Basso Diminuendo

Over last summer, Damon's voice changed. He was one of those lucky few who underwent no cracking, no breaking, and no teasing. Over the course of a couple weeks, it just went smoothly down, down, and more down. But until it was time to start practicing a song for music festival, we hadn't really bothered to find out how far that was. 

As I tell all the young men when I practice with them shortly after their voice changes, it's like learning to play a whole new instrument. Even the most musical often have trouble with some of their pitches at first, and it can be comical as his voice runs aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa up and down the scale trying to find the right octave to sing in. Because I'm nice, I keep all comments about air raid sirens to myself. 

College voice class was such fun - hearing beautiful voices emerge from some very unlikely beginnings. Only time will tell what Damon makes of his voice with a start that's miles ahead of many of my former classmates. At barely 15, he has tons of musical potential, and Jack and I are SO PROUD of him! We got a good chuckle out of his song choice, too, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child. I told him he should introduce it as, "Hi, my name is Damon, I'm 15, and I will be singing Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child. My accompanist is my mother." Well, maybe I will have convinced him by the festival on Friday.

So here, reproduced in video format for the first time, is the new and manly voice of the Basso Diminuendo.