ghs

“My favorite instrument is the human voice.”

These are the words of Isaac Baker, a Greenwood senior and one of the co-heads of the GHS men’s a cappella choir.

Greenwood has two a cappella groups; the women’s group, “The Crescendolls,” and the men’s group, “The MANagers”.

A cappella literally means “in the manner of the chapel,” referring to the style of Medieval religious choirs. In music terms, however, an a cappella choir is one that performs without musical accompaniment. All of the instrumental parts are instead created by the voice. Percussion is usually portrayed by beatboxing, clapping, or snapping. A cappella choir members often imitate different instruments with their tone.

Mrs. Osborne, Greenwood’s choir teacher, is the supervising teacher of the a cappella choir. However, Greenwood’s a cappella groups are student-run. Along with Isaac Baker, Bo Johnson, a junior, is also one of the heads of The MANagers. Junior DiDi Turley and  senior Shelby Watkins are heads of The Crescendolls.

The students also choose and arrange the songs they perform. Instead of doing traditional choir songs, the a cappella groups feature modern pop music in their performances.

Recently, the two groups participated in “Acapalooza,” an a cappella-only concert that featured many groups from the South Central region of Kentucky, including groups from local high schools, Western Kentucky University, and Vanderbilt.

At Acapalooza, The Crescendolls performed the songs “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift and “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor. The MANagers performed “All of the Lights” by Kanye West, “Fitzpleasure” by ALT-J, and the theme song from Two and a Half Men. All of these songs were arranged by the students themselves.

The members of the Crescendolls and the MANagers were nervous before the show, but they both performed very well and received great applause from the very supportive audience. According to Bo Johnson, members of the older groups came up to them after the show and gave them compliments, telling them that they were doing good things and to keep it up.

Many members of Greenwood’s a cappella choirs feel that the performances, such as Acapalooza, are the most enjoyable aspect of being in a cappella choir.

“The performances are fun,” says DiDi Turley, “because you go out there, you go do something that not a lot of people know about, and then you do it well, you come offstage and you’re really pumped–that’s the most fun.”

However, the performances are not the only fun part of a cappella. Any student can help with arranging the songs, and even just being part of a cappella choir gives students the opportunity to be around other musically-inclined people and to gain more musical experience.

DiDi, who aspires to be a choir teacher when she is older, feels that being in a cappella choir has been an instrumental step in her musical development.

“It’s definitely made me a much more confident performer vocal-wise,” she says. “I’ve been dancing onstage my whole life, but I had never really done anything by myself onstage. Whereas in a capella I had to learn how to do solos onstage, I had to learn how to be independent while singing. It’s made me better at performing onstage.”

Some students worry about the time commitment involved with being in a cappella choir. However, the amount of time required depends on the role a student assumes. For the average member, if they just show up to rehearsal to learn the pieces and participate in performances, the commitment is only about 1-3 hours a week. If they volunteer to help with choosing and arranging the pieces, though, the commitment can be more around 2-4 hours a week.

The amount of musical skill also varies from member to member. Students need to be able to have basic music skills, such as matching pitch, and to have confidence in their voice. Being able to harmonize, and especially to help arrange songs, is also helpful, but not necessary. And since there are such varying levels of skill, the leaders of the two choirs also make sure to put every member in a role that shows their strengths.

“I’ve had seven years of vocal training and there are guys in there that have never had a single lesson in their lives,” says Isaac Baker. “It’s really for all types of people. Just anyone who’s willing to learn.”

Although there is a time commitment, members of the a cappella choirs find that it is extremely rewarding and allows students to become very close with a great group of people. According to DiDi Turley, a cappella choir is like a tight knit family. During rehearsals, the students must focus and act professionally, but outside of school they are like brothers and sisters.

“We have trust between us,” Shelby Watkins explains.

Both a cappella choirs will be caroling around town during the holdiay season, and they will have a Christmas concert in December.  They are also anticipating a February Valentine’s Day concert.

The a cappella choir is always happy to get new members, and they encourage students to keep practicing and to join a cappella choir.

“A cappella is so fun,” DiDi Turley insists. “You get to meet friends, you get to perform, you get to learn about music–it’s just fun.”

Shelby Watkins adds, “If you’re not already a part of something at Greenwood and you love music, then I say join a cappella.”