Welcome to the

Memory Men Chorus

Homepage

REHEARSALS TUESDAY EVENINGS

7:00 pm

CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH

1165 Minter Lane

Abilene, TX 79603

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The Memory Men have been singing the "Star Spangled Banner" a lot over the past few months.  First, they started singing at the Cooper High School basketball games and this spring have been singing at the Abilene High School baseball games.  If you need a group to sing the national anthem at your event, contact us and we will see if we are available.

The Memory Men Singing the

"Star Spangled Banner"

at the Abilene High baseball game.

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Our very own Luke Burnam was a recent finalist in the solo division in Abilene Idol compettion held at the Paramount Theatre.  We are pleased that Luke has joined our group singing baritone.  To hear him sing during his solo competition, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqIYOuc4xZw

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MEMORY MEN PERFORM

"WHITE CHRISTMAS"

FOR THE 2012

CHRISTMAS PARADE CROWDS

Pictured (L - R) is Ken, Doug, Steve, David and Hugh

The crowds would linger and listen to the close

harmonies of the group singing the old favorites

of the season.

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MEMORY MEN GAIN A NEW DIRECTOR

Sam Carter is shown directing some of the Memory Men Chorus in preparation for their Christmas performances.  Sam is not new to harmony singing having been the director of a male chorus in Midland, Texas prior to relocating to Abilene.  He also was a high school choral director for 25 years.  Sam is an excellent director with high expections for excellence in A cappella singing.  We are all excited about his vision and plans for the group. We are so fortunate to have such a professional to lead our chorus.

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 Memory Men Performing at the "Music of America" concert

 Listen to the full concert of the "Vocal Connection"

click here:

000/0/8/4/19480/userfiles/file/Vocal_Connection_Concert_mp3.mp3

Memory Men Chorus

 
The Memory Men Chorus is an all-male chorus located in Abilene, Texas. We sing traditional and modern 4-part a capella harmony music.

There is hardly any style or type of music that sounds more inspiring or moving than male’s voices singing in harmony.  We sing, gospel, patriotic, traditional and modern harmonies.  Our membership is also members of a larger group of singers called Vocal Connection which is a group of 65 men who also love the art of a cappella harmony singing.

If you are interested in singing or learning to sing a cappella harmony with a male chorus, we are currently auditioning male singers between the ages of 9 and 90! If you love to sing but can't read music, don't worry, our chorus is made up of experienced individuals who are always ready to teach.

We meet on Tuesday evenings at 7 PM at Calvary Baptist Church located at 1165 Minter Lane, Abilene, TX 79603

What is a cappella harmony singing?

A cappella (Italian for "in the manner of the church" or "in the manner of the chapel") music is specifically solo or group singing without assistance from instrumental accompaniment or a piece written to be performed in this style. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between music of the Renaissancepolyphony and Baroqueconcertato style.

In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. In modern usage, a cappella often refers to an all-vocal group performance of any style, including barbershop, doo wop, and modern pop/rock. Today, a cappella also includes sample/loop "vocal only" productions.

A cappella music originally was, and still often is, used in religious music, especially the church music style known as southern gospel.  In Eastern Europe, the music performed in the Eastern Orthodox cathedrals and monasteries is exclusively sung without music.  There are several present-day Christian religious bodies known for conducting their worship services without musical accompaniment.

Barbershop harmony music is one of the few uniquely American art forms. The earliest reports of this style of a cappella music involved African Americans. The earliest documented quartets all began in barbershops. In 1938, the first formal men's barbershop organization was formed, known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A), and in 2004 rebranded itself and officially changed its public name to the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Today the BHS has over 35,000 members in 800 chapters across the United States, and the barbershop style has spread around the world with organizations in many other countries. The Barbershop Harmony Society provides a highly organized competition structure for a cappella quartets and choruses singing in the barbershop style.  The Memory Men are members of this society.

This musical form continues to evolve and change as many different age groups have shown an interest in this great musical style.

Ringing the Chord

Most harmony songs are written with predominant chords, with each being formed by one of the four sung parts, tenor (highest, harmony part), lead (second highest, melody part), baritone (second lowest, harmony part) and bass (lowest, melody part).

Most critical to any performance of harmony music is the correct pitch placement of all four parts, otherwise, the predominant "ringing" tonal buzz and lift created by such sounds is often not fully realized.  The “ringing of the chord” is one of goals of singing this style of music.  This quality is produced when the chord is produced correctly when all four parts are in correct tune.  It is the blending of the four parts that produces a tonal quality of harmonics that “rings” and can be heard as an overtone.  Achieving this quality of sound places smiles on the faces of all who sing it and hear it.

Those who sing harmony music often praise the lightness of sound, the relative ease of learning the songs, and the camaraderie and sense of family while being a member of such organizations.  Many of our members have been singing in these organizations for as many as 50 or 60 years while others have just begun making it possible to sing and participate in such organizations from youth until old age.  Our youngest member is 18 and the oldest is in his 80's.