April in Paris
Barry rehearsed April in Paris with his singers at a Hague workshop, using it to teach part-singing, balance, phrasing on one breath and singing with real feeling. He also named it among the beautiful songs Americans wrote, and played on it for the soundtrack of the film Bird.
- moments in class
- 12
- recordings
- 2
- Barry plays it
- 3
What he teaches through it
He opened the rehearsal with the singers singing triads, major, augmented, minor and diminished, and caught out the fakers who slid up or down into a note. Then he took the arrangement part by part: sopranos, altos, tenors and basses each sang their notes for a phrase before the parts were put together.
Rehearsing April in Paris with the singers0:321:091:472:553:38
Balance follows the melody. The sopranos have the tune, so when they were weak he asked them for more depth and had everyone else sing softly. When someone in the tenors sang their part an octave low, he asked for it to be played up an octave for them.
He checked the harmony as well as the notes. At one phrase he told the singers the melody there is C major, not G minor, and at another he asked the tenors for a 4-3 suspension. He also asked for a little crescendo and a dignified sound.
A phrase is one thing and must not be broken up, and the singers were to stay in triplets. He bet them they could not carry one line straight on into the next on a single breath, then had them try it.
He wanted the feeling to be real. The singers were to imagine the ideal circumstance and sing as if reliving the most beautiful experience of their lives. When he was not convinced, he suggested keeping the word Paris but thinking of a city they love; he would think of Paris, Georgia.
Rehearsing April in Paris with the singers26:3627:1128:5729:3630:13
In his own words
I want you to act as if you’re reliving this experience, which was the most beautiful experience in your life.
Sopranos. We need a little more depth from you. Because you do have the melody. Everybody else has to sing soft today because the sopranos are weak today.
Let’s suddenly change Paris into another city. We’ll say Paris, but we’ll think of the city that we both like.
I played on Laura and April in Paris with Charlie Parker in this great big orchestra.
In class
Every moment he works on it, with the ideas of the method it shows.
Rehearsing April in Paris with the singers
- 0:32
Warm-up before the tune: the singers sing major, augmented, minor and diminished triads.
- 1:47
- 2:55
Someone in the tenors sings an octave low; he has their part played up an octave.
- 5:20
The sopranos have the melody, so everyone else sings softly.
- 9:09
Asks for a little crescendo and a dignified sound.
- 19:59
Corrects the harmony at one phrase: it is C major, not G minor.
- 23:26
Asks for a 4-3 suspension in one part.
- 25:12
- 27:11
- 27:46
Bets the singers cannot carry one line into the next on a single breath.
- 29:36
Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - Performance
- 34:13
Names April in Paris and Autumn in New York among the beautiful songs Americans wrote.
Barry plays it
- April In Paris2021, 7 min YouTube
- April In Paris2017, 3 min YouTube
- Artists House Master Class Barry Harris - PerformanceNew York City, 2004, 39 min YouTube
In the method
The ideas of the method these moments show, and how many moments each.