TERM 1- Lesson 9: 26/11/14

26th of November 2014

This week we looked at Electro style of music, both me and two other students sung this genre. I personally enjoyed it; it was upbeat and fun to sing, it got the audience moving and joining in at times- its a feel good style. I don't normally sing this genre, however it was nice to change things up and explore, expand my knowledge on different types of music.

The features of Electro music:

• Its dance music
• Artificial sounds
• Backing track/instrumental is made of by synthesized and/or sampling sounds.
• Its made by electronics e.g. computers.
• It can have a limited range
• Short phrases
• Its very repetitive
• Lyrically quite limited
• Can lead up to the drop of the beat
• Upbeat music
• Tempo generally fast
• Strict timing

After studying these various styles, you should consider adding a song in one of these styles into your repertoire. Choose one and suggest what you will need to do (in terms of practice, rehearsal and preparation) in order to perform it well.

After listening and experimenting with these different styles, I have decided to consider the original genre I was given, which is electro. I think its different to what I usually do and will be a challenge performance wise, by this I mean not to corpse on stage and for me to get into the song and just have fun. Therefore I am going to stick with the song I sung today which was (Latch- by disclosure ft Sam smith.) To prepare myself I'm going to practice this song in front of friends and get them to perhaps laugh, or dance etc. And for me to embrace what they are doing but still running with the song, not stopping to laugh myself. this is something that can take time, however I'm going to work hard to get use to performing to all types of audiences.

Another thing with this song is that I think it needs to be performed with a microphone, considering its electro, and therefore it will push the sound a step forward. 

TERM 1- Lesson 8: 19/11/14

19th of November 2014

In class this week we looked at folk music, 2 people from our class sung very different songs but in this style. Once again this was an interesting new experience because I generally don't listen to that genre, however it was sweet and pleasant to hear- a nice change!

Features of folk music:

• Its easy to sing
• It was passed down in generations- families, social groups etc., folk music was never written down so it was learnt from listening and playing- the individual memory.
• Traditionally folk music was performed amateurs who would perhaps tour around, sharing their songs and stories.
• A lot of folk music is played by acoustic instruments such as guitars to give it that soft and gentle feeling, 
• there didn't use to be a score and once again refers back to passing the songs through word of mouth.
• its world known style of music
• its easy to pick up and enjoyable to learn

what have I learnt?

Today I have not only learnt a new genre of music, but the importance to listen and spread my knowledge on music; for me not to just stick with what I know. I feel like this will be helpful because if I learn a range of songs from different genres it will show i'm versatile and willing to try new things.

TERM 1- Lesson 7: 12/11/14

12th of November 2014

the theme or style of music this week was Latin. we heard 3 people from our group singing their takes on this type of music, each having a different version of this music form. which i found really interesting to go from a more upbeat dance number to a soft lullaby. it was a really nice experience to see the contrast of what they had found.

What are the things you need to consider when singing Latin music?

• The music is very much joined up, it flows very easily.
• Dance music
• Goes with dance styles such as the Samba, Bossanova, Salsa, Ramba etc.
• The music just floats
• There is a syncopation in the beat
• This style of music is originally from south/ central america
• This style of music is not so much about the voice as it focuses more on the lyrics- the story of what the person may be singing about. This also includes the melody which sets the tone for the song.

Please note down anything else you have learnt today.

Today i have learnt more about a certain of style of music, and to give us a better understanding we all got the chance to sing as a group to a Latin song. which was great fun but also challenging because it battles with are styles of music in which we are comfortable with, however as a group i believe we overcame this and started to enjoy the song more and more.

overall i think the idea of today was looking outside of the box and listening and trying out new types of music to expand our ears and rep. I really enjoyed it and look forward to next week!

TERM 1- Lesson 6: 05/11/14

5th of November 2014

Over the half term I have been doing my daily warm-ups which are in previous posts. I have also been looking at different styles of music, in class I have mainly sung musical theatre and therefore I wanted to extend my repertoire and try a pop song. I have been practising the song 'I'm going down by Mary J bilge'

features of blue music:

• repetitive
• sad and upsetting tone
• played with minor chords
• lazy reputation
• call and response 

my chosen style of music:

• latch by disclosure ft sam smith- electro music
• Santa clause is coming to town- Christmas music

TERM 1- lesson 5- part 2

Lesson 5, Blog Entry 2

15th of october 2014

1: Humming
I always like to start with humming and the reason being is because it helps to open up my voice; it allows it to warm up so its ready to sing without putting any strain on my vocal chords. It does this by creating vibrations in my mouth, lips, neck and head- which allows me to become more aware of my technique and the placement of the sound I'm making.
By using humming it has helped me a lot with warming my voice up, before I start singing any song. It is the second thing I do to prepare myself for singing, the first is ensuring my posture is correct. Humming has helped me with my pitch in songs, it's allowed me to find pitch without any distractions from the phrasing- focus purely on getting the placement, I generally love using this to start with because it also helps open up my voice which is great for every song i sing. so its been effective in a general basis because I use it for everything.

2: Scales
I often use scales when warming up because it helps me become more familiar with different pitching and developing a good ear but also it really helps me to focus on my range. By starting of the scales slowly and gradually working my way up, whilst using different registers (chest, head etc.) it supports me when doing a song. By this I mean if for example I was unable to hit a section in a song I would sing it on a arr, eee- this works because it shows me the placement of where my voice should be and if I can reach the note. I also use scales when learning a song, this is because it reassures me that I know the pitching and the tune. for example I would learn the song 'there are worse things I could do' then I would sing it on a arr- by doing this it shows the range i am able to go to and confirms I'm confident on the songs melody.
This song helped me with 'there are worse things I could do' because at the start I couldn't get the belts, but after singing them on a arr, I realised the place I could go up to and with practice developed it up by using the words. This method has also been effective for many other songs I have sung, like 'I'm going down and will you still love me' The reason for this once again its a great help with the pitching and knowing what note I should be on etc. Overall I like using this as a warm-up because it helps in a variety of ways and it great for general warm up use or helping specific parts of the songs.

3: Lip Trills
By doing lip trills such as (brrr) it helps me warm- up and relax my mouth. this helps to develop my diction and articulation because it gets the lips moving to prepare when saying words/sounds etc. It helps with warming up my diaphragm and the reason being is you are using breath control to support how long you can hold the trills- it engages your breathing, so that you become more aware. Also it releases tension which I find I have before performing a song. Therefore I find this a useful warm up before practising because it allows me to relax into the song and focus more about the initial technique, range and performance contribution instead. I have done this with every song I have practised because it warms up so many aspects of the body and mind.
This warm-up is effective because it helps relax the mouth, but most importantly helps with articulation and diction. This is important in most songs like 'Lego house by ed sheeran' because you want the audience to be able to understand clearly what you are singing. I have used this many of times which has helped me with songs like 'pulled from the addams family', which is a wordy song, so by doing this warm-up it just got my lips and mouth working so it works better when creating the shape to sing the words. Once again this is a warm-up I use generally and particularly on certain songs; I believe its great and has many good qualities to it.

Added warm-up I use:

The witch, this is a new vocal warm up I have learnt. Its basically making a 'naa' sound, by doing this it helps bring the sound forward and the vibrations to become apparent on the cheek bones. By doing this when, singing it allows me to reach high notes, belts and for the general sound of the song to be more clearer which is great for the audience members. I have used this on songs like 'legally blonde' and 'wait for it'