Vocal Instrumental Studies Week 4 (18/11/15)

Week 4 Vocal Studies

This week in vocal studies we were focusing on Falsetto quality. We were shown a power-point presentation on Falsetto Quality and what we learnt was that, Falsetto quality is very breathy,quiet and smooth. We also learnt that rarely it is found in a mans voice whilst speaking however with the exception of Michael Jackson. We also learnt that falsetto quality is mainly used for soprano range. Throughout the lesson we were focusing on the typical features of falsetto quality which were that there are no vibrations whilst singing, hardly any strain on the voice and that there are stiff vocal folds. Near the end of the lesson we were shown some falsetto song choices and asked to sing and record ourselves as a practical exercise. A few of the song choices were:'Don't Know Why - Norah Jones','Stay With Me - Sam Smith and 'Feeling Good - Muse'. The song i chose was Don't Know why - Norah Jones; here is my video evidence of me singing this cover.

This week i decided to practice some falsetto quality songs and some of the songs were don't know why by Norah Jones and stay with me by Sam smith.The reason why i chose these 2 songs to practice throughout the week was because i normally sing this song with a really strong tone in my voice and i wanted to experiment with my voice so that i could see if i was able to achieve.

Vocal Instrumental Studies Week 3 (11/11/15)

Week 3 Vocal Studies

This week in vocal studies we were shown a power point presentation on speech quality. During the lesson we were learning about what speech quality is and the advantages on practicing which is; improvement with you're diction, this is where you show more articulation with how you speak and sing. Also singing with  a clearer range of tone.
We were then given a list of song examples that show great use of diction and some of the examples were:'Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own', 'Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walking' and 'Jay Z - Empire State Of Mind'.
As a practice exercise we were told to choose one of these examples given so that we could see and feel what diction is and how it sounds; so for me i chose to do 'these boots are made for walking - Nancy Sinatra' i only sang a couple of lines as i was not as familiar with the song  however i gave it try and was recorded to show my video evidence. Here is the video link of my speech quality exercise:

During this week i decided to start practicing my songs that i chose to sing and try and work on diction and speech quality.The reason why i did this was because i wanted to get into the habit of working with this kind of control as this is one of my Vocal Goal aims.

Vocal Instrumental Studies Week 2 (04/11/15)

Week 2 Vocal Studies

This week in vocal studies we were shown a PowerPoint presentation on vocal warm ups. This week we  learned that as a vocalist you need too warm up you're voice or it can cause serious damage to you're vocal cords or even throat, it can also lead to nods or a strained voice. We also learned if you warm up you're voice as a vocalist you can sing with more control, you can wider you're vocal range for example: pitch and being able to control on breathing whilst singing a song. Also if warming up you need to make sure you have a range of exercises so you can warm up you're range, tone and breathe control. some vocal exercises you can use is the C Major scales( Do,Re,Mi,Fa,So,La,Ti,Do) scales,counting,and breathing exercises.

We also learned that if you stretch you're body it helps you feel relaxed and it helps with you're posture. Articulation exercises are where you practice you're pronunciation, this is where you exercise your lips, teeth and tongue; So ways to do this is by saying some tongue twisters, messaging you're jaws and trills. 

 After this lesson this week I have learnt that warming up you're voice can help you so much in many ways by singing. I also learnt that if you don't take care of you're voice it can cause major risks. Finally that breathing exercises can help you sing much better without getting out of breath. 
 So during this week before i started to sing at home i decided to try these warm ups, to see if any improvement was made and i how i measured this was by recording myself singing and seeing how far i could go on my scale warm up.The reason why i did this was because one of my Vocal goals are to expand my vocal range.

Vocal Instrumental studies week 1 (19/11/15)

week 1 vocal studies

This week i was told to prepare a song for me to sing to my vocal teacher.  I decided to sing One Last Time by Ariana Grande because i felt that it gave me an opportunity to show my vocal range ability.To prepare for this i practiced 3 hours daily in my spare time so that i can work on what i feel like needs help. 

On the day of my vocal instrumental study lesson we were given a powerpoint presentation on what to expect for our vocal studies; For example having to plan an action plan and talk about our vocal goals that are reasonable within the time we have to achieve. When i performed i was very nervous and my adrenaline was so fast that i got out of breath when singing my song, however throughout the rest of the song i thought i did ok because i started the song on the right note also i thought i did really well because i chose a song that shows both Soprano and Alto tones.

My goals i would like to set from this weeks study, is that i would like to expand on my vocal range and to sing with confidence and emotion.

One Last Time - Ariana Grande (cover)

Week 4 - Ballods

Rehearsal and Performance

This weeks genre  was Ballods, and as usual we were given a range of song choices.This week as a band we chose 'Don't want to miss a thing by Aerosmith'. during rehearsals we all started to organise ourselves by getting the chords and as a vocalist my job for self managment was too get my own lyrics. Also as a vocalist this week i was not really familiar with the song so i replayed the song multiple times to that i could remember the time signature and key of the song. On the second day of rehearsal i came back much stronger as a vocalist because at home i listened and sang along with the song so that i could prepare myself for the day of performance and rehearsal. I also set myself a goal to think of a harmony as well as learning it by heart as this song was a duet. Also to practice singing my song with emotion.
On the day of performance i thought that as a band and vocalist it went very well because we all kept in time with each other, also that i had sang the song with emotion and the harmonies sounded very well  with each other.

Week 3 - Motown

Rehearsal and Performance

This weeks genre was Motown. As a band we were given multiple song choices and we decided to choose the song my girl by the temptations. during rehearsals we decided to organise and learn our  individual parts. after we were all ready by organising our selfs with chords and lyrics, we decided to listen to the song 'my girl' so that we could get a rough idea of what they tune sounds like, find the tempo and time signature.As a vocalist i listened carefully to the lyrics and the melody so that i could prepare myself to sing. Nearer to the end of rehearsal we finally got through the whole song without stopping and ended the song on a great note. my goals set for performance were to improvise the lyrics and remember the tune.On the day of performance i think we did really well as a band and individually as a vocalist. i kept in time with the instruments and i think the tempo was fairly reasonable.  Even better if, i think i could of learnt the lyrics overnight or even improvise more but i think that nerves got the better of me and i think my future goal is to build my confidence up.