our lunch rehearsal! 

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We are all very committed to making this song sound the best it possibly can. It gets hard sometimes when we can’t sing with the other period, but we make it work but going to lunch rehearsals! This helps us merge the parts together into a beautiful piece.

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We Found Love has many double flats, usually when a part is moving down the scale in half steps. It is used in notation where the desired note is not in the key of the song and when there are a lot of flats in the key signature, in this case G flat major. A double flat lowers the given pitch by 2 half steps, or essentially a whole step.

Picture Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/musical-symbol-of-double-flat-gm1190192919-337295975&psig=AOvVaw2eBo0foveiLHFQmXIXEDUf&ust=1639099324586000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCJDAmf_G1fQCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

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Throughout this piece, the choir had to learn to not only pronounce the Russian text, but also learn to sing with proper Russian diction. The signature Russian tall sound that feels as if it should be placed in the “back” of the mouth had to be balanced with the forward sound needed to avoid the “guttural” quality often associated with Russian. While many of the Russian consonants are very unnatural to nonnative speakers, the choir had to learn to manipulate the challenging text by using the vowels in the words to create an elongated and beautiful sound, while still enunciating the words in order to allow the text of the piece to be a prominent component of the performance.

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Scene from Official Lyric Video of It's All Right from the movie Soul. 

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Winter Concert Multimedia Program Post (Dec 14, 2021 at 11_26 PM)

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My favorite line is "Feelin' sad like so many of us do." This line really represents not just me but everyone else because during these tough and hardships everyone feels sad so don't just do what makes you happy and everything will be all right.