Friki de barbershop

On Monday nights, I sing in a little barbershop chorus called the Barbees. It is pretty much the best night of the week because I get to share my passion in life with a bunch of amazing women (and about half of them are Spaniards!). The tricky thing about this chorus is that I'm singing bass. (Actually, I end up switching back and forth between baritone and bass, depending on who comes to the rehearsals -- truly bi-sectional, if you get my drift...).

Now, I'm a barbershop brat -- a friki de la música de barbería, as a Spaniard might say -- and being a barbershop brat, it's not that hard to get the gist of a new part. I mean, I've only been amazed by this music since I was in the womb, so it only makes sense that I try something new every now and then. I sing all four parts when I teach tags, so what's so hard about singing a new one completely? But BASS is una putada! My reto for the year is to be able to "get" the bass part. The "bum bum bums" are boring, the fact that it changes to the melody is impossible (since the melody usually makes me yawn...and it's the last part I hear), and the notes are sometimes just a tad bit too low for me. My biggest complaint: it's just not weird enough for me to sing it right! The intervals are so non-baritone-like that it's hard for me to "just sing a fifth."

¡MADRE MÍA! I can sing a D-flat!

So my self-discovery of the year is that I am a baritone. I like the f*#@ed up intervals, swipes, echoes, chopsticks, rubs, etc. that makes up the baritone part. I also fit all the nerdy stereotypes of having color-coded everything, and organization up the yin-yang.

But heck, I'm up to the challenge of singing bass. Bring. It. On.