Monday, 16 December 2013

Singing Showcase: Monday 16th December 2013: Session Five

Monday 16th December 2013
Session Five

We started with a few warm ups and were introduced to a new tongue twister. 

These warm ups were: 
  • Sirening (with Lip Trills)
  • Arpeggios 
  • Tongue Twister: "Lily Likes Lollipops" 
Our new exercise is a tongue twister which goes like this: 

"Lily likes lollipops, lemonade and lime drops, 
I like Lily, Lily likes me."

This tongue twister focuses on diction and articulation of the words but also breath control. I quite enjoy tongue twisters because they focus on using the correct placement of the tongue to benefit you when singing. They're also really easy to do outside of class and remember. 

We then went on to go through the songs we have learnt. These include: 
  • "You Raise Me Up" by Westlife.
  • "The Rhythm of Life" from the musical Sweet Charity.
  • "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from the musical Evita.
As a group most of us have secured our harmonies and we know what we're singing. Now that we're confident in the song, our singing teacher told us to start adding more emotion to the songs to really characterise it, especially with "You Raise Me Up". The tone and volume you use can really contribute when adding character to a song, when characterisation is added the audience can connect to the performance. 

Each song have contrasting emotions you would associate with it. "You Raise Me Up" is a song about love and dependancy, "The Rhythm of Life" is a song telling a story in a upbeat and "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" is a song about saying good bye and being betrayed and weak. All these songs have an emotional performance which can be explored. As someone who is interesting in acting, I think this is really interesting because the more emotion which is added to a song the more you can interpret and give it something different. 

I'm glad we went through the ensemble pieces before the assessment because otherwise it may have been difficult to practise over the Christmas holidays.

After we practised the ensemble pieces we had learnt we went into our gender groups to work on our independent ensemble pieces. For my group we went through our "Just A Dream/Just The Way You Are" mash up which is featured in the movie Pitch Perfect. 

Now we knew what we were singing and how we has to really focus on the details such as the timing. The song is meant to blend in well and accurate timing is needed for this. Once people had awareness it was up to them to perform it. Although this is an ensemble piece, every individual has to rely on themselves otherwise they are letting everyone else down. 

I'm glad that the ensemble pieces we have been working on with our singing teacher are sounding really nice and that I am confident with my harmonies and timing. We don't know what song we will perform during the assessment so being confident with them all is a positive start. 

I did have slight difficulty with the words in our ensemble piece and I had to find the lyrics on my phone. 

I'm going to go through all the ensemble pieces we've learnt as I've got three weeks before the assessment. I have recordings on my phone to help me and to prepare for the assessment I will familiarise myself with everything we've learnt. 


Monday, 25 November 2013

Singing Showcase: Monday 25th November 2013: Session Four

Monday 25th November 2013
Session Four


We began the session we a series of vocal warm ups. 

These vocal warm ups included:
  • Sirening (with Lip Trills)
  • Sounds
  • Arpeggios
I have noticed that I have a much stronger Lip Trill compared to before through practising the Sirening exercise with the Lip Trill outside of lesson and in. I can go on the scale twice confidently without having to do two different extended Lip Trills. I'm pretty glad that I can do this because I'm furthering and developing my breath control and also starting really exercise my lips. 

We began learning a new song, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", from the musical Evita and then we splint into two groups - boys and girls - to create an ensemble piece. 

Here are the lyrics to the song: 

"It won't be easy, you'll think it's strange, 
When I try to explain how I feel, 
That I still need your love after all that I've done. 

You won't believe me, 
All you will see is the girl you once knew,
Although she's dressed up to the nines, 
At sixes and sevens with you. 

I had to let it happen, I had to change,
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel, 
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun. 

So I choose freedom, 
Running around trying everything new, 
But nothing impressed me at all, 
I never expected it to. 

Don't cry for me Argentine,
The truth is I never left you,
All through my wild days,
My mad existence,
I kept my promise,
Don't keep your distance.

And as for fortune, and as for fame, 
I never invited them in, 
Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired. 

They are illusions, 
They are not the solutions they promised to be, 
The answer was here all the time,
I love you and hope you love me. 

Don't cry for me Argentina, 
The truth is I never left you,
All through my wild days,
My mad existence,
I kept my promise,
Don't keep your distance.

Have I said too much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you.
But all you have to does look at me to know, 
That every work is true"


We started to sing the song as a class to familiarise ourselves with the lyrics of the song. Our singing teacher then asked for five volunteers to perform solos. I didn't put my hand up but was asked to sing the line "When I try to explain how I feel" as a solo along with four other girls who had solo parts. The rest of the song was then sung in a two-part harmony. The lyrics in bold are what we covered that lesson.

I had heard this song before so I was familar to the tune which gave me a slight advantage. I didn't however find my line extremely hard to pitch at the start, when I sung it through it sounded nice but as I couldn't pitch I was slightly embarrassed. Thankfully, our singing teacher went through it with me and I started to really get use to the pitching and sing it confidently. 

I think the song is really lovely and it would have been nice to work out it some more. I think this could be a song that I learn and keep in my repertoire as it suited my voice well. I think I do need to start listening to more songs as it's good to have an idea of a song before when you're learning it.


Although I was quite hesitant to do the solo, I'm really glad I did because I challenged myself to sing something that I may not feel totally confident with. I need to get used to singing in front of people and building myself up is a good way to do it.

We then separated into two groups - girls and boys - to create a piece of ensemble work that could be used in our assessment.

My group tried a few songs, including "The Power of Love", but after testing them out we decided to sing "Just The Way You Are/Just A Dream" which is a mash up from the film Pitch Perfect. We listened to the song a few times and concentrated on the details of the song - the Singing and Responding exercises we've previously really came in useful and benefited me when doing this as we knew what detail to look for.

We then split into four groups, each group had a different job to do to create the mash up:
  • First group: Sung "do, do, do" 
  • Second group: Sung "ahhh, ahhh"
  • Third group: "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars
  • Fourth group: "Just A Dream" by Nelly
The mash up was quite short so we could complete the task in the time we had. As this song was accapella we didn't have to worry about any background music or using the piano.

The first group sung "do, do, do" with high pitch and sharp throughout the mash up. In the second chord the second group came in and started to sing the "ahhh, ahhh" which was smooth.

The third group came in on the third chord and started singing the following lyrics:

"Her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining, 
Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her trying, 
She's so beautiful and I tell her every day."

The fourth group then started singing with the third group.

"I was thinking about her,
I know, I know,
Thinking 'bout me, what we gon' be,
When I compliment her she won't believe me,
Open my eyes yeah, it was only just a dream,
It's so, it's so, sad to think that she don't see what I see, 
But every time she asks me do I look ok, 
It's only a dream,
I say...

When I see your face, 
So I travelled back, down that road, 
Will she come back, no one knows, 
Not a thing that I would change, 
I realise yeah, it was only just a dream, 
Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are,
It was only just a dream. 

When I see your face, 
So I travelled back, down that road, 
Will she come back, no one knows, 
Not a thing that I would change, 
I realise yeah, it was only just a dream,
Because girl you're amazing, just the way you are,
It was only just a dream. 

When I see your face.

I sung the "Just A Dream" part which suited by voice as it needed more powerful voices. 

I thought that even though we directed ourselves, it sounded really good and all the voices together blended well. For an ensemble girls piece, this was a really good choice. I'm glad that we went through other options and experimented to come up with something everyone was happy with. 

We didn't have the lyrics and we did everything by hear so even though it was quite challenging it was interesting to see how we could work together and create a really pretty-sounding ensemble piece. 

All of us needed to pay attention to the beat to enable accurate timing but it all came together in the end and I was surprised that our independent work was to quite a high standard overall. It would be nice to work as an ensemble again because I think our co operation and listening to each other enabled us to perform to a good standard. 

I really enjoyed doing some ensemble work independantly and I'm hoping we get the opportunity to do this as we all have creative ideas to add and it's fun experiment. I am also very happy that I managed to sing a solo line as this showed me I'm slowly, but surely, becoming a confident singer and can develop my skills further. 

I think I still need work on my pitching as it took a long time to pitch my solo for "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". 

As I need to work on my pitching, I am going to start with the "Happy Birthday" exercise outside of class with some of my peers who also feel their pitching could improve. Hopefully by next week, and by the assessment, I can pitch better. 




Monday, 18 November 2013

Singing Showcase: Monday 18th November 2013: Session Three

Monday 18th November 2013
Session Three

As always we started off with warm ups like we do every week. 

This week's warm up exercises were: 
  • Sirening (with Lip Trills)
  • Arpeggios
  • Number scales
My aim last week was to practise the Arpeggios as it would help me with the pitching of "You Raise Me Up" in the chorus. I found that I could go through the scale this week without straining my voice and it was used to the higher notes. I still had to work hard but it was much easier as I had been practising them each day. I was really happy this because I knew it would enable me to perform the chorus of "You Raise Me Up" with more confidence. 

We went on to sing "You Raise Me Up" a few times. I thought the song was coming along really nicely and it had a pure sound to it. I am happy I went through the song and practised my Arpeggios because I was able to sing the song and I thought I pitched it well and the harmony was stronger than last week. I really want to continue increasing my range so I can perform more challenging harmonies and become more versatile. 

We began working on a new song "The Rhythm of Life" from musical Sweet Charity. 

Here are the lyrics to the song: 

"Daddy started out in San Franciso, 
Tootin' on his trumpet loud and mean, suddenly a voice said, "Go forth, Daddy", 
Spread the picture on a wider screen." 
And the voice said, "Brother, there's a million pigeons
Ready to be hooked on new religions. 
Hit the road, Daddy, leave your common-law wife. 
Spread the religion of The Rhythm Of Life."
And The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat
Puts in a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet
Rhythm in your bedroom, rhythm in the street, 
Yes, The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat, 
And The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat, 
(To feel The Rhythm Of Life)
Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet, 
(To feel the powerful beat)
Rhythm in your bedroom, Rhythm in the street, 
(To feel the tingle in your fingers)
Yes, The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat, 
(To feel the tingle in your feet)
And The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat, 
(To feel the The Rhythm Of Life)
Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet, 
(To feel the powerful beat) 
Rhythm in your bedroom, rhythm in the street, 
(To feel the tingle in your fingers)
Yes, The Rhythm Or Life is a powerful beat, 
(To feel the tingle in your feet)
And The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat, 
(To feel the Rhythm Of Life)
(Go, go, go)
Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet, 
(To feel the powerful beat)
(Go, go, go)
Rhythm in your bedroom, rhythm in the street, 
(To feel the tingle in your fingers)
(Tell them everything)
Yes, The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat, 
(To feel the tingle in your feet)
(You know)
Flip you wings and fly to Daddy, 
Flip your wings and fly to Daddy, 
(Flip you wings and fly)
Flip your wings and fly to Daddy, 
(Flip you wings) 
Fly, fly, fly to Daddy, 
(Fly, fly, fly)
(Fly, fly, fly)"

The girls sung the pink, the boys sung the blue, then the sopranos sung the purple and the altos sung the orange

We started by separating the words between girls and boys as the song progressed the girls were split into two groups (alto and sopranos) creating three different groups singing. 

I had never heard this song before so I was learning something new, our singing teacher had printed off the lyrics for us and this made it much easier for someone who didn't know the song and I was grateful for that even though I know that I should be able to remember it and exercise my memory, but a song this length would be extremely hard. 

Even though I didn't know the song, the tune was easy to grasp and it was a very upbeat and energetic song. I think as I have been doing this sessions my ability to pick up songs is improving which is great because it means I am developing my singing skills as a performer. 

I really enjoyed singing this song because it was upbeat and energetic, it also told a story and I thought it would be an ideal song to characterise and perform. I sung the alto lines and all the lines together with the three groups sounded really different, all the voices blended nicely together and created an atmosphere. 

As this was a high-energy and upbeat piece song it was very fun to perform, I also found myself being able to get learn the words and the tune more efficiently then before, showing me these singing sessions are improving and developing my singing skill. 

As the song increased in pace towards the end my diction fell. 

My aim for next week is to focus on practising the end of this song so I can get used to the speed and my articulation and diction doesn't suffer from the pace increasing. 





Monday, 11 November 2013

Singing Showcase: Monday 11th November 2013: Session Two

Monday 11th November 
Session Two

We started with a warm up which included: 
  • Sirening (with Lip Trills)
  • Arpeggios
  • Number Scales
I find that performing different warm ups each weeks allows me to identify parts of my singing I need to work on and practise to develop further. 

We went onto continuing singing "You Raise Me Up". We started by growing through what we did last week and were reminded on the tune. Then we went on to the chorus which we focused on for the rest of the session.

This session we focused on the chorus: 

"You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains,
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas,
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders, 
You raise me up to more than I can be."

The first three lines of the chorus are performed in a four part harmony in four groups (Tenners, Altos, Sopranos and Bass). These four groups allowed the harmony to suit our voice. We all sing in unison together in the last line. I was in the Alto group as this group suited me when we sung "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor" in the last project.

We then sung what we learn last week and added the chorus to what we had already learnt. 

Learning harmonies isn't ever really easy but with the more practise and rehearsal it starts to come to you naturally. I find isolating myself from everyone else enables me to perform a more accurate harmony. When being taught the harmonies, you have to have a lot of patience and respect because our lecturer can only teach one group at a time. I loved how the harmonies impacted the song and gave it a sincere emotion to it.

Singing the last line in unison was much simpler because we then could sing together and listen to each other. 

I didn't find remembering the chorus as hard as the verse last week as it's more repetitive compared to the verse. I am really glad I practised the harmonies outside of lesson last week as it allowed me to perform this week to the best of my ability without worrying about the words or getting the harmonies right because it came naturally from practise. 

I was happy that I could perform the song with confidence in the harmonies and words this week as I could think about how you could then perform it to an audience. 

I think my pitching was slightly off in parts of the chorus and it's slightly higher than I am comfortable with. 

I am going to practise the Arpeggios exercise to familiarise myself with higher notes by next week. By practising my Arpeggios I should be able to strengthen the higher notes so they are performed with more confidence for when we next do the song.



Monday, 4 November 2013

Singing Showcase: Monday 4th November 2013: Session One

Monday 4th November 2013
Session One 


This is our first session for our second project "Singing Showcase" in the unit "Singing Skills for Actors and Dancers". We started our first session back by going through the project brief. 

I have written in detail what this project will consist of here: 


We started the session by warming up our voice. We had learnt from the previous project the important or warming up the voice and how that can help to develop singing skills. 

We did the following warm ups: 
  • Sirening (with Lip Trills)
  • Sounds
  • Number Scales 

As this project isn't focussed on the warm ups we do, this time the warm up was shorter than usual but is still an important part of singing. 

We then started doing work on the song "You Raise Me Up" by Westlife. 

Here are the lyrics to "You Raise Me Up": 

"When I am down, and oh my soul, so weary, 
When troubles come and my heart burdened be, 
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence, 
Until you come come and sit awhile with me. 

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains, 
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas, 
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders, 
You raise me up to more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger, 
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly,
But when you come and I am filled with wonder, 
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity. 

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains, 
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas, 
And I am strong, when I am on your shoulders, 
You raise me up to more than I can be."

We focused on the first verse to start with: 

"When I am down, and oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdened be
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence, 
Until you come come and sit awhile with me."


The girls started by singing the first line, then the boys sang the next line. We all sang the last two lines in two separate harmonies. 

This was a fairly easy start to the project, the girls had no problem in pitching their first line. The boys had sight more trouble in pitching and had to listen really carefully to Alison, due to the work we did with Singing and Responding I think they found it easier than they would have if we hadn't worked on that singing skill. 

I had heard the song before but I was completely familiar with it so I had to pay a lot of attention to what Alison was playing and singing. Also I had word-learning trouble at first, especially as we added more lines in. 

I thought I would find the harmony work hard but it was pretty simple once I had got the right pitch. I really think that the exercises we did last project has given me the confidence to succeed in this project. 

I was really happy that I could warm up my voice efficiently to prepare for the singing ahead. Without performing the warm up correctly then the voice won't be able to be used to its full ability. 

Although this is the first session, I think I need to start working on being able to remember lyrics quickly so I don't have to concentrate on the words as much as I currently do. 

For next week I am going to go over the part we have learnt to ensure that I can perform it to the best of my ability and have the power to develop the song further. As it's only a verse it shouldn't be hard to learn in a week. 

Singing Showcase: Monday 4th November 2013: Project Brief

Monday 4th November 2013
Project Brief

Our next project for the unit "Singing Skills for Actors and Dancers" is "Singing Showcase". In this project we will be working towards a ensemble performance, we have to imagine we are part of the entertainment team on a cruise liner. 

The class will rehearse a variety of songs to add to a repertoire. These songs will range from popular songs, show songs and rocks songs through to choral music, jazz, soul, folk and more. As a performer you have expectations to be versatile and these project will work on that.

In our lessons, we will be expected to take part in the following:
  • Vocal Warm Ups
  • Learning Musical Material ("note bashing")
  • Follow direction and instructions
  • Good Listening Skills
  • Practising Learn Material 
  • Waiting for Cues
  • Learning Words and Movements (where required)
Self-discipline is required throughout the sessions and is expected from everyone when applying the vocal techniques correctly. There should be co-operation (especially as it's a project based on ensemble work) and commitment shown in the way we work with others with is easily recognisable. 

There is also a requirement for self-discipline outside of class as we are expected to do independent work and practise regularly to get the most out of the project. We will need to take part in a regular practise routine that includes classes and independent work.

This blog will be used to post video and audio clips of rehearsals and independent technical exercises. It will also allow me to post reflective comments relating specifically to the work in this project and throughout the course. This blog will enable me to detect improvements and continue my development as a performer.

To make sure I reflect and improve so I can achieve the best to my ability, I will include:
  • Positives
  • Improvements
  • Aims
The targets I set will follow these expectations Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART targets).

SMART targets: 

S - Specific: A clear, focused and detailed target which has an aim but also says how.
M - Measurable: Can be tested to ensure that it has worked.
A - Achievable: A realistic target which can be done.
R - Relevant: Needs to help this project and develop singing skills.
T - Time-bound: A clear deadline to achieve by.

To achieve the SMART targets I will support them with specific technical exercises and warm ups.

The musical material from this project will be performed in front of an audience but the grades in this project will come from the rehearsal process and not the performance.

I'm really looking forward to learning more about working as an ensemble and developing singing tehcniques with the help of your peers. I hope that we get to perform harmony work as we only touched it in the last project.



 

Monday, 14 October 2013

Warm Ups and Workouts: Monday 14th October 2013: Singing Assessment

Monday 14th October 2013
Singing Assessment 

Today we had our assessment for the unit Singing Skills for Actors and Dancers for our first project Warm Ups and Workouts. The assessment took place just like our previous lessons had taken place with our singing teacher leading exercises. Through this video we had to ensure that we understood the knowledge we had gained these past weeks by executing the correct posture and alignment whilst singing, have good control over our breathing and then repeating back musical phrases with detailed accuracy.

As the assessment started I went through the posture checks that we had focused on, especially making sure my shoulders were relaxed and down as that was something our singing teacher and mentioned a couple of times. To do my best during this assessment I knew that posture was important to enable me to maintain my breath control and perform clearly and confidently. This was my first singing assessment so I was slightly nervous, but knowing my posture correct made me feel at ease. 

The first part of the assessment was performing the vocal warm ups we had learnt from our previous sessions. 

These warm ups included: 
  • Sirening 
  • Sounds
  • Number Scales
  • "Happy Birthday"
  • Jamaican Lullaby - "Janine Mama"
  • "Mr. Rabbit"
  • The Month Song 
  • Opera No's, He he's, and Ha ha's
  • "The Little Green Frog"
  • "What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor"
  • Singing and Responding
Once we had finished the first part of the assessment, it was time for Singing and Responding in partners. 

Sirening

We performed a "Mmm" siren and a "Ngg" siren.

I was fully confident with the Sirening exercise as we had repeated it in every session we had and I did practise outside of class too. I was happy that I managed two sirens without needing to breath in between. The meant I was feeling fairly confident for the rest of the assessment. 

When I performed the Lip Trills I did need to take a breath in between the sirens as I couldn't carry the Lip Trill on. This showed me I should have focused on my ability to Lip Trill for an extended amount of time instead of just one siren. 

Sounds

We performed the following pattern of sounds: "pft, pft, shh, shh, tskk, tskk".

The sound exercise had improved from last time as my "pft"'s had improved in diction and pitch. I also found my projection had improved as I had developed more confidence in the singing lessons we've had. 

Number Scales

We performed the number scale from one to eight and then eight down to one, up and down the scale. 

I had been practising Number Scales outside of singing and had a great deal of familiarisation of pitch and pace of the exercise. I always enjoy Number Scales because it really sets you in the mood for an upbeat performance.

"Happy Birthday"

We sung "Happy Birthday" altogether and then individually.

"Happy Birthday" was probably my least favourite exercise we had learnt due to my pitching difficulties and lack of confidence. Once I stopped being so self-conscious and focused on my pitching I found that it was the best I have ever performed it. The other exercises I had done which focused on pitching and becoming comfortable when singing in front of people really benefited this exercise.

Jamaican Lullaby - "Janine Mama"

We sung "Janine Mama" as a class and then split into four groups to sing it in-a-round. 

As a class we sung "Janine Mama" and everyone know the words and performed it with the correct pitch and pace. I realised how beautiful the lullaby was and the soft tone made it sound so beautiful and wholesome. When we sung in-a-round it created a powerful but soft and beautiful sound, like it should do as it's a lullaby. 

I personally really love this exercise because the lullaby itself is so beautiful that it's really soft and gentle to sing. We explored many differences of tones from soft and gentle to harsh and creepy, and it's amazing what type of atmosphere you can create through you voice and singing. 

"Mr. Rabbit"

We started performing "Mr. Rabbit" without the actions, then we performed it with just the actions and then together. We then split into four groups and sung and performed it in-a-round.

I found I had related the words to the actions and the actions to the words so much that it was harder than I thought to perform without one of the other. This made me feel slightly unconfident when it came to the first parts of the exercise, but it was a challenge and I managed to do it. I did have to really concentrate and it didn't come as naturally as the previous exercises. 

When we performed it with the actions I was far more confident and I really enjoyed the upbeat performance of it. It was meant to be fun and slightly silly so it was relaxing to do an exercise which benefited you but also calmed you down. 

When we sung it in-a-round, I realised how I had improved from the last time. I found it difficult to sing my pitch when people were singing completely different pitches around me. I now have the power to isolate myself so that I can perform and not copy others when it's not needed. 

"The Month Song"

We sung "The Month Song" where we had to jump up when we sung our birthday month. We then were told to sing with focus on clear, exaggerated clarity and diction and add characterisation to it.

"The Month Song" is similar to "Mr. Rabbit" because it's upbeat and energetic. I had found previously that when I jumped up my clarity and diction was distorted because of the action so I tried to focus on doing the action correctly but without ruining the song. I always enjoy adding characterisation to a exercise because it becomes a performance and allows you to interpret in a different way. 

I think that "The Month Song" works best when it's performed with characterisation in a large group, familarising yourself with the exercise is always helpful but overall, it's a group exercise. None the lesson, I still really enjoy the exercise as it's fun and again so simple. Every exercise we do is simple and memorable, therefore, we can then use these in the future. 

Opera No's, He he's, and Ha ha's

 We sung "No, no, noo", "He, he, hee" and "Ha, ha, haa" in pairs with gestures and expression. 

Similar to "The Month Song" exercise this is a really fun exercise to explore characterising. For the "No, no, noo" I made the body language strict and uptight with a strong posture and disapproving facial expression. The sound was sharp and controlled. For the "He, he, hee" it was childish and fun with slouched and relaxed body language with delighted facial expressions. The "Ha, ha, haa" were far more strong and slightly majestic. There was strong body language with a delighted facial expression including a smirk. This created a performance of the exercise and gave it different flavours by exploring it in different ways. 

The more you explore a exercise the more exciting it becomes and it can develop different skills further. I think it's important to keep developing exercises so you don't get bored and you get so used to performing it, it doesn't do anything to develop anymore skills. A variety in exercises allows your skills to keep improving. 

"The Little Green Frog"

We sung "The Little Green Frog" firstly in our normal volume but then in a quite volume.

By doing this change of volume, there was more focus on sustaining the volume and controlling it. It's really easy to sing normally and what comes natural but being able to take direction is important. I found this was the first time I was able to do the exercise without worrying if I was getting the words or actions right. It's easier to take direction when you have a knowledge of what you're doing. This shows me that I need to really practise what I'm meant to do so I can then take direction without struggling to do a million things at one. 

"What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor" 

We sung "What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor" and then we sung it in-a-round with the sopranos, altos and bass as the three groups. 

Focusing on my harmony outside of lesson really helped me when performing it in the assessment because I knew it and I was familiar to what I had to do. Without rehearsing outside of class, I may have forgotten it. I thought the contrast of atmospheres we created with the harmonies was something really simple to do but can impact a performance positively and keeps it different. 

Singing and Responding 

In the last exercise our lecturer played and sung something and then we repeated. 

I payed close detail to everything to ensure I was repeating it as accurately as possible. In a larger group it's harder for the lecturer to know who is going wrong but I think that we had all really improved our Singing and Responding techniques from the last two weeks by having the knowledge of what to focus on.

The more knowledge you have when it comes to singing skills the easier they start to become. I think it's important to ask questions and gain knowledge as these will be important and aid you as a performer in the future. 

We then went onto the second part of the assessment were we performed Singing and Responding with our partner from last week. 

This time, my partner and I made sure that our lines were longer in length as that was something our singing lecturer had mentioned last time. I felt like this part of the assessment was my weakness because suddenly there was more focus on how I was singing and my nerves overcame me. 

I had been practising Singing and Responding outside of lessons to ensure I was prepared for this assessment, therefore, I was thoroughly surprised that I didn't do as well as I could have. I think my nerves got the best of me, unfortunately. 

I think the first part of the assessment was much stronger than the second but saying that I was happy with my overall performance. I haven't had much singing experience so for someone who sometimes lacks confidence I think I have done the best I could have and I tried my hardest to really go for all the exercises and not hold back. 

I am really glad I set myself aims at the end of each session because this enable me to focus on parts and improve them and it really did help in the assessment. I couldn't believe that I have learnt so many useful exercises during this project, in the assessment I was strongly familar with all of them. This shows me the more I try and the more I do outside of work the more I can develop my skills

Evaluation of Warm Ups and Workouts

I thought this was a really great start to the Singing Skills for Actors and Dancers unit because I have learnt so many useful techniques and exercises I can apply to songs to perform to the best of my ability. All the exercises learnt focus on different aspects of the voice to warm them up and improve them. 

At the start of the project I hoped that I would gain confidence of how to use my voice correctly and efficiently. I am completely postive that this project has enable me to have confidence in performing and knowledge of how to sing correctly without straining my voice. Simple exercises like going through the right posture has allowed me to have a better understanding of the correct posture and alignment which now comes naturally due to self-awareness.

I never realised how important breathing was important but through the exercises I noticed that control of breath is so important and that was something I worked on to help me in the future. I was struggling with controlling breath before but with the tools are lecturer gave us I developed this and now I am really confident in my breathing and it's something I know how to control to help me. 

As we practised the exercises again and again, various parts improved other the weeks such as my articulation and diction. I also have awareness of how to balance and control my concentration as sometimes it caused me to go wrong because I was scared of going wrong. Letting the exercises come naturally through familarisation is certainly the best way to learn and develop singing skills in my opinion.

Many of the exercises helped me with performing other exercises, they aided each other in different ways. For example, when we sung songs in-a-round it helped with isolating myself so I didn't start singing other people's lines. When we started the song "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor" the exercises like singing "Mr. Rabbit" or "Janine Mama" aided me to be independent and control my own pitching and not sing what other people are singing. I really enjoy harmonsing so being able to do it confidently is really exciting as it's something I hope to do more of in the future.

My favourite exercise will be the Opera No's because as an actor it was interesting to characterise the exercise and explore relationships whilst keeping up the singing. Our exercises started to become performances and this was exciting! 

I still find the "Happy Birthday" exercise slightly daunting but my pitch as improved and even though I didn't feel comfortable with the exercise I completed it anyway so I could improve and not hold back. If I held back all the time I wouldn't be able to improve. 

Throughout this project I have overcome many fears and gained a lot. I am glad I approached the project with a sense of positivity and worked hard outside to really develop and focus my skills will identifying positives, improvements and aims each session to work and focus on. I still have a lot to work on but I can't wait to see how the skills in this project will aid me in the next project, Singing Showcase, and more projects to come! 





Monday, 7 October 2013

Warm Ups and Workouts: Monday 7th October 2013: Session Four

Monday 7th October 2013
Session Four

As always, we made sure our posture was correct which is something that I think all of us are used to and comes naturally without our singing teacher having to go through every key point of posture each lesson. 

We then began the warm up exercises. From our previous sessions we had learnt many different warm ups. 

Today we performed the following warm up exercises: 
  • Sirening
  • Number Scales
  • "Mr. Rabbit" 
  • Jaw Relaxation - "Ya, ya, ya, ya, yaaa"
  • Opera No's
I have really found that from practising these warm ups in the sessions and outside I have improved and developed singing skills, such as:
  • Correct Posture and Alignment
  • Relaxed Body
  • Breath Control
  • Clarity and Diction
  • Concentration
  • Pitching
  • Jaw and Mouth Engagement 
  • Characterisation
  • Confidence
  • Memory 
Some I have made bigger improvements compared to others but I am noticing that my singing skills have developed through these past four sessions. I know the more I perform these exercise the better I will become and will then help me further and develop myself as a performer. With the help of our singing teacher I have knowledge of the correct posture and focusing on the different and important aspects needed to sing. 

After we warmed up our voices we went onto another Calling and Responding exercise. 

Sirening

Sirening is something I have learnt to really find useful when warming up the voice. I am now able to do the Lip Trill without pushing my cheeks back which I am very happy with! With my practise of controlling my breath I have gained a technique of breath control which doesn't just help me with this exercise but all of the exercises we do. 

I also realised that Sirening helps with knowing the difference between the "head voice" and the chest "voice". Performing the Sirening exercise is much easier by having that transition from both voices. Before I didn't really know what they were, but I have gained knowledge and understanding from this exercise. 

Number Scales

I have always found this exercise fun as it's upbeat. By performing this exercise I have developed my pitching skills and also my clarity and diction. Before, when I sung the numbers they were rushed and my accuracy was poor, as I familarised myself with this exercise I can perform it confidently even though it's fast pace. 

I also like how simple this exercise is, you can do it independently without relying on a piano to exercise with the concentration on diction. Diction is especially useful when performing Musical Theatre which is something I have a interest in.

"Mr. Rabbit"

I have found that the actions come naturally with this song through practise. This is a useful observation as in a dance number associating the words of the song with the dance move will allow a more accurate performance of the dance and the song overall. 

By doing slightly silly exercises like this I have gained a lot of confidence because any inhibition I use to have is now gone and I'm comfortable with performing exercises like this whether it's independently or in a group. 

I think learning short songs has been exercising my memory too which is useful because to learn songs accurately and efficiently you want to possess a good memory. 
Jaw Relaxation - "Ya, ya, ya, ya, yaaa"

Although this exercise was only introduced to us last week, I have still found it really helpful. I have a habit of tensing everything due to my slight lack of confidence (which has improved vastly with this proved). Relaxing the jaw is important to perform notes smoothly but it also slowly warm ups the voice without being to harsh and sudden. 

Opera No's

This exercise really helped me to think about characterisation when singing, as an actor this should come natural to me but placing that focus and awareness allows me to include simple gestures which have a great impact on the performance making it more interesting to watch.

Calling and Response

We developed the Calling and Response exercise from last week by instead of doing it in a big group we were split into pairs. 

Our singing teacher gave us some details to pay attention to:
  • Volume
  • Pitch
  • Pace
  • Tone 
  • Timing
  • Note Length
In order to distinct we need to really be accurate and these factors will help us perform with accuracy and attention to detail. 

The task was, in our pairs, to each sing a line to your partner that they will repeat and then your partner sing a line to you and you repeat. This was a chance to practise for the assessment next week. We had some time to go through it in our partners and then we all performed it to each other in class. Alison wrote notes down on what we could do to improve. 

Lea sung a line from "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac for me to copy: 

"I took my love, I took it down."

I sung a line from "For Good" by Wicked for Lea to copy: 

"Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes the sun."

Our feedback from our singing teacher was positive but we needed to sing more of the song to copy if we wanted to distinct. 

I liked that this time we were in partners because we could help each other and listen closely to that person and concentrate on them to give them feedback as an individual. 

I didn't know Lea's song so that was quite challenging for me to repeat but this challenge was good chance to see if my practising songs outside of lesson had paid off. I felt like I was successful with repeating the line as I focused on what our singing teacher had given us. 

I still think Calling and Response is something I need to focus on and improve as it's an important singing skill to have and it's also part of our grading critera. 

In conclusion, I thought this was a really productive session, especially as we have our singing assessment for this project next week. 

I was happy that I have familarised myself with the exercises we have to learnt as I am now fully confidence and I know my skills as a performer are developing. I find it really interesting how just having the knowledge of warming up can really benefit a performer and develop their skills and knowledge. 

I am going to continue work on the Calling and Response exercise outside of class with help from some of my class mates in preparation for next week's assessment.

My aim is to be able to walk into the assessment feeling knowledgeable and confident by going over everything we have learnt in this project.

Monday, 30 September 2013

Warm Ups and Workouts: Monday 30th September 2013: Session Three

Monday 30th September 2013 
Session Three

I find that I am now correcting my posture and alignment for singing automatically and I don't need to be reminded. This natural realisation of posture is great as my body and brain is getting used to what is the correct way to sing. 

We began our warm ups, many of them we have previously done, such as:
  • Sirening (with Lip Trills)
  • Sounds
  • Number Scales
We also were introduced to new exercises, such as:
  • Arpeggios
  • Jaw Relaxation - "Ya, ya, ya, ya, yaaa"
  • Opera No's
  • Singing and Responding
Sirening

I have been practising Sirening with Lip Trills outside of class to improve my breath control as it's an important aspect of singing. I found that this session I was able to complete two complete Lip Trills without taking a breath in between. Practising had paid off and my breath control is getting better which I have extremely happy about. 

Number Scales

I had previously worked on my diction when performing the Number Scales and worked on learning the exercise with the development too. I have found that practising the Sirening outside of class to develop my breath control has benefited this exercise too. 

My Number Scales are now much clearly to listen to and I'm not straining my voice. 

I think it's great that the more I practise important aspects of singing the easier some of the exercises become and more beneficial. 

Arpreggios

This was one of the new exercises we were introduced to in this session. We were given simple sounds like "mm" and "nm" to go up and down the scale with.

This exercise had focus on tensing the diaphragm enable to hit the top and bottom notes along with breathing correctly with control to elongate the sounds.

I really enjoyed this exercise and I knew it was really helping me to warm up my voice in preparation for singing. I find it really useful to know simple exercises like this can really prepare you voice for a performance. Again, my work outside of class really helped me to control my breathing which is something I may have struggled with when performing this project. 

Jaw Relaxation - "Ya, ya, ya, ya, yaaa"

The next new exercise we were introduced was one which relaxed and stretched the jaw and mouth by singing a sound and then elongating it. The jaw and mouth had to be wide to really get the sound out.

The simple sound was:

"Ya, ya, ya, ya, yaaa"

The more you opened your mouth the better the sound sounded as it was clear. We then went on to sing each "ya" individually in a circle whilst everyone else gently hummed to the same tune. 

I find it quite easy to grasp the sound as it was just repeated. There was slightly issue with my pitch but as we repeated and rehearsed it, it soon become much easier. When it came to singing it individually  part-by-part it was slightly more difficult because you had to listen to the pitch in detail. As everyone was humming to the tune I find it far more easier to really grasp then the "Happy Birthday" version as it was short and quick, whereas, this was far more relaxed and smooth. 

Relaxing the jaw is important to a singer because the bigger the mouth is the more sound can come out, but this needs to be controlled at the same time. You want to stretch the jaw before so it's easy for you to sing a note smoothly. 

I think I'm becoming more comfortable with singing with the group as I wasn't so worried on what people thought - just that I was pitching the "ya" correctly. 

Opera No's

The next exercise had a focus on characterisation the same as "The Month Song". 
This time we had to sing: 

"No, no, no, no, nooo,
No, no, no, no, nooo,
No, no, no, no, nooo, 
No, no, no, no, nooo, 
No."

We were put into partners and had to sing this to each other, using whatever context we wanted, in the form of opera. We were told it had to be a dramatic performance - loud and confident! As it was a short sounds and then an elongated sound we had to keep up our diction and pitch even though we were performing. 

We then performed them to each other and watched each other's performances. 

I found this really fun because it was something different and performing with a partner we could explore the relationship through singing and perform that, like a duet-type performance. To add to the characterisation my partner and I added gestures and explored our facial expression and body language so it was performance-worthy.

It was slightly hard to concentrate on two things at once, therefore I think the singing suffered slightly due to this. Next time I need to equally concentrate on both parts of the performance and be more relaxed. I also noticed that this was the case in other people's performances too, not just mine. As I'm someone who is interested in acting, this exercise was really interesting and fun to perform. I hope we get to perform more exercises like this so I can build up my confidence even more.

Singing and Responding

We went onto singing the first part of The Lion King's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight". 

We sung:

"There's a calm surrender to the rush of day,
When the heart of the rolling world can be turned away."

We learnt this by our singing teacher playing a line and then us repeating it, she would then correct us on parts and then allow us to repeat it the correct way. I knew this song therefore, the words or the pitching wasn't a struggle for me. I did have to watch I didn't go too fast as our singing teacher was going through it slowly for us. 

It did take a while for everyone to be on the same pitch and also to come in on the same time. Many people relied too heavily on the others around them when coming in and missed the first word. This showed me what to avoid doing when learning a song and, when it's needed, how the skill or being independent is significant to a singer. 

The exercise allowed us to develop our listening skills, the more precise you listen the more accurate the performance is. It soon became easier as we went through it several times.

In conclusion, this session was extremely useful but also really fun. Even though I wouldn't say I'm really talented at singing, as I'm more into acting, the exercise and songs we do are fun and I am gaining more confidence in the lessons. Confidence is half the battle and I really hope to develop my skills as, for example my breath control, I've focused on and improved. 

I enjoyed performing the Opera No's today because it was based on characterisation and using body language and facial expression to portray the relationship between two characters in a performance is really useful to me as an actor. Doing exercises where there's a focus in performance allows me to be more confident and I am feeling more confident in singing in front of people and as a performer. 

Last week, I practised my breath control and this week it really helped me and I could hear an improvement.  I think this weeks focus should be listening to songs outside of lessons and seeing if I can repeat them with accuracy to develop my Singing and Responding as I knew the song this week already. 

My aim this week is to be able to accurately repeat a song which I may not know well to challenge myself more.

Monday, 23 September 2013

Warm Ups and Workouts: Monday 23rd September 2013: Session Two

Monday 23rd September 2013
Session Two 

Similar to last week, we started by assuring that our posture and alignment was correct for singing. Although I remembered most of the key points to focus on when executing the correct posture I did need to be reminded on some of the parts. Going through correct posture each week means I should start executing the correct posture and alignment correctly.

We began our vocal warm ups, many of them we had previously done last week.

These vocal warm ups include:
  • Sirening (added a development)
  • "Happy Birthday"
  • Sounds
  • "Mr. Rabbit"
  • Number Scale (added a development)
  • Jamaican Lullaby - "Janine Mama" (added a development)
We also learn new vocal warm ups, such as:
  • "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
  • "The Month Song"
  • "The Little Green Frog"
After we had warmed up we began to work on harmony work with the song "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor".

Sirening

We added Lip Trills to the Sirening exercises to develop it further and for the exercise to become slightly more challenging. A Lip Trill is where you push your breath forward towards the lips and they vibrate together. You then add tone to the breath whilst the lips are vibrating.

To complete the Lip Trills, I had to hold my cheeks so that my lips could trill. I found pitching easy but breath control needed a lot of focus on to complete the exercise. Between each siren I found myself taking huge breaths, this showed me that I have poor control over my breath and this is something I have to work on to improve.

Developing an exercise is a great way to keep it fresh and to strengthen singing skills. I know now I have to focus on breath control so I can execute this exercise stronger and longer.

"Happy Birthday"

We sung "Happy Birthday" again, which focused on our ability to pitch and to listen to others. Again we sung each word individually.

I found my pitching had slightly improved because I was listening with more detail compared to last week’s session.

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow"

We sung:
"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high,
There’s a land that I’ve heard of once in a lullaby."

We sung this song in the same way as "Happy Birthday". We went through it as a class a few times and then stood in a circle and each sung a word individually.

I preferred singing this song compared to "Happy Birthday". I think this is because I was familiar with singing the song in the correct pitch; therefore, it was easier for me to listen and pitch the next word. If I wasn’t familiar with the song then I think I would have found it much more difficult as there’s a higher range of pitches in this version.

I’m starting to feel more confident with singing and I’m trying to really go for the exercises even when we have to do work individually and I go wrong in front of everyone. Being able to carefully listen and then accurately find the correct pitch will be a really useful skill in the future!

Number Scale

We added the development onto the Number Scales by adding counting down from eight.

The exercise now was performed like this:

1.
1, 2, 1.
1, 2, 3, 2, 1.
1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
8.
8. 7, 8.
8, 7, 6, 7, 8.
8, 7, 6, 5, 6, 7, 8.
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

I had been practicing the original number scales from last week so I was fairly confident with the pitching and this made my diction more precise.

As we developed the exercise this week I was really happy that I had managed to practice outside so I could then focus on the development and not what we had learned previously.

The development to this exercise is a far more increased pitch, and being a low singer, I slightly struggled with this and had to use my head voice instead of my chest voice. Again I am going to practice this development so I can familiarize myself with it.

Jamaican Lullaby – "Janine Mama"

We had sung "Janine Mama" last week in-a-round and this session we were split into smaller groups.

It was increasingly hard to keep your own pitch going when there are so many other different pitches around you. I found myself slipping in and out of various pitches. Once we had going through this a few times I found it far easier to isolate myself and sing without slipping into other people’s pitches.

I found this exercise useful as when it comes to harmony work, as a singer you have to be confident and maintain your own part and not slip into other people’s parts to get the distinctive sound.

The words this week was much easier to remember because I had made sure to go through them outside of class. A lack of confidence when it comes to the actual words of a song or exercise can disenable the person to really execute the exercise properly.  To ensure I was getting the most out of these exercises I made sure to practice the words and this really helped me.

"The Month Song"

We learnt a new exercise where we sung each month of the year as so:

"January, February, March, April, May, June, July,
August, September, October, November, December...
January, February, March, April, May, June, July."

We sung this again and again but then we had to sing it and act posh. This meant sitting on the edge of our seats and performing stereotypical characteristics of someone who is posh would do. We then had to jump up on the month we were born, so for me that was June.

As an actor in training, I found adding characteristics to the song was really enjoyable and added energy to the exercise. I thought it was really useful to know that changing certain parts of your singing can totally change how the exercise is performed to make it more interesting.

A simple action like jumping up when the month we were born in was actually quite difficult. Suddenly, there was a pressure added and the characteristics dropped because I was concentrating on something else. I’m hoping by becoming more confident in singing that actions and gestures won’t be so difficult.

I didn’t have any problems with pitching but I feel like I lost my diction as the pace of the exercise increased, this is something I’m going to work on to improve.

"The Little Green Frog"

Next we learnt another little song:

"Mm-m, went the little green frog one day,
Mm-m, went the little green frog,
Mm-m, went the little green frog one day,
And the frog went mm-m, ahh.

But we know frogs go sha-lal-ala,
Sha-lal-ala,
Sha-lal-ala,
We know frogs go sha-lal-ala,
They don’t go mm-m, ahh

And we know frogs go PING in the microwave,
PING in the microwave,
PING in the microwave,
We know frogs go PING in the microwave,
They don’t go mm-m, ahh."

With this song we added in actions and movements such as poking out our tongue after "mm-m", clapping before "sha-lal-ala" and opening our hands when singing "PING".

This was the longest song we had learn so far, most of what we were doing was just a chorus or a line. This already presented the exercise to be fairly more challenging compared to the others.

Keeping the pace of this song was fairly challenging as you were doing actions, whilst singing a lengthy song and also having to stick your tongue out – which is harder than you would think!

This song was quite similar to "Mr. Rabbit" and I thoroughly enjoyed it because it was fun and slightly silly! The sooner I got use to the words – which didn’t take too long, showing my memory is improving slowly – I was really enthusiastic when singing it.

We practiced the song several times as a class which helped me to familiarise myself with the movements. The exercise was a slight tongue twister as sticking your tongue out had to be a fast pace movement or all diction would go. When we sung it a final time I was confident and really enthusiastic! This type of warm up really suits me because it’s fun but needs focus.

I am going to go through this outside of class to really work on adding actions to songs as this will help me when performing songs as characters.

‘What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor’

We then went onto sing:

"What shall we do with the drunken sailor,
What shall we do with the drunken sailor,
What shall we do with the drunken sailor,
Ear-ly in the morning.

Hooray and up she rises,
Hooray and up she rises,
Hooray and up she rises,
Ear-ly in the morning."

We began by singing this as a class; most of the class knew this song so it wasn’t hard to grasp the words. We were then split into three groups to create the harmony.

These groups were:

  • Bass
  • Alto (me)
  • Sopranos

The boys sung bass whilst the girls sung were altos and sopranos. The altos were the lower singers and the sopranos the higher. I was an alto as I have a lower voice.

The boys were bass as their voices were low with a deep pitch and a loud volume.

The soprano girls had higher voices and consisted of most of the girls in our class.

The altos didn’t consist of as many girls as the sopranos and were the girls who have the lower voices. I have a low voice so I was in this group. The altos weren’t as deep as the bass.

The bass group had to sing:

Hooray and up she rises,
Hooray and up she rises,
Hooray and up she rises,
Ear-ly in the morning.

Throughout the song they would only sing hooray in a deep and low pitch. They then joined in with "Ear-ly in the morning" missing the and up she rises.

The altos sang the same as the bass but a slightly higher pitch, the sopranos sand the whole song at an even higher pitch.

As a class this took a long time to really get used to even though it was just a short part of the song. Our lecturer had to go through the separate parts for the groups. When we had finally rehearsed it a few times it sounded really creepy and had a menacing atmosphere to it. I thought it sounded really different and created something different.

All the other things we had down were very upbeat and happy so to hear and perform something contrasting was a great experience.

I couldn’t believe how using harmonies can really create an energetic and atmospheric performance. Harmonies are something I really would like to work on more and have as a skill to use.

In conclusion, as a class, all these warm ups were improved from last week. As we knew what we were doing there were more confidence and with the confidence the exercises were much stronger. Developing the exercises kept them fresh and worked and developed other singing skills.

There are now many singing exercises and warm ups that I think I could really use to help me before a performance.

I was very happy that I had practised Number Scales outside of class because I imagine I would have found the development difficult if I didn’t.

Last session I mentioned working on my breathing and I think that’s something I really need to work on as it came up today as something that needs work when performing the Sirening exercise. I need to be able to control my breath easily and efficiently. Practising the Sirening and Lip Trill exercise should help me with this.


I have now familiarised myself with the exercises so my aim is to focus on Sirening and Lip Trills so I can perform them without taking too many breaths.