Singing techniques

18 September   This week, we refreshed our memory on singing warmups. We nid a note on la, our pitch rising to a crescendo at the end of each scale.  We then moved on to a harmonic minor, sung on va, in a minor key, with the pitch descending. Our arpeggio exeercise was "I am on top of the world."  Finally, we moved on to our technical exercise, Va va va va vee vee vee vee. It is helpful as the pace can increase,  and it is useful for breathing.   During this week's singing lecture, we began to discuss ideas for our signing performance. We discussed making some pop videos,  and performing some pieces  live.  There will be a mixture of solos,  duets,  group songs,  live  performances and videos. We discussed a few ideas for group songs, like Africa by Toto, but no decisions  were actually made. I found that I was a little frustrated as we went round in circles, but I understand  that it takes a while to plan a show and pick pieces  that we were comfortable with. We listened to our  ideas, talked about them, and could even  help by advising each other on a good song choice. One thing that people were mixed about was live and performed/pedre recorded pieces.  I really want to do my pieces live, as I think I would feel a little disappointed, as for me, part of learning lines and putting energy in to a song is truly performing, not just recording in a booth where I'm not myself.     25 SEPTEMBER   This week, I made one of my choices for a solo song. I chose a song from Pocahontas,  colours of the wind, as I feel it is powerful, paints imagery and  is a challenge  for me as I have never approached this type of song before. We also picked Africa by Toto as a deffinate, a popular choice for many. Cara suggested groove is in the heart, and we all agreed to do it. I will do the verses. The third group piece is Baggy trousers, by madness. Our group show name will be one step beyond, also based on Madness. We decided to practice one of the songs, and everyone picked Africa. Although I like the song, I didn't have the braille lyrics so it was hard for me to actually sing.    2 October     On Monday we had a big group chat about our pieces. Some people were confused about the briefing. Finding that it was flexible, everyone deliberated about the nature of the show. Not everyone wanted to perform, they preferred the pop video plan. I however, thought that although pop videos are clever and could work, the course is of a performing nature and  and I want to do it properly. Apparently, I may have to do one solo  on a recording, which disappoints me. On Thursday, we revisited last year's rent song for the celebration of achievement ceremony. They wanted musical interludes, so we worked on the song.  It worked well as most people knew the words, so we sang quite comfortably together. However, one person did not want to sing which was disappointing and not good for the team.  We also had a look at Groove is in the Heart, and it was also successful. Cara showed me the rap part of the song, and after some practice I will perform  it.  I am deliberating doing a French song for my other piece, as I speak and study French.