Canny consumerism
Saturday morning saw me spend a non-trivial amount of money in shops in central Southampton for, I believe, the first time ever. It's certainly the most I've ever spent there.

Every purchase, though, has 'long-term thinking' written all over it:

* Pack of two airers, Argos. Saves money and CO2 from using the tumble driers in the hall launderette.
* Four rechargeable D batteries, Argos. For powering my cheap-but-useful electronic keyboard.
* Solar-powered recharger, Maplin. Which goes with the last one, natch.
* Old book of short classical pieces, Oxfam. Many of these are English translations; composers represented by more than one piece are Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, Franz and Arne (with two settings of Shakespearian text, one of which is familiar to me).

And here lies the long-term thinking. All these are written in the treble clef, are all seen as suited to transpositions of an octave... out of twenty-five, no fewer than eleven have a highest note of F5. Most of the rest seem to go up to F#5... on the other hand, precisely one goes below C4.

Oh heck, summary. I think we have a regular feature here.

The Hundred Best Short Songs, Book Two
Lowest note: B3
Highest note: G5
Largest range: compound sixth
Smallest range: one octave
Note: apparently Books One and Two are intended for 'Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, and Tenor' and Three and Four for 'Contralto, Baritone and Bass'. The ranges of each other song in the other books are listed, though Two was the only one in this Oxfam; all seem to be similarly demanding, and roughly in an order from highest (One) to lowest (Four). The differences are not that significant, however; roughly one tone separates each book on average, and there is more intra- than inter-book variation.)

A mildly interesting comparison with Clarkson, there. Yes, this analysis is going to come with every book of sheet music I acquire.

There is now actually a strategy here, which shall be suggested to Helen tomorrow. Flit between styles - pop, classical art song, musical theatre - while making a general progression, specifically towards songs that stretch my range upward, perhaps working on other things. That said, the stylistic variation will account for those 'other things', I suspect.

One way to do it; after Breakaway, move on to one of the art songs, the obvious choice in this collection being the English translation of Brahms' Wiegenlied (Cradle Song), the range of which is Eb4-Eb5. (Read: Eb3-Eb4, in my case.) The next reversion to the Clarkson canon - which may or may not then be preceded with something from musical theatre, and if it does then that probably means I Couldn't Be Happier - could then be to Because Of You. Recall that this was recorded such that its highest note is F5, but is written a semitone lower. Instant opportunity for progression! After that, the art songs can come back, and then... goodness knows.

I am, of course, a strategist in almost anything I do. This is certainly no exception.