Back to the original request: How to put words like "fire" and J.W.B" in a choral work:
As a choral director (two days a week or so) what I would like to see is this: In the main text, keep the text intact: Put "fire ___" (I don't care exactly where the dashes go, just put them where Finale does). Then, underneath, in italics (smaller? parenthesis?), write it the way you want it sung: "fi -yuh" or "fie-yer" or whatever. Same with "J. W. --- B," then underneath: "Jay Duh-bah-yu Bee" or "Jay Doub-el-you Bee" or whatever. Best of both worlds! For anyone with more normal hyphenation needs, this page is quite useful: http://juiciobrennan.com/hyphenator/ Raymond Horton Bass Trombonist, Louisville Orchestra Minister of Music, Edwardsville (IN) UMC Composer, Arranger VISIT US AT rayhortonmusic.com On Sat, Jul 21, 2012 at 1:40 AM, Ryan <[email protected]> wrote: > When I have to put m-dashes in lyrics, I often use a non-breaking space > keep it attached to the previous syllable. On my Mac it's Option+Spacebar. > Sometimes, though, depending on context, I'll just treat the em dash as its > own syllable, and place it under a rest. But, I wouldn't hesitate to omit > it entirely if it just adds to the clutter on the page, and doesn't help > the singers. > For hyphenation, I've found the entries on dictionary.com very helpful. > FWIW, they consider "-ism" to be one syllable. > Ter-ror-ism > An-ti-Sem-i-tism > > I gather the lyrics you're setting use word-play and puns often. I would > feel free to alter syllabification from the norm so that the singers can > pronounce the word correctly in order to deliver the punchline. > > ==Slightly O.T.== > And, sorry to be pedantic, but J.W.B. is not technically an acronym. It's > just a lowly initialism. Acronyms are initialisms that make their own word. > S.C.U.B.A. L.A.S.E.R. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. > > On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 9:57 PM, Christopher Smith < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> >> On Sat Jul 21, at SaturdayJul 21 12:12 AM, John Howell wrote: >> >> > At 11:30 PM -0400 7/20/12, Christopher Smith wrote: >> >> The words I have to hyphenate (obviously on different notes) are >> >> >> >> "Anti-Semitism" >> >> "Terrorism" >> >> "Paganism" >> >> Would all these be "is-m"? >> >> >> >> "howl" on two notes, maybe "how-l"? >> >> >> >> the acronym "J.W.B." on five notes. I'm thinking >> >> "J. dou-ble-U. B." but maybe no hyphen after >> >> "dou-ble"? It follows several other acronyms >> >> that I have rendered as one-syllable letters >> >> with periods. >> >> >> >> "attire" on three notes, maybe "at-ti-re" but >> >> that doesn't look right. I imagine it would be >> >> the same as "fire" in two syllables, but I can't >> >> recall ever having seen it. >> > >> > >> > Personal opinion: Your friendly local dictionary >> > is the best reference. But what you're asking >> > about isn't grammar, it's style, so that would be >> > covered in the Chicago Style Manual (probably up >> > to about its 50th edition!) or the APA (American >> > Psychological Association) Style Manual. >> > >> > I agree (by eye) with most of your examples, >> > although I'm not sure about writing out the names >> > of letters either. But "attire" is a >> > two-syllable word, so I wouldn't try to make >> > three syllables out of it. Rather slur one of >> > the syllables. (For the most part a syllable >> > requires a vowel, and a final silent "e" doesn't >> > count because it isn't pronounced. I could argue >> > that "r" is a liquid consonant that functions as >> > a vowel, as in the words "bird" or "girl," but I >> > won't in this case!) I've had students try to do >> > things like this, and subdividing words into >> > individual phonemes rather than actual syllables >> > almost always makes them very difficult to read. >> > (And yeah, I know Sinatra did it all the time, >> > but hey, he was Sinatra!!) >> > >> > "Howl" is one syllable (to a singer), even though >> > it contains 4 phonemes. I'd suggest slurring it >> > and not hyphenating it. >> > >> > In general, micro-managing the English language >> > will only serve to confuse a singer, NOT to make >> > it more exact. There are some things that MUST >> > be decided by the individual singer (or choir >> > director). Fred Waring attempted to regularize >> > it with his "tone syllables," and it worked for >> > those who understood them, but baffled those who >> > did not. >> > >> > >> >> >> >> which brings up another point, "the attire is >> >> informal-so come just as you are." is the line. >> >> I should include the M-dash, but it feels like >> >> it should be between syllables like a hyphen, >> >> not stuck to "in-for-mal-" with a long space >> >> afterward the way it presently is. What is the >> >> right thing to do here? I would have no problem >> >> inserting the M-dash as an expression if that is >> >> indeed the right thing. >> > >> > >> > Grammatically I'd say that the m-dash is >> > incorrect and should be a comma instead. The >> > second clause is dependent and "so" is >> > connective, not an independent thought. It would >> > be worth checking on proper usage of the m-dash, >> > which can be tricky. (Again, probably the >> > Chicago Style Manual.) But if you have to use it >> > I'd connect it to the previous syllable (as you >> > did), as you would a comma, colon, or semi-colon. >> > But it WILL be confused with a hyphen. >> > >> > Just personal opinion, but I am used to critical reading of student >> papers. >> > >> > John >> >> Hi John, >> >> Thanks for the quick answer. The reason I'm asking is because my friendly >> local dictionary doesn't have these words hyphenated the way they are >> pronounced in this context. >> >> I would have absolutely put normally-one-syllable words like "howl" >> (rhymes with "vowel") on a slur, but every last one of these examples is >> repeated pitches on eighth notes and my music teacher brain starts to >> bubble with two eighths of the same pitch on the same beat with a slur that >> looks like a tie. >> >> I need to make "attire" look like it rhymes with "Meyer", which is >> definitely two syllables and on repeating eighth notes. >> >> About the m-dash: according to Simon and Schuster's Guide to Writing >> (Canadian Edition), the dash can be used to indicate contrast, e.g., >> "Trust–but verify" or "Vote early–and often." In my case, the line is a >> punch line that is at odds with the setup (it happens 3 other times in >> other verses). I didn't write it, but I have to render it. >> >> Christopher >> _______________________________________________ >> Finale mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale >> > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
