EVERGREEN DISTRICT HARMONY PLATOON
Last update (SEPTEMBER 23)--changes highlighted with Woodshed Event added
Last update (SEPTEMBER 23)--changes highlighted with Woodshed Event added
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NOTE: SPECIAL WOODSHEDDERS EVENT SCHEDULE INCLUDED (see bottom of page)
--hope to see you there!
SCHEDULE: Our Schedule will depend on the number of Platoon Participants so we can be finished in plenty of time for the Quartet Competition Friday evening.
Traditionally, our Harmony Platoon starts on the Thursday evening and Friday morning before the formal part of the convention begins. This means the Harmony Platoon itself will run on October 1-2 while the Evergreen District Convention will run October 2-3, 2026.
Due to the encouraging support of the Evergreen District, the quartet winning the Harmony Platoon has traditionally become the mic tester quartet for the quartet contest on Friday Evening. In addition, as space has permitted, everyone who participated in the Platoon has been given the opportunity to sing as an "Evaluation Only" chorus during the Saturday Chorus Contest.
NOTE: All participants in the EVG Harmony Platoon are expected to have purchased full registration passes for the EVG District Convention.
Please make sure you check the Evergreen District Website regularly for updates.
COST: The only cost for Platoon is the original cost of your music and learning tracks plus the Full Convention Pass.
Knowing how many participants are coming for each part is critical to helping us plan. If we are short in a part, some people will cram to learn a missing part to balance it out. AND it helps us better predict how long each round will be.
So...
Let us know if you are coming or if, plans change, you are no longer able to attend.
RESUBMIT your Harmony Platoon Sign Up Form: https://forms.gle/6QDYzhEsZPUXnTYp7
Harmony Platoons are only successful when everyone is 100% confident in their notes and words for the songs.
You will be given only three rounds of competition to sing with others in pick up quartet.
It can be very frustrating when everyone else in your quartet has worked hard to ensure they can confidently sing their part alone in a quartet only to find that one person didn't know their notes and words properly.
If you're not quite sure if you're ready to sing in Round One, come a little early and 'warm up' with some social pick up quarteting/VLQ-ing. Sing in the mass chorus warm and rehearsal. That will give you a good idea.
It's okay also to sit out a round if you're not sure and just 'throw your card/name' in the hat for the next quartet draw round.
Besides using the provided learning tracks, finding some others to rehearse with prior to the Harmony Platoon is also another great idea. The more you practice singing with others prior to the actual Platoon, the more confident you will be.
SHEET MUSIC OR LEARNING TRACKS?
If there is a discrepancy between the sheet music and the learning tracks when it comes to notes, words, and interpretation defer to the learning tracks, especially since many do not read sheet music.
CHANGING WORDS to match Gender
Some of our songs include reference to a particular gender (he/she). In these cases the Lead has the prerogative to change the Gender in the pick up quartet. Please make sure you discuss this with the quartet beforehand to make sure you are all on the same page.
CHANGING STARTING PITCH
If some of the songs chosen are a bit low or high for you, it is perfectly acceptable to change the starting pitch, by consensus, to a pitch that works best for all members of the quartet.
QUESTIONS? Please contact this year's coordinator at gregsasinger@gmail.com
SCHEDULE 1:
NOTE! EARLIER START TIME
Thursday, October 1
4:15 pm SET UP & CHECK-IN
5:15 pm CHECK-IN & Sing (gather, warm up, socialize, sing...)
5:30 pm 5-10 minute warm up & Mass Chorus Rehearsal
5:55 pm (ish) Welcome, Quartet Draws (Round 1)
6:00 pm Round 1 Break Out Rehearsals
6:30 pm ROUND 1 Begins
7:45 pm Round 2 Break Out Rehearsals
8:15 pm ROUND 2 Begins
Friday, October 2
8:30 am CHECK-IN
9:00 am 10 minute warm-up & Mass Chorus Rehearsal of our TWO competition songs
9:20 am Quartet Draws (Round 3)
9:25 am Round 3 Break Out Rehearsals
10:00 am ROUND 3 Begins
11:15 am Winner Crowned as this year's Mic Testing Quartet
11:30 am Woodshed Platoon Event
12:15 pm Woodshed Platoon Event Ends
2:15 pm Winning Platoon Quartet: "Test the Mics/Cross the Stage" after Mugshot QT completes sound check @ Morrison Centre
2:56 pm Be Ready to Sing...arrive Morrison Centre LOBBY for Mic Test Performance.
3:00 pm Quartet Contest begins
Schedule 2:
(If numbers are not as expected, we will have the leeway to go back to this schedule on day of.)
Thursday, October 1
5:00 pm SET UP & CHECK-IN
5:30 pm CHECK-IN & Sing (gather, warm up, socialize, sing...)
6:00 pm 5-10 minute warm up & Mass Chorus Rehearsal
6:30 pm (ish) Welcome, Quartet Draws (Round 1)
6:45 pm Round 1 Break Out Rehearsals
7:30 pm ROUND 1 Begins
9:00 pm Woodshed Platoon Event
9:45 pm Woodshed Platoon Event ends
Friday, October 2
8:30 am CHECK-IN
9:00 am 10 minute warm-up & Mass Chorus Rehearsal of our TWO competition songs
9:15 am Quartet Draws (Round 2)
9:20 am Round 2 Break Out Rehearsals
9:50 am ROUND 2 Begins
10:30 am Quartet Draws (Round 3)
10:35 am Round 3 Break Out Rehearsals
Round 3 Quartet Draws will happen ASAP after judges decisions & new quartets are established.
11:10 am ROUND 3 Begins
12:00 pm Winner Crowned as this year's Mic Testing Quartet proceed to mic testing
Winning Quartet report for "Mic Testing" instructions.
12:10 pm Final run through of Performance songs
Where there are no bad/wrong notes...only good, better, better, and even better!
If you loved ringing chords with us platooners, you'll probably love learning to ring chords with the woodshdders.
Woodshedding builds confidence, intuition, and your ability to "hear the harmony" which actually helps you "find your notes" better in regular chorus/quartet songs. But, pshaw! The bottom line is, it's just fun!
Come out and try it during the weekend. It will take place in the same room as the Platoon (Riverfront Room)
NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY...
You have to start somewhere and after platooning with all your friends, why not just drop by and try this, too! Super low risk!
(Bet you can't sing JUST one... Tee hee!)
starts 30 minutes after the quartet contest ends until 11:00 pm
This will still give you time to do some afterglowing as well!
2:30 pm - 4:30 pm (during chorus evals)
Drop by when you're not at evals and before dinner
starts 30 minutes after the Saturday Performances until 11:00 pm
This will still give you time to do some afterglowing as well!
Consider dropping in for an hour to help out.
We will supply everything, but having a few extra people with strong harmonizing skills helps those less experience find their note in the chord.
Of course, with enough experienced helpers you can even really practice with other experienced harmonizers to improvise some cool new tags or variations on familiar songs that you've always wanted to try