Dear Editor,
Since Super Bowl XLV, where Christina Aguilera flubbed some words, many Americans now seem to be very concerned about the singing of our national anthem.
On the NFL website, within two days of the game, there were 55 pages of comments.
Most people talked about the missed words but very few people addressed the many musical concepts such as phrasing, intonation, and tone quality.
They were all atrocious.
For some reason, producers seem to seem to select celebrities without any regard for musicianship, talent, or protocol.
Our National Anthem is being murdered. Those so called singers choose to stylize the melody, rhythms, and meter to make it their own.
It really bothers me and others who are real musicians, to hear singers stylize our national anthem at ball games and other activities.
This stylizing happened again at the Kentucky Derby.
Our national anthem is not theirs to stylize.
The National Anthem belongs to all United States citizens.
What has happened with Americans joining in the singing of our national anthem? To me it seems as if the citizens of the other countries of the world all sing their anthems with spirit!
J. B. Webster,
retired BCC band director,
former member of,
Army 10th Infantry Division Band,
Great Bend