Building a Personal Connection to a Song

Each a cappella group has it repertoire. Most of these song lists include a few contemporary favorites, maybe a throwback number or two. Some fast songs. Some ballads.

One of the most rewarding parts of a performance can be those moments when you see a song truly transcend staging and tuning and syncopation to also be about raw emotion and personal connection to the music. Sometimes this is a result of a soloist who pitched the song in the first place because it’s a favorite song or one that person really connects with the lyrics of. Sometimes it’s a song that evolves into a group anthem—a testament to everything the group has been through together to reach that stage of performance. Sometimes it’s a member of the group very intentionally talking as a unit about what this song means to them and what they are trying to communicate as a unit.

 Regardless of how it comes about, personal connections are difficult to fabricate or simulate—it’s about authenticity and often about leaving a bit of a raw edge to overlay the polish of performance. When all of these factors come together, it more often than not results in a performance that the audience gets sucked into, each listener forging her or his own connection to the music.

I love it!