The Lion Still Sleeps
I sang in a college vocal group during the formative years of what's known as "contemporary" a cappella, and I've watched in amazement at its explosive growth ever since. Colleges that used to have few or no groups now have a dozen.
The movement is growing at the high school level too. Students are noticing their older siblings having fun in college groups and quite correctly realizing there is no reason to wait! And high school teachers are finding their students ever more interested in singing current popular music.
But all of these new and growing groups have one significant problem in common.
Like many a cappella enthusiasts, I've heard thousands of individual performances of songs. And every time I attend a show, I find there is a very short list of songs that everybody sings.
...For The Longest Time, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Good Night Sweetheart, Africa, Naturally, The Long and Winding Road, Higher and Higher, Yesterday, Zombie Jamboree...
These and a few other chestnuts have been passed from group to group for years (in some cases decades). We've all sung them, loved them, and grown tired of them. Commercial offerings of contemporary a cappella arrangements are scant, mostly because the huge music companies are protective of their sheet music publishing rights.
Where are the new arrangements?
The Solution
I was first introduced to the concept of "learning tapes" as a child. My Uncle Jack sang with his local barbershop chorus in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and four members of the chorus would produce and dub tapes for the chorus members who didn't read music. Listening to and singing along with these tapes helped my uncle learn his parts. Spending time with the chorus also helped me catch the a cappella bug, and I haven't looked back...
Years later, I found myself using learning tapes with my pro group Five O'Clock Shadow. Former Rockapella frontman Sean Altman was hosting a big show at the East Coast Summit, and we agreed to sing the background parts to one of his original songs. Sean used learning tapes to teach all of his original songs to the members of Rockapella; he supplied us with a set of learning tapes just a few days before the concert.
That tape made it easy to learn my part in time, and I'll never forget that concert.
Digital Dawn
Just over a year ago, I finally decided to tackle head-on the dearth of arrangements available to vocal groups. It is only appropriate that the easiest and fastest way to do this is with the ultimate version of learning tapes, the downloadable digital learning track.
Bringing together modern technology and some of the most talented people I've ever worked with, I'm proud to present to the vocal community this new catalog of modern, popular, and fun-to-sing arrangements.
Some of you may be new to the concept of learning tracks. Check out our demo and listen for yourself how easy it is to pick out individual parts from a complex arrangement. Used by amature and professionals alike, learning tracks are a great way to build your repertoire of songs.
Others may be intimidated working with mp3 files from a computer. This is easily solved by spending five minutes online with the nearest high school student.
Still others may think that songs released less than five years ago do not merit inclusion in a vocal department curriculum. To all of you I ask that you give this new material a try; we've worked hard on these arrangements, and we believe they have a valid place next to the classical, madrigal, jazz, doo-wop, and folk music currently sung by vocal groups. Most high school and college students think so, too!
Learning by ear is an age-old tradition; digital learning tracks are just a new means of distribution. And I've never heard a song that didn't have something to teach me about music.