Possible songs
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Thursday 27th September
To begin this lesson were given an assignment brief, we had an introduction to all the assignments in unit 30 singing skills for actors and dancers. Lena broke down each task and in detail explained what we need to do to achieve either an pass, merit or distinction. Task one is performing technical singing exercises and showing improvement in vocal techniques. task two is singing back musical phrases and finally task three is taking part in rehearsals and performing sung musical material in character. Also in this we have been given 3 very important dates that need to be put on our calendars, milestone dates and final presentation.
*Milestone 1 : 10/12/13
*Milestone 2 : 11/03/13
*Final presentation : 20/05/13
On each milestone date we will perform our 3 chosen songs which have to be one as a solo and one as an ensemble. Then our progress will be recorded. It was extremely useful going over all the assignments as I now feel I have a lot stronger understanding of what I need to do to succeed in the course. Its also nice to be able to refer back to it and have a knowledge of what we are doing next. There are parts in the assignments I feel unconfident about. the main one is singing a solo in character. The way to overcome this is if I decide on my 3 songs early and perform it as soon as I can then I have lots of time available to develop my confidence and develop the song.
Today we did our first recorded initial skills audit. When first told about this task I instantly panicked. The thought of having to do any form of singing on my own made me worry but Lena reassured us that it would be fine. The point of this recording is to be able to look back at it later on and be able to see if theres been an improvement or not. To do the recording we went into a separate practise room with Lena. To begin with she played a note and we had to sing the note back. I don't feel I did very well in this, she played 2 different notes but as doing it I felt like I sang 2 of the same notes. Also we had to go up the scale singing V-E-E-R-R-O-N. And we had to breathe in for 4 counts, and then hold it for 2 counts then release it singing a note of our choice for as long as we could. I felt I did better than I thought I would for this exercise. I was happy once had done this task as felt very nervous about it but also I feel I could of done it better if had the chance to do it again.
To begin this lesson were given an assignment brief, we had an introduction to all the assignments in unit 30 singing skills for actors and dancers. Lena broke down each task and in detail explained what we need to do to achieve either an pass, merit or distinction. Task one is performing technical singing exercises and showing improvement in vocal techniques. task two is singing back musical phrases and finally task three is taking part in rehearsals and performing sung musical material in character. Also in this we have been given 3 very important dates that need to be put on our calendars, milestone dates and final presentation.
*Milestone 1 : 10/12/13
*Milestone 2 : 11/03/13
*Final presentation : 20/05/13
On each milestone date we will perform our 3 chosen songs which have to be one as a solo and one as an ensemble. Then our progress will be recorded. It was extremely useful going over all the assignments as I now feel I have a lot stronger understanding of what I need to do to succeed in the course. Its also nice to be able to refer back to it and have a knowledge of what we are doing next. There are parts in the assignments I feel unconfident about. the main one is singing a solo in character. The way to overcome this is if I decide on my 3 songs early and perform it as soon as I can then I have lots of time available to develop my confidence and develop the song.
Today we did our first recorded initial skills audit. When first told about this task I instantly panicked. The thought of having to do any form of singing on my own made me worry but Lena reassured us that it would be fine. The point of this recording is to be able to look back at it later on and be able to see if theres been an improvement or not. To do the recording we went into a separate practise room with Lena. To begin with she played a note and we had to sing the note back. I don't feel I did very well in this, she played 2 different notes but as doing it I felt like I sang 2 of the same notes. Also we had to go up the scale singing V-E-E-R-R-O-N. And we had to breathe in for 4 counts, and then hold it for 2 counts then release it singing a note of our choice for as long as we could. I felt I did better than I thought I would for this exercise. I was happy once had done this task as felt very nervous about it but also I feel I could of done it better if had the chance to do it again.
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Thursday 20th September
In this lesson we focused on singing. To begin with we experimented with different ways of preparing yourself to sing. Its important that before you sing your body is ready, you need to be standing correctly, shoulders down, head held with no tension. Also its very important your jaw is ready. You need to stretch your jaw otherwise you could damage it when singing notes that require you to open your mouth wide. To do this you need to let your jaw drop, the easiest way of doing this is to start a yawn but don't let it completely go into a full yawn. Also if you pretend you have a extremely chewy toffee in your mouth and chew as much and as over exaggerating it as you can this will move the jaw enough to let it be stretched and ready for you to sing with your mouth as wide as you want. Also when singing its important you have a good posture.
Lena played us a 2 bar melody using varied notes going up to a top C with and we memorised it and sang it back. This is part of the course but with a 4 bar so was relieving to know we are half way there as when told I thought itll be a hard task but I think itll be easier than I first imagined.
We did the same warm up as last lesson but instead of going up the scale we did rising rapeggio singing v-e-e-r-r-r-o-n. I before haven't done much singing and haven't done warmups so this is all very new but also exciting.
We then got taught about a piano. We learned what keys are what notes and how to find each note. We are now high class at piano geography. Once roughly knowing what keys are what we were then able to play a 12 bar blues with Lena. This was quite exciting and fun.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson and feel it went too quickly.
In this lesson we focused on singing. To begin with we experimented with different ways of preparing yourself to sing. Its important that before you sing your body is ready, you need to be standing correctly, shoulders down, head held with no tension. Also its very important your jaw is ready. You need to stretch your jaw otherwise you could damage it when singing notes that require you to open your mouth wide. To do this you need to let your jaw drop, the easiest way of doing this is to start a yawn but don't let it completely go into a full yawn. Also if you pretend you have a extremely chewy toffee in your mouth and chew as much and as over exaggerating it as you can this will move the jaw enough to let it be stretched and ready for you to sing with your mouth as wide as you want. Also when singing its important you have a good posture.
Lena played us a 2 bar melody using varied notes going up to a top C with and we memorised it and sang it back. This is part of the course but with a 4 bar so was relieving to know we are half way there as when told I thought itll be a hard task but I think itll be easier than I first imagined.
We did the same warm up as last lesson but instead of going up the scale we did rising rapeggio singing v-e-e-r-r-r-o-n. I before haven't done much singing and haven't done warmups so this is all very new but also exciting.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson and feel it went too quickly.
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Thursday 13th September
Unit 30 Singing Skills for Actors and Dancers
Today in my lesson to start with we all were told how the next term is going to run, splitting the class into 2 and working on either singing or production. I am in group B and will be working on singing skills for the next three weeks, production arts for the three following weeks after and then a singing workshop with group A. In the first hour group B worked with Lena. To begin with we gave a quick background of our personal previous performances. This enabled Lena to have a rough understanding of our experience and level of singing. We then went through unit 30 and we discussed each aspect of the unit so we all understood the criteria and process.
Be keen to develop and improve your vocal abilities in 3 specific ways:
*how well you sing in tune and reach the high and low notes
*understand what your tone is and how to improve it
*how to project the voice and how to control and use the breath
Need to develop our musical memory for learning song melodies without having to read the music.
Understanding the rehearsal process of the song your going to sing
Learning the music and words and how to characterise it
And finally the last stage is the performance of three songs, solo and ensemble
We also spoke about tones. Tone is the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound). We spoke about 2 different shows to enable us to compare different tones. The first show is Annie, in Annie the tone is very strong and high, a high amount of projection is used where as in the show Les Miserables the tone is very soft and delicate.
For the practical side of this lesson we did sang 'vee-ay-ah-oo' and went up semi tones. This was good for warming and using our voices. It also enabled Lena to roughly be able to tell how our range is. This then led onto work about our diaphragm. Lena taught us how to breathe in using our diaphragm. We had to stand with our shoulders down, head up, and we then breathed in without raising our shoulders, held the breathe for 4 counts and then slowly released the air through the 'o' shape created by our lips. This image shows inhaling and exhaling of the diaphragm. The expanding of the rib cage.
I found this lesson very beneficial for creating a stronger understanding of the diaphragm. It also gave me slightly more confidence in singing.
Unit 30 Singing Skills for Actors and Dancers
Today in my lesson to start with we all were told how the next term is going to run, splitting the class into 2 and working on either singing or production. I am in group B and will be working on singing skills for the next three weeks, production arts for the three following weeks after and then a singing workshop with group A. In the first hour group B worked with Lena. To begin with we gave a quick background of our personal previous performances. This enabled Lena to have a rough understanding of our experience and level of singing. We then went through unit 30 and we discussed each aspect of the unit so we all understood the criteria and process.
Be keen to develop and improve your vocal abilities in 3 specific ways:
*how well you sing in tune and reach the high and low notes
*understand what your tone is and how to improve it
*how to project the voice and how to control and use the breath
Need to develop our musical memory for learning song melodies without having to read the music.
Understanding the rehearsal process of the song your going to sing
Learning the music and words and how to characterise it
And finally the last stage is the performance of three songs, solo and ensemble
We also spoke about tones. Tone is the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound). We spoke about 2 different shows to enable us to compare different tones. The first show is Annie, in Annie the tone is very strong and high, a high amount of projection is used where as in the show Les Miserables the tone is very soft and delicate.
For the practical side of this lesson we did sang 'vee-ay-ah-oo' and went up semi tones. This was good for warming and using our voices. It also enabled Lena to roughly be able to tell how our range is. This then led onto work about our diaphragm. Lena taught us how to breathe in using our diaphragm. We had to stand with our shoulders down, head up, and we then breathed in without raising our shoulders, held the breathe for 4 counts and then slowly released the air through the 'o' shape created by our lips. This image shows inhaling and exhaling of the diaphragm. The expanding of the rib cage.
I found this lesson very beneficial for creating a stronger understanding of the diaphragm. It also gave me slightly more confidence in singing.
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