by notloyalenuffroyal »
20 Sep 2013 14:46
creative_username_1 why do chants get faster...never understood that
Music teacher hat on....
It is all to do with the internalisation of a pulse. We all have our natural pulse in our body, which often dictates the pulse with which something is sung.
The natural animal instinct when you sing or chant collectively is for your pulse to increase, naturally therefore the speed with which you sing will increase.
This is poor music making! Good musicians will ignore their natural pulse and control an inner pulse to maintain a good tempo.
Why do we find this more difficult? Simply history! We do not have a large fan base that has consistently developed a repetoire with natural tempi (Stoke: Delilah - Man City Blue Moon). Children at these clubs are brought up on large groups singing the same speed and develop into adults doing the same. Our Y26 fan base consists of some regulars and then groups of young men who join in for a while before getting old and finding a quieter spot, lower down Y26 or in Y25, or running out of money when they turn from a student to an adult on season ticket prices. We rarely manage a whole stand chant.
In games I remember where "Blarmy" worked well (Playoff Semi-final a few years back (can't be bothered to check)) it was because the entire ground were collectively using the same pulse rather than a smaller group of individuals, whose animal instincts, and pack mentality were increasing their own pulse rate and therefore the pulse of the music.
Interestingly the people who go on away games seem to be better. Probably because they are often the same group of friends in a controlled space, rather than a larger one, and are determined to work together and control the sound.
Hope you all enjoy a nights sleep after that diatribe!
