Video transcript
@The Arts Unit Art Bites – Choral singing tips – 10. Note bashing part 2

[music playing]

[rhythmic music playing]

IAN JEFFERSON: OK, time again to quickly teach you another song. This is an Australian folk song that has been arranged for treble voices. It's mostly in unison and has the ubiquitous folk song structure whereby the verses and chorus are virtually the same, which I have previously referred to as the 'supercalifragilistic' syndrome. Hopefully, this will help save us time.

[rhythmic music playing]

'Oh, the Springtime,' is a folk song from the late 1800s that was re-popularised in the 1950s and '60s through various recordings, including one by Burl Ives. It's a song about the life of shearers as they travel from property to property during the shearing season. There's no copyright restrictions on this piece. So, feel free to download the sheet music and reproduce it for your choir. Here's a recording of the main tune.

[music playing - 'Oh, the Springtime']

WOMAN: (SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing. And it's then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations all steering, a-seeking a job off the coves.

IAN JEFFERSON: No one really knows from where the melody of this piece derives. But the lyrics are thought to be taken from a bush poem called 'The Wallaby Track,' by EJ Overbury, published in 1865. The poem itself is a sardonic look at the life of itinerant farm workers during the mid 1800s and tells of their ongoing struggles. The song that was created from this poem seems to view the plight of shearers through a slightly romanticised lens, giving this piece a fairly upbeat, cheerful feel.

[electric guitar music playing]

My primary school choir recorded an a capella version in 1975. I'm not sure what key we were meant to be in. We seemed to start in F sharp major and then skillfully modulate as a group down the semitone to F major after the first chorus. Have a listen.

CHILDREN: (SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing. And then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations all steering, a-seeking a job off the coves. Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing. And then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations all steering, a-seeking a job off the coves.

IAN JEFFERSON: The vocal tone is actually pretty good despite the pitch dropping issue. The version I'll be teaching you is even lower, [chord] in E flat major, and has a waltz in one feel with a tempo marking of 180 crotchet beats per minute.

It's too fast to conduct this section 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1. Instead, we conduct the downbeat of every bar instead, in our head thinking 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. This is called a waltz in one.

Let me slow it down a little too 144 crotchet BPM to ensure we're learning the notes accurately and allowing us to sing it smoothly, legato. So let's learn the first section, which I'm going to call a chorus, although technically speaking, it's the verse. This section begins the song in unison and then is repeated twice with a harmony part added. Each verse chorus is made up of four phrases, four bars per phrase.

I'll sing each phrase. Then you repeat. All right, here we go. Me first, and then you. 1, 2, 3.

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing.

Wait. 1, 2, 3.

[music playing - 'Oh, the Springtime']

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing.

Me.

(SINGING) And it's then you will see them in droves.

You.

(SINGING) And it's then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations all steering.

Your turn.

(SINGING) To go west country stations all steering, a-seeking a job off the coves.

And--

(SINGING) A-seeking a job off the coves.

Good. Careful of the melisma on (SINGING) a-seeking, ah-hh.

Perhaps cheat a little bit and add a little aspiration, [aspirates] before the 'ah'. Instead of (SINGING) a-seek, you can cheat and go (SINGING) ha-seeking a job off the coves.

It makes it sound a little less aggressive. You don't want to over-aspirate in songs. But cheat every now and then.

The term 'coves' just means the men in charge, the bosses. We sing (SINGING) off the coves, which was probably originally (SINGING) a-seeking a job of the coves.

But I quite like the ockerness of 'off'. (SINGING) Off the coves.

Except we don't want to sing with it with too broad an Australian accent.

The two verses in this song are melodically identical to this. So let's cement the tune by singing them straightaway. Sing along with me, sight reading. Where do I press play anyway?

[bang]

[music playing - 'Oh, the Springtime']

(SINGING) With a ragged old swag on my shoulder and a billy quart pot in my hand, I can tell you we'll 'stonish the new chums, when they see how we travel the land. Oh, and after the shearing is over and the wool season's all at an end, it is then you will see those flash shearers making johnnycakes round in the bend.

A quick glossary of terms-- swag and quart pot. A swag is a bag, and a quart pot is a small cooking pot, a quarter of a gallon in size, which these fellows would carry everywhere as they roamed the countryside looking for work.

The final phrases are a little ironic in regard to the conclusion of the shearing season and seeing flash shearers-- perhaps the boastful, ostentatious ones-- now out of work, out of money, and being forced to camp out under the stars and having to survive eating johnnycakes, which is damper, a type of homemade bread.

Now we come to the soprano harmony part. It's a bit tricky. Have a listen.

WOMAN: (SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing. Then see in droves, to the west country stations, a-seeking a job off the coves.

Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing. And it's then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations are steering, a-seeing a job off the coves.

IAN JEFFERSON: Probably the first thing to note is the rhythm difference to the alto part on the words (SINGING) oh, the springtime, because while the altos are singing the tune, (SINGING) oh, the springtime. Sopranos sing the low notes, on a B flat, going 1, 2, 3.

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime.

1, 2, 3.

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime.

We need to use the word 'spring' to metaphorically spring up an octave. And it's right on the beat.

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime.

As opposed to the altos, which is, 1, 2, 3--

(SINGING) Oh, the spring. Oh, the spring. Oh, the springtime.

So we'll go really slow, phrase by phrase, me, then you.

[playing piano]

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing.

You. 1, 2, 3.

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the sheering.

And then we come right in on the beat. Me first.

(SINGING) Then see in droves.

You, go.

(SINGING) Then see in droves.

Then we join the altos for a split second.

(SINGING) To the west country stations.

1, 2, 3, and--

(SINGING) To the west country stations, a-seeking a job off the coves.

You.

(SINGING) A-seeking a job off the coves.

The last phrase is all crotchets, so you've got to insure to give it shape and not be too note-y.

(SINGING) A-seeking a job off the coves.

You.

(SINGING) A-seeking a job off the coves.

You will notice that although the sopranos traditionally sing higher than the altos, in this instance, the sopranos are launching their part from beneath the altos on a low B flat.

[piano playing: B flat]

And that can be confusing for the choir. But just stick to your guns, and everyone will be fine. Let's just run through the entire soprano part of the chorus without stopping. This is the soprano part on its own. 1, 2, 3.

[music playing - 'Oh, the Springtime']

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the sheering. Then see in droves, to the west country stations, a-seeking a job off the coves.

Really make sure you take a deep breath and support those high bits.

(SINGING) To the west country stations, a-seeking a job off the coves.

Now, singing low notes just after you've been singing high notes can be problematic. You just need to get your sopranos to really relax.

(SINGING) Country stations, a-seeking a job off the coves.

Try it. At the end of the third and final chorus, the last phrase is repeated.

(SINGING) A-seeking a job off the coves.

Or--

(SINGING) A-seeking a job off the coves.

Make sure you sing that nice and smoothly, not how I just sang it. As a reminder that that little last tag is coming up, you might want to raise your hand, as a conductor, as a warning, warning. The piano button is pretty awful, not really in keeping with the song. It seems like a bit of a throwaway that I did. It's probably best to always perform this piece a capella.

Teaching the nuts and bolts of this song might take two rehearsal sessions. You never want to get bogged down with just learning one song at a time. To give this piece a bit of polish and sparkle, it's time to hone in on making an open, pure sound. Always encourage a tall mouth shape with a relaxed jaw. And just watch out for those schwas. The last verse goes (SINGING) and after the shearing is over.

If you sing, (SINGING) over, it sounds disgusting. (SINGING) Over. A nice, wide, vertical shape.

Try singing the song in different ways

(SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on the shearing.

[ding]

And it's then you can see them in droves.

[ding]

Let the students suggest ways to perform it.

(RAPPING) Springtime, it brings on the sheering. And it's then you can see them in droves.

The difficulty is to maintain and, possibly, increase the energy as they perform the entire song, as if you're heading towards a punchline. Try these tricks to keep it fun. And hopefully, it'll keep the spark in their performance. Let's run the song from the top at tempo with the piano accompaniment, sopranos, altos.

[music - 'Oh, the Springtime]

WOMAN: (SINGING) Oh, the springtime, it brings on this sheering. And it's then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations all steering, a-seeking a job off the coves. With a ragged old swag on my shoulder and a billy quart pot in my hand, I can tell you we'll 'stonish the new chums, when they see how we travel the land.

Oh, the springtime, it brings on the sheering. And it's then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations all steering, a-seeking a job off the coves.

Oh, and after the shearing is over, and the wool season's all at an end, it is then you will see those flash shearers making johnnycakes round in the bend. Oh, the springtime, it brings on the sheering. And it's then you will see them in droves, to the west country stations all steering, a-seeking a job off the coves, a-seeking a job off the coves.

IAN JEFFERSON: If you can get a light and breezy, sparkly tone from your choir, it might be a good little piece for a warmup or even an audition. Don't be too precious about it. It's just a colonial folk song. Have fun with it, and remember, keep singing.

[rhythmic music playing]