By Robert Oliphant

Do Americans have the high ground in the Star Spangled Spanish Banner controversy? To put it more specifically, are American school children right now actually learning "all the words" in English, as they have recently been urged to do by President Bush and by the National Anthem Project (Honorary Chairperson Laura Bush)?

Citizen resistance . . . . My phone-call surveys to NAP sponsors (Jeep, Bank of America, American Legion, Masons, etc.) have thus far failed to turn up one person who can right then and there recite our Anthem's last verse to me, including its rousing conclusion - "For conquer we must when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: In God Is Our Trust; and the Star-Spangled banner in TRIUMPH [caps added] shall wave o'er the land of the Free and the home of the Brave."

At this point, then, it's clear that www.thenationalanthemproject.org , which presents all four verses (318 words) on its web site, has failed to meet its "all the words" goal and needs help, not additional steel band and mariachi musical arrangements (both available for downloading) and not versions in Spanish or hip hop. What's called for, rather, is a recognition by all of us that learning 318 words by heart is today still a practical mnemonic challenge, just as it was in years past for Girl Scouts and elementary schoolers .

Multi-sensory learning . . . . Once we accept the fact that learning all the words, not singing them, is our primary goal, we employ our traditional techniques of rhythmic recitation and multi-sensory learning (physical movement, etc.). Simply put, this means presenting our Anthem in a practical unison-performance form for all Americans, not just schoolchildren.

No one denies that our Anthem is today a challenge for citizen-singers. The key has been lowered to A flat in the three-verse musical version presented on the anthem-project web site. But lowered keys, as Pete Seeger has noted, have always been practical for the vast majority of us (baritones and altos), as opposed to the relatively few tenors and sopranos who populate our semi-professional choirs. So there's no reason why our unison-rhythm mastery of the Anthem can't open the door to a national revival of group singing in practical keys.

TO CONCLUDE . . . . It's hard to say how much deterioration has actually taken place in American group singing, though Mitch Miller not long ago lowered the sing-along key of "God Bless America" a minor third (from F down to D). Nor do cross-cultural comparisons yield any reliable data regarding a deterioration in our memorizing ability, especially when matched against the three great sacred-text mnemonic civilizations against whom we shall be competing in the next few years: India (the Mahabharata), China (the Confucian classics), and Islam (the Koran).

The best that can be said, frankly, is that learning (as opposed to being indoctrinated) is largely a matter of personal-best memorization, lots of it, and that immigrants from mnemonic civilizations seem to do very well now in our high-mnemonic technical fields. The National Anthem first, then the top hundred irregular Spanish verbs - perhaps we have a neo-mnemonic renaissance in the making here.

I believe that The National Anthem Project has, perhaps unwittingly, identified a very serious cognitive weakness in our society's reluctance to mandate mnemonic mastery of our basic patriotic texts - the Star Spangled Banner, the Gettysburg Address, the Bill of Rights, etc. I therefore sincerely hope the accompanying rhythmic-unison version will help to overcome some of that reluctance among American schoolchildren.

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APPENDIX. . . . A " SyllaRhythm T " representation of the complete Star Spangled Banner (4 verses, 318 words) - big-band arrangement

Preliminary note. . . . The best way to test what's here is to ask a 12-year-old to read it out loud, "with expression," as the saying goes. My experience is that they do surprisingly well, and so do most grown-ups, even in pairs. Here's the reasoning behind this read-aloud syllabic-rhythm version of our national anthem.

Tempo . . . . A conventionally sung 318-word version of the Anthem will gobble up at least three minutes of performance time, and probably four - especially in ¾ yatata , yatata , yatata time. So we present our Anthem in "cut time" with four beats to each measure on the order of One and then a Two and then a Three and then a Four, etc. Read aloud naturally, this sequence matches up perfectly with a comfortable walking ("andante") pace and clocks in at 180 beats a minute ("presto" tempo, which means that a group can chant or sing the complete Anthem in about a shade over three minutes - and do it while marching.

Representation . . . . One-syllable words, along with elements in multi-syllable words, correspond to one-beat notes ("quarter notes"). We represent beats without notes ("rests") by boldface periods ( . ), and we represent the first beat syllable (or one-syllable word) in boldface, as in " one and then a two and then a three etc." In marching this would correspond to " left and right and left and right and left , etc.

Going further: We preface 8-measure groupings with verse-group identifications in brackets: [1a], [1b], 1c], [1d], etc. We use an underline-mark by itself ( __) to represent a syllable or one-syllable word that's held out for an additional beat (" melisma ," it's called), And we use boldface caps to represent a syncopated "off-beat" syllable.

Oh_ [1a] say. can you see. by the dawn'sEAR. ly light. what so proud. lywe hailed. by the twiLIGHT'S . last gleam ing

As you'll see, the first three 8-measure units in each verse fit this pattern: " doo .doobee doo .doobee dooBEE .doo doo so that the closing-measure unit in each verse stands out by virtue of a slightly different pattern, namely, six " doo .doobee's " followed by measures 7 and 8 as " homeOF . the brave . . .

"

You'll find that mastering these two rhythmic patterns is a splendid first step toward learning our complete Anthem by heart and keeping in step with your friends - even at a brisk "quick step" tempo (Charleston-style, Running Wild-style, Sweet Georgia Brown-style, etc.)

Performance confidence . . . . The primary advantage of our representation system can be summed up in one phrase: FORGETFULLNESS INSURANCE. What's here, to come right out with it, can be easily printed up on 4 x 6 note cards and very unobtrusively held in the hand as a do-it-yourself prompter in the event you go blank on a word or phrase. Singers have been doing this for years, and so have magnificent public speakers like Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan.

Thanks to their almost invisible notecards , Churchill and Reagan were able to polish and memorize in advance what they wanted to say, while at the same time convincing their audience that they were speaking naturally and spontaneously. President Reagan, we're told, actually had two differently powered contact lens: a long distance one for the left eye to use in making audience contact, supplemented by a reading-distance one for the right eye to use in sneaking a surreptitious look at the aide memoire in his hand on the lectern immediately in front of him.

As any actor knows, the best way to test one's memory of a part, especially a long monologue, is to recite it at a very fast "presto" tempo. This minimum-space version will therefore serve as a highly productive first step toward complete and retentive memorization of the Anthem itself, along with giving Americans a clearly mapped "four beats to the bar" guide to effective chanting and singing in brisk unison. The best way to get acquainted with what's here is to read it out loud while tapping the fingers. If it works fairly well the first time through, I feel we're all in business - including our nation as a whole.

THE ANTHEM (in SyllaRhythm T notation suitable for in-the-hand prompting via 4x6 cue cards). . . .

.......Oh_ [1a] say. can you see. by the dawn'sEAR. ly light. what so proud ly.we hailed. by the twiLIGHT'S . last gleam ing, whose broad [b] stripes .and bright stars .through the perIL. ous fight. o'er the ram. parts we watched. were so galLANT. lantly stream ing, and the [c] rock. et's red glare. the bombs burstING . in air. gave _ proof. through . the night. that our flagWAS . still there .Oh _ [d] say .does the star .spangled ban ­_ner yet wave .o'er the land __of the free . and the homeOF . the brave .

>>> On the [2a] shore. dimly seen. through the mistsOF . the deep. where the foe's haughty host. in dread siLENCE . re pos es what is [b] that. which the breeze. o'er the towER .ing steep. as it fit. ful.ly blows. half con CEALS . half dis clos es? Now it [c] catch. es the gleam. of the mornING'S . first beam. in full glo. ry re flect. ed now shinesIN . the stream. ' Tis the [d] Star. -Spangled Ban. ner ! O long _ may it wave .o'er the land_ of the free . and the homeOF . the brave.

>>> And _ [3a] where. is that band who so vauntING. ly swore. that the hav. oc of war and the batTLE'S . con fu sion a_ [b] home. and a count. ry should leave US . no more. ? Their_ blood. has washed out. their foul footSTEP"S . ' pol lu tion; no_ [c] re .fuge could save. the _ hireLING . and slave .from the ter. ror of flight. or the gloomOF . the grave .and the [d] Star -Spangled Ban ner, in tri _umph doth wave .o'er the land _ of the free and the homeOF . the brave.

>>> O_ [4a] thus be it ev .er when freeMEN . shall stand. be _ tween. their loved homes. and the war'sDES .so la tion ; blest with [b] vict .'ry and peace , may this Heav'nRES. . cued land . praise the Power. that hath made. and pre servedUS . a na tion; then_ [c] con .quer we must. when our causeIT . is just. and _ this. be our mot. to : "In GodIS . our Trust ." and the [d] Star -Spangled Ban. ner in tri _umph shall wave. o'er the land _ of the free . and the home OF the brave. . .