Mike Simmons wrote:

Got no arguments here...

On this one, I'm sorry, I fall somewhere in between. ANY musician will
tell you that a note here or there does NOT change the song. There is a
certain amount of "creative license" that is allowed in ALL songs
wherein they are still considered to be the same song. This is defined
by the Library of Congress. The copyright is most often based on the
lyrics and the melody, individually and in combination. So adding
harmonies or trills or going up an octave makes no difference. It's an
interpretation of the piece. Whether you like it or not is simply a
matter of taste.

That said...the National Anthem is INCREDIBLY difficult to sing. It is,
in fact, OUT of the range of most vocalists, which is why it often
sounds best when performed by instrumentalists and or vocal chorus --
the high notes can be sung by the soprano and alto section and the low
notes by the tenor and base. Many solo vocalists overcome this problem
by adding and changing notes to work up to the notes that are out of
their range, or else they attempt to hit the notes anyway, and fall
short. Not to mention that people can sing/play something PERFECTLY in
practice in their nice, warm rehearsal hall, and then simply MISS a note
once they are faced with 250,000 fans in varying weather on a rickety
stage with the sun in their face, etc. (you catch my drift). Also, live
sound in a setting like the race track HAS to be a nightmare for sound
engineers. You've got all kinds of weird stuff to deal with. The fact
is, those singers may not be able to hear themselves at all.


I also take exception to WOMEN leaving their hats on. I've had many
women explain to me that they believe women don't have to take off their
hat... I will point out that flag etiquette was written a LONG time
ago, when the sexes were FAR less equal, and it was UNSEEMLY for a woman
to remove her bonnet in public. In fact, the verbiage of the flag code
refers to BONNETS, not HATS. In current times, it is NOT appropriate
for a woman to leave her hat on during the national anthem unless she is
in uniform and is saluting (military, police, scouts, etc.).
I'm as crotchety as they come regarding a lot of things, but I have to
argue on the side of the musicians most of the time on this one....

Cindy,
Musician and former audio engineer

Nancy2 <nancy-dooley (AT) uiowa (DOT) edu> wrote in news:ed81b426-25e9-4a63-98ca-
09e8edf108db (AT) y29g2000hsf (DOT) googlegroups.com:

To be pedantic for a moment (another characteristic often ascribed
to old farts), but that's an adjective, not a pronoun.

John

"Cindy Murray" <c1ndyluhu (AT) tx (DOT) rr.com> wrote

Well, my wife sez the only taste I have is in my mouth! If an artist wants
to practice his/her creative license on the anthem whilst singing in the
Library of Congress, then I say go fer it. But, when it comes to singing at
a sporting event, sing it like it was written.... like God intended!!

;^)

Mike

In article Cindy Murray <c1ndyluhu (AT) tx (DOT) rr.com> wrote:

The fact that any musician "says so", doesn't mean that all of us
NON-musicians have to like the way it is done..
It may be fine with them, but if it sucks... it sucks...

My son's wife takes quite a bit of "creative license"
with her cooking.... but that doesn't mean I have to like it!!


Dan
****************************************
It's hard to understand how a funeral home can raise it's prices,
and blame it on the cost of living....

And an even better noun would be "curmudgeon."

You can just kick butt all day with "irascible curmudgeon."

--pig


On 10/13/08 19:08, in article Xns9B36B87BF3C86pogosupernews (AT) 216 (DOT) 168.3.30,
"John McCoy" <igopogo (AT) ix (DOT) netcom.com> wrote:

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:20:36 CST, "Mike Simmons" <mikesim (AT) yhti (DOT) net>
wrote:

Hell, I'm old, and no one ever had to add "and please remove your hat"
for the anthem for me. Automatic. Offends me when they (think they
must) say that at various events. On the invocation, I'm no
religious nut, but it's common courtesy. I haven't seen chatty
drivers, tho.

But 50 years ago everyone would shut up and know to remove hat.

Agreed, but the Taladega anthem was awful.
Not hardly!

"Mike Simmons" <mikesim (AT) yhti (DOT) net> wrote


Well, this particular anthem was written as a poem, so it can't really be
sung that way, can it?

Funny thing about it, though. When it set to a tune, it was to a British
drinking song.

Larry

If anyone's curious, the below link is to the original lyrics to that
tune.....

http://www.potw.org/archive/potw234.html

It occurs to me our anthem would be a heckuva lot easier to sing iffen
they'd had more modern drinking tunes to set it to....such as "In Heaven
There Is No Beer."

--pig


On 10/14/08 14:01, in article qrKdnZS0Ov_BVmnVnZ2dnUVZ_g-dnZ2d (AT) comcast (DOT) com,
"RetiredFF" <lbatter (AT) bogfeet (DOT) net> wrote:

"RetiredFF" <lbatter (AT) bogfeet (DOT) net> wrote

Ok then, I like my pomes and drinking songs uncorrupted!

;^)

MIke