Our musical credo is a condensed form of the principles we have established as a chorus over years of instruction and rehearsal. These musical principles define our organization, and we believe in them together.
- The chorus cares deeply about consistent and accurate musicality.
- Before we start singing, we always take the pitch. We always sing in the right key.
- After taking the pitch, we never hum the pitch (even Ken or section leaders). Instead, we "audiate" our first chord.
- We are willing to do the tough and tedious work of rhythm and tuning exercises.
- We consistently ask ourselves for higher levels of discrimination of pitch and rhythmic accuracy.
- The chorus cares deeply about the power of singing with our natural voice.
- We sing through our natural voice, which is accessible to us as singers through proper alignment.
- We self-monitor our alignment throughout rehearsals and performances.
- We breathe in silently, taking only as much air as we need for a phrase, and we release our air silently.
- We believe in the power of voice placement, allowing our natural voices to combine, rather than blending to fit the chorus around us.
- The chorus cares deeply about engagement with our music and our audiences.
- We honour the music by putting effort in being courageous, willing, generous, and honest.
- We go beyond the instrumental nature of barbershop to become the actor/singer.
- Every time we sing, even at rehearsal, is the first time the song has ever been sung, as if we are the songwriter.
- We maintain our emotional preparedness as an actor/singer with the same diligence as our vocal alignment.
- The chorus cares deeply about a culture of positivity and self-accountability.
- We take all actions together as a chorus. When a single man isn't participating, the chorus isn't participating.
- We own the entire performance plan as a chorus, not just our own spot on the risers.
- We recognize that we will all make mistakes, even the director and the section leaders.
- We own our own area of the risers, and we do not fix each other's mistakes while on the risers.
- We trust the director, coaches, and section leaders to identify and make fixes as needed, even to the behaviors described above.