Auditioning: Monday 24th February 2014: Singing Assessment

Monday 24th February 2014

Singing Assessment

Today was the day of our singing assessment for our solo project "Auditioning". 

I began the session by performing some warm ups which I knew would help and aid my performance for the assessment. 

Warm Up

Assessment

Here is the video for my solo assessment: 

During my performance I felt that my characteristic were the strongest part of my performance as it was the part I was most comfortable with. 

I started the song with strong diction and articulation to reinforce the character's frustration and new-found independency, I struggled with the performance slightly because it wasn't to an audience where I could bounce of them but to a camera, this showed me that I shouldn't rely on the audience's reactions all the time because it might not always be there. Performing to the camera was slightly weird at the start but as the song continued I gained my confidence and was happy overall. 

When singing "It's me and not you" I felt there was a new found passion in the line and it was far more effective than I had ever performed it before. This then allowed me to sing the next line with more sincerity and heart ache. 

I started to lose my timing slightly and the acoustics of the room made me lose a lot of confidence as I was used to practising in one of the sound-proof rooms. I tried my best to pick up on the timing but throughout the song I had lost it and I feel this strongly affected the vocal performance of the song for the worse. 

I managed to catch up with the timing but I was continuously losing it throughout so the precision and detail of the song was lost, even though I knew this I had to keep up my performance and continue as best as I could. 

When I finished the song I felt that it could have gone much better and was slightly dis-heartened as I felt I could have practised and rehearsed more to produce an overall stronger vocal performance. Although this was slightly frustrating I can take this experience and use it in future experiences. 

Overall, the assessment could have gone much better but I felt that I had a strong acting performance and as an actor this is the part I found easier anyway. I feel that singing a solo was a big step for me to gain confidence with singing and to gain new experiences.

Evaluation of Auditioning  

Warm Ups and Workouts allowed me to gain new knowledge of using and protecting my voice to fulfil it's full impact, Singing Showcase enabled me to start gaining a wider repertoire of songs and for me to learn what works for my voice, I feel that Auditioning as helped me to gained a lot of confidence and motivation to achieve more in singing and to explore different types of performances but still applying my knowledge and passion for acting. 

Through this project I had to rely on my own independency through rehearsals and knowing what to work on to improve and develop my skills and to produce a strong performance. This experience of being independent will help me in the future when it comes to auditioning for drama schools and rehearsing for shows. As a performer, self-discipline is extremely important so exercising this in the discipline of singing will provide me experience for the future. 

I have also been setting myself aims each week to develop my skill and then completing those aims the next week, target setting allows you to develop skills and become more aware as a performer so setting and completing these targets has meant that I now have a better knowledge of my own skills and what works and doesn't work for me. 

I feel that I could learn a song independently confidently and explore the song to produce a strong performance to show to an audition panel or to an audience. Performing in front of the class as especially allowed me to grow in confidence because before I would feel too awkward or too self-conscious to perform full-out. 

Through this project I've added a song to my portfolio which I could perform strongly and efficiently which is important for the future of my performing career. I feel like I would benefit from adding more songs to my portfolio to ever increase my versatility and skill as a performer. 

By choosing a song I could characterise well, I feel that this helped my performance and knowing what works is important when performing a song as a character. I would love to explore a different song where there isn't so much information already given and I can take my own personal spin off it. 

I feel like I have gained a lot of confidence as a singer in this project and used a lot of the techniques and knowledge I have learnt from previous projects to aid me in my performance. I am excited for the next and final project of this unit so I can explore my singing ability even more!

Auditioning: Monday 10th February 2014: Dry Run for Singing Assessment

Monday 10th February 2014 

Dry Run for Singing Assessment

Today was an opportunity for us to perform our solos in front of the class and get some peer feedback and also watch others and give them some constructive criticism. 

I felt it was necessary to take part in this dry run to enable me to prepare for next week's assessment. 

For the dry run I had actually prepared a backing track to use but unfortunately the CD didn't work and I had to sing it a cappella. I was slightly embarrassed by this and felt that it impacted my timing of the song and pace as I didn't have anything to follow. But I carried on as best as I could. 

During the song, I felt that I added a lot of characteristic and confidence that the character of 'Fanny Brice' would have herself. I kept standing in the same place but used gestures to aid my performance and to keep it upbeat. I also felt that reacting and directing comments to the audience allowed them to be absorbed in my performance and be far more responsive to what I was singing. 

As this was a musical theatre number, and a very famous one at that, I wanted to give it as much justice as possible. I did start out quite nervous but as the song developed and I felt people were enjoying it, I was far more confident and happy. 

When I got to this part of the song: 

"I'm gonna live and live NOW!Get what I want, I know how! One roll for the whole shebang! One throw that bell will go clang,Eye on the target and wham, One shot, one gun shot and bam!"

I stumbled on the words but I kept my performance up as much as I could, obviously I should have gone through the lyrics more so I knew them completely and this would not have happened, unfortunately I didn't but I was glad that it carried on with the rest of the song. 

When I was finished I received some feedback from my classmates: 

Positives: 

• Max Wilkinson - "Strong characterisation and performance which was enjoyable to watch!" 
• George Hyde - "Projection was strong which led to a confident performance."
• Shannon Allen - "Confident performance and hit some of the bigger notes with the same confidence throughout!" 

Improvements: 

• Freya Hunter - "Make sure to practise with the instrumental as some of the singing was slightly out of tune." 
• Stephanie Ridge - "Breath out before breathing in so you're taking in as much as breath as possible and that will aid your vocal ability and strength." 

It was really helpful to get some feedback from my class about my performance because they were helpful and gave me a boost of confidence too. I'm not really a singer so having some positive feedback about the song and how I used characterisation to aid the performance was fulfilling to me and gave me a boost of adrenaline to really focus down on the song and rehearse so next week was even better. 

It would seem that the acting side of my performance was stronger than the vocal performance so this meant I need to truly focus on practising the song with the instrumental and focusing on my breath intake so the notes were performed to the best of my ability. 

In conclusion, performing to my class and gaining feedback before my assessment has given me a confidence boost and allowed me to know what to practise and rehearse. 

I have never been that confident with singing so singing in front of my class was a big step for me to take and I am happy that I took it because now it's given me that motivation and realisation that maybe with more work and effort into singing I could actually become stronger and a more rounded performer. 

Even though I had gone through the lyrics of the song, it was obvious that they needed more work as I stumbled on the words. I, of course, can't do the same in the real assessment so practising the words and completely knowing them off-by-heart is essential for the assessment. 

I performed the song in detail through my performance but to be fully confident in the song then I do have to work more on my singing ability. But overall, I was happy with the performance and I felt that the audience enjoyed it!

The assessments next week so I will focus on going through the song and the detail of the vocal performance so that next week I perform confidently and as accurately as possible. 

I feel confident in the acting side of my performance of the song and I feel like I've successfully used my research to portray a character which the audience enjoys watching. 

I stumbled upon the words of my song so I need to make sure that I know them before the assessment by just going through the lyrics and listening to the song. 

I hope that next week I take in the comments I received this week and apply them to my rehearsals, most of the comments are just reinforcing what I've already been practising and applying to the song but by doing this it should aid my performance.

Auditioning: Week beginning: Monday 3rd February 2014

Week beginning: Monday 3rd February 2014 

This is week was the week before our dry-run for our singing assessment. This week meant that I needed to finish go through the song and really start polishing it up to performance standard. 

Rehearsal 

Warm-Up

Independent Practise

Last week I decided with my singing teacher to use a backing track. This was because we felt the song would be more effective and it would aid my performance to be strong and powerful. 

I went onto YouTube to find a backing track that I could then burn onto a disk.

This was the backing track I found:

As I now know what backing track I'm using, I needed to ensure that I was comfortable with the backing track and that it was an appropriate backing track to use. 

It did take me a while to get the song but after a few tries I felt that it was appropriate and I could use it for my assessment. 

So far I have practised and learnt these parts of my song in detail: 

"Don't tell me not to live,(breath) just sit and putter, (breath)

Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter, (breath)

Don't bring around a cloud to rain on my parade, (breath)

Don't tell me not to fly,(breath) I simply got to,

If someones takes a spill, (breath) it's me and not you,

Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade,(breath)

I'll march my band out,(breath) I'll beat my drum (breath)

And if I'm fanned out, (breath) your turn at bat, sir,

At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir,

I guess I didn't make it, (breath)"

To be fully prepared for the dry-run next week I would have to complete my progress of the song and be able to sing it to a performance standard.

I first practised the parts of the song I have already learnt so I knew that, that was learnt and memorised. 

The next part of the song I practised and looked at was: 

"But whether I'm the rose of sheer perfection,

A freckle on the nose of life's complexion,

The cinder or the shiny apple of its eyes, (breath)"

For this part of the song, it follows the same tune as the previous part. Again, it's very fast paced and I needed to make sure that my diction and articulation wasn't lost as the pace increases. This part of the song wasn't too hard to tune but it again I did make sure to that what I was singing was in time and as accurately as possible. 

I went onto learning this part of the song:

"I gotta fly once, I gotta try once,

Only can die once, (breath) right, sir?

Ooh, life is juicy, juicy and you see,

I gotta have my bite, sir. (breath)"

This part was far more difficult than I had realised. I couldn't reach the notes without croaking my voice and I was finding it was sounding as smooth as it should have. 

I was slightly worried as I knew that I would have to perform it next week and be able to reach the note, therefore, I asked my one of my classmates, Stephanie Ridge, to help. Steph told me to engage my core when reaching the note. I tried doing it and already it sounded better. She then told me to doing a sit up whilst singing the note. Once I did this it showed me that I could reach the note but I just had to focus and engage my core. 

I then practised both parts of the song together a few times to get used to the transition between the parts I had been learning. 

The next part I learnt was: 

"Get ready for me love, 'cause I'm a "comer",

I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer, (breath)

Don't bring around the cloud to rain on my parade."

I felt this part had to have a stronger and more grounded tone to it and once it reached "my heart's a drummer" the pitch goes up. I practised this a few times as I felt it wasn't in tune with the music as first. After I did it various times and listened closely to the music, it was easier to sustain the pitch. 

I then went onto learn:

"I'm gonna live and live NOW! (breath)

Get what I want, I know how! (breath)

One roll for the whole shebang! (breath)

One throw that bell will go clang, (breath)

Eye on the target and wham, (breath)

One shot, one gun shot and bam! (breath)

Hey, Mr Arnstein, here I am..."

I found that I kept confusing the "shebang", "clang" and "wham", so I relied on the words a lot when practising this part and determining how I would sing it. This meant that I wasn't very confident when singing it and I was getting easily frustrated, as I was getting frustrated my effort was lacking and I was getting annoyed at myself for not being able to concentrate. 

I decided to take a few moments to go over the song and then I tried going through the part again, as I practised it more, it started to improve. I decided that I would need to complete the rest of the song soon so I went on, at the "Hey, Mr Arnstein, her I am...", I was really happy with how my voice sounded because the words mixed well together and it sounded nice as it built up. 

I then added the four other parts together. Again the struggle of the pacing from the last line before "I'm going to live and live NOW!" meant there needed to be more commitment and detail to it. I had to keep listening to the backing track so I knew that I was in time with the music as much as possible.  But I carried on with learning the next part of the song. 

The next part I did was: 

"I'll march my band out, I will beat my drum, (breath)

And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir, (breath)

At least I didn't fake it, hat, sir, (breath)

I guess I didn't make it, (breath)"

The pacing was slightly difficult to get hold of at first but once I did it I found this section of the song easy to get used to. I used the sit up exercise to help me engage my core at first and then I practised it standing up. Once I had established how I would use my breath and core to sustain my performance it was much easier and the singing was more flowing. 

I again put the parts of the song I learnt together before going on to the final part of the song. 

Finally, I was able to do the last part of the song: 

Get ready for me love, 'cause I'm a "comer",

I simply gotta march, my heart's a drummer, (breath)

Nobody, no, nobody (breath), is gonna rain on my parade!"

The first part of the section were easy, but the last part needed far more control as I felt the "no"in the line threw me off the timing a bit. To get the true powerful ending I think I would need to focus on making sure that line is delivered strongly by engaging my diaphragm and correctly using my breath intakes to my advantage.

Once I had learnt the song and could sing it I needed to include a strong performance to aid my singing and to complete the performance criteria.

As an actor, I felt that the acting part of the song came much more naturally and was far easier from the character profile research I completed a few weeks ago. I feel that I should have probably put some more use into learning the song and getting used to it before and then completed the performance ideas I had but by going through the song I feel like I am happy about my song choice and I'm excited to show my class. 

I am confident with working independently when practising and rehearsing my song, I feel like I work efficiently and can ask others to help if needed. I feel that this sort of behaviour will aid me in the future when I'm auditioning for drama schools or rehearsing for shows. 

One of my aims last week was to learn the song accurately in detail, by going through different parts of the song I feel like I have completed that aim to the best of my ability. 

I also have began rehearsing it to a performance standard but I feel like there needs to be more rehearsals before the dry run of the assessment next week. 

From the session, I feel confident with the words, timing and pace of the song. 

I still need to feel more comfortable with some parts of the song so I will continue with my breathing exercises and performing a sit up whilst singing the bigger notes. 

To perform the song confidently to a performance standard with accuracy in the singing and detail in the performance through practise and rehearsal so my dry run is something I'm proud of!