When Fossil Ridge High School acapella group Tenth Bass members rehearse, group harmony is as important as the vocal kind.
Senior Laya Greenacre, who has been a Tenth Bass member since her sophomore year, recalls a time when collaboration led to winning the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) competition. They set a goal for their performance, but in the end, just focused on the fun.
“We were discussing how we needed to be louder, or quieter in some of the songs, but we just put that to a side and promised ourselves that we were going to forget about the technical stuff for a moment and prioritize to have a good time that we would remember for our entire life, and we did,” Greenacre said.
Senior Fawn Barry said a former member once told her to avoid last-minute technical changes. That advice helps lower stress and increase enjoyment in the performance.
“Delegating different jobs to different people helps us work together, because if everyone has the same amount of power and different important tasks and opinions to share with the group, it makes it an awesome experience,” Barry said.
The group helps members learn to work together and fix problems under any circumstances, no matter if they are center stage or not.
“Though you might not always be under the spotlight, you can be doing something as important behind it,” Barry said.
Seniors Lily Hasselbach and Noah Nguyan, both veterans of other Fossil choirs, are new to Tenth Bass this year. Prior choir experience is a requirement before auditioning for the acapella group
The audition process includes speed acapella, which asks a group to select and prepare another song together. The activity is designed to see how well members will be able to work as a team and communicate to learn their parts and give a satisfying performance.
The emphasis on teamwork continues after auditions as students plan their performances.
Barry and junior Karoline Maloy are in charge of movement and choreography.
“We split up our songs and we put our little spins and make sure to have a lot of collaboration,” Barry said. “We also make sure to clarify questions and ask each other’s opinions.”
