MY MUSIC LAB SITE

PLEASING THE AUDIENCE

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny Abah) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Majority of singers start their musical carreer because they love to sing and although it would be nice to think that every audience will appreciate your choice of repertoire or style of singing, but the reality is that you cannot please every one all the time. This means that the vocalist pursuing a professional career, may have to mkae compromises in their choice of repertoire to cater to a wider audience and accept that there may be times when no matter how brilliantly they have performed, their efforts may go unappreciated by some of the audience.
This may sound somewhat harsh, but learning to accept this is an important part of the learning process, regardless of voice type or musical style. The diversity of individual preference cannot be totally catered for unless the singer has a wide versatile repertoire or the experience to captivate their audience, with their personality. Even then there are no quarantees that the performance will be appreciated by all members of the audience, who can vary in age from small children to octogenarians depending on the type of event and venue.

The area of entertainment is a factor in the type of material that a singer can perform, for instance, a cabaret artist or a pub singer may may specialise in a specific genre or style of music but will be expected to have a wide repertoire of songs in varing tempos to retain the interest of an audience, which inveriably contains at least one person who requests a song that you don't have or can't sing. With the exception of original showcase venues, the audience will expect the act to perform a variety of popular songs which they recognise and can relate to, theatre and opera lovers pay to see a new or favoured show whilst advocates of 'original music' have no idea of what to expect when they see a new act for the first time.

Original...........to be continued.

*** POSTURE EXERCISES FOR SINGERS.

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny Abah) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:03:00 +0000

Correct posture and movement while on stage ought to be a part of any singer as part of being able to sing well includes the ability to be aware of your body, identity and correct problems that arise due to incorrect posture. This is where a singing tutor or teacher becomes essential as they can observe your movements during singing and provide you with immediate corrective advice.

The truth is that there are people who actually observe the correct posture for singing automatically but while this set of people exist, there exist also another set whose posture has become lazy, or who have developed bad habits that can inhibit their singing which why am going to be providing some guidelines, do's and dont's and exercises to help improve your posture.

Note:- This does not mean that you will not be a singer if your posture is less than perfect or if you suffer with a disability. Posture is not a substitute for vocal talent, just a mean of improving your control and providing your voice with optimum conditions for reaching its potentials.
****** Posture Do's and Dont's
Please always ensure you Do all of these to be sure your posture is correct.
** Make sure you are relax and natural
** Keep your movement fluid
** Keep your chin level
** Keep your knees loose
** Keep your head up
** Keep your shoulders sloping and relaxed
** Keep your toes pointed forward with you weight on heels and soles
** Keep the front of your neck loose, don't stretch it
** Keep your abdominal muscles relaxed
** Keep your back muscles relaxed
** Always smile

Always ensure you Don't......
** Drop or hunch your shoulders
** Move stiffly or jerkily
** Drop or tuck in you chin when trying to sing low notes
** Stretch your head upward when trying to sing high notes
** Strain or push your abdominal muscles.

***** EXERCISES FOR IMPROVING POSTURE

The exercises am going to be listing below are used by singing teachers to help models, actors, and singers achieve correct posture. These exercises has been used for years and are designed to help you become more aware of how your body works, therefore enabling you to move fluidly and correct mistakes as you feel them happening. Take them at your own paste and always make sure you master one exercise before moving on to the next. Don't rush or try to do too much in a day.

For these exercises, you will need..

* Along mirror ( full length)
* Wear comfy loose clothing
* wear flat shoe, trainers or bare feet
* A flat long surface i.e. hallway or enough room to walk several paces
* A friend who can observe and make constructive comments and notes
* Don't forget you will also have to be patient with yourself and have a good sense of humour

All your movements should be fluid and breathe natural.

Place the mirror in a position at the end of the hallway or room where you can see the whole of or at least the top half of your body.

Stand facing the mirror. Study how you stand and compare with the Do's and Dont's above and make adjustments to your posture is necessary.

Stand at the end of the walk space and walk naturally towards the mirror observing your movements and posture as you walk. Compare with the do's and dont's above and make necessary adjustments.

When walking, your weight should be mainly on the balls of your feets, so your heels just lightly touch the floor, with the majority of movement from the hips and legs. The upper body should remain straight, relaxed and not swing from side to side.

Even if it seems that you you are standing and moving with the correct posture, it is difficult without an impartial, experienced observer who will notice bad habits that may apear normal to you.

The following exercises will not work if your posture is incorrect. 5 to 10 munites practice a day will help you to achieve better posture. The ideal is to reach a point whereby your posture and movements become automatic and unconcious.
Exercise 1.

Place a book centrally on top of your head.
Turn your head slowly to the left, return to the center then repeat the exercice turning your head to the right. The head movement should be smooth with eyes ahead, chin level, head, neck and shoulders relaxed. If the exercise is done correctly, the book will remain in place but if done wrongly by you being tensed up, droping your jaw or moving jerkily, the book will fall. So repeat the exercise untill you do it well wihtout the book falling off your head.
Exercise 2

Stand at the end od the walk space and place the book centrally on top of your head.
Walk normally towards the mirror, observing your posture as you walk. If you posture is correct and you movements is smooth the the book will remain in place but if not it will fall. Repeat this exercise until you can walk the lenght of the space without the book falling.

*** MUSIC TERMS

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny Abah) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:38:00 +0000

One of the quality of a good musician is knowing the various terms that associate with music. I'm going to be listing so many of them with their meaning. Please try to put if not all, at least half of the total number of the ones i'll listing cos that will show professionalism on your own side.

1. ACCENT: This could mean to emphasize or to stress
2. ALLEGRO: Quick, lively, cheerful
3. ADAGIO: slow or leisure.
4. AD LIBITUM: at the pleasure of the performer.
5. ALLA MARCIA: in a manner of a march.
6. ALLA BREVE: two beat to the measure; one beat to each half note.
7. ALLARGANDO: a slackening of the tempo
8. ALLEGRETTO: moderately lively
9. ANDANTE: slow, graceful, walking
10. ADANTINO: a little faster than adante
11. ANIMATO: to make alive, to give spirit
12. TEMPO: rate of speed, fastness or slowness
13. BLOCK CHORD: a chord in which all of the note in the chord are played at the same time.
14. BROKEN CHORD: a chord in which the notes are played one after the other in a broken style
15. CHROMATIC: proceeding by half-steps
16. CON BRIO: with vigor, spirit, forcefully
17. CON GRAZIA: with grace
18. CON MOTO: with spirited movement
19. CON SPIRITO: with spirit, energy
20. CRESCENDO: gradually increasing the tone
21. DIMINUENDO: gradually lessening the tone
22. DOLCE: sweet, soft
23. DOMINANT: the fift degree of the scale
24. ESPRESSIVO: with expression
25. ENERGICO: energetic, with force
26. FORTE: loud
27. FORTISSIMO: very loud
28. GLOCOSO: humorus, playful
29. GIOJOSO: joyous
30. GRACE NOTES: little notes added as ornaments to give a graceful effect
31. GRAZIOSO: graceful elegant
32. LARGHETTO: rather slow
33. LARGO: slow
34. LEGATO: even, continous, flowing
35. LEGGIERO: light
36. LENTO: slow
37. MAESTOSO: majesty, with dignity
38. MARCATO: emphasized
39. MENO MOSSO: less speed
40. MEZZO FORTE: half loud

*** WHAT IS BREATHING AND HOW SHOULD WE BREATHE IN MUSIC?

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny Abah) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:17:00 +0000

Well i think the reason why you can read this particular post now is because you are breathing just as every living being will do if there is still life in that being. Now the most probably thing the human body does is to breathe. You don't have to tell it to do this, it just does it. From the moment you came into this world, you begin breathing, and if you notice how a newborn baby does it, you'll get a clue into some of the breathing exercise we will be doing.

A newborn infant breathes through its nose and the air fills the baby's stomach so that when it inhales and exhales, you observe the belly rising and falling. No other parts of the body moves but the stomach. Animals breathe this way too. Sometime watch your pet as it sleeps. Only the stomach area rises and fall not other body parts; not the shoulders, not the chest, only the stomach.

So, if it's such a natural process, why do many singers do it incorrectly? There is a profusion of conflicting views on this subject in the voice teaching profession. Most 'legit" teachers believe that the most important aspect of sound creation is posture. After all before trying any instrument, one should learn how to hold it, and vocally, this means posture. However, as we will learn, standing erect like a soldier with chest high, shoulders back and buttocks tucked in, strains the organs in the neck and the muscles needed to make the sound. Once we learn how to relax the body, natural breathing follows.

Now that we've learnt what breathing is and how we ought to breath naturally, lets take a look at this little exercise.

Lie on the floor and put a pillow under your head. Breathe in through your nose, and fill your belly with air. Notice how your stomach rises and falls with each inhale and exhale. You may wish to place a heavy object perhaps a few books on the abdominal area right bellow the ribs. As you inhale, the weights should rise; as you exhale, they should go down. Notice only how your belly moves in this position not your shoulders, or chest. This is the proper way to breathe for singing. Spend at least 5 minutes doing this so that you can experience how it feels to breathe this way. Your own sensory awareness will be a key factor in your progress. Remember that feeling the air traveling through your body is the first rule. And the first of the seven deadly sins is using critical judgement rather than sensory awareness.

Now stand up with your kneels slightly bent in a relaxed position. If you have a full lenght mirror, this is beneficial. Take breath into your belly and try to duplicate the same sensory experience that you had on the floor. If your chest or shoulder are rising, you are doing it incorrectly. I mean you stand in a relaxed position, not erect, and have only your stomach move in and out as you breathe through your nose and exhale through your mouth.

If you begin to feel slightly dizzy as you do this exercise, you are doing it correctly. The reason for the dizziness is that you are taking in oxygen to parts of your body that don't usually get it.

Breathing with a great heave of chest and filling the lungs may be fine for lifting weights, but it doesn't work here. If you work out, you may need to spend several days on this exercise alone to unlearn the breathing techniques you've been using in the gym.

The most efficient breathing for singing and for speaking is a combination of abdominal and diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing. It's not necessary to totally understand anatomy to breath correctly for the voice, but we should have at least a slight understanding of the muscles involved.

Now place your hand on the abdomen, at the place where the ribs arch in front, just bellow the breastbone. The region is known as the epigastrium, and it's a good place to feel the action of the diaphragm. When you breathe in, the diaphragm, (sometimes called the breathing muscle) drops down and flattens, forcing down the organs of the stomach and lowering the floor of the chest. this action creates the ability to take in more air to the entire body, than by the expansion of the ribs in the chest breathing. And this is the truly and the natural way to breathe, the way we did when we first came into the world.