Term 2- Lesson 6: 25/02/15

25th February 2015

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on breaking down the songs and also how I’m going to perform them. So for example considering how I’m going to introduce my set and whether I’m going to stand or sit etc. these are all important to consider because I want to look confident from beginning to end and not hesitate on what to do next. Therefore I have decided to stand for all my songs, I believe they require an emotional connection from both my voice and body. 

Also this week I have realised I have to do more work on learning the lyrics to my songs, this important especially when it comes to performing, because I cant hold the lyrics, I need to know them so I can work on the story and character. Out of all 6 from my set list there are still 2 songs I need to remember. So over the next week this is something I’m going to work on everyday so they stay in my memory. 

Another piece of information I got this week was that my recital date was moved up 2 weeks, which gives me more time to rehearse. Although my 8-week plan finishes next week it doesn't mean I stop, instead I have decided to spend additional weeks to polishing the individual songs. By this I mean ensuring I know the beat and timing, the lyrics and story- all things important to have prepared for my performance.

What did I do in terms of rehearsal this week?

Over the past weeks I have done the usual warm up everyday to keep my voice trained and warm, ready to sing! I have done vocal exercise in this order:

·      Breathing exercise- breathe in for 4 and out for 4, in for 4 and out for 6 and so on to 20

·      Breathing exercise- blowing the candle out- to gain control of my breath (useful in my songs which have wordy sections)

·      Humming- humming and then opening to a open vowel note such as ahh

·      Scales- going up on an ahh and down on a eee

From day to day I may have added warm ups that would help me with the song I was practising, for example the witch exercise really helps with the songs 'lamest place in the world'.

Every day I would start from the top of my set list and work through the songs (I wouldn't necessarily do all of them in one day, but continue where I finished the previous day), breaking it down both for technical reasons and connection to the story. So for example with the song Lamest place in the world I have to take into consideration the story I’m trying to tell from beginning to end, ensuring I know what I want to get across, which in this case its about a girl showing how although the place they live in isn't great, now that the boy has arrived its looking better by the minute. Also with the song I have considered the technical aspects, ensuring I know the timing and I’m aware of the key changes. This is something I have been practicing because I can sometimes find it hard but slowly am getting better at. (I find tapping along helps me keep in time)

In class

This week as usual we started with a warm up to get us prepared for singing. Then one by one we went up and rehearsed one of our songs for the recital. This week I chose to do lamest place in the world, I have never performed it in-front of this particular group so I thought it was time, also because its the only one I haven't done in class with a microphone. I honestly felt like it didn't go so well because I felt very nervous and I let it get the better of me, although my characterisation of my voice was good and the song fitted my tone, my body language didn’t match. This is something I need to work on for the recital.

Feedback:

- Good characterisation in the voice

- Relax and get into the character

- Practice with the microphone

- Make sure you 

-With the belt note, don't force it

What are you going to do next?

From the feedback I have gotten, I now need to buckle down and work on practicing the songs with a microphone, making sure I know them inside out and have confidence performing them in front of other people.so from this point just practice, practice and more practice!

My set list and Programme Notes

My set list:

1

Royals (By Lorde)

2

Lamest place in the world (From the musical 13)

3

Latch (By Sam Smith)

4

Im going down (By Mary J Blige)

5

The Letter (From the musical Billy Elliot)

6

Blame it on the boogie (By the Jackson 5)

Programme notes:

1- Royals

The Song 'Royals' is sung by an artist called Lorde. She released this song along with her album in 2013. The style of this song is pop. It was written by Lorde, Ella Yelich O'Connor and Joel Little. The song is based on how many things of today are about fame and money, however not everyone can live that life and therefore the average person of today may keep reaching, but not always get what they want at the end- but is that such a bad thing?

I chose this song because I feel like it suits my voice in key and style. Its darker that what I usually do and therefore gave me the opportunity to explore. This song has a lot of words in it, which was a challenge but I loved taking it on!

I wanted to put this in my recital set because it was different to my other songs, it allows me to present a darker story which hopefully will give you and me a contrast.

2- Lamest place in the world

Lamest place in the world is from the musical 13, composed by Jason Robert Brown. The actual musical follows the life of a young boy who has just turned 13 and everything is about to change for him. This particular song is when one of the lead roles Patrice, shows the boy (Evan) how the place he has moved to may seem boring at first but now that his here everything looks better.

The reason why I included this song was because it brings out a lot of character, it gives me the opportunity to combine both my acting and singing skills into one performance. This is something I consider I do well in and can show of my personality. This song also set a challenge for my technique with the timing, accent, belting and key changes etc.

3- Latch

Latch is a song performed by Sam Smith, a singer who has just recently broken into the mainstream music industry. His soulful voice has inspired many people, including myself. With this song, the duo artist called DISCLOSURE, produced music that they intended for the singer Sam Smith to sing, thus the song Latch occurring. This song was released on both Smith's and Disclosure album in 2013.

First of all I sang this song when we were trying different genres of music, and I received the style of techno/electronic. This song is upbeat and sets a good mood whilst telling a story, which I considered great to perform in front of an audience; you entertain but send a message. I wanted this in my recital because it was something different for me, it set me a challenge to focus on the performance; how I deliver it to everyone. Also I feel like the tone of the song matches my voice style.

4- I'm Going Down

This song was originally sung by Rose Royce and written by Norman Whitfield. It was released in September 1976 and proved to be a hit. A few years on an artist called Mary J Blige did her version of it in 1994. The popularity of the song grew and it broke into the R&B/SOUL category, where more and more people listen to it. Out of the two versions I chose to do the one by Mary J Blige, reason being is because I like the tone and melody of the instrumental, also the key is right for me. 

This song gives me the chance to draw back and show the audience some pure emotion, a chance for me to present them with the truth of story through song. At first I knew this would be difficult because I'm showing a more personal side of me, however I know this will help with my performance skills.

5- The Letter

From the musical Billy Elliot, this song shows a lot of truth and emotion from beginning to end, written by Sir Elton John. In the original soundtrack of the musical the characters: Billy, The Mum and Mrs Wilkson sing this song like they are reading the same letter (in the show Billy has a letter which was given by his mum before she died). I have decided to do it as a solo and do it from ones perspective that on my eyes is going to be the mother. This will give me the chance to perform the song like I am singing the words out loud to the character 'Billy'.

The reason why I put this song in was because its a lot of character building, a chance for me to show that I can perform in different ways to the audience and still bringing in meaning to what I’m singing. Also with this particular song it allows me to communicate with the audience through a story, which is something hard yet enjoyable to do for both the people watching and myself.

6- Blame it on the Boogie

Sung by the Jackson 5 and released in 1978 from their album Destiny; The Jackson 5 are an American Motown Band consisting of 5 brothers. This is an upbeat song that encourages everyone to join in. The writers of this song include Mick Jackson, Dave Jackson and Elmar Krohn. The repetitive chorus makes it easy for the members of the audience to join in and have fun.

Not only did I put this last in my recital because it would be a memorable ending but also it was completely different style for me to learn. This is something fun, fast and cheerful. Also with this song, it has an instrumental break that gives me a chance to really engage with the audience and maybe bring them into the performance.

Term 2- Lesson 5: 04/01/15

4th of January 2015

What did you do this week?

This week I did a 10 minute warm up, this included doing exercises like lip trills, which help develop my diction and articulation because it gets the lips moving to prepare when saying words/sounds etc. I find this helpful before practising because it allows me to relax into the song and focus more about the initial technique, range and performance etc. The 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. I also did other warm ups like the witch sound and humming.

This week I have been working on my finalising my set and also starting to break down an individual song, I want to ensure I can understand it, both technically and emotionally (I know the story etc.) This week I have been breaking down the songs 'the letter' from Billy Elliot and 'i'm going down' by Mary J Blige. In my opinion they are both emotional songs, yet have very different stories:

With the song 'The letter', I asked myself some questions which our music teacher told us about. 

Who are you: In this song I portray myself as the Mother, although in the stage musical its split up into 3 characters, I decided after trying it this way  it would be difficult for me to present too many characters all at once and therefore if I channeled the same story but using one character, I could project the story better.

Who you singing this song to: The way I view this song is that its the letter is a spoken voice, in the initial stage musical the character billy, sings the letter to his dance teacher, yet it's his mother words. The way I want to present is that the character Billy is imagining his mother singing to him. Therefore Im going to play this character singing to her son Billy. 

Overall this week has been really useful, I feel like i'm understanding my songs better, also i can now start to focus on them technically, I have started this week and used warm ups like the witch noise to bring the sound forward also singing 'The Letter' on an ahh to make it seem more fluid. My next step is now to perform this song as much as possible, I want to get as comfortable when singing them.

What did you do in class?

In class today we started with the same warm up as last week, which got my voice ready to sing, I knew i wanted to sing straight after because my voice was ready to go and perform. We also started to talk about how we were going to present ourselves and songs to the audience, so as prep we had to prepare our song and mic, then sit back down, then go on stage and introduce it and then sing. I feel like this helps with performance quality and engaging with the audience. I found it really helpful and from now Im going to do this (introduce myself). Going back to singing first, i choose to do an experiment on a mash up of both 'we found love' and 'thinking out loud'. I felt like it didn't work so well however it was a good experience to have, I feel like trying different songs helps me expand my rep, it allows me to explore different styles which is good when choosing recital set lists. Once again this class has been useful, watching other people sing gives me a chance to appreciate their voices and performance styles but also opens my eyes to different types of music. 

Feedback from rehearsals:

1-mic control- if its slipping away take it off and hold it

2-Be sure of the backing track

3- make sure you reach all the notes

4- great confidence

5- you look comfortable on stage

Overall view on feedback:

After performing that song I have decided that I’m not going to do it in my recital, it was a last minute experiment which although could work, I don’t feel like it fits in my set. However it was a good experience because I got to work on my performance in front of an audience which helps me build confidence.

What you going to do next: 

I am now going to break down my individual songs, find out what I want out of them both in regards to technically and the story. I have decided my set list so now its about rehearsing and practising them as much as I can. The more performances in front of people I do the more confident i will get with singing them. Also next week I want to finalise my backing tracks so I can focus on the actual songs and work on them properly.

Term 2- Lesson 4: 28/01/15

28th January 2015

According to my singing plan this week I was meant to finalise my recital set, I know I wanted to perform around 5-6 songs. However Im still not a 100% sure if I'm happy with all my choices. Therefore I have decided to spend an additional week finalising my set, this is a significant part of my recital and I have to ensure I am comfortable with every song I'm singing. I do know I will be singing the following:

1

royals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidytVMD3sc

(up to 2:40 sec)

2

the letter:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk_vwKxGu3k

(3:25)

3

latch acoustic:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-K-IKAyvVs

(2:16)

4

blame it on the bogie- Jackson 5

Although these are only 4 choices, I do have many in consideration such as...

the climb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoN7Ux9UAd8

(4:20)

use somebody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDJvl8J0j-0

(up to 3:00)

mama do:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7cRUlhLYW8

This week coming up I have to make the final set list, reason being is so I can start to break the songs down and rehearse them properly. Next week I will come prepared with all 6 songs, and I will start to perform them to my peers so I can get feedback to help me improve- this is important because the audience reaction sums up my whole performance if it was enjoyable or needs improvement. The more feedback and advice I get the better I can improve and shape up for my final performance.

This week:

This week once again I have warmed with the same vocal exercises but I also added some tongue twisters to help with my articulation of words. I tried two different ones including:

• red lorry, yellow lorry
• selfish, shellfish

These two Helped me because they were tricky for me to get around, at the start of the week I could only achieve pronouncing these if I would say them slow, however now I can say them quicker but still quicker. I feel like tongue twisters help me because they train my mouth to pronounce words quickly without slurring. I believe it has helped with different songs in my recital set such as Royals and The Letter. I will carry on doing these exercises because they do help me with my articulation and they are enjoyable to recite.

This week I have revised Blame it on the Bogie by the Jackson 5, I like this song and I feel like my personality matches it. When I was looking for songs and came across this one I knew it would be a good crowd pleaser and would raise the energy- also a good song to put at the end of my set so the audience can remember me as an upbeat person! I need to learn the Lyrics; I have trouble learning lyrics straight away and therefore have to listen to the song constantly to get it in my head, therefore for next week I want to ensure I know the lyrics and what I want to get across to the audience, both significant things to start developing before my recital.

Overall this week has been useful, I have decided 4 songs for my recital and started to work on them by getting the backing tracks ready and cutting them where I wanted to. So now I have to rehearse more and more to get them up to performance standard. 

In class:

Today in class we started of with a warm up including:

1. Breathing exercise (breathing in for 4 and humming out)
2. Humming through a word for example 'moon' and 'voice' to get resonance
3. Minor scales going down (1,1-2-1 etc.)

These three exercises helped me in individual ways, for example the breathing one is for breath control and also to begin to build resonance in my mouth. This was useful because I want to gain more control on my breathing, especially on long notes in songs. 

After we listen to one another sing, which in my opinion helps me because I can take the positives they deliver and apply them to my own work. Also it develops my ear, listening to different styles and genres which in the long run can inspire me when choosing songs in the future. This week we gave feedback to one another, this is useful because it allows us to become comfortable to one another and take on the constructive criticism!

Did I stick with my singing plan?

I would say 50-50, I did finalise 4 songs which I want to perform for my recital but as said before Im going to take on a additional week to get all 6. This is because I want to makes sure I have made the right decision. So to ensure my voice fits the style and I can get the backing track for it etc. Like said in my plan I want to get the best out of the individual song and this process cannot be rushed. 

Term 2: Lesson 3- 21/01/15

21st of January 2014

This whole week I have been trying different songs for my Recital, including ABC, by the Jackson 5. I felt like that this wasn't the right approach for me, however I felt that my voice would suit a similar song, so further research into the Jackson 5 playlist i came across Blame it on the boogie. This is an upbeat and good crowd pleaser, a good one to have at the end of my set. In my opinion I feel like it went well, I got to experiment with a new style and end up deciding I wanted to put it on my set :)

feedback?

My feedback from this week was to learn the lyrics and have more fun, also to include the audience with your performance. A positive was that it suited the tone of my voice, it matched my personality, which in my eyes gave me the confidence to finally add it to my recital set. I think it will be a good song to end with, a good place to allow the audience to remember me by.

Did you stick to your plan? 

Yes I feel like I did stick with my plan, I experimented with a new style and found one song that I wanted to input into my set. That being the song blame it on the boogie by the Jackson 5. I feel like it will be a great contribution. 

Overall: 

This week has been really useful for me, I enjoyed trying a different genre of music, it has opened my eyes to not limit my range and knowledge of song styles. Next week Im going to start focusing on finalising my recital set, as i need to start rehearsing.

Term 2- Lesson 2: 14/01/15

14th of January 2015

What did you do in terms of practise this week?

This week I have done the usual 10min warm up everyday to keep my voice trained, this included doing exercises like lip trills, which help 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, another exercise I did was 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.I have also been looking at different styles of songs, ones that have more an upbeat tempo to them, I looked at songs from this era and also the 1960's, especially ones performed by the Jackson 5, I felt like it would be a good contrast to Royals by Lorde. I also looked at musical theatre songs from the show Billy elliot and Grease.

Have you worked on your recital set?

Yes this week I have been working on my recital, I have been looking at different songs from different styles of music. I wanted to look for a musical theatre song for my recital set, one that shows a lot of character- not only do I feel like this would be a different approach (rather have all pop songs) but also it gives me a chance to work on connection with the song. I feel like I have gone along with the plan I created, this week is all about experimenting and seeing what suits my voice etc. in my opinion this week has been useful, using websites like youtube and sound cloud showed me the variations of songs and gave me ideas on what I want to perform! The songs I did look at was 'the letter' from Billy Elliot and 'there are worse things i can do' from Grease. I chose these songs because one they both have a story but also will challenge me with the timing (this is something that I struggle with and therefore if i work on it I will improve).  

How did it go?

I feel like my recital practice went really well, I did what I wanted and tried a different style. However I know I could of put a little more effort in learning the lyrics, I know this is in the details of performing but my main reason of doing a musical theatre song was to show how I connected with both a character and a story, to show I can show a contrast in my set also. Although I realise I should have done that, I didn't and it now makes it a learning curve, it has allowed me to understand the significance of knowing the lyrics when both considering, rehearsing and most defiantly performing it. However I still believe I used this week really well, I have now got two potential songs for my set :)

What did you do in class?

In class today we started of with a warm up including aligning the body posture, blowing the candle, humming out and scales. All which helped prepare my voice for the rest of the class. Once again its significant to always warm up the voice correctly otherwise you may strain the vocal chords, which will only put me behind with my development in both singing and performance. Class has now been focussed on solo singing, allowing each of us to practice and perform one of our songs from our set. I find this time useful because it allows us to experiment and get feedback from both our peers and teachers. I like listening to others, it gives me a chance to understand what an audience may want in a performance and therefore I can take that aboard and apply it to my own practice. This week I had the confidence to just volunteer and go up, I feel like I need to do this more often- although I know nerves can enhance a performance for the good, I needed to get over being afraid to sing in front of everyone and therefore the more opportunities I get the more I have to take them! (I sang 'the letter' from billy elliot the musical)

How did it help you?

Rehearsing in class is really useful, it helps build my confidence with singing in front of others, although I have performed to large audiences, when singing to a small group of 10,12,15 etc. it feels like more pressure and therefore the more i do it the more i will become comfortable with doing it. In regards to the song I sung, I felt like I was in time with the music and really focused on the articulation of the words. However I could've and should of learnt the lyrics beforehand, reason being it would allow me to connect with both the story and the audience. This is important because it would become boring if I performed it in a blank way. Therefore next time I have to make sure I at least have a better idea of what I'm singing. 

What are you going to do next?

from the feedback I got:

-learn lyrics

-connect up the words- a little more fluent

I can now take them aboard apply them for next time, advice given was to sing the song on a arr, this is because it will allow me to sing the song rather than speak the words. The next thing is to learn the lyrics and ensure I understand what I'm singing, this is important because of the connection.

Programme note for the song: Royals

The Song 'Royals' is sung by an artist called Lorde. She realised along with her albumin 2013 its in the style of pop music, it was wrote by Lorde, Ella Yelich O'Connor and Joel Little. The song is based on how many things of today is about fame and money, however not everyone can live that life and therefore the average person of today may keep reaching but not get what they want at the end- but is that such a bad thing?

I chose this song because I feel like it suits my voice in key and style. Its darker that what I usually do and therefore gave me the opportunity to explore the i can adjust my voice to sing. This songs has a lot of words in it, which was a challenge but I loved taking it on!

I wanted to put this in my recital set because it was different to my other songs, it allows me to present a darker story which hopefully will give you and me a contrast.