Chorus offers free voice lessons Barbershop group looking for new singers

Members of Bangor’s only men’s barbershop chorus found that last year’s promotion was so successful, they’re making the offer again this year: Men who like to sing get free voice lessons.

Free? Really?

“Really,” said Jim Kelley, president of the Maine-ly Music Chorus. “We had such good luck last year that a dozen guys completed the six-week program, and most of them are members today.

“When they hear the ringing of those chords and realize it’s just their voices producing those sounds, they can’t believe it,” Kelley added. “Most guys think they don’t sing very well, and they’re surprised when they’re with other men who like to sing and the sound is so good.”

The chorus is inviting men who enjoy singing to a series of guest nights starting Monday, Sept. 11, at the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department, headquartered at the former armory on lower Main Street.

Guests will receive both group and individual instruction aimed at improving their singing and allowing them to have more fun while harmonizing with others.

“Some people who attend our shows think we’re professional singers,” said Dana Dorsey, a 32-year member of the Barbershop Harmony Society and one of its biggest boosters. The fact is, Dorsey said, most of the members admit they don’t read music very well, and most of the singers learn their parts by ear.

Barbershop music is one of a handful of traditional American music styles. It is unaccompanied music, sung in four parts, with the melody in the second tenor rather than the highest voice, typical of church choirs.

The style is considered a traditional pastime of men waiting for a haircut, thus, the term “barbershop.” In fact, this kind of singing more likely finds its roots among field hands and other working people.

Dorsey, the group’s vice president for music and performance, said many men think singing is hard work.

“Making better music is usually a matter of singing more easily, with less effort, and letting the natural resonance of men’s voices come through,” Dorsey said. “The lessons we offer during this six-week introduction to our hobby should give new singers some solid basics in freely-produced, resonant singing techniques.”

The lessons are part of weekly meetings of the Maine-ly Music Chorus, which also include quartet singing, work on the group’s repertoire for periodic community performances and new songs prepared for the chorus’s annual fall show.

This year’s event will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21, at Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine.

The singers perform traditional music including folk songs dating back to the Civil War era. However, they’re also singing music made popular by more contemporary groups, including the Beatles.

Barbershoppers, as the singers are known, also take part from time to time in contests where they demonstrate their skills and are judged on their singing, musicality and performance skills.

The Bangor chorus won the Granite and Pine Division Championship in 1998, bettering choruses from around Maine and New Hampshire.

Winning contests is fine, but most members say they go to the Monday evening meetings for the fun, fellowship and good singing.

“A few times, I’ve been tired and just felt like staying home,” said Harry Michaud of Lee, who joined after last year’s introductory sessions. “After singing for about 15 minutes, I’d forgotten about whatever was on my mind and was really energized. It was a great feeling.”

Men who like to sing are invited to visit the Bangor barber-shoppers at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, at Bangor Parks and Recreation Department, 647 Main Street.

For more information, call 469-3695.

Russ Van Arsdale is co-director of Maine-ly Music Chorus.