Talk:A cappella
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[edit] Spelling
We could probably discuss this spelling for ever. Somebody has even created a web page about it. [1]
According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, the most widely accepted spelling is a cappella. Many web pages [2] [3] [4] and the A-Cappella Music FAQ [5] [6] agree. Collins (UK #2 authority, after OED) give 'A cappella' meaning according to (the style of the) chapel.
Some writers [7] [8] [9] use a cappella in their own writing, reserving a capella for quotations, titles and meta tags, acknowleding it to be incorrect. Others [10] [11], and The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, acknowledge what people are actually writing and hedge their bets, accepting a capella as a valid alternative spelling. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary takes this position, yet also confirms that Capelle means goat and is the name of a star.
Some apparently authoritative sources also concede [12] acappella as a most popular de facto usage.
Some writers [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] use both a cappella and a capella without appearing to notice the variation. Sometimes they are humorous.
One widely quoted purist [20] [21] in support of a cappella alleges
- In truth, a capella means in your hair, a cappello means in your hat, and A Capella is an astronomical reference to the first planet circling the star Capella in the constellation Auriga.
The popular vote: Google finds 247,000 hits for a capella, 205,000 for a cappella and 77,600 for acappella.
EdH 15:50, 3 Aug 2003 (UTC)
-
- Actually, one word, one "p," and two "l's" is the most popular. Google searches in early 2007 show about 2,410,000 for acapella, 1,740,000 for a cappella (the "correct" spelling), 1,510,000 for a capella and 1,240,000 for acappella.
- --Acafella58 15:30, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
- The dictionary I keep here by my computer - Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary - gives a capella as a variant spelling. If I were voting in an election, I would vote to standardize it as acappella, since in English that a there by itself (not connected) can sometimes look confusing. Probably best here is to stick with the proper usage. I do wonder, though, if this sentence shouldn't be modified some way - "Often you find the wrong spelling a capella with one p." - Rlvaughn 03:03, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- Now someone has added a couple of times - "Correct is only a cappella - with two p and two l." This makes it even worse, especially since the sentence itself isn't even very grammatical.
[edit] Religious groups that sing a capella
Eastern Orthodox christians (especially Russian and other slavic groups) insist on singing unaccompanied by instruments. I didn't want to change the corpus of the article itself since I am still not completely familiar with the Wikipedia protocols.
For groups that already have Wikipedia entries, is it really necessary to have a direct link to the official page for the group from the a cappella article? Ventura 22:27, 2004 Aug 20 (UTC)
I think probably not. I added Anonymous 4 with a link to their website, because at the time there was not an entry on Anonymous 4. After I started one, I didn't remove the link (and also forgot to add the link to the entry). I'm going to remove the link from the a cappella article. I'll leave others to do their own. - Rlvaughn 14:18, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Shameless Plugs vs. Useful Listing
The list of groups is a bit out of hand. It should probably contain a few prime examples of each a cappella style (lay Church, religious, collegiate, etc.), and not all these minor groups. A simple link to the CASA listing of collegiate groups should be more than enough. It's walking the line of using Wikipedia for self promotion. SparqMan 07:55, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC)
I came to make a suggestion/question, and found SparqMan already posted this regarding the list, so I'm putting my comments here. I don't know in general whether the groups listed are "shameless plugs" or "useful listings", not being at all familiar with most of them. If there are articles on groups, a list such as this does make it an easy "jumping off point" to find them. BUT the list is getting quite long. My thought is that if some of these are college a cappella ensembles, those could be moved to the collegiate a cappella article. Just a thought. Maybe some of them should be deleted altogether. - Rlvaughn 19:10, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
That makes sense. Groups with articles get a link from collegiate a cappella, and the rest can be found from the CASA listing. SparqMan 21:12, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Sparqman, looks like though we discussed this, neither one of us did anything. The list just keeps getting longer. What do you think? So we move on this? Another possibility, I suppose, would be to create a page called List of a cappella ensembles. Or is the original idea better? Any more thoughts?? - Rlvaughn 03:28, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The problem has certainly gotten worse. List of collegiate a cappella ensembles probably requires it's own list. That way we can link to both articles and have external links to websites for groups without articles. The CASA listing (http://www.collegiate-acappella.com) isn't exceptionally comprehensive or useful. So maybe name of group, school they're affiliated with, and the city, state. Perhaps a table? And I guess we can make a list for non-collegiate ensemble list too, although that doesn't seem to be where the traffic is coming from. SparqMan 00:49, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- SparqMan, the table idea sounds good. Do you want to take the lead in this? I'm not familiar with making tables, though I suppose I could figure it out. - Rlvaughn 03:28, 6 May 2005 (UTC)
I personally don't consider any of them 'minor groups'. I like this list, and I believe it should stay. Some of these groups are actually pretty major, just unheard of by many people not all that familiar with a capella.
- One problem I see is that some of these might be "pretty major" in a smaller class (such as collegiate a cappella), while being relatively unknown in the larger genre of a cappella music (which is what the article is about). - Rlvaughn 03:28, 6 May 2005 (UTC)
I went ahead and made a move toward changing the ensemble listings. None were deleted. I moved all that were college-related, as best as I could tell, to the Collegiate a cappella article. I think they will be more fitting and appropriate there. I did leave the Yale Whiffenpoofs link, since they are the oldest collegiate a cappella group. Someone should check over the remaining list and see if any others ought to go to more specific articles. SparqMan, you still might want to move forward with your table idea at some point. - Rlvaughn 15:32, 7 May 2005 (UTC)
I removed the last line of "Modern A Cappella", which appeared to be a plug for someone's school group: St. John's Preparatory School, in Danvers, MA, has an award winning a cappella group, Swingtown. I forgot to log in, so it's an anon. edit, sorry. Mana Gement 18:17, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Disambigution not redirect is needed
Search for the music group named "Acappella", and you are redirected to this article on a cappella music. From here you can click on the list of professional vocal groups and then click on the link to the page for the group Acappella. Instead, there should be a disambiguation page so that you can find the article on the group Acappella directly from a search for its name. Folding Chair 01:10, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
I'm new here, and havent yet learned how to do that. Maybe someday...
- I've added a disambiguation link at the top of the page. —Wahoofive (talk) 19:05, 27 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Origins Of A cappella
One can argue the origin of the genre; I have always believed that A cappella music originated from Negro Spirituals, Seeing that Afro Americans could not afford instruments. I have also been taught that it was a way of socialising, correct if I am wrong.
Gregorian Chant far predates slavery in America, and was originally a cappella.204.69.190.75 01:05, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
I would have imagined some African slaves working together in cotton fields harmonising songs. I would ague that this music originates in Africa or slavery.
--Buhle78 11:16, 26 February 2006 (UTC)
- There is ample evidence of a cappella music far predating American slavery. In fact, it's pretty certain that every primitive society involved a cappella singing at some point, even if we don't know anything about it. —Wahoofive (talk) 07:26, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Off Topic: New template?
There is already a Music Genres template, apologies!
But I couldn't see it in the A Capella page though...Henceforth the bottom edit:
Shouldn't we create a new template for music genres such as R&B, Pop, Ballad, etc...
As you all know, templates are usually at the end of the page in a shaded box and include associated references or (suggested reads) to the original article.
What do you think?
Dexter 15:44, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] bad link...
so the footnote #1 something about period judaism does not seem to work... Jabencarsey 01:10, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Other noted collegiate a cappella groups
The "other noted collegiate a cappella groups" sentence appears to be rapidly turning into a promotional space. I vote we either delete it, or add some criteria (multiple CARA wins, ICCA wins, BOCA appearances, whatever). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by JavaTenor (talk • contribs) 22:30, 14 March 2007 (UTC).
