singing-techniques

[singing-techniques]

YOUR POWER

For my final singing performance in St Charles I decided to do a song that resonates with me . This song came by to me by a classmate of mine. I loved it. And I was a bit envious that she was able to perform it so soon . I remember asking if it was ok if I could ‘steal’ the song from her for a while and she was already more than happy to see me perform it. The song is called ‘Power’ it’s by Billie Eilish. The song speaks on how Men with power, grown men or even younger ones even, have the tendency to abuse their power as feeling‘ superior’ to do what they will with young females. And in the song she says they should ‘ Try not to abuse their power’. This song is very powerful and can send a message to the people in charge to help change the world to a better place. It was a nice song to perform and it allowed me to go out of my comfort zone . Tina Turner ‘ Rolling’ was a bit too far out there, I just need to remember to take baby steps and hence why I agreed this song was ok to do. I was able to improve my timing and stay with the rhythm of the song. My voice is usually quite powerful but this time I tried singing with a more breathy timbre to suit the style of the song.

I know I did well but what I could have improved that I’ll take with me forever, is practising in an open space . Although I did practice at every given opportunity and was indeed ready to perform, I feel as though I didn’t practice the projection for my voice enough as singing in my room is completely different due to the enclosed space and acoustics. Next time instead of minimising myself in practising to sing in my room. bathroom or kitchen I should get into the habit of performing in big open spaces. Like going to a big open green area and singing. Because the way the sound waves project into an open space than a closed space, has a major impact on how the song is pitched. Although this is something I knew, it’s not something I practised religiously. Especially as this song had higher notes than I am normally used to. I’m glad I tried a new style of song however and I’ll keep challenging myself to keep diversifying.

[singing-techniques]

For one of my solo songs in the recording studio, I decided that I wanted to sing ‘Exclusively’. It was hard because I was really debating on Sam Smith , Tems or an Amy Winehouse song but by choosing this song I was able to demonstrate different levels and style to my voice. It took me a short period of time for me to know the lyrics by heart but every step was worth it in the end. I learned a lot from this experience about how to sing effectively in the studio and not standing too close to the microphone or moving around too much.

We preformed the first part in the studio, and I was actually surprised how well it turned out and to only be the first take. I learnt how to add adlibs and sticking to the tempo of what I set up for myself. It was quite a rough start as the audio of the song and the way the artist decided to perform the song,Miss Sky suggested that the whole songs timing was not on beat so she was able to find the correct best and instruct me on how to keep on the same beat and rhythm if the song. It took at least 3 tries at the beginning to allow me to get it properly but all was perfect at the end . I’m proud of myself for being able to challenge myself and to improve my timing and pitch.

[singing-techniques]

Roll With Me

My college has invited us to take part in the Annual Christmas Cabaret production. It was agreed and decided that I was to do a Tina Turner performance of ‘Proud Mary.’ I was happy as I would be able to perform a song by the famous Tina Turner but I wasn't aware of the challenges that was to come with it. Through my childhood in primary school, I was told I had a low voice instead of high tone of voice, I wasn’t too aware of what it quite meant. I later on realized that because I have a low voice I wasn’t able to hit as many notes as I wanted to without a lot of practice. My voice is a low alto but the song requires some soprano notes However, knowing that a successful singer such as Tina Turner who also had a ‘low’ voice made me happy that I was able to sing in my ‘truest’ voice. no matter how hard the challenge was.

REHEARSALS

The rehearsal process was really a challenge, Tina Turner has a lot of growls in her songs but that's what makes it so unique and powerful. She has a lot of energy and went through a lot of mental abuse from her ex husband, so her music was her free time and escape from where she could be herself and she can focus on who she wanted to be and her happiness. 

I knew the song and have often sung it in my room so I can do the growls and could hit the notes but performing in the theatre and being able to perform to a lot of people is very different, so rehearsals became a lot harder than I intended them to be.

I needed the power in the song as well as the emotions in it. I did my first rehearsals in the theatre which was me just trying to listen to the song and enable myself to hum to it and make sure I caught up with the notes and keys. 

I did ‘Humming exercises’ to warm up my larynx son it makes it easier for when I was to perform the songs. I had to make sure that  I could practice my breathing  from the diaphragm which I was already doing everyday even during my free time.  With the song I needed to have characterization. Tina’s Turner has unique voice but with that voice comes characterization. Tina had a very sad/ inspiring life story. And because of that a lot of power was in her songs, without characterization or some emotional recall, the song  wouldn’t effect the audience as I wanted them to be. One of the challenges for me were my use of physicality in the Dance. I was to add some dance moves whilst singing, Dancing and having to keep the same  energy and be able to articulate and control my breathing. I can say this is one of the hardest things I've had to do on this course. I lost a lot of breath whilst doing the performance and this also affected my timing.

[singing-techniques]

SINGING BLOG ; ‘A CHANGE IS GONNA COME‘ By Sam Cooke

Today I performed a song by Sam Cooke called 'A Change Gonna Come'. To be honest, Ireally thought i couldn't do it and I was really doubting myself too much which i need to stop doing.

WWW

On a positive note I’m really proud of myself . I learned the song in a day . Some may say "but it’s day it’s just a song" and in some cases it is true but for this song you need to feel it to be able to sing it and perform in in front of an audience. I wasn’t sure about singing this song at first , I’ve had to have a lot of characterisation. I like to tell a story with everything I do , whether it’s singing, dancing or acting. I was able to have an ‘objective’ which was to make that the audience knows that they can still make a change in the world after everything that’s happening in our society. I was able to learn the words and managed to stay focus. The colour of the lighting worked perfectly with the costume I wore as they were not too bright or dimmed to loose focus with the audience members to the meaning of the song. Although this is not the full video of the performance at this particular verse of the song , I am expressing Sam Cooke’s message. I am practicing my breath control and I can hear that my pitch and projection are improving.

EBI

My body posture should have been upright and still. As you can see by the video i was using a lot of hand gestures, holding my hand , swaying my hands side -to-side.I shouldn’t of been doing that as it looks very unprofessional and it distracts the audience from what i really wanted the audience to know. As a year 13 student I should be able to know this by heart. To prevent this I should’ve gotten an emotional recall to aid me in staying focus till the end of the performance. I wasn’t as clear with my words because of my constant moving and head tilting which could misdirect my projection words to the side of which my head was tilted. I should have been able to take in breaths, inhale a lot of breaths matter of fact as the song isn’t fast nor too slow. Next time i would prioritise my breathing exercises more and not just rush all my exercises in 5 minutes right before my performance. I should of worked more on my vocal variety , as looking back on the video it would’ve helped me more in my objective.

[singing-techniques]

THEATRE EXPERIENCE

9/11 , YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN

I really could not wait to post this! 20th October isn’t a day I can forget.

To be frank I wasn’t sure when I was first told about us going to this trip . We were in class learning about music notes for Unit 00 as well as Getting ready for our test to see how well we’ve been paying attention and where our understanding on the subject is. MS Nash showed us the intro song ‘welcome to the come from away’. I wasn’t really focus on the video because I thought it was something I wouldn't be quite interested in. Later on my teacher  explained that it was about the 9/11 incident and the other civilians on the plane. When she said that, it caught me off guard . I knew what ‘9/11’ was but I never knew about it. I knew what everyone else knew, that two planes had crashed into a building and the ‘11′ stands for the two buildings. And I thought to myself , well there’s a musical based on a tragic event that happened that I'd like to be more educated on. She told us it was very interesting and would be good. So I told my self that this might be a good thing for me .To go out and have the chance to do something I love .

I was kind of going through a phase where I felt like I was finished with everything and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue with performing arts or any other subject for that matter. But this trip was an eye opener for me. And I was very thankful to be able to experience it in my life time.

WELCOME TO COME FROM AWAY

We arrived at the theatre, it was very posh , and we weren’t the only school attending. No food was allowed nor drinks (unless you were buying them from inside). The stairs were  covered with red carpets and the walls surrounding it were mirrors. I felt like a performer. I got to my seat. We all got comfortable, I had a good view of the stage, it wasn’t too close nor too far.

 The lights went dim and I got goosebumps instantly, it was fantastic! The show has started ,and The actors are ready in their places , just like in the video. There was one of the  actresses who  played the pilot and her vocals, her breath control , her lungs, words can not explain how powerful it was. When she had to sing She was able to hit the high notes whilst longing them. This told me that there's a lot of practice to be done to be able to manage my  breathing as well as my singing. Another actor who was able to catch my attention was the ‘multirole’ actor. I noticed he was using his  diaphragm very effectively whilst maintaining his pitch of voice. He played a Muslim person and two other roles . The only reason I remember he played that specific role was because while the attacks were going on, we never thought of the people from other races and how they would've been treated . It was very sad to see that as a cultural women myself , as to how  his race he was treated badly because other people thought he couldn’t be trusted.

WHAT I’VE LEARNT

I realized that the power of articulation. As the actors had to make sure they were being heard over the music or background sounds . And not to miss a word or confuse people on what their were saying because it tends to lose focus on what their objective is to the audience . Also the importance of  tech rehearsals for both technician's and actors  

I have no bad words to say about this show. The performers were amazing. The tech’s, Oh my goodness, without them staying focus and making sure the sound and lighting was very precise the show would not have been so amazing. The Irish musicians were lovely and helped bring the whole play together and I’m so lucky and grateful for them to allow me to be apart of their journey