Monday 3rd February 2014
For my performance section I am going to perform two songs with Abbie and they are going to be songs with different genres to one another. We both decided to practise a song called Secret originally by Missy Higgins, which a country song. And we aren't certain on the second song yet but we have a rough idea of what genre we want to pick from, it will probably be something where the instrument is the piano. We have also decided that for Secret, Abbie is going to play the guitar whilst I sing and Abbie harmonizes. Our main aims for this performance is to make sure the harmonies sound correct and that our dynamics sound quite effective (this was one of our improvements from our previous course). I might try and learn the guitar parts as well.Today, Abbie and I worked on our performance piece called Secret. I learnt how to play the guitar and have now more or less learnt the lyrics to the song and can also play the guitar whilst singing the first verse. We are both going to play the guitar during this performance, so we need to make sure that we are both in accurate timing and that our vocals are in a good pitch. At home I am able to practise this on guitar; which is very beneficial because this means we don't have to spend as much time practising the same thing during lessons.
On Friday the 7th February I had my first individual singing lesson, and we recorded all the main features of this lesson, including the vocal warm up (where you go up octaves on the piano whilst adjusting my voice to the piano) and then we recorded me singing Stay by Rihanna without any breathing techniques included; then we discussed the breathing techniques and how these will help me improve my performance - we also talked a bit about posture. We then recorded again with the breathing strategies included and I think that this one sounded much better as I was able to project my voice for longer.
Monday 10th February 2014
Today we had a cover lesson in a classroom. We used this time to go over the music industry/business and had a range of activities to do between pairs (Abbie and I worked together).We learnt about the different ways music can travel from the artist/musician to the audience - through venues, music download sites, record labels, producers, arrangers etc. This lesson was quite worthwhile because it comes into the course we are doing and these features are useful to know as well.Today, Abbie and I began to rehearse our song Secret, we got through this quite well! Then we were talking about what we could do for our second performance; and we came up with possibly performing our second song with Charlotte and Kelly. Therefore we suggested it to them and they both agreed. We discussed what sort of songs we like singing (obviously, Abbie and I recommended that we didn't do a country style song, hence the fact we are doing a song with that genre for our first performance) we came up with quite a few piano songs such as People help the People by Birdy, Say Something by A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera. We didn't get round to practising as we haven't yet decided on a final song. I have had some ideas of what we could include in our performance, such as harmonies and a big range of pitch as Charlotte and Kelly both have different tones to Abbie and I.
Also today me, Abbie, Zoey, Charlotte and Kelly got the chance to attend a music workshop for the 3MUSIC competition. We had to go to the hexagon, and us five were there along with some other year elevens; to begin with a lady told us about the competition and the prizes etc. then she went through a warm up exercise with us, this included cardio exercise for example, we had to jog on the spot, do starjumps, running on the spot, loads! I think this was to relax our bodies and get rid of any tension, as it is best to sing without any tension or tightness in your body as it can affect the way in which you sing. Then for the second half another lady went through some vocal warm ups with us, this included going up and down the piano and ranging our voices to suit the piano. Then we all got given the lyrics to Roar by Katy Perry and we practised this altogether with the piano and the end result was really good as there were a range of different voices within our group. I really enjoyed this opportunity as I learnt a few things about exercises to do before you sing/perform which will come in useful for the course I am doing in BTEC, not only was it beneficial, but I really enjoyed it as well. I am also considering auditioning for the competition, but I think I need to think more about it.
Monday 24th February
Abbie and I have decided on two different songs for our performance which is in two weeks time - these songs are I See Fire by Ed Sheeran and Say Something by A Great Big World. The reason we have changed songs is because we both think that the song Secret did not sound good when we listened back to it on a recording, because the pitch was out of tune and we came to the decision that it did not suit our voices. So instead we are going to perform two different songs (as named above). I see fire is an acoustic song and I think it really suits our voices, even though we are going to change the pitch in our voices when singing; at the beginning of the song there is no instrument in the background and I think that this gives us the chance to show our voices more clearly, and for this part we need to make sure we are both in accurate timing and that our voices harmonize well with one another. Say Something is a piano song, again, this song gives us a chance to show our voices clearly as certain parts of the song is held together by vocals - our voices will need to be very strong for this song. We are going to continue rehearsing these songs in the lessons leading up to the performance date - we are also going to try and practise outside school as well because I think that we will need as much extra time as possible to make our performance perfect. Along with this we will include as many techniques as possible. Such as harmonies, dynamics. In this performance I am going to try to include the breathing techniques I have learnt through my singing lessons.Monday 3rd March
This week, Abbie and I have been continuing to rehearse for our performance. We are still trying to decide whether we should sing I See Fire or Say Something. I know the piano chords for say something but Abbie knows the guitar for I See Fire so at the moment we are just trying to decide which song sounds better; by deciding this we are going to record them both and listen to them back and decide - we might also get some other peers to tell us what they think is best and why. We would be listening out for the timing and the tuning of both songs (also which one we are both most confident with). For our second performance, we have been working with Charlotte and Kelly; we haven't yet decided which song we are going to perform. Me and Abbie thought we could possibly sing whichever one Abbie and I don't perform (depending on whether or not Charlotte and Kelly will feel confident with it). If not, we could perform People help the People by Birdy (I do not know this song with confidence yet but I could try and learn the lyrics). I will write another blog after todays (Wednesdays) lesson as we will probably have decided which songs we are going to do for both performances (which are next week!)On Wednesday, Abbie, Charlotte, Kelly and I all rehearsed Titanium by Sia, Abbie played the piano and Charlotte, Kelly and I were singing. I am really confident to do Titanium for one of our performance songs because I think that all our voices sound good together because the harmonies sound good, Charlotte and Kelly sing in a higher pitch than me as I sing in a low pitch so I think that this combination of our voices goes really well. We have not yet decided on which song we are going to do as our second performance; but I do have a back up for myself if we all don't come to the decision of one song. I will probably do a solo performance by singing Stay by Rihanna.
Also, I had my singing lesson on Thursday which went well. I video recorded my singing lesson this week. We recorded the first vocal warm up, and then we had a conversation about my posture and performance skills (such as where I should look when performing, for example, I should focus on just above the audience and for my posture I should keep my feet a good space apart, relax my shoulders and stand up straight). We also recorded me singing Stay (which I have been practising at home aswell) and we included some performance skills in it.We listened back to the recording afterwards.
Monday 10th March
This week we performed our two performances infront of the class. On Tuesday, Abbie, Charlotte, Kelly and I all sang Titanium and Abbie was playing the piano and Charlotte, Kelly and I were doing the singing. We had only recently decided to sing Titanium as a group; so it was quite scary to perform an almost spontaneous performance to the whole class. Overall, in my opinion our song went quite well as I was singing very low notes and Charlotte and Kelly were singing higher notes - therefore our harmonies blended well together. At the beginning of the song, I was singing individually which was beneficial for me to clearly show my singular voice.The accuracy and timing went well (considering we had only recently practised for the first time). Because the rest of the class were our audience, they had to fill out a piece of paper with what was good about our performance and what could possibly be improved. After the performance, we recieved our sheets on our performance. In general, the comments were really positive and good. For example, some of the comments were that we were all perfectly in time as a group and that our singing was nice and clear; as was the piano.
We also watched Zoey's performance; she was singing solo and she sang Royals and Shes a Butterfly. Her pitch was really good and so was her volume as you could clearly hear every word she was singing. The only thing I would say she could improve on would be to make sure her voice isn't as shaky - maybe by thoroughly warming up beforehand. Apart from that, really good!
On Wednesday, Abbie and I performed our second song Someone Like You, orignally by Adele, infront of only half the class. Objectively, I think that this performance went better than the one yesterday; I think this was because I felt more confident with this song and Abbie and I had practised this song for longer - we were more prepared. Our timing was accurate. We recieved feedback from our audience which seemed positive overall. Some feedback we got was that I had a good pitch and dynamics whilst singing, also that my voice and Abbies piano playing blended well together. Abbies piano skills are very good and she didn't mess up at all which hugely helped me perform.
After Abbie and I had performed our second performance, we sat as an audience and watched Kiara, Keira and Jess perform Highway To Hell by ACDC. They worked really well as a group and Jesses piano playing was really good and all the notes were really clear; Kiara's drum playing was also extremely good because it was in time with the piano playing and then Kieras voice went really well with the whole performace altogether. The only thing I would say Kiera could improve on would be her stage presence and confidence. I know it's really hard to look confident when you're not but just by standing up straight and looking ahead instead of downwards can hugely help bring stage presence to the performance. Apart from that, the performance as a whole was very successful and you could tell that they all put a lot of hard work into it.
Monday 17th March 2014
This week, Miss Harris gave us our filled in assessment sheets based on our performances last week. On the formative feedback sheet, she had noted down a few improvements I could make; such as to demonstrate confident practise in rehearsal by videoing at least two more of my singing lessons with Mrs Colligan, as I already have two recordings, I could record more lessons because it can show more practise and how I have improved on certain skills throughout my singing lessons. The second improvement was to perform pieces that are more difficult, to demonstrate further challenge - to act on this, for our second lot of performances, Abbie and I could perform Someone Like You again but for a longer amount of time (perhaps complete the whole song), and we could also decide on a more complex song; to show that we can challenge ourselves with harder song choices. My last improvement was to demonstrate confidence in my stage presence in all of my performances. Confidence is something I have always had struggles with, but I know that in order to get higher than a merit, I will have to demonstrate stage presence. I know that to achieve this, I will need to stay focused on my performance at all times and I must always look up (preferably just above the audiences head). I should stand straight and try to smile throughout the performance. I have previously learnt some of these stage presence tips during my singing lessons. Below are my two final performances (Titanium with Abbie, Charlotte and Kelly & Someone Like You with just Abbie and I) and also my singing sessions with Mrs Colligan:Italy Trip 5th - 10th April
On the 5th of April, Monks Walk took about 40 people to Italy Montecatini for a music tour where we all performed in two different venues and did a lot of sightseeing. At the first concert in a small amphitheatre. Mark, Hemang, Eddy, Ellie and I all did a performance there with Ellie, Mark and I on vocals, Hemang on drums, Eddy on bass guitar and Mark also on acoustic guitar. We performed a song called Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men. After this performance, we all went to a basillica and as a choir we performed: Gloria in D major, Give us Hope, Ave Maria and many more. It was all a very good experience and I am so happy that I went. I was very lucky to get on the trip and I was uncertain about it to begin with and was considering dropping out but I am so happy that I didn't.Monday 21st April
This week Abbie and I began to properly rehearse for our second performances. Because my feedback was to practise on gaining stage presence and confidence - I have learnt some points and tips on how to work and improve on stage presence during my one to one singing lessons with Mrs Colligan. During these lessons, we do a vocal warm up and then start practising a song (I choose a song I want to do and we practise that song until it is perfect for about 2 - 3 lessons), and because Abbie and I were performing Someone Like You again because we wanted to work on this and make it more complex (which was one of Abbie's targets), therefore Mrs Colligan and I focused on Someone Like You. Some of the tips on how to have stage confidence was to make sure you keep your head up and look right above the audience and avoid looking them in the eye as it can put you off your performance. Also we worked on my posture as if you stand straight then you immediately look more confident and it also helps with breathing techniques so you can hit the high notes.So this week Abbie and I focused on our performance - we also rehearsed for I See Fire. This song is going well as our harmonies are good and blend well together.
Monday 28th April
This week we continued to work on our performances. We only managed to have one lesson of music this week due to our exam timetables. During our one lesson we just went over our songs until they were on point and making sure we were both confident with our chord timing and vocal timing - luckily we didn't struggle too much with this. We mainly focused on I See Fire because we both agreed this was the one we both weren't as optimistic about as the harmonies were difficult to arrange; I realised that it is hard to make sure harmonies sound right unless you go over and over them, but we got there in the end.Monday 5th May
We didn't have a computer room lesson this week because of the bank holiday Monday. But we had Tuesday and Wednesday's lessons and we were performing the next week so all we did was practise. We managed to get Miss Harris to listen to our I See Fire performance and ask her if she knew whether the harmonies and octaves went well together. She gave us positive and negative feedback. The positives were that we were in good timing and the guitar chords were on point. We also got some negative but workable points so we were able to improve on these comments. She mentioned that we could vary our harmonies even more, so maybe if one of us changed our tone through certain notes so it was more complex and advanced than before. This was difficult but we did manage to improve on it and work on it thankfully. We also ran through Someone Like You to make sure that the timing was correct and that I was in the right pitch. Luckily, this song was the easier one out of the two as we had performed this one before but we were aiming to make it longer and more complicated than the other one. I wanted to try and make sure I held the high notes and low notes as well.Monday 12th May
This week was performance week. Some groups and soloists performed on the Tuesday, Abbie and I had arranged to perform on the Wednesday to ensure we were definitely ready for it. We watched Zoey and Keira perform, she sang Someone Like You whilst Keira played the bass chords on the drums - I thought that this performance was quite good because Keira was constantly in time and Zoey more or less hit all of the notes, she was very confident and her pitch was really good; she could possibly work on the timing of the lyrics and make sure her pitch fits each of the notes. We also watched Nashes piano performance which was really nice to listen to and he did really well.This Wednesday, Abbie and I performed both of our songs; overall I think they both went well as the microphone helped project my voice in both songs. The only bad thing out of these performances would be during Someone Like You, Abbie accidentally messed up on one of the piano chords so I got really confused as to what part of the song we were at; but eventually I recognised the chords and improvised and carried on. I See Fire went quite well as we managed to get through the harmonies well. Considering I had a bad cold whilst performing these songs I tried my hardest. We were quite impressed with ourselves and glad that we completed them. Miss Harris has put up my performances onto YouTube.
Overall, I focused on my stage presence and managed to stand up straight and face forward instead of looking down at the floor.
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