Category: Commercial Music

Call on Me

4/13/2023

So fun to get together with old friends. Back when we were in college, we played together in a dance band. We played the Top 40's music of the day as well as a few "oldies but goodies." As we ate dinner together last night, we reminisced about those times. Back then we enjoyed playing music together and it allowed us enough money to afford our schooling. After college we went our separate ways, married, raised our families, and had varied non-musical careers. But still, music was very important in our lives.

Cornerstone dance band 1976

And now we are not only empty nesters, but well into grandparenthood! 'Way back in college, we had no idea what lay ahead for us. I'm sure each of us had harbored some grand plans of becoming famous someday as musicians, but only for fleeting moments. We knew enough about being musicians and having other goals in life... that they wouldn't mesh. So, the guys went on to have successful careers in other areas that paid better and also allowed them to have happy family lives. I graduated with a Music Degree, but married well so that I didn't have to rely on making a living doing music.

We played a lot of songs popular on the radio in those days. In particular we like playing Chicago songs because of the horn parts. As a coloratura soprano studying Opera in those days, I still flattered myself that I could sing along with Peter Cetera. Here's one of my favorite songs our band played.

"Call on Me" by Chicago,

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Classical vs. Commercial

9/20/2021

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My family is very musical. My uncles had huge operatic voices and one actually had a very successful career singing Opera. My mother was invited to join the San Francisco Opera, but turned that offer down to get married and raise a family. Their vocal training was definitely Classical. However, my Aunt Janie had a great singing voice that was compared to Ella Fitzgerald's on many occasions. She definitely leaned towards commercial music --- popular music played on the radio and 1940's jazz. What I'm saying is that they enjoyed singing all kinds of styles of music, and they were good at it.

When I was growing up, I loved singing songs from Broadway musicals. Those songs could be in any style from pop to country to jazz to folk or even classical. I heard my mother singing operatic arias and modeled her sound as much as I modeled Julie Andrews or even Barbra Streisand. I enjoyed singing the songs I heard on the radio, too. I tried to sing like Karen Carpenter (but I had to fake hit the low notes), Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, and many others. I even loved singing the band Chicago's songs mimicking lead singer Peter Cetera. I thought I did a pretty good job of singing in various styles.

Then I got to college. In order to major in music at my school, you had to be degree-seeking. I had expected to become an Elementary School Music teacher, but they had discontinued that option because of what they saw as the decline of Music in the schools at that time. Anyway, I had to choose a different major and as I had very limited interests, I went Vocal Performance.

The trouble was that I earned my money to pay for school by singing in a dance band. We didn't play acid rock or anything, we just played what people wanted to hear. That's when I learned that the professors with leanings toward Classical Music had no use for students with leanings towards Commercial Music. So, through most of my college years, I sang Operatic Arias, Art Songs and Choral Music during the week and the Top 40's on the weekends.

By my Senior year, my vocal teacher sat me down and gave me a talking to. He encouraged me to lay off singing pop music for a couple of semesters so that I could get through my recitals and juries. He wanted me to really concentrate on singing in the pure Classical style.

You see, in Classical singing, all singers try to emulate the one perfect, glorious, epitome of vocal excellence.

In Commercial singing, every singer tries to be unique --- the more unique, the better --- to stand out from the crowd.

Well, I got through my recitals and juries, all right. But I did not rush out to audition for Opera Companies. Instead, I spent my last semester of college doing three Summer Stock Musical Theater Shows and having a marvelous time singing in many styles.

I can't help it. I love both Classical and Commercial Music!!!!

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Call on Me

Classical vs. Commercial

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