I've been in The OWtsiders, a co-ed A Cappella group, for four years. We are a really close-knit organization, and I consider them to be my musical family.
I've learned so much about myself through making music with these wonderful humans. I can't imagine my college experience without A Cappella.
Here are 12 amazing things about being in an A Cappella group.
1. You get to bond and make music with a bunch of fun, talented people.
Breaking out in song is one of my favorite hobbies. I love knowing other weirdos that love to sing in public with me. Plus, sometimes all the A Cappella groups have mixers together!
2. You're in perfect harmony (not just musically).
If there's ever a problem in the group, we know we can bring it up in rehearsal, and we'll all try our best to make things better.
3. You can make super cool T-shirts.
Everyone in our group has their own nickname, and we painted them on the back of our shirts!
4. When you finally get a hard song down, you feel:
Some rehearsals can be brutal, but it's all worth it in the end.
5. You can take cheesy Christmas card photos together.
Ugly Christmas sweaters are a must.
6. You get to serenade your new members!
This is Anna, one of our musical directors. She was so excited when we surprised her in her dorm room and sang our version of "Piano Man" to her: "Sing us a song, you're in OWtsiders!"
7. You can incorporate social activism into your performances.
Click here to view our performance of "Silent Night" (filmed by Spenser Hickey Photography) where we selected news stories to read during the song.
Our performance was inspired by this Simon & Garfunkel version of "Silent Night":
8. Your A Cappella group becomes a support system.
At the end of every rehearsal we say "highs" (good things) and "lows" (bad things) from our weeks. It's great to know that there are people to lean on if things are rough.
I love having such a harmonious support system.
9. After rehearsal you can get dinner or just hang out together.
We practice right before dinner, so I get to eat with my singing friends every week. We always have the songs we just finished singing in our heads, but we just end up singing them in public together. We even did a flash mob once in a dining hall!
10. You can maybe even be in two A Cappella groups at the same time.
11. You get to watch your group grow and evolve from semester to semester.
As a college A Cappella group, we often have people graduate or run out of free time to come to rehearsals.
But there are always new awesome singers that audition. And we love when alumni come to visit!
12. Musical improvisation!
The OWtsiders love to improvise songs as a warm-up exercise. Camille, one of my friends from the group, and I started a campus radio show called No Wrong Notes based around our love for musical improvisation.
Here's a video of our first show:
Basically, if you love to sing, you should definitely join an A Cappella group!
