The "Karaoke for Newbies" panel will be returning to Kumori Con this year for its third round.
For those of you who have never been, this is a lecture and a workshop about learning how to pronounce and sing Japanese lyrics, so technically it's not just about karaoke. The panel's not-oft-spoken full name is "Japanese Lyrics for the Non-Fluent" (which doesn't fit well in the pocket guide -- go figure?)
The panel's purpose is to help people who don't have a "knack" for Japanese lyrics (regardless of whether they've taken Japanese or not) to work their way through the maze of syllables and inflections that make up your average Japanese song. The rules of lyrical Japanese are different from spoken Japanese, and some aren't totally obvious. I'm here to help you work it out methodically so you can sing your song more like a native speaker. You might also learn a little bit of actual Japanese while you're at it, too. ^^
The panel is scheduled right before Open Mic. Right after the Q&A, people who attended the panel will get a chance to run through their songs with some helpful feedback and encouragement. Of course, that means we'll have access to the karaoke equipment, too. If you are having trouble with a song, find it in our database* and give it a try!
This should be a friendly, welcoming workshop. I hope to see you there! ^^
* Note: You can also bring along your own song via flash drive or iPod, or perhaps even CD. If you bring your own song, it's best to also bring a printout of the lyrics in either romanji (English lettering) or hiragana/katakana (phonetic Japanese). Kanji is okay, but only if every kanji character has hurigana, or "pronunciation notes." (Kanji without pronunciation notes becomes a translation problem, and that's a different panel)
