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A cappella

By Chie Sugimoto :: May 9, 2003

The word "a cappella" means singing without any musical instruments. Originally, a cappella began among Christians. Recently, however, a new style of a cappella has appeared, which is called "contemporary a cappella." In this style, present-day pop music is performed only with the human voice, that is to say, even the sound of bass, drums and percussion is done only with the human voice!

I often listen to a cappella music and go to a cappella concerts because listening to such songs makes me happy and relaxed. I think the human voice has the power to heal. I recommend a cappella music to anyone who's feeling tired.

There are many a cappella groups, of course. One of the most famous will come to Japan in June. The group's name is Rockappella. I will go to their concert with my friends, and I'm looking forward to listening to their songs.

Rudolf Ammann :: May 10, 2003 07:26 PM

The other day I heard the first lunchtime offering here on campus by an a cappella boy band, which I found strangely touching.

Mind you, a cappella pop is nothing new. The Flying Pickets, an a cappella band from England, landed a big hit some twenty years ago. To quote from
their website:

The very first single with Virgin, "Only You", a cover of a song by Yazoo, went straight to number 1 in the UK charts and was to remain there for five weeks over the Christmas of 1983 before going on to repeat the success throughout almost every country in Europe.

The lyrics mostly went like this:

Ba da da da,
Ba da da da, Ba da da da, Ba da da da, Ba da da da, Ba da da da, Ba da da da

Pretty amazing, yah? Alright. Everybody now:

Ba da da da, Ba da da da, Ba da da da,

Ba da da da,
Ba da da da,
Ba da da da,
Ba da da da

Ayumi Sawa :: May 10, 2003 11:20 PM

>Ba da da da,...

I want to know the melody of these lyrics.

Chie, you once wanted to belong to an a cappella club. What do members of this club do?

Yukiko Kojima :: May 12, 2003 01:00 AM

I'm very happy to see the name 'Rockappella' in your post because I recently got to know about them and started to listen to their music! It's increadible that all these songs are made with the human voice alone. I know some students who belong to a cappella groups, and one of them once said to me that it was very difficult to make up a melody but that he felt happy when he and his colleagues succeeded in singing in harmony.

You took me to an a cappella concert, didn't you, Chie? It was enjoyable and I'd like to go again if I have a chance.

Chie Sugimoto :: May 14, 2003 04:08 PM

Ayumi,

I'm sorry for being late to answer. The members of the a cappella club sometimes sing on the square in front of the library during lunchtime. They asked me to join them, but now I have no time to sing so I turned them down.

I admire your activeness for both club activities and study. You must be playing your tennis matches now. How did they go?