Thank you Ben Folds & Shawn Stockman! "The Sing Off" and music education…

I became intrigued with the new reality show “The Sing Off” after hearing about the A Capella focused show on NPR’s Here & Now. However you feel about the groups on the show or the contemporary A Capella scene in general, this show offers tremendous potential for creative music educators and our students.

In particular Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman, two of the three “judges” on the show, proved tonight that intelligent, specific, articulate, and insightful feedback can work on television. (I recently posted about the discourse online regarding the notion of the “everyfan” and American Idol judging) Their feedback ranged from specific guidance related to pitch accuracy, intonation, breath support to musical content in the various groups’ arrangements and the difference between multi-tracked studio recordings, production, and live performance. Thank you Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman for including nuanced and informed discourse as a part of this musical reality television show.

It might even be helpful and valuable for students to compare the feedback of Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman to that of Nicole Scherzinger. What might they notice and what feedback would they give the performers on the show?

I have described potential approaches to another music reality show in previous posts that can certainly apply to The Sing Off. The Sing Off, however, offers additional potential in that each group arranges its own music and the repertoire spans a wide variety of genres. The show will undoubtedly spark interest in A Capella music and offers potential for unlimited extensions into other aspects of music and performance. Granted as in many other reality shows there are problematic aspects to the show and it can be analyzed and framed from a variety of critical lenses, but if treated as an open ended springboard for discussion and musical engagement it can serve as an ongoing resource.

Why not have your students create their own A Capella arrangement of a song they like a la “Musical Futures” “into the deep end” style?

Why not have students explore vocal percussion and revel in the possibilities of beat boxing?

Why not expand beyond pure voice and involve electronics to layer, loop, and process the voice as well?

Why not explore A Capella music from around the world and the expansive possibilities of the voice?

Why not identify A Capella groups in and/or around your community and invite them to your school to work with your students?

Consider watching “The Sing Off”, discussing it with your students, and expanding from it into an interesting, engaging, and enriching project in the music classroom.