Singing Class

Feb. 28th

2011-02-28T19:57:00.000-05:00

Great job singing with the microphone tonight...not a shy singer in the group! Next week will be our last class. I invite each of you to share a song with the class. It can be one we've done or it can be a song of your choosing. I'm so proud of the progress you've all made! Here are the parts for "Circle Round for Freedom" and also a singing exercise in minor mode.

melody (middle line)
Soprano (top line)
Baritone (bottom line)

singing exercise in minor

Feb 7th

2011-02-10T22:02:00.000-05:00

We talked a bit about the different registers of our voices. We are most familiar with our chest register as this is where our speaking voice is. Our higher register, or our head voice, is not as familiar and it feels kind of funny at first to sing up there. This will get more comfortable as you use this part of your voice. Your brain is building new lines of communication with your vocal folds as you expand your singing range. We also talked about the place in your voice where the chest and head register come together. You will learn how to maneuver around that spot so that you don't have a gap or a big change in tone. Once again, it is just a matter of practice. If there is a place in a song where you feel your voice jump or give out, just take it slowly and think about how you want it to sound before you sing it. Keep practicing the songs and exercises from the previous lessons. This coming week we will sing the minor key songs listed in the previous post as well as Wimoweh. See if you can pick out the different parts as you listen to Ladysmith Black Mambazo sing Wimoweh. Try to sing or hum along with one of the parts.

January 31st

2011-02-01T10:29:00.000-05:00

Here are a few singing exercises. You can follow the notation for the C scale exercise on the sheet I gave you last night or you can follow the Tone Ladder. The advantage of the Tone Ladder is that you can see the whole and half steps. If you have the sounds in your ears without that guide, then you will do well with the standard notation (the sheet from last night). Don't forget to do the voice sliding exercise everyday and also some deep breathing.

Ee, eh, ah, oh, oo exercise
C major scale exercise

We sang mostly in the key of C major and D major last night. These two songs are in E flat which is just a little higher (half step) than D. See how you do with these.

"Make New Friends"
"Sing, Sing, Together"

So far we have been singing songs in major keys. Listen to these songs that are in minor keys.

"Out of Eternity"
"Shalom Chaverim"
"Ah, Poor Bird"
"Peace Round"

Jan. 24th

2011-01-25T11:24:00.001-05:00

Making music came before writing and theorizing about it, but as humans we like to organize and classify. The concept of organizing notes into scales and naming notes goes all the way back to the ancient Greeks. Music notation on a staff came much later in the 10th century and started with just a horizontal line (F) as a reference point for the pitches going up or down.

The practice of singing scales is a tool that helps us understand the music intellectually and to get our ears accustomed to the sound of the "majorness" or "minorness" of a song. Singing the scales with solfege (do, re, mi...) also prepares us for reading the music on a staff after we have the sound in our ears.

So, having said all of that, here are your scale exercises for this week. I put each scale in a separate file so that you could work on them individually. Note which scales, if any, are easier or harder for you to sing. Follow the tonal ladder for major scales as a reference as you echo the exercises. It is important to listen and then echo so that you can hear your own voice. Also, remember to relax and breathe. Take your breath on the last two notes that I sing.

C Major
D Major
E Major
F Major
G Major

The beginning - do, re, mi

2011-01-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

As Julie Andrews says in The Sound of Music, "When you read you begin with ABC, when you sing you begin with do, re, mi." So here is your "do, re, mi" practice. I promise it gets easier as you practice. Remember to relax and breathe. Try singing as you lie on your back. It will help you relax.

Listening is an important prerequisite to singing. The music must be in your mind before it can come out your mouth. Many of the songs we will be singing in our classes are listed below and in the previous post if you'd like to get them "in your ears".

"Irene, Goodnight"
"Stewball"
"Circle Round for Freedom"
"Chairs to Mend"
"I Love the Flowers"

Here is a really cool YouTube of a flash mob in the Antwerp train station dancing to "Do, Re, Mi" from The Sound of Music. It will put a smile on your face.

Class cancelled due to snow

2011-01-10T12:09:00.000-05:00

The good news is that our class is full (6 students). The bad news is that our first class is cancelled due to the snow. We will meet next week and will find a time to make up this missed class. You can get started by printing out the song sheet below and practicing singing the songs. Listen to the songs until you can sing along in your mind. Then try singing aloud. You can also go to my main blog and follow the lessons there. Many of the lessons have singing in them along with learning to read music. See you next Monday.

Songsheet 1

"Make New Friends"
"Sing, Sing, Together"
"Hot Cross Buns"
"Little Things"
"Out of Eternity"

C major scale

2010-06-16T09:27:00.004-04:00

We will work more with chord progressions next week and how that relates to singing harmony. It is important to have the major scale firmly implanted in your brain. Here is a singing exercise to practice the C major scale.

We talked a bit about head voice and chest voice. Chest voice singing often comes easier because it is more in the range of our speaking voice. Singing in your head voice is not more difficult; it is just not as familiar if you have not done much singing. As you go up the C scale you may be able to feel the switch from your chest voice to your head voice. Practice will help you negotiate this switch smoothly. Imagine the sound coming out of your forehead. Also, sighing, siren sounds and a munchkin voice will help you feel your head voice. Two singing exercises which will help you move gently through this switch are the one using do re mi and also the descending so fa mi re do.

Keep practicing Circle Round for Freedom and Poor Wayfaring Stranger. We'll sing some rounds next week if you'd like to review them: Ah, Poor Bird, The Peace Round, Sing, Sing Together, I Love the Flowers.

welcome back

2010-06-07T20:28:00.001-04:00

Here is the new song we learned tonight. I recorded all three parts. See you next week!

Circle Round for Freedom
melody (middle line)
Soprano (top line)
Baritone (bottom line)

Class resumes June 7th

2010-05-25T13:24:00.000-04:00

Our class will resume on Monday June 7th at 5:30. New students are welcome

We will meet on June 14, 21, July 5,12 and one more date that suits all of the class members.
The cost is $48.00. I look forward to seeing you then.

Poor Wayfaring Stranger

2010-04-27T11:04:00.000-04:00

This song uses the same tone set (notes) as the singing exercise in the previous post.

Poor Wayfaring Stranger
mp3
songsheet

exercise in minor

2010-04-15T19:56:00.001-04:00

Here is a singing exercise in minor. It will make it easier to sing Poor Wayfaring Stranger and other songs in minor keys like Out of Eternity and The Peace Round. See you on Monday.

Long Black Veil

2010-04-07T20:23:00.000-04:00

As promised, here is Long Black Veil. I am not in my best voice with all this pollen in the air, but at least you can sing along.

great progress!

2010-03-30T13:03:00.001-04:00

Wow! The practice is really paying off. I am delighted with the progress you've made. We were talking about the song "Long Black Veil" and will sing it together next week.  I have listed several other songs that use the same tone set (notes). I have done them all in the key of D as that is the key we'll use for "Long Black Veil". I have also recorded two singing exercises using the same notes. See you next week.

singing exercise (m   s l)
singing exercise (s, l, d r m   s l)
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot in D
Tom Dooley in D

practice exercises

2010-03-06T20:22:00.004-05:00

Here is a very basis singing exercise to practice the first three notes in a major scale (do, re, mi). It will help to look at the tone ladder as you listen and sing the echos. This is especially helpful if you are not sure yet which tones are higher and which are lower. As you go up the ladder, the notes get higher. As you go down the ladder, the notes get lower. Sing the notes in your mind as I sing them, then sing the first note of the echo in your mind before you sing it. This will help you sing it in tune. Practice, practice, practice. It will get easier. If the do, re, mi exercise is easy then move on to the second exercise, so, fa, mi, re, do.

do, re, mi exercise

so, fa, mi, re, do exercise

Feb. 22 class

2010-02-24T12:27:00.000-05:00

I changed the recording of Stewball from last week's post to just be a straight sing-a-long. When I went back and listened to it I realized that it was difficult to sing along with the ostinato because I just held out the notes rather than singing them to a beat. This week you can practice any of the songs from previous lessons and the singing exercises (see previous posts). Here is a singing exercise that I meant to do at class this week. You may want to print the tone ladder sheet as an added visual aid in singing the patterns. The hand signs are totally optional. We haven't been using them.

I also asked everyone this week to practice singing familiar songs. Pick a song or part of a song to sing for the class next week. This coming week will be our last class in this session. The next session will be March 15-April 26 and will focus on singing and also practical music theory and sight singing skills (reading from music). Happy singing!

songs from Feb. 15th class

2010-02-17T17:32:00.002-05:00

Here are the songs from class this week. I gave you some work to do with Clementine. Stewball and Irene, Goodnight are sing-a-longs.

Clementine with ostinato
Stewball
Irene, Goodnight

Feb. 15th class

2010-02-15T20:03:00.000-05:00

What a difference one week can make! The practice at home is paying off and the class is singing on pitch most of the time and folks are blending their voices well. To sing successfully with others you need to listen to yourself and to the other singers. This is not always an easy thing to do and everyone is getting better each week. Usually when the pitch goes flat it is in the lower range of our voices. I think it is because the lower range is more comfortable and so we get lazy. Just so you know, tonight you were singing an E above the C above middle C on the piano (for the women, an octave down for the men). And you thought you couldn't sing high! Remember to think sighs and sirens and to take a deep breath especially on those high notes. And, of course, relax. Can't say that too much. Try singing while leaning over and letting your arms hang loose in front of you. Now try to keep that same relaxed feeling in your arms when you stand up. Think of lengthening you spine as you relax your shoulders and arms. I will add the new songs to this post later in the week. Happy singing!

Feb. 8th class

2010-02-08T21:06:00.002-05:00

Someone asked me tonight how I can automatically sing an octave down or up from a note I hear. The short answer is that I can just hear it, but I realize that the reason I can hear it is because of many years of singing and playing music. The sounds have to be in our ears before they can come out our mouths. It will take many times of hearing a song before you know it. When you can sing along in your mind then you are ready to sing. When you are practicing, make sure you are singing in your "singing" voice. We have a tendency to want to sing in the range of our speaking voice. Some of our singing voice will be in our speaking range, but you will be limited if you stay there. If you haven't sung very much it can feel awkward to sing in your head voice. Give it a try. Sing a familiar song higher than you think you can. Think about sending the sound out through your face and forehead rather than your mouth...and relax. Lying on your back can help you relax while you sing. Have fun singing this week.

singing warm up with vowels

Everybody Sing

2010-02-01T13:56:00.015-05:00

There is an African proverb that goes like this: If you can walk, you can dance; If you can talk, you can sing. I wholeheartedly agree. There is nothing magical about singing...if you have the mechanism to talk, then you have the mechanism to sing. All you need to do is relax, take a deep breath and sing. This class is for folks who want to discover or reclaim their singing voice and have fun making music with others. Singing does take practice. The more you sing, the better you'll sing. Just remember to breath, relax, listen and have fun. That's all for now. Here are a few songs and exercises that we've been doing in class the past few weeks.

Songsheet:s: 1, 2, 3, 4

C scale
Make New Friends
Sing, Sing Together
Hot Cross Buns
Little Things
Out of Eternity
I Love the Flowers
Shalom Chaverim
White Sand and Gray Sand
Charis to Mend
Ah, Poor Bird
Peace Round