Term 3- Lesson 3

Wednesday 29th of April 2015

Over this week:

Last week, it was our groups individual task to go home and familiarise ourselves with the two chosen songs. We had to learn our harmonies and solo sections in Moulin rouge  ‘Lady Marmalade’. The reason for doing this is because when we do get the rehearsal space we could focus more on the performance quality and making sure we are all together. I personally found this difficult at times because finding the space or time to practice. My peers in my other classes don’t steer nicely to hearing the same songs repeated, which leaves time at home. Although this hard, on the weekend and mornings I do try and practice. I feel like I have progressed from last week, I believe the structure and confidence has improved in the song. 

In rehearsal:

In todays rehearsal we were organised. Once again I came prepared with lyrics and highlighters so we could break the song into sections and individual/ensemble parts. This seems to work well with our group because we can visually see what we are doing.

We listened to our second song, which is ‘Dear future husband’ by Meghan Trainor. As the song went along we attempted certain parts to see if our voices were comfortable with it. Then we broke up the lyrics into 3 sections and split the parts. This allowed the progress to go much faster and we got a lot done in the time limit. I feel like we managed our time better this week, we knew what we were going to do in each room.

Once we got into the room with the microphones, we knew straight away we wanted to work on ‘Lady Marmalade’. We wanted to look at the performance side and ensuring we knew how we wanted to hold the microphones etc. We decided for this song we were going to hold the microphones, this allows our body to move more and express what we are singing.

We then got moved into a smaller room, this is where we started to look at the technical aspects of the songs. We looked at the harmonies, ad-libs and the tuning of the song. This was useful because we could dissect the piece and work on the parts we needed to.

I personally need to go home and work on the harmonies in ‘Dear future husband’, I got another remember of my group to record it for me, therefore I just need to practice. Another goal is to learn the lyrics by next rehearsal. This gives the opportunity to sing full out and not be held back.


This is the break down of our lyrics:

(An example)

We stuck with our original plan to work and break down the songs, by doing this it saved time. We are comfortable with our choices. However we could have sung through the songs more to get comfortable without stopping and starting etc.

Overall I believe we got a lot of work done today. We now have two songs for our performance. We have refined and cleaned up Moulin Rouge and now just need to learn the lyrics and perform with intention, similarly with Dear future husband, however need to spend more time working how we are going to perform it, standing/sitting etc.

Term 3- Lesson 2

Wednesday 22nd April 2015

Last week we didn't have an exact plan, therefore created one this week.

Our plan:

Over the next couple of weeks we have decided to work on the songs but ensuring we break them apart and focus on 1 section every time. This will stop the excitement and enable us to pay equal attention and confirm its up to performance standard.

For next week we are going to break down the song ‘Dear future husband’ by Meghan Trainor. We are going to print the lyrics and then split the sections into harmonies, solo ad choral singing etc. When in a room with a microphone we are going to practice ‘Lady Marmalade’ and ensure we have the performance quality throughout and ensure we comfortable singing with a microphone. If we have time at the end we will sing through dear future husband also. As a back up or additional song we also going to bring the lyrics to ‘Crazy in love’ by Beyoncé, this will save time if any of the songs go wrong.

The last week we are going to polish up our songs and get the performance quality up to standard. We are going to make sure everyone is on the same page and we are ready to perform the following the week. We will look at where we going to stand and how we may move.

(We have also exchanged numbers and emails so we can inform anyone who is absent the work we have done or going to do.)

The rehearsal 

This week I could see a huge change, we were much more prepared in terms of we knew what song we were going to practice. I myself brought in lyrics so when rehearsing we could break down the lyrics into sections and focus on them individually. We started off highlighting parts, so who was going to sing what, where the harmonies were coming in etc. This was useful because we could see visually what we were doing instead going of the top of your mind.

Once we divided the parts to each other we then worked from the first section, making sure everyone was comfortable with their parts in the song. Once it got to the ensemble part/chorus we then listen to the track and after sang it a cappella. This was so we could work out the harmonies. A fellow singer and me are doing the melody and also ad-libs at the end of some phrases. This gives us a chance to show of our voice. The ad-libs change on each chorus so it doesn’t get boring and therefore should keep the audience engaged. We got through the whole song, however it’s not polished and as individuals we need to work on our solo sections for next week. I myself noticed a couple of parts that I needed to learn.

The positive aspects of this week were we was much more organised, we took time to plan the song rather than just go straight ahead and sing it like we did the previous week and also we got through the whole song from the beginning to end. Which now leaves time to clean the edges and learn the lyrics. We also picked a song to work on for next week that will save time. It gives us a chance to listen it and be familiar with it.

Things to improve would be keeping track on time and using it wisely, although we made huge progress this week I feel like we could’ve done more, such as used the microphone to hear ourselves. We also need to look at to harmonies to make them more interesting. We could maybe split the harmonies more so we each take on a different part on.

I personally feel like I put a lot of effort into todays rehearsal, I cam prepared with lyrics and an attitude to get something finished. Something I can improve on is trying different harmonies and not sticking with the melody.

Overall this rehearsal went really well, we got a lot accomplished. I know what I’m doing in terms of what I have to learn and bring for the next lesson. This includes learning my solo parts, the lyrics and harmonies. However one thing I noticed that makes this process difficult it not having everyone here. When a member of our group is not here it’s hard to divide the parts. Nonetheless we have a group chat on our phones so we can share what we have done.

We have a new plan which we all agree will help us over the next few weeks!

My chosen group for presentation:

The Jackson 5

Members of the group:

1. Micheal Jackson
2. Tito Jackson
3. Marlon Jackson
4. Jermaine Jackson
5. Jackie Jackson

(Randy joined the band when Jermaine didn't want to move to another record label)

Their roles:

Michael Jackson was the lead singer of the Jackson 5, however he didn't just sing, he was the front man of the group. The record label based the group around him, he was the one who sang, danced and communicated the most with the audience. Therefore the reason to promote him was obvious. The fact he was so young when he started brought a unique twist to the group. It wasn't common for such a young child to lead a group in those times. He had enormous energy when performing and worked hard to entertain the audience.

Tito Jackson played lead guitar in the band; he had an important role to create the sound the song was going for. At home he was known as the quite one but once on stage the confidence came and he brought the energetic image with him.

Marlon Jackson and Jackie Jackson did vocals for the group, whether it was backing up for Michael or taking the harmonies/solo lines. Their roles were significant because it showed it wasn’t a one-man band. When doing the harmonies it made the song more full. For example in the song I'll be there you can see the way they arranged it made it more interesting, it wasn’t only just one voice. 

Jermaine Jackson originally played guitar for the band, however switched to bass and back up vocals. Jermaine use to be lead singer of the group but once Michael joined he took a step back and let his brother use his unique voice to lead the group. Jermaine played a significant role in the Jackson 5; he kept the music going and also supported Michael and his other brothers with the singing. Unfortunely Jermaine decided to leave the group when they switched to a new record label. 

Term 3- lesson 1

Our group:

Aisha, Ayse, Erza, Ivett and Janet

Initial ideas for song choices:

We all agreed we want two songs that show contrast with each other

Forget you by ceelo green

Earned it by The Weeknd

Chandelier by Sia

Stupid love by Jason Derullo

I want you back by Jackson 5

The sweet escape by Gwen Stefani

Bang Bang by Jessi j, Ariana grande and Nicki minage

Crazy in love (fifty shades of grey version)- Beyoncé

Moulin rouge by Christina Agularia

All my life by k-ci and JoJo

That man- Caro emerald

When I’m gone- pitch perfect

Ideas:

Earned it/crazy in love-

·      To have a dance piece in the background getting projected (duet)

·      Good for harmonies

·      Remix it with crazy in love

That man-

·      Contrast to other songs

·      Different genre

·      Different time era

·      Good for characterisation

The sweet escape-

·      Simple but effective

·      Good performance piece

·      Wordy and talkative

Where is the love-

·      Shows different skills- rapping

·      Good for harmonies especially in the chorus

·      Delivers a message

·      A good crowd pleaser

Although we have chose 5 songs, we are going to keep an open mind and may consider cutting it back. Reason being is that we only have 5 weeks and we want finished pieces that entertain the audience.

Earned it- b flat minor changed from g minor (piano)

Bang Bang

·      Shows of different skills

·      Unison and individual

·      Goof for harmonies

When I’m gone-

·      Great for harmonies

·      A capella- new skill

After having our session as a group we decided not to include the mash up of earned it/crazy in love. The reason is being because we couldn’t get them to fit together, the music wasn’t meshing well. Also it was causing more trouble than it needed- we started to argue about the harmonies and it generally wasn’t working. Although we spent 20min on it and then scrapped it; the positive outcome we got was taking our time outside class and rehearsing another song, which suited our voices and style better. This new song we started is called, ‘Where is the love’ by the Black eyes peas. We decided to do this song because it showed a range of skills such as rapping, a 3 part harmony and performance skills to the audience. We took time with this song to work out the harmonies with the piano and we each tried different parts to see what suited whom. Overall we had a trial and error session today, we picked different songs and focused on one which didn’t turn out for the best, however it made us work harder on the next song which is sounding good and in tune- we now have to look at the performance to the audience and memory of lyrics. Once we have that we can move on smoothly with another song. Another aim for this week is to listen to the other song choices we have chosen and learn the tune and start to come up with ideas for harmonies etc. this will save us time when in the rehearsal room.

This rehearsal was a little messy, as we had no plan, however decided for next week to pick a song, break it down and then divide and work on the parts. The chosen song is going to be Moulin rouge.