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Vocal Warm Up

October, 2021

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Recording Studio

March 2022

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Recording Studio

March, 2021

Today we took a look at the recording studio and the recording booth. We were told to think about which song we want to sing in the recording studio sessions. I’m currently thinking of which song is good to sing that will also show off my range and my skills and I will then look for a backing track and download it as an mp3 so it is read to be sent to Sky Montique who is helping us with our songs.

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“Oceans”: Hillsong United (with Emma)

Cabaret

December 8,9 & 10, 2021

My duet with Emma was an amazing experience. The song was beautiful and we enjoyed the atmosphere and the audiences reaction to our duet. We harmonised beautifully together and our voices blended together really nicely. We agreed to wear long white dresses and we both decided that we would have blue lights to mimic the name of the song “Oceans”. With the blue lights we had white sparkling dots around the entire room as we had two white lights facing the direction of the glitter ball in the center of the stage near the rest of the lights. The audience fell silent when our music started playing. I noticed a few tears amongst the crowd and I knew the emotions we were putting into the song was reflecting onto the audience. 

What Went Well:

I put a lot of emotion into the song. My voice blended so well with Emma’s vocals. My harmonies were on pitch and blended with Emma’s melody and harmonies. 

Even Better If:

I need to keep my focus up and not look at the floor too much. I also need to let the mic stand go and not hold onto the stand during the entire performance. 

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“I Dreamed a Dream” : Les Miserable

Cabaret

December 8,9&10, 2021

“I Dreamed a Dream” was my chosen solo song for my singing techniques unit on the course. I chose this song as it gave me a chance to show my vocal range and it gave me a chance to show characterisation through my voice and performance. I was able to tell the story through singing and gestures as well as interacting with the props (battery powered candles) on stage. I had a great balance of projection and mic control and both worked wonderfully together. I had great breath control especially when it came to hitting high and long breathy notes. My pitch was good. I had great timing. I showed my vocal range and my focus and eye level was constantly up above the audience. I had great facial expressions also. Something to improve on would be to make sure my costume is tied properly so it doesn’t come apart at the beginning of my performance and as head of costumes for the cast, I should have checked beforehand.

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“The Room Where It Happens” : Hamilton

Cabaret

December 8,9&10, 2021

Playing the lead role of Aaron Burr in our version of “The Room Where It Happens” was incredible. I used my skills that I have learnt over the course of the singing techniques unit and my pitch was great throughout the song, my projection was reaching the entirety of our audiences throughout each night, I had great breath control throughout especially for longer notes, characterisation was thorough throughout the performance and I stayed in role during the whole performance. Something I would work on is facial expressions and different arm gestures as I used the same gestures throughout my time on stage.

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Cabaret

The Show

December 8, 9 & 10, 2021

The shows have been amazing. I loved the experience and the atmosphere from being on stage and the audience each night. Being the Marketing Director of the show, each night was sold out and the feedback from the shows were all positive and everyone enjoyed themselves. I performed in 10 numbers out of 24, and I enjoyed playing the different roles and being in character for each number. Three out of ten numbers, I had lead role or most vocal parts, one song being my solo song. I performed as Aaron Burr in “The Room Where It Happens” in Hamilton, my duet with Emma and “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserable.

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Music Notation

October, 2021

Today in class, we did a music notation exam. We spent 30 minutes reading the sheet music to a song called “For Tonight” by Giveon Evens, and we were to count how many bars there were throughout the song, list and annotate the sharps, flats, time signatures, treble clef, different types of rests and notes, ties and slurs, dynamics, and the letter of the notes on each line on each bar. 

What Went Well: 

I was able to identify and annotate each notation and write something on every music sheet. 

Even Better If:

I need to keep in the time frame in order to finish writing and annotating the sheet music. I need to work on the names of the sharps and flats. I need to remember the differences between  quaver rest and semi quaver and get the names of rests in the right order for example saying crotchet rest not rest crotchet. 

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Music Notation

October, 2021

Today in class, we learnt the differences between musical notes. We learnt what each of the following notations were and their symbols to go with it. We were shown the treble clef, sharps and flats, the time signature, different types of notes and their names, numbering the bars, rests, ties and slurs. We also learnt the difference and the significance of dynamics in a song and that the louder a section of a song goes the higher the crescendo and the quieter a section goes, the lower the diminuendo. the different types of names for the notes are whole note is a semi breve, a half note is a minim, a quarter note is a crotchet, an eighth note is a quaver and a sixteenth note is a semi quaver and all notes have different lengths and go in the order of 4 beats, 2 beats, 1 beat, 1/2 a beat and 1/4 of a beat. 

What Went Well:

I understand and quickly understood the differences between notations and I quickly understood how to name the musical notes and how to notice a change in a song by their symbols and the differences in their rests.

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Theatre Visit

Come From Away

October, 2021

This evening we had the chance to see Come From Away in the Phoenix Theatre. The musical is about the events that took place in a small town in Canada named Gander. The planes that were on their way to America the morning of 9/11 had to divert to the nearest airport for safety and the people of Gander helped those who were on the planes by giving them a place to stay, taking them into their homes, providing food, clothes, sanitary products and much more. The music that played throughout was Irish folk music and was played live as the musicians played their instruments on stage in upstage right. The actors told their character’s stories very well and each one came across clearly. One character that sticks with me is the woman who was constantly calling the fire department looking for her son and towards the end of the play she finds out her son had died while helping to save those that were in the Twin Towers. Her performance was heart felt and strong and she made us believe her story of losing her son. It felt real and as an audience, we felt sympathy. 

Some skills I learnt from the actors on stage were projection and that projection is very important especially if we are trying to get our vocals to reach the audience further back. Characterisation is needed throughout the performance as characterisation tells the story of the character on stage, especially when you do not have lines to sing or say and it it based on facial expressions and body language. Articulation and phrasing is key to any vocal usage as it makes each word and phrase clear and understandable. 

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Cabaret Rehearsals

Song change

November, 2021

Today during solo rehearsals I performed Saturday Nights Alright (for Fighting) by Elton John. After my performance, I was given feedback from Sky Montique. She told me she knew my vocal range and she knows that I can go above and beyond with my vocals. She said the vocal range for this song is very limited, especially compared to a large vocal range like mine.

We decided to change the song again to a more suitable song that shows off my range. So after looking through a few songs, I decided to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserable. It shows off my range and it will give me a chance to play with characterisation and develop my skills in singing and performing on stage, as well as telling the story through song.

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Cabaret Rehearsals

Changing my solo song

November 2021

Today I made the decision to change my solo song as I felt that “The Worst Pies in London” from Sweeney Todd was not working for me and I couldn’t find a good enough backing track for the piece therefore I decided to change my song to Saturday Night’s Alright (for Fighting) by Elton John. I practiced and later sang through the song with Mrs Nash and we agreed that it could be good on stage.

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Cabaret Rehearsals

First Rehearsal

October 2021

After rehearsals for “The Worst Pies in London” from Sweeney Todd, I performed in front of my class and each wrote down feedback from my performance. I got positive feedback and things to work on for next time. majority of my feedback consisted of having good characterisation, good pitch, good performance techniques, good stage presence and accent. The improvement feedback I received consisted of needing confidence in myself and my performance, needing to learn my lyrics, more projection, not to rush my performance, needing to raise my focus up towards the audience and not hide my face by looking at the table in front of me and needing to find a better backing track for my solo. i agree with all my feedback and will be using the notes to further improve my work and make sure my performance is effective. 

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Vocal Warm Ups with Tanya Edwards and Fly High team & Sky Montique

October, 2021

Today me and my class started with vocal warm ups with West End star Tanya Edwards and her team from Fly High, including Jacob, and Grammy Nominated singer Sky Montique. Both Tanya and Sky taught us the importance of vocal warm ups and what each is used for. We did various warm ups, through the body and the voice.

We started with physical warm ups to loosen the body. We did stretches using the roll down method starting from the head and letting it loose and allowing the body to follow towards the floor before rolling back up and letting the head be the last thing to come back up. We continued with stretches in the upper body down to the lower body and then we moved onto vocal exercises.

For the vocal exercises we learnt about the larynx and it’s purpose in the voice. The larynx protect the vocal cords. We also learnt that you need to make sure you use your diaphragm to inhale oxygen properly in order for the sound to come out loud and smoothly. We did a vocal warmup using vowels and making a quick song out of it. We used it to activate our stomach muscles and our core muscles.

Tanya and Jacob did a group session with all of us and during the session I re-sang the first verse and chorus of All I Ask by Adele and Jacob’s feedback was that I have great strength in my voice and great balance between soft singing and belting out the song. Tanya noticed I had worked on my vibrato however I still need to control it and use it when I have to. Jacob also told me to believe in myself and my performance and not to worry about anything else and if something happens, I have to keep going.

What Went Well:

I was able to follow instructions and do each vocal and physical warm up correctly. 

Even Better If:

I need to trust myself and have confidence in my performing. I need to focus on controlling my vibrato more.

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Finding my Vocal Range

Sessions with Mrs Nash

October, 2021

Today we were given a worksheet with an image of a piano and vocal range names with facts in boxes around it. We watched a YouTube video from the channel Dr Dan’s Voice Essentials. Dr Dan took us through different octaves and we followed each key up the octaves to see how high we could reach and again down the octaves to see how low we could take our vocals.

We marked down our overall highest and lowest notes and the numbered section it is in. My highest note is C6 and my lowest note is B2. We then had to figure out where our comfort range also known as the prima voce is. My prima voce ranges between F3 to F5. I then used my vocal and prima voce ranges to figure out my range. I found that I am a mezzo-soprano.

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Solo Performance 1 Preparation

Choosing a Solo Song

September, 2021

Today during our singing lesson with Tanya Edwards, we started looking for two songs for our solo performances, one to be performed on stage in our annual Christmas Cabaret and one to be recorded in the recording studio. I decided to do one musical theatre style and one artist written song. My musical theatre choice is “The Worst Pies in London” from Sweeney Todd and I chose “All I Ask” by Adele.

We started with quick one to one sessions with Tanya and she helped with pitch and key and gave me feedback. She said my pitch was great as well as my projection. My diction is clear. All I need to work on is my vibrato as I use it when I don’t need to. I needed to strip back the vibrato to a smooth gliding sound when I sing. Tanya also said I have a nice balance between head and chest voices and the balance between belting sections and smaller vocal sections was brilliant.

My focus for next time is to practice pulling back on the vibrato and only using it when I need to. I also need to learn the rest of my lyrics for next session.

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Fly High Workshops

Working with Tanya Edwards

September, 2021

Today we’ve had our first singing session with West End Star Tanya Edwards. She helped us work as a team for when it came to vocal pitch and harmonies. She also helped us prepare for our ensemble song “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson. We started off in small groups of three and we’re given different parts to the song as groups. We learnt our parts and brought all groups and sang together.

What Went Well:

I was able to work as a group and harmonise well with those in my small group and as a whole class. I was able to learn my lines quickly and perform them in front of and with my class. My pitch was on point the whole time.

Even Better If:

I need to be able to feel comfortable to sing my lines without my words on a sheet in front of me.