It Starts With Me

A most natural extension of the message of this revue is stated in this song in the title. The whole point of improving our character is to improve our world. One at a time, we get better and stronger. We share our knowledge and our experience with each other. We improve our thinking and our actions. We take control of our minds and our spirits. And we pass it along from person to person, place to place, until the whole world is affected by this amazing movement. Can you imagine a world filled with compassion, tolerance, honesty, decency, fairness, integrity, and all of the other wonderful character traits we are endeavoring to teach our children to choose for themselves? The outcome could be staggering! What a magnificent concept to share with our children. And again, what better way to do it than through music?

Because we wanted to make a special effort to include your older students in this revue and in its message, we have provided what we think is a pretty nifty vocal introduction to the song, "It Starts With Me." It is optional, and the song will work well without it if you prefer not to use it. But if you do use it, it can be very effective.

We suggest that you choose four soloists or a select small group to sing the S, A, T, B parts. These could be older students, or they could even be teachers or parents. Maybe you would like to sing this yourself. No rules. Whatever you want.

We have provided you with an example of performance on the recording (track #3) using three older girls and one older guy. During the accompaniment tracks, we give you the four starting pitches (track #15) and a rehearsal piano (track #16). This is in case you don't have your own piano to rehearse, or prefer hands-free teaching. It's also a reinforcement while learning. You will notice that there is an audible "click" during this piano part. This is to help singers count while they are rehearsing.

Ideally, in performance you will not use the recording for the introduction, except for the starting pitches. The pitches are important because the introduction segues into the song, and it should be in the same key when it gets there.

We do recommend conducting the a cappella group, unless they feel they can perform well without it. Once we learned the parts using the piano in our recording session, we ignored the piano except for the pitches before. We were much happier performing with live conducting. (Special thanks to our four wonderful soloists for their passion and talent in performing this segment: Katy Gentry, Missy Schott, Melissa Martin, and John Riggio.)

As soon as the introduction is over, the full song begins in earnest. Starting with just the intensity of a high piano playing triplets, the song is soon filled out, first with a powerful blast in low brass on a sustained low F. Over the pedal F, the full ensemble of winds, rhythm, and strings join in. Our drummer, Dane Clark, drives the shuffle rock in his distinct and incredible way. We defy anyone to hold still or resist smiling at the upbeat flavor.

An unusual and classy element to point out to your students during the introduction and reappearing throughout the song is the euphonium duet. See if they can identify it each time it occurs.

When the lyrics begin at measure 13, the song is in unison. You may keep the entire song in unison, if you like, and it will be fine. We have taken care to double the optional other vocal parts in the instrumental lines so that they are covered no matter what.

You will notice the musical note on the piano/vocal score which indicates that the dotted eighth/sixteenth/eighth note rhythm can be interpreted as a quarter note triplet. This can be done throughout the song as that figure occurs. You will hear that we have chosen this option on the recording. It makes the song seem to flow more readily. However, the rhythm as written is a very familiar one to students who have performed our music, so it might be easier to use this one. Either way is fine.

It's also worthy of note to point out the pick-ups to measure 29 and each time a similar phrase occurs. We have indicated short accents over these pick-ups and encourage you to have singers literally separate the notes and words. Our singers offer an excellent example of this. It adds to the power of the moment.

Parts 2 and 3 enter for the first time at the pick-up to measure 29. Part 2 is divisi (optional) and part 3 is in the bass clef. You can choose one or the other line in part 2 if you don't want to do the divisi. Or you could mix and match as you see fit. The range covered in part 3 is designed for your lower, changing, or changed voices. Technically, it goes from the C an octave below middle C to the D above middle C. However, each time the low C occurs, you have the option of using the cued E above it instead. Some of our low singers chose this option, while others were comfortable with the low C. (Thanks to our additional male singers, John Riggio and Mike Wilson. Thanks also to Kristen Swanson for her help with engineering and producing.)

The gentle, poignant section at measure 43 breaks time for a bit and allows our singers to share a few insightful words. Though the addition of the parts around measure 51 are optional as always, they do add an awful lot, and they give your older singers a chance to really show off their musicality.

All three parts are in from then to the ending. As you would expect for a finale, the ending is a big one. It is punctuated on the last beat by shouting the word "Me!" in unison. We suggest having students thrust their open hands up like a V on beat 4 for emphasis.