A Cappella? Is That How You Spell It? :: essays research papers

A Cappella? Is That How You Spell It?The phrase a cappella is among the most butchered and misunderstood musicalterms. The predominant, and most "correct" spelling, is ...a cappella - both terminology, two "ps", two "ls."A Cappella, A Picky DefinitionMusicologists have fun debating the extent to which a cappella, in the modal value ofthe chapel, can include instrumental accompaniment. Some grapple that earlysacred a cappella performances would sometimes include instruments that double ahuman voice part. So, the correct definition of a cappella should be somethinglike singing without free-living instrumental accompaniment.At Primarily A Cappella, we ar trying to popularize this style of music, so welike to keep it simple.a cappella - two words, two "ps", two "ls."singing without instrumentsA Capella?Some musical dictionaries indicate that the Italian a cappella is preferred overthe Latin a capella (one "p") still both are technic ally correct. Why do thosedictionaries muddy the waters with two spellings?The phrase was first used in Italian Catholic churches, where Latin was thelanguage for sacred text. Thus, the Latin spelling for in the style of thechapel - a capella - has some historical basis. However, most other musicalterms - forte, accelerando, and many others - are Italian in origin. Since theItalian spelling is more(prenominal) consistent with other musical terms, it has been usedmore frequently.Given the difficulty of spelling our favorite style of music, wed like toendorse the simplicity of a single spellinga cappella - two words, two "ps", two "ls."singing without instrumentsAcappellaJoining the two Italian words together to make Acappella is a popular variationin the U.S. For many streetcorner singing fans, Acappella means unaccompaniedsinging of fifties (and early sixties) songs. There were a serial publication ofrecordings released in the early 1960s of Mid-Atlantic unaccompani ed doo-wopgroups called "The Best of Acappella." The liner notes on the first LP notedthat Acappella means "singing without music." In this matter we do go towardsbeing picky - instruments do not alone music make A cappella (or Acappella)singers make music while they are ...singing without instrumentsA more recent, second meaning of Acappella has emerged. The ContemporaryChristian group Acappella is the first formed by prolific songwriter KeithLancaster. In the early 1990s he added Acappella Vocal stripe (now mostly knownas AVB) and "Acappella The Series" which uses studio singers (plus LOTS ofelectronic help) to perform songs around specific themes. All of these effortsare now combined in The Acappella Company. The good news is they have soldmillions of recordings and have contributed greatly to the awareness of a