Lesson 8 - 9th November

1. Latin music

Language

• This is the one characteristic that is shared among nearly all Latin American musical styles. Spanish and Portuguese are the two main languages found in the majority of this music, though Spanish-based Creole is also used in some music coming out of Haiti.

African Rhythm

• African music has a distinct rhythmic sound that is a major influence on many Latin American styles of music. Those included are the Dominican-Merengue, Bomba, Cuban Rumba, Puerto Rican Salsa, and the Columbian Cumbia.

Spanish Decima

• The Spanish decima is a song form that consists of 10 lines, each with eight syllables in them. This is a characteristic of more traditional Latin American music, though it is still seen in some of the modern pop music in the genre today.
  2.
  I didn't received any feedback today.
  3.
  Christmas song: Jingle bells
  Mock recital: We will rock you - Queen  , Mercy - Duffy
  4. What is a diphthong?
  
  
  A diphthong is a sound made by combining two vowels, specifically when it starts as one vowel sound and goes to another, like the oy sound in oil.
• The sounds of “ou” in “out” and of “oy” in “boy” are diphthongs.
  
  

Lesson 7 - 2nd November

1.
Over this half term, I practised the vocal warming and breathing exercises, I rehearsed the song that I'm working at. In my room, I always sing in front of the mirror so I can see if I'm breathing correctly. I also practised some tongue twisters, my favourite is the one where you have to say "comical economist" on scales, I'm using this exercise because it gets my brain thinking about the technique and it loosens up my muscles. Before I start practising I'm setting a target so I can finish when I accomplish it.

2. Blues music

Melody and Harmony

The harmony of blues music mainly focuses on the first, fourth and fifth chords of a combination. So, if the musical piece starts in the A chord, next chords will be fourth 'D' and fifth 'E' chords. And for G as the starting chord, the following chords would be C and D. This is exactly similar to the standard relative chord combinations. When it comes to melody, blues music also consists of an emphasis on the flattened third, fifth and seventh notes of a major scale. These notes are traditionally played in a blues scale.


Rhythm

The rhythm is also a unique characteristic of blues music. The rhythm is based on the 12-bar and 48-beat repetitive pattern. The three above-mentioned chords are played for 12 bars. Normally, the bar is divided into certain numbers of beats for different chords. 

Lyrics

Lyrics are also to be placed in blues music in a different manner. The verse of a conventional blues song comprises three lines. The first two lines are more or less the same, followed by the third. Most of the time, the first two lines are the same, and have question-like lyrics. The third line, is the response to the first two lines. So, the lyrical structure becomes in the AAB pattern. Singing first two lines is divided among eight measures in a 12-bar, whereas the rest four measures consist of singing the third line. Thematically, blues lyrics concentrate more on sadness and disappointing stories; such as poverty, lost relationships, death, violence, racism, and so on. Hence, verses are in a question-answer format.

Musical Instrument Sounds

Earlier, the banjo was prominently used as the main instrument for blues music. However, in the early 1900s, guitar and piano were added. Nowadays, as this music has become so innovative, many other instruments have been added as a standard. Basses, drums, and harmonica are included in the blues scene today. Using various instruments is the chief reason why there are many branches in blues music found today.

3.
My allotted style was classical, I can't sing classical songs.

Lesson 6 - 19th October

I decided to work on the song of Queen, "we will rock you".

Who are you?

Are you a man or a woman? Young or old? Rich or poor? Well-educated or not? Are you mad? Are you ill?

Woman, young, rich, not, yes, no

Where are you?

Are you on your own? Or in a crowded room? Or are you actually on stage?

On stage.

Who are you singing to? (And are they actually in the room)?

Are you singing to a specific person? Or imagining singing it to someone? Are you singing to the audience? Are you singing to yourself?

Imagining that I'm singing it to someone

What are you hoping to achieve by singing this?

Are you asking for forgiveness or understanding? Are you getting something off your chest? Are you trying to win someone’s heart?

I'm getting something off my chest.

Is what you are singing carefully considered or spontaneous?

Spontaneous.

Does anything change over the course of the song?

Do you change your mind about anything over the course of the song?

No

Lesson 5 - 12th October

I felt like the performance was really good. We singed together as a chorus. We didn't had any troubles and our synchronization worked well. I think that everything went good because of the rehearsals that we've done during the term, so when was show time we were  ready to perform.
Working together as a team and setting everyone's lines but also the vocal warming exercises and the things that we've learned about how our vocal cords should work helped us in our process.
To improve my practice regime after the course I should take care of my vocal cords, to rehearse more and to do tongue twisters and vocal warming exercises.