In some of my sessions, I
have been carrying out some listening tests with my lecturer. These listening
tests can include anything from picking out notes from a chord, to finishing
off a tune. These listening tests will help me gain better tuning when
performing.
Here is a video of me
carrying out a chord recognition task:
Here is a video of me carrying
out some melodic phrases in 4/4 timing:
Here is a video of me carrying out some melodic phrases in 2/4 timing:
Here is a video of me carrying out some melodic phrases in 3/4 timing (waltz time):
When I was first introduced to these exercises, I really struggled with them and found it hard to remember the melodies. However, as time has progressed, I have been able to work on remembering these phrases and now I can carry out melodic phrases in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 timings. As you can see from the videos above, I struggled slightly with the melodic phrases in 3/4 timing. This is because throughout my past when I have done a lot of dance where we have always counted in either 2/4 or 4/4 and therefore I wasn't used to the 3/4 timing. This meant that as well as remembering the sequence of notes, I also had to focus especially on the timing of the phrases because this did not come naturally as it did for the other timings.
Today was the day that I was taking part in the singing performance. ‘Escapism’ is a show which takes the audience on a summery journey. The performers were myself, Kellyann, Molly and Robert. We were accompanied by Cara on piano and Sam on guitar. We then also had Paul and Graham on the sound and lighting desk.
All of the cast arrived at The Chapel today at 1pm to get ready for the show. We ensured that we met quite early so that we had enough time to get ready. At 1pm, we spent time getting into our outfits, doing our hair and putting on makeup. Once we were ready, we headed down to the performance space. We were then able to have a small rehearsal in the space before the audience started arriving. During the rehearsal, all of the cast ran their solos to ensure that all of our voices were warm and ready for the performance. The rehearsal also gave Graham and Paul, who were working on the sound and lighting desk, time to ensure that everything was set up in the right place and working correctly. Then, at about 2:30pm, the audience started to arrive. We were due to start the performance at 2:40pm but some people were still arriving at this time so we had to start the show a bit later.
Just before the audience started to come in, I began to feel really nervous. I think this is because I had never really sung a solo before apart from the singing performance last year and the theatre in education performance earlier this year and I was singing solo a lot during this show. Singing isn’t my strongest aspect within performing arts and therefore I have had to work very hard on this performance during rehearsals. Once all of the audience were in, lyric sheets handed out and I was given the heads up to start, the performance started. Here is a video of the full performance:
Everyone did really well during the performance and I was very happy with how everyone performed. Before I sang my first solo I was really nervous but once I had sung for the first time, my nerve started to calm down a bit and I could relax a bit more. I spoke to some of the audience members after the performance and they all really enjoyed it.
On reflection, I have watched back the video of the singing performance with my lecturer and together we looked for the strengths and weaknesses within the performance.
My introduction to the performance was very clear. You could understand every word that I was saying and I believe that it drew in the audience. The first song was ‘We’re going to Ibiza’ which was sang by Molly – Kellyann, Robert and I were on the backing vocals. This song was very well sung by Molly because she sung clearly and used the microphone very well. Some areas for improvement during this song and something that we would apply if we were to do this again is to make the ‘woahs’ much louder and more energetic. We did have some microphones in fornt of us to pick up the backing vocals but I don’t think they picked us up enough. The harmony during this song sounded good and in tune. Another point of improvement would be to make sure that everyone was moving in time with each other and in the same direction. I did stick to the choreography that we had planned for this song but the others in the group may have forgotten this slightly. Molly performed this song really well and has come a long way since the start of the rehearsals for this performance where she wasn’t a very confident singer. However now she opened the performance with her solo with confidence.
Molly then introduced me to the microphone to sing my first solo ‘In the summertime’. My lecturer gave me some really good comments about this solo. Firstly, she said that I had great characterisation and channelled my inner flapper. My voice was loud and clear the whole way through the song and my notes very well held and rounded. Altogether, the song was very uplifting, fast paced and jolly.
Next was ‘Colours of the wind’ which was sung by Robert. Originally, Robert was meant to be singing ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’ by the Beach Boys but he changed his song the day before the singing performance. This made me very cautious and I wasn’t really sure how it was going to go. However, I was pleasantly surprised as he knew all of the lyrics and had clear diction throughout. An improvement that I would give Robert is to make sure that his intonation was clear throughout the song because there were parts when this wasn’t clear. This would have been improved if he had more time to rehearse but unfortunately there wasn’t any more time. Another improvement I would give him is to make sure that he is breathing in the right places because he was sometimes breathing in the wrong places which caused him to run out of air but this would have also come with more practice.
Next was the first group song ‘The lion sleeps tonight’. This song was quite hard to sing for all of us because for most of the song, we were all singing a different note to create the harmony which meant that we had to all listen to each other to make sure that we kept in time but also making sure that we didn’t move onto anyone else’s note. To create the harmony Robert was singing base, Molly was singer tenor, Kellyann was alto and I was soprano. During the song, Kellyann and Molly did get some help from Cara as she was able to interchange between these harmonies to help the girls. I think this really helped them both and it sounded really good. I managed to stick with my harmony all the way throughout the song and I was also loud so that the audience could hear me. Each verse was sung by a different person and these were all very clear. The whole song was very tuneful.
Kellyann was next with her solo ‘Lost boy’. There are some points in this song which sounded really lovely and were very tuneful. Kellyann has come a long way since the beginning of the year in regards to singing. She used to be very shy and wouldn’t sing in front of anyone but today she managed to sing into a microphone in front of a full audience. There are a few improvements that I would give to Kellyann which she could then apply if we were to do the performance again. Firstly, her standing position. All the way through the song she was stood in a defence position which may have restricted her lungs from fully swinging out to enable her to perform to the best of her ability. For the future, she needs to stand in a nice relaxed neutral position with her feet slightly apart and hands either by her side or on the microphone. Also, at some points during the song, she was slightly behind the beat. If she had had more time to work on her piece, she could have worked on this.
I was up next singing my second solo ‘Mr Blue Sky’. When selecting my solos for the singing performance, I made some big adaptations to this song to ensure that it contrasted with my other solo. Therefore, the version that I performed during the performance was a ballad version of the original song. I think this worked really well and I worked with my lecturer a lot during the rehearsal process to make sure that it sounded good. Some comments from my lecturer include that the diction and the melody were very clear throughout the whole song. The higher notes during the song were very tuneful and this is because I have spent a lot of time during the rehearsal process working on developing my upper register because this is something that I struggled with at the start of the year. However, my lower range wasn’t so great and to improve this I could have sang a bit softer and come closer to the microphone to make it sound my tuneful. The backing vocals throughout the song sounded good and clear and added texture to the piece. I think that the audience were really gripped with the song and enjoyed it.
‘The sweet escape’ was next which was sung by all of the cast. The whole piece was very dynamic and uplifting. It drew the audience in and this is evident in the video where audience members start to sway from side to side. I managed to execute the rap part perfectly both times. This is something that I had to work on quite a lot during rehearsals because it is very difficult due to its fast tempo.
The song that finished off the whole performance was ‘Summer holiday’ where we invited the audience to join in with us. I felt like during this song the cast had to sing much louder to keep the audience in time the piano and the guitar. The audience loved getting involved with the song and were very enthusiastic about it.
In conclusion, I think that the performance went really well. As stated above, there are a few things that would be amended if we were to do the performance again. The feedback which I received back from the audience was all very positive and it gave me a buzz after the performance. I think that the programme of songs worked really well. All of the songs related to feeling of escaping whether that be a summer holiday or just getting lost and going on an adventure.
I have put together a programme of songs as well as a script for the transitions in between the songs. This is as follows:
Charlotte: Hello everyone and welcome to ‘Escapism’. Sit back, relax and let the waves of song gently lap over you. I’m now going to hand you over to Molly who will help us to begin our journey.
‘We’re going to Ibiza’ – Molly
Molly: Thank you everyone. Now that we’ve reached Ibiza, I’d like to pass you over to Charlotte who just loves dancing in the sun.
‘In the Summertime’ – Charlotte
Charlotte: I can assure you that it’s going to be very nice to listen to Robert’s solo.
‘Wouldn’t it be nice’ – Robert
Robert: (improvised speech)
‘The lion sleeps tonight’ – all
Charlotte: If you’re feeling lost or lonely, Kellyann’s solo is sure to help you find your way.
‘Lost boy’ – Kellyann
Kellyann: The sun is shining, the sky is blue and Charlotte has something special for you.
‘Mr Blue Sky’ – Charlotte
Charlotte: We hope you have enjoyed the journey and that it’s given you a chance to escape.
‘The Sweet Escape’ – all
Charlotte: Now that we’ve come to the end of our journey, we would like you to join in with us for the last song. (improvised speech)
‘Summer holiday’ – all with audience participation
I have carefully considered the order in which these songs are in because I knew that it had to flow well and entertain the audience. The reason why I picked Molly’s solo to go first was because Molly acts as if she is inviting the audience onto the plane to ‘escape’. I also knew that I wanted one of the group songs at the end which would then be followed by the song with audience participation. Once I had these 3 songs in place, it was quite easy to fill in the gaps from there. I just had to make sure that there weren’t going to be any clashes with the transitioning and that my solos weren’t one after another. The group agreed that once you have sung your solo, you would then introduce the next person. This would make the transition process easier and cleaner.
The main aim of the session today was to put together a script for the transitions between the songs.
We started the session with a full singing warmup, followed by some recall exercises.
We ran through the songs in the order of which they will be performed. In between each song, we had a think about what could be said to introduce the next song. We have agreed as a group that if you are singing a solo, you will then stay at the microphone to introduce the next person.
One of the songs which we did some work on was “We’re going to Ibiza”. At the moment, there isn’t much movement during this song apart from swaying. I think that there needs to be more movement during this song because this is going to be the opening number and needs to draw the audience in. Therefore, we added some movement during the last chorus. On the ‘woahs’, Kellyann and we will throw our arms up in the air.
We then ran through the whole performance including the transitions in between the songs. The performance is currently running at approximately 30 minutes.
I will work over the next few days to type the script up and have it ready for the start of next week.
With
only one week until the singing performance, we thought that it would be good
to now put on some extra rehearsals in preparation for next week. However, this
proved very difficult because everyone in the group has very different
timetables and it was hard to find a time where most of the group were free to
hold an extra rehearsal. We came to the conclusion, as a group, that we were
all able to make a rehearsal at 5pm on 14th March (today) apart from
Robert who is not currently at college. Holding this rehearsal means that it
would give us a chance to rehearse in the space at which we will be performing
in.
Today
the rehearsal was being held in The Chapel. This is where the singing
performance is going to be held next week. The reason why we are practicing in
The Chapel today is because the acoustics are very different in this room to
what they are in the performance studio. Therefore, practicing in The Chapel
will give us a taster for what it is going to sound like next week when we
perform and we won’t be thrown off when we come to perform.
To
start off the session we carried out a full vocal warmup. This included some
body shakes, intercostal diaphragmatic breathing, scales, arpeggios and the technical
exercise. This full singing warmup therefore ensured that our voices and bodies
were nice and warm ready to rehearse the whole way through the performance.
The
space was set out like it will be for the performance next week. 4 chairs will
form a semi circle where each of the performers will sit whilst they aren’t singing.
In front of them will be 1 lead microphone and 2 background microphones and
behind them will be places for Cara and Sam to play their instruments. Today we
were able to practice with one of the microphones. I have only ever used a
microphone in the recording studio and never in a live performance. Therefore
this is a new experience for me and I found it really useful to rehearse with
it a week before the show so that I could get used to it.
Once
we had carried out the warmup, we were ready to start a full run through. It
took us a while to complete a full run through of the show because we had to
keep stopping and starting to make sure that both Cara and Sam were playing the
songs in the right key and that the tempo of the songs was correct. All of the
songs are sounding really good, especially the harmonies. One thing that we did
change during this rehearsal was the key which ‘The Sweet Escape’ is played in.
This is because Sam was finding it hard to play in the key that I was singing
it in and it would make it a lot easier for him if we dropped it down a
semitone. This now meant that I needed to change the key of which I was singing
in otherwise the song would have been out of tune. I found it quite easy to change
to the new key, however I am finding it quite hard to remain in the key. This
is something that I will work on before next week.
After
having this rehearsal, I am now feeling more confident about the performance
next week. I found it really helpful to practice in The Chapel so that we can
begin to get a feel for how the performance is going to shape. One thing that I
do need to work on is the transitions between the songs. At the moment, the
transitions that we have put in, aren’t really working so I need to script some
lines so that the group can learn them for next week.
Today
we were working with Sam to run through all of the songs for the singing
performance which we will be performing next week.
We
spent the whole lesson working through the songs. There were a few moments
where we had to stop and start to make sure that both Cara and Sam were playing
in the right key and we were also given amendments along the way.
There
was only one thing during this rehearsal which we worked on and that was the
movement during the song ‘We’re going to Ibiza’. This song will be sung by
Molly and the backup vocals will be sung by Kellyann, Robert and I. At the
moment, the song is quite static so we added in some sways and some movements
on the ‘woahs’ in the last chorus. This will hopefully give the song some
dynamic and make it more interesting for the audience.
