[MR] movement to change the anthem

[Dave Montuori]

> there is, or has been, some talk about changing our national anthem to god
> bless america...i was wondering what thoughts were out there on this...i have
> sung the anthem on many occassions at professional sporting events, and it is
> not an easy song for the most experienced bard...

Another experienced singer (semipro, in my case) speaks:
The usual proposed replacement is "America the Beautiful." I find that
MORE difficult to sing than the SSB under the usual conditions.

The real problem with most of our patriotic tunes is this:
They're being played in TOO HIGH A KEY.

Try the SSB in G (rather than the usual B-flat), or ATB in A-flat (rather
than the usual C). Both will be considerably easier for the average person
to sing. Just because song arrangers seem to think that only trained stunt
tenors and sopranos should sing is no reason to BELIEVE said arrangers.

Evan (trained stunt bass)