Jan. 24th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poor Wayfaring Stranger
mp3
songsheet