Tom
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- Joined
- Jan 13, 2005
- Posts
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Many years ago, Chris and I hosted a Christmas lunch for a large group of employees of different cultural backgrounds. Chris had the idea that folks would sing something in their native language; Folks either sang solos or sang in pairs or small ensembles, and this was quite a hit. In subsequent years, we'd frequently host parties at our house, and had a 'rule' that folks couldn't leave without singing a song. That really showed us who the great singers were, and exposed us to some wonderful songs. Sometimes we'd drag out the karaoke machine to help folks struggling with the lyrics &/or melody.
A few years ago, reflecting on the above gave me the idea of arranging a medley of primarily non-English songs from around the world. The project sat on the back burner, until I was noodling on a guitar one day this week. I was thinking of the upcoming holiday season, reminiscing about prior years where we've held family singalongs/playalongs, and wondering how we might change things up a bit. It will be something of a challenge for me vocally this year, thanks to trauma to the vocal folds and associated muscles during intubation prior to surgery a year ago. But I figure (hope) I can do enough to encourage others to participate. On to song choices ...
Growing up in a place where English was not the first language, I learned to sing countless songs in Welsh; This would be an easy starting point (for me). French would be a natural extension, but songs from some other European countries might be more difficult to sing.
Something I've done over the years is to learn various national anthems, and sing along while they're sung at sporting events. I found myself doing this recently as I've watched the 2019 Rugby World Cup tournament (hosted by Japan), where every game is preceded by the singing of national anthems. Watching some players really struggle to sing their own national anthem is a bit of an eye opener.
A song from South of the border and a Hawaiian song might be appropriate. Asia opens up a huge source of songs. An easy one to sing and play is the Japanese song Ue o Muite Aruko (aka Sukiyaki). Moving to the Philippines, there are countless beautiful songs in the tagalog language, although they take a little practice to pronounce. I'm really struggling with Vietnamese songs, because of the language and pronounciation.
Wish me luck. No previews
A few years ago, reflecting on the above gave me the idea of arranging a medley of primarily non-English songs from around the world. The project sat on the back burner, until I was noodling on a guitar one day this week. I was thinking of the upcoming holiday season, reminiscing about prior years where we've held family singalongs/playalongs, and wondering how we might change things up a bit. It will be something of a challenge for me vocally this year, thanks to trauma to the vocal folds and associated muscles during intubation prior to surgery a year ago. But I figure (hope) I can do enough to encourage others to participate. On to song choices ...
Growing up in a place where English was not the first language, I learned to sing countless songs in Welsh; This would be an easy starting point (for me). French would be a natural extension, but songs from some other European countries might be more difficult to sing.
Something I've done over the years is to learn various national anthems, and sing along while they're sung at sporting events. I found myself doing this recently as I've watched the 2019 Rugby World Cup tournament (hosted by Japan), where every game is preceded by the singing of national anthems. Watching some players really struggle to sing their own national anthem is a bit of an eye opener.
A song from South of the border and a Hawaiian song might be appropriate. Asia opens up a huge source of songs. An easy one to sing and play is the Japanese song Ue o Muite Aruko (aka Sukiyaki). Moving to the Philippines, there are countless beautiful songs in the tagalog language, although they take a little practice to pronounce. I'm really struggling with Vietnamese songs, because of the language and pronounciation.
Wish me luck. No previews