Live Performance Review

Performing my own material in front of my peers was an achievement for me as it was something I had never done before and something I was very nervous about doing. When performing live so much can go wrong and this is unsettling to any performer. Because the material I was performing was entirely my own, I was more nervous in showcasing it in case it received a bad reception. However, it also meant that I was more familiar with the material and due to meticulous rehearsal there was less chance I would make mistakes in the live performance. ‘In a state of flow, there is no room for irrelevant thoughts’ (Kircher, 2011), when performing live one's mind must be solely on the task ahead. There is no room for error and if a mistake is made the performer must be able to recover immediately so as not to lose their audience. I didn't make any mistakes as such, but I was very nervous when beginning my song and this led to the vocal characterisation I had worked on not being as strong in performance as it could have been. Due to being one of the final performers I had not had the chance to warm up or do any vocal exercise prior to performance and this too effected the quality of my vocal arrangement. If I were to perform again I would include the piano melody to my piece, as due to time constraints I did not record this and I feel like it could have added another dynamic to the piece.

Songwriting

Debbie Poyser, writing for SoundonSound says “Always carry a notebook when you're out, so that you can jot down any song ideas that occur while you're going about your daily business.” One of the main things that I struggle with when writing is inspiration. I took this advice on board and began writing about every day life and my daily routine. Certain things began to stick in my memory, things that I did regularly or things that annoyed me. The first piece I wrote was after a late night trip to McDonalds which had occurred because I wanted chicken nuggets and we had non in the freezer. The song was entitled “20 McNugget Sharebox please” and is about the lengthes one (I) will go to to acquire nuggets. The song is bluesy as it is about my personal problems transposed into music.
The bridge of the song is spoken word as this is a musical technique of vaudeville, as well as simple, catchy lyrics and a simplistic melody to sing along too.

Having completed one song the inspiration for a second came much easier. I wanted the songs to be humorous and to relate to my audience, which is essential of a successful vaudeville piece.
I decided to write about a journey on the metro, for those who don’t know The Tyne and Wear metro is owned by Nexus and provides public transport across the North East. A journey on the metro is normally relatively comical on it’s own but at the time of writing the metro’s were constantly breaking down or being delayed, which inspired my rant.
The lyrics are simple and easy to pick up and sing along too as well as the song having a simplistic melody. The song also features spoken word, all musical technique of vaudeville.

Composing

I began composing on a piano. I have a very limited knowledge of piano chords however and composed initially using just notes. I devised a melody of A, C# and E played after one another. Which was simplistic but about as far as my piano ability stretched. I then discovered that these notes actually built up to create an A chord. I can play an A chord on guitar and so I began playing around with guitar chords and then deconstructing these chords on piano to create my melody, I also did this with an E chord (E, G# and B) and a D chord (D, F# and A). The rhythm section remains built up of these chords in their entirety and is played on guitar. The melody is the deconstructed chords played note by note on piano. In my final piece I have recorded the rhythm guitar section to sing along too as I do not possess the piano techniques to play the melody over the top myself and time constraints meant I couldn’t record a pianist playing my melody.
I initially decided to use bar chords in my chorus, still A, E and D as they could be played whilst singing. By playing them as bar chords I eliminated a strumming pattern – which is what I struggle with when playing guitar. However I thought that by recording the verse and playing the chorus the piece would come across distorted in performance and so I elected to record the entire track and leave in the strumming pattern for a guitarist with a much greater ability than myself.

My final composition is entitled “The Ballad of The Tyne & Wear Metro”, the song is written in the style of pop, but with the characteristics of musical comedy as it is to be performed as a music hall style act.

Musical Theatre

"As more and more classical singers consider the possibility of branching out into non-classical singing, and as actors acknowledge the very real possibility of getting more work if they can sing, musical theatre becomes a particularly attractive option for both groups. Yet the breadth of training and skill that is essential for musical theatre performance frequently comes as a surprise. Singing for musical theatre is enormously demanding. It requires the ability to handle a wide variety of vocal genres as well as robust good health to do regular shows eight times a week". (Melton. 2013)

As my interest lies on Musical Theatre I have been practicing songs from musicals in my singing lessons with Valerie Reid. I am currently looking at "On My Own" from Les Miserables. The song begins in the key of D major, modulating to Bb major, then ending in F major. It is the most important song for the role of Eponine. In the song, she expresses her unrequited love for the character Marius, and how she dreams of being at his side but knows his love is for Cosette and not for her.

My feedback on this was to try to stick to the 'military timing' of the song with my diction when singing. I also need to learn when to take breath so as to be able to sustain the higher notes and also the more powerful ones. Val said to "drive the notes forward with my chest voice and avoid using my head voice or tailing off when I run out of juice" I need to push my chest voice and practice singing forward from the diaphragm, at present I tend to panic and sing falsetto before I need to.

Arrangements

After much debate over what to do for my independent work I have decided to look into arrangements. I struggle with songwriting as I feel my lyrics are mediocre until I write about something that I am passionate about and I feel like I have exhausted these options. Therefore I am going to research arranging songs and changing the genre of a song.

I'd like to orchestrate an arrangement which demonstrates what I have been developing over the course of the module, my vocal range and my breathing. Therefore I will look at transposing songs into different keys, as well as changing the tempo, instruments and harmonies. I intend to research Jessie J as her voice spans an extensive range and her songs showcase this. 

I will also research Jazz and Gospel, in the hope of taking a modern pop song and arranging it into a jazz or gospel piece. I intend to look at artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Eva Cassidy.

Singing Lesson Progression

"Improving your singing voice takes a willingness to experiment and the discipline to practice what you learn. It's not rocket science - it just takes time to build new vocal habits and the ability to make your singing a priority" (Surmani. 2011)

I have been continuing my singing tuition with Valerie Reid. My aims for these sessions are to learn how to control my breathing, learn to breathe from the diaphragm, learn to maintain and sustain my breathe and to develop my range. Previously I have identified as a mezzo soprano, but knowing my actual range will enable me to develop this and I will be able to pick songs that showcase my vocal ability.

Before I can develop my range I need to know my existing ability. We worked on some scales in the lesson and Val is confident that I will be able to reach and sustain higher notes through practice and learning new technique. Currently I can sing from a Bottom F to an E flat but with the potential of reaching higher notes.

"You will quite likely find one or two spots where your voice breaks or "cracks". This is normal and simply reveals those parts of your voice range that are not often used." (Alburger 2014)

As you can hear, because my voice is out of practice it cracks on a few of the higher notes. With practice I hope to comfortably access these notes. When approaching a high note I tend to panic and go from my chest voice into falsetto without finding any middle ground. In my lessons with Val I am pushing to find these middle notes and add them to my range so that I can comfortably sing them.

"This is also good breathing exercise to help you with breath control. If your recordings reveal that you take breaths in mid-sentence or that the volume of your voice fluctuates this will help. Practicing regularly will increase you lung capacity and speaking power as well as vocal range." (Alburger 2014)

Vaudeville

As part of my solo assignment I have decided to write a cabaret-esque style song in the style of classic vaudeville or music hall. With my background of Musical Theatre I would've loved to have wrote a piece for a musical however I just don't have the music compositional knowledge. In the past I've wrote more commercial songs, classic pop ballad's about love or loss and this year I want to do something outside of the box and challenge myself with my writing. My aim was to explore my range, therefore I intend to write something that will showcase this.

I have therefore began research into cabaret, music hall, parody, and comedic songs. These songs tend to be short, catchy and simple. With lyrics pertaining to something relating to the audience - generally middle/working class. The majority of acts use only one instrument, usually a piano or guitar as accompaniment and let there voices and the lyrics do the work. Music Hall was immensely popular in the 1900's but went "out of fashion" after the Second World War. However, Variety Theatre as since been revitalised in shows such as Britain's Got Talent, which finds acts to perform at the Royal Variety Performance. Comedians especially are picking up on musical comedy (which is what I am focusing more on) for example Bill Bailey, Victoria Wood and Billy Connelly all touching upon it.

I will also look at exploring my voice through vocal characterisation, for example Mein Herr from Cabaret. with a view to possibly creating a mini show piece. Below is an example of something along the lines of what I'd like to create. I give you Bill Bailey's "Texting Song".

I hope that by writing in different styles I can improve my songwriting and create a successful piece for my assessment.