Pick up the piccolo. Round up the trumpets and trombones. Listen for the ohm-pa of the tuba. Strike up the band.
Now, pick up an American flag and wave it during South Pasadena’s upcoming Balloon Parade while listening to a Sousa march.
And get ready to get lost in the awe-inspiring range of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
It’s beginning to look a lot like … the Fourth of July.
Certain holidays, both religious and secular, have tunes attached to them — and that’s certainly true of Independence Day.
“It’s like caroling for the Fourth of July,” explained Miranda Miller, producer, director and co-owner of the Star Theatre Company in South Pasadena.
There are certain tunes that have attached themselves over time to the holiday — some as old as the American appropriation of “Yankee Doodle”; “The Star Spangled Banner,” written during the War of 1812; “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” often associated with the Civil War; and “God Bless America,” written by the American immigrant Irving Berlin.
The week or so around the Fourth of July is when America really takes out its patriotic songbook and it is a time for bands and singers to showcase their talents.
“Marching in a parade and seeing the people clapping and getting excited,” said Howard Crawford, who just retired as bandleader at South Pasadena High School. “People in the band get a chance to shine.
“Sousa marches can be challenging. There’s that piccolo solo in ‘Stars and Stripes Forever.’ The clarinets’ parts are very high. Flute players are used to playing high, but clarinets are not usually used to playing in that range.”
John Philip Sousa was known as America’s “March King.” In his lifetime, during the last half of the 19th century and first part of the 20th, he wrote 130 marches.
As he was talking, Crawford was getting more excited. After all these years, he still loves a parade.
The reason I could tell is that when we got to talking about the tuba, he started imitating the “om-pa, om-pa” of the instrument.
Rebecca Ward, director of the South Pasadena Arts & Music Academy, is another person who loves a good Sousa march, and who also reminded me about that piccolo solo in “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
She also noted that the patriotic sound also can be found in classical music. Take American composer Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” which many of us know as the background music for the Olympics and which starts with a trumpet flourish.
“It’s a piece that really moves you,” she said.
There are also the fireworks or airplane flyovers that accompany such music — and that isn’t exclusive to American patriotic music either, Ward reminded me.
“You’ve got the cannons and bells in the ‘1812 Overture,’” Ward said. “Orchestras are pretty good at playing through that. Actually, it’s great fun.”
Now, if you asked me to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” I think my dog Scout would go hide in his crate.
But even professional singers get nervous at what might be considered the Mount Everest of American patriotic songs.
Miller, who has been in musical theater since she was 3 years old, and who has taught voice, has sung the national anthem twice in public — at last year’s and this year’s South Pasadena Memorial Day observances.
“It was nerve-racking the first time I sang it in public,” she admitted. “There’s so much more pressure than singing a normal song. I went out and sang in front of a few people at the [Young Stars] group a few times a week. Nerves are a thing people have to watch because the most difficult thing is the range. You have to be sure to start in a key that is not too low or not too high.
“I’ve seen celebrities that have sung it badly, and I don’t know too many regular adults that can sing it well.”
Lacey Jo Benter teaches voice at the South Pasadena Arts & Music Academy. As well as being a professional singer for 15 years and teaching for five years, she also knows the nerves associated with singing the national anthem.
“The octave jump is a big thing for a singer,” Benter said. “There’s a span of notes right off the bat. The key for a singer is finding a key that suits them. If you pick the wrong key, you are going to be in trouble somewhere down the road.
“The predominant problem for a singer is starting too high. By the time you get to the ‘and the rockets’ red glare,’ that’s where you want all your vocal fireworks to be.”
Benter said that she sings the national anthem once or twice a year, and the key thing for her is getting the words right.
“I write the text out in a notebook and then run through it two or three times. I do a lot of mental or silent practice,” she said.
“I’ve seen a whole lot of colleagues sing the song and we all know the horror stories you want to avoid. Thankfully, I have a wide vocal range.”
Crawford, Miller and Benter agreed that Whitney Houston’s version at the 1991 Super Bowl was one of the best they had ever heard. I teach citizenship and always play that version to my class. Every time I play it, someone starts to tear up.
I asked Miller and Benter to give me their thoughts as singers on some of the most popular songs in the patriotic hit parade.
For “God Bless America,” Benter said it’s one of the easier ones to sing but the words are the hardest part. Miller said it has such a beautiful melody and a similar challenge to the “Star-Spangled Banner” in finding the right key and the right spot for your voice to start.
“This Land Is Your Land” is really a patriotic song that composer Woody Guthrie wrote as a critical response to “God Bless America.” Benter said the song has tons of words and verses, proving that it’s the hardest part. She added that it’s telling a story and the key is bringing something new and exciting. Another key is thinking how the words affect you, she said, and to let memories live in your mind. Miller said the song is more simplistic but catchy and memorable.
For Miller, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” feels very historical. She highlighted how cool music can make one feel and noted that there’s a history in the rhythm and the melodies that is so different than singing modern songs. Whenever she sings the song, she constantly thinks: “I hope I don’t forget the words.”
“God Bless the USA” for Benter is nostalgic, having grown up in the Midwest. She remembers listening to the song blare over the speakers. All songs have certain memories linked to the tones, and for Benter, it’s “God Bless the USA.” The challenge, she says, is that the singer has to make sure the words are right and that the performer is not sullying anyone’s memories. The performer is bringing love of country, family and what the country has allowed you to do. Miller said she really likes the song because one can belt the song out at the end.”
The patriotic songbook is never complete.
There is “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is also referred to as the Black national anthem and which neither woman had sung.
Some people might want to add Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In the USA.”
So, this July Fourth, march down to the Balloon Parade and enjoy the music; or just turn on the grill, have a hot dog and say, “Alexa, play Whitney Houston’s version of the ‘Star-Spangled Banner.’”
Enjoy the day.
First published in the June 28 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
