Okay, NOW I'm panicking

[figmo]

Today the rabbi arrived in San Jose. She left me a packet of songs she'd like me to do tomorrow night.

It's 1/4" thick.

I'm not going out tonight in hopes of possibly making it through some of these. I'm about ready to crash and I'm terrified. I can sort of sight-read the ones written in simpler keys (two flats/sharps or less), but when I get something in E flat, AIEEE! As if that isn't enough, these prayer tunes often have complex rhythms or time signature changes every couple of measure.

To top things off, some of these are not in "my key" (as in "it hurts my throat or sounds screechy when I sing them"), but because of the way I am, I suck at transposing while sight reading them. I'm cursed with perfect pitch, which means if I see a C, I "have" to sing a C.

If I didn't have to work tomorrow I'd just spend the day entering them into my computer and trying them in different keys. Unfortunately, I don't have that option.

Comments

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

Call my father. 301-984-0033 (given with his permission)

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I wish I could, but I'm at work, and by the time I'll be off work it'll be waaaay past sundown.

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

First, break a leg!

Second, you'll sound great in comparison. You know that. It's like the story of the sneakers in Doctor Who's "Survivor" episode (you have the sneakers on). You may not be happy with your performance, but you'll do fine.

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Alas, I'm not familiar with the episode. Care to explain?

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

Sure, though I have to put it behind an LJ cut. Okay, here's the story:

Two mates are camping in the jungle and deep in the middle of one night, one wakes up the other. "Did you hear that?" the bloke says.

"Hear wha—" and then they listen to this low growl.

"That's a tiger!" says the first man. His mate reaches under his bunk and takes out his sneakers and socks. Another growl comes, closer.

"What are you doing??" the first man says. His mate just puts on one sock and sneaker. There's a third growl, from behind the tent, on the other side of the entrance. "You can't outrun a tiger? You're crazy!"

The mate finishes lacing up the second sneaker and, just as he's at the front flap of the tent, turns back. "I don't have to outrun the tiger."

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

s'too bad you can't combine relative pitch with the perfect pitch. (It's a handy little trick I use sometimes)

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I know.

I still remember when my eartraining professor discovered I was picking out tunes not by intervals, but by going to myself "wait, that's an 'A' and that's a C" and so forth.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

I know it's late, but if you're still working on it:

Get out the guitar, try to play the chords, and transpose from there, that will probably help a lot for comprehending where your voice is supposed to go.

B'hatzlacha!
LMG

[figmo.livejournal.com]

We're thinking along the same lines, but with different "instruments." I'm using my computer to do the transposing. It's much faster, I can see the notes as they play, and typing and playing back the songs helps.

I just wish I had time to do this right now, but I'm working till 5pm, then I have to be at the service by 7:30pm. Eeep.

Last night when I couldn't sleep I figured out how to scan in this music -- sort of. It still needs editing, but the scanning takes out a lot of the work.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

How did it go?

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Eeeek! It really is a trial by fire, isn't it? Yom Kippur is the height of the Jewish liturgical year and the prayers are long and long. But you're a very practiced singer and I think you'll do fine.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

...and you never told me you had perfect pitch!

[figmo.livejournal.com]

Yup; I do.

"Perfect pitch" means when I go off key, I'm the first to know. ;-)