[Dixielandjazz] remembering the lyrics

Mon Apr 9 16:30:22 PDT 2007

There is knowing the lyrics and KNOWING the lyrics.  I generally know the 
lyrics for a lot of tunes but knowing them well enough to  put a mike up to 
my face and not miss a lick is totally a different matter.  Doing something 
dumb like going dyslexic or putting in the wrong line happens to very good 
singers sometimes.

I advocate a "method" acting style for singers in that they become the words 
or picture themselves as something when singing.  A few years ago I did the 
music from Cats and I pictured a cat slinking around for my solos.  After 
several concerts the other musicians were calling me "Felix".  Words of 
course help with this a lot and often set a mood.

I suspect we have been talking about two different levels of  "knowing" the 
words.

A lot of the tunes I  have the words there but don't necessarily read them 
off but they are there if I need them.  Sometimes all I need is a glance at 
them but some tunes I do have to read them especially if I haven't done the 
tune for a long time.  i.e.: Irish tunes for St. Pats or Latin tunes for 
Cinco De Mayo.

When I was in H.S. and College sometimes I would take a pen and write lists 
and various things on my thigh before taking a test.  When taking the test I 
would "read" the answers off my leg even though I couldn't see them.  Yes 
it's a mental trick but it worked for me.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike" <mike at railroadstjazzwest.com>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 2:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] remembering the lyrics

Your words are very true, especially in songs which do not have
lyrics. For me lyrics are a starting point and that was what I
was trying to express. There are many ways to approach a tune
and not any one thing works for everyone. You have to figure out
what works for you and go for it. Knowing lyrics obviously do
hold some merit as the following story will help illustrate:

"On a lesson with Ellis Marsalis I had prepared the Errol Garner
tune "Misty". As we sat down and I began to play Ellis stopped
me and simply smiled and said, "Have you ever heard the words to
this?" I said "no" and Ellis immediately told me then come back
when you do. Once I learned the lyrics the tune was much easier
to play and appreciate."

Mike

Bob Bogen wrote:
>  To Steve, Larry, Pat , Mike et al,
>  Of course the lyrics and vocal interpretations can help with phrasing and 
> feeling!  But Brother, Can You Spare a Dime, the unique face-the-facts 
> anthem of the Great Depression was music that hardly needed Yip Harburg's 
> unforgettable lyrics [Once I built a railroad, made it run.....] to make 
> your eyes go wet, but Harburg's words 'sure didn't hoyt' as my friends in 
> Brooklyn used to say.  The music itself cries out to be cried.  And even 
> Bing Crosby couldn't ruin the lyrics when he made it a hit after the 1932 
> review Americana opened.]
>  Some tunes never had a poet to write lyrics, or the words were written 
> after, out of, the music, just as many ballets and some film sequences 
> start with the music itself.  But where would Bob Dylan be with just his 
> guitar but without his historic poetry as lyrics?
>  When I represented the New York Musicians Club I learned, what I simply 
> guessed as a brass player, from students of Horowitz and Heifetz that 
> phrasing is the beginning, and 'line' is the larger test of musicianship, 
> the next order of expression, you might say the phrasing of phrasing. 
> Musicians, the Second Line, and other listeners know, even without the 
> help of a poet’s particular verbal interpretation , [and other poets, 
> writers may add their OWN improvisation, interpretation, or more verses 
> later]…. they know, even without words, if the interpretation of the 
> player evokes new energy and feelings, in a word, truly swings.
> Bob K. Bogen
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