Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2005 09:50:46 EDT
From: CNJBoi00@aol.com
Subject: Keith's Choir College Experience-Chapter 7

Copyright 2005-Tenor LK.

This story is about 2 men creating a romantic bond that will include sexual
activity...If you are uncomfortable with this activity, you should click
the back button on your browser's toolbar now and not read on.
Furthermore, if you are under the age of 18 (or 21 in some states and
areas) and are on this site you should also do the same...although; it is
your hide...if you read on...it's your fault...not mine!

Keith's Choir College Experience
Chapter 7
By Tenor LK

The next few weeks were busy for me, getting back into the groove of
learning music theory and history, the beast known as piano, and my
personal favorite...my voice lessons.

These were like therapy sessions for the soul.  Every week I would go in
for my hour lesson, (which would end up becoming an hour and a half...with
us having lunch together) Faith was a perfect pal, no more then that...the
perfect mentor. She would tell me things about singing and performing that
just blew my mind.

"Excellent!" Faith cried after hearing me sing a portion of `L'Heure
exquise', "I haven't heard phrasing like that in a long time.  Have you
been reading the Gedda book?"

"Yes...the way he talks about making the music soar really made me
think...and applying what he says makes perfect sense." I responded.

"Good, now, you must start concentrating on the higher notes of the
passagio, the F sharps and G's must align their selves, so that the mixture
of head/chest voice is exact...Steven, from measure 15 again, please?"

Of course, Steve is at the piano, and he starts playing the measure before
I enter.  Once I start singing...I just cleared my mind of thought, as I
always do, and concentrate on breathing...Just like the famous singer
Niccola Gedda says in his book..."Its all about breathing..."

And all of a sudden, there is this heavenly sound...it's a high note, and I
swore Faith was singing with me, when I turned to look at her, I could tell
she wasn't singing...there were tears in her eyes, and the same with Steve,
he wasn't singing or playing...

"That was breathtaking....what did you do?" Faith asked, quite out of
breath.

"Well, I just did as you coached, I made sure that I had lots of space
towards the back of the mouth, and sang the modified vowel, with a good
supported breath...I stopped because I thought you were modeling the note"

"I did no such thing...that was all you...bravissimo! Now, let's talk about
the poetry for a minute before you sing the entire piece.  Hahn set the
poem because of what?"

"He set the Verlaine poem for his partner...it talks about sharing the
"exquisite hour, which from the poem's suggestion, is midnight"

"Good...so, as the French would say....image, image, image! Now, Sing!"

Everyone is on this `now, sing' kick...but whatever...I did as I was told,
and went for it.  Steve phrasing the piano part along with the setup I gave
with dynamics while singing the voice part really made the composition come
alive...and then the ending...so subtle, and unaccompanied...was
beautifully set up by Steve's graceful piano diminishing out, and gradually
entering again, after hearing me sing my last note, the cue for the piano
postlude to start.

"Excellent...This is to be memorized for next week, and we will begin on
the Fauré `Apres un revé' next week, so have those notes learned...have a
great day!"

And with that, we left her studio.  A voice lesson at the Choir college
isn't always the pretty picture like I just painted along with Steve and
Ms. Esham, they can get ugly...and nasty...take for example, Steve's
lesson, which was directly after mine.  He managed to get me to accompany
him for the academic year, which I should not have done...but it did make
me learn piano extremely fast...Dr. McCoy was a master pianist, and would
not allow any of his students be without an excellent accompanist (which
meant that I was learning his accompaniments at all times, any time I would
sit at the piano...thank GOD I could sight read voice lines very well.

Steve was without a doubt an awesome tenor, he sat second chair next to me
in choir, and he would help me out by coaching the other singers who were
having problems learning the choir music (its what a section leader does
nowadays) but when he got into his lessons with McCoy, there would be
serious problems, whether it was breathing, expression, or incorrect
notes...god forbid.

This lesson in particular he was singing the Schubert "Erlkönig" which was
dangerously difficult...I have heard professional singers make mistakes
singing this song...but it was these types of songs that McCoy would teach
his students making them mini pros by the end of their sophomore
year. Steve was having difficulty trying to distinguish between the 4
characters that speak in the song, a child, a father, the Earl King, and
the narrator.  He seemed to do the narrator and the child easily, due to
the fact that the Narrator was his own voice, and the child basically sang
very lyrical lines, and high notes, which Steve was always able to
sing...even on a sick day.  However, the Earl King's "mysterious" setting
and the fathers low note lines were very difficult.

"Steven. You must apply the air, before attacking the lower notes!"
Dr. McCoy was getting strict.

"I know all this," Steven started to respond, visually upset, and quite
angry, "But the notes aren't there for me...I can't get them out loud
enough".

"Ok, let's calm down. You know that the song sits in the lower register of
the voice, and you must operate the lower register like the upper
register....using lots of air support and an exaggerated opening of the
front format." (the mouth...Doctors always like to show their knowledge it
seems...)

"Yes. I Remember."

"What bout making sure the second formant is open?" I
thought...unfortunately, out loud, so that McCoy and Steve could hear me...

"Excuse me?" Dr. McCoy said.

"Well, it's just that in my lessons with Ms .Esham, we are reading a book
together...well, separately, but together about Niccola Gedda, and his
approach to singing.  When he goes to use low notes, he does almost like
you said, singing them like the high notes...but he pays special attention
to the back of the mouth, or as you would say, the second formant."

"Hmm...interesting, Steven...you have a very smart accompanist."

"Thank you"

"Keith, please start at measure 35, and let's see if we can get this
fatherly sound going." Dr. McCoy said, with a smile.

I quickly glanced at Steve, who looked at me with a smile, and I started
playing.

When we reached the entrance, Steve sounded like a brand new person! It was
an incredible baritone sound, reaching down and conveying warmth and love
to his child in his arms, slowly dying towards the end of the song.

"That's it! YES" McCoy yelled over Steve's sound.  "Now, continue on!"

Steve went on to finish the entire song.  I swore my arms were going to
fall off playing the repeating triplet-eighth note chords that made up the
majority of the accompaniment.

"Great work!" Dr. Mc Coy said, visually exhausted from the several lines of
coaching he threw in at Steve. I'm going to let you go early, but next
week, this piece and the Bach B-Minor "Benedictus" need to be memorized.

WHAT! Not fair...I have two accompaniments to learn perfect for next week!
GRRR!

"Ok...until next week!" Steve said.

As we walked back to his dorm room, we ran into his roommate, Mike.

"Hey you two...lessons go well today?"

"Really good...Stevie here learned how to sing low notes!" I responded back

"Yeah? Becoming a Bass on us there Steve?"

"You never know, Mike...I just might" Steve said.

"Well, I'm going to have dinner...you guys be good!" and with that, Mike
went into the Commons.  We continued our walk to the dorms.

Once we got in, and dropped our stuff...Steve and I set on making ourselves
the College Kid's delight...Ramen noodles!

Sitting in front of the TV, watching "My Best Friend's Wedding" again, we
talked about nothing in particular, until he mentioned the Gedda book I
have been reading along at the same pace with Faith.

"So, what does Mr. Gedda say about modifying vowels in the upper register?"

"Well, it's the same as I told you in the lesson...you remember!"

"Yeah, but well...I was wondering if that technique works on other things
as well?"

"What are you talking ab..." and instantly seeing Steve smirk...and
instantly knew what he was getting at.  Not wanting him to get too upset, I
went to work, applying my good vowel modification technique to his eagerly
waiting cock.

Steve and I were not sex addicts, like most teens at our age...things just
seemed to happen naturally, and at their own time. No worry about who's
doing what to whom, and whether it will make me get off or
not. Although...getting off was definitely happening, more then once in our
lovemaking sessions.

Not wanting to get caught, I quickly finished him off, sucking on his most
awesome cock, and swallowing every drop of his load down my throat. The
bliss that was shown on his face was more then enough for me to be happy
with for the mean time.


Author's Rant...a little lengthy this time!

Hi Folks...I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out.  I
just fell behind, and when I went to initially type the chapter, I just set
out typing without a plan...and my computer crashed in the middle of typing
the chapter, which made me so angry that I stopped writing the two stories
I was working on at the time. (What's that...did he say another
story....more details to come later.)

The two songs mentioned in the story are Reynaldo Hahn's l'heure exquise
(the exquisite hour) and Franz Schubert's Erlkönig (The Earl King). The
Hahn is a beautiful French text, by poet Paul Verlaine, while the Schubert
is the tale of a Father and Son traveling through the forest, written by
poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. All four of the writers lived during the
Romantic Cultural Period, 1820-1925ish. If you would like more information
on these beautiful poems, please write me.

Well, the next chapter will be the last chapter of this story, and I will
add an epilogue to sum things up between Keith and Steve.

All comments and additions to my mailing list should be mailed to me at
CNJBoi00@aol.com.

Until next post!

Tenor LK :)