Newsletter Term 4 2016

Can you believe we have reached the last term for 2016?? surprised

Singing Strong studio had a huge Term 3.

Students continued working hard during lessons, working on technique and learning new repertoire. This was quite a challenge for some as there were so many activities on this term.

A large number of students were involved in various Eisteddfods achieving great success.

I held a workshop about preparing for Eisteddfods and performing. This was very well attended and the masterclass that was held was very worthwhile.

We ended the term with a dinner dance held at the Premier Function Centre. This was a terrific end to the term. It was fantastic to see student up on stage performing with a live band. The night was so much fun!

You can read all the details about these events and more by clicking here.

I have been adding some interesting articles on my BLOG. The latest is about organizing a practice space at home and getting into a practice routine. Good revision before starting a new term. You can read it here.

Term 4 will be fast and furious.

1) CD production

I had said last term we would be making a cd. This will be done in term 4.

Last year we made a Christmas cd but this year we will be making a cd of various songs. Students need to choose the song they love to sing and then we will make a recording of it. It can be any song, but would you please let me know what you would like to sing asap so that I can create a list.

2) AMEB Exams

There are a number of students completing AMEB exams at various levels this term and we wish them well with their studies.

3) End of Term Workshop

I will be holding a workshop day on Saturday 10th December. This will be broken up into 3 sessions, each for one hour.

10am: 1st session will be for all primary school students.

11.15am: 2nd session is for any secondary school students.

12.30pm: 3rd session will be for all adults.

This will be an opportunity for any students who have missed a lesson during the term to make up this time. For any students who have attended all lessons, this is a bonus session for you.

4) Performance Opportunity

Our major event for the year was held last term, however I would like to do something for the end of the year. I will be organizing some small concerts that will be held at various nursing homes in the community. I will send out dates and times soon. This will not be a huge commitment. You can choose which one you would like to be part of. It is not a compulsory activity, but I would like to see as many students participate as possible.

Please note that the last lesson for the year will be the week ending 9th December.

Why have a singing teacher?

I have been visiting various singing websites lately and have found many of them to have great ideas and ways to help singers.

One thing I have noticed on a couple of the websites is their claim that you don’t need to have face to face lessons to sing well, just watch my videos and you can become the greatest singer. For me this is a one way street.

My comment to this is if you don’t know what you are doing wrong, you can never know what you are doing right.

Feedback is integral to good progress. Feedback is the rocket fuel that propels the acquisition of knowledge and without it, no amount of practice or watching videos is going to get you there.

A singing teacher is not merely there to offer encouragement and assessing levels of concentration, they are also on the lookout for small technical glitches that may have escaped the attention of their student.

You can get the basics from reading material or watching videos, but I would highly recommend you seek out a singing teacher or at least a mentor who can give you appropriate feedback and guide you on your musical journey.

teaching singing

How to get back into a practice routine

It’s the beginning of 2016 and you haven’t practiced any singing since before Christmas. Does that sound like you? I am a little bit guilty of this too. The Christmas season was so busy for me I hardly had any time for anything else. It was a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends and I did sing heaps of Christmas carols, but most things like practice got put aside. Now with the new year we find ourselves back into more of a routine, but finding the motivation to get back into practice can be a bit challenging.

You might want to start by sitting down and writing out a couple of goals for your singing this next couple of months. My goal at the moment is to come up with a list of ten songs I would like to start learning as I need to build up my repertoire for performance and auditions.

However, it is important that I don’t start singing all these 10 songs straight away. Over this week all I am trying to do is get my voice back in shape. I need to do my vocal “push ups”. Just like the rest of our body, if we don’t exercise consistently, things get out of shape. My vocal chords and the surrounding muscles need to get a good work out.

I need to do this slowly, a bit to start with and then lengthen my sessions later on in the week.

So to start I will just do some light warm ups. Sirens, bubbling lips, humming etc.. through my vocal range. Then some exercises to extend my vocal range and work on my resonance and then get into learning songs.

Starting with 15 – 20 minutes and then gradually increase this time over the week.

Just like the rest of your body, if you go out and exercise full on straight away, you will most likely be very sore the next day or may even do some damage. Your voice is the same. Go slowly and gradually build up your strength and stamina.

Here are a couple of exercises to get you started:

Breathing:

5 note scale on ah:

practice makes perfect

The power of “Yet”

Music and singing requires accuracy and skill to be the best at your game.
More often than not we fall short of this and usually give up. Too often I hear from my students “I can’t do it, it’s too difficult”.
And they stop. They stop trying, stop persisting and then fail to make progress.

I like to use the words “not yet” all the time.
I have learned from years of experience, that when faced with something difficult it is important to remind ourselves that it will take time to master it.
With our ‘instant’ society we tend to believe that if I don’t get it straight away then it will not happen.
Working with children I sadly see this all the time.
By constantly reminding them that it is ok to have a go and get it wrong, and try again and again if you need to, they start to realize that if they persist eventually they will get it.

If you are studying anything and finding you are getting nowhere, it may be because you have hit a road block and instead of saying not yet have not bothered to look for a way around it and given up.

Tell yourself that “I haven’t learned ________________ yet!” That little word makes such a difference to your end result.

It’s Eisteddfod time

Eisteddfods are a great opportunity to use as motivation to learn repertoire, improve your skills and practice performing.

Eisteddfods date back to the 12th century in Wales.

Eisteddfods are competitions that involve testing individuals for singing, dancing, acting and musicianship. The Royal South Street Eisteddfod in Ballarat has been running since 1891. The Sydney Eisteddfod commenced in 1933 and offers some 400 events across all Performing Arts, catering to 30,000 performers annually. Modern equivalents in Australia are competitions reserved for schoolchildren, though many have open sections where anyone (including professionals) may participate and compete. Typically, a prize may be a scholarship to pursue a further career. Many young Australian actors and dancers participate regularly in the various competitions scheduled throughout the year.

The main Eisteddfods in our local community are:

The Sale Eisteddfod (entries have already closed)

The West Gippsland Eisteddfod (entries close 7th June)

The Latrobe Valley Eisteddfod (entries close 30th June

The Yarram Eisteddfod (entries close 1st June)

Please note there are costs involved such as entry fees, purchasing sheet music, paying for rehearsals with pianists. There are also rewards such as a sense of achievement, prizes that include cash, and feedback from the adjudicator (the person judging the performances)

If you would like to know more about entering an Eisteddfod or would like singing lessons to help you better when performing in things like Eisteddfods click here and send me a message. Would be happy to help.

For a list of Eisteddfods and festivals in Victoria click here.

I have a limited number of places available for in person or on line lessons. To enquire about singing lessons click here.

Musical Problem Solving in 10 easy steps

When practicing it is important to have specific things to focus on during practice sessions.

Quite often we go through a song, find challenging sections within the song, struggle through these, get to the end of the song and then go through it again. This doesn’t achieve much as you continue to struggle through these difficult sections.

What you need to do however is to “chunk” the song into parts, and then focus on the parts that are giving you difficulty. Once they are resolved, then go through the whole song.

Below are 10 steps you can follow to help you with your practice:

1. Listen

Listen to the performance of a piece or section of a piece.

2. Diagnose

Where are the problems?

3. Choose

What should I fix first?

4. Isolate

Find the problem “bite” to fix in five minutes

5. Simplify

What can you do to get more comfortable with the problem?

6. Repeat

How many times do I need to repeat this drill to get it right?

7. Connect

Place the corrected “bite” back into the section of music.

8. Generalize

Are there any similar problems in the piece to fix?

9. Retain

What do I need to remember to do in practice to fix this problem?

10. Set Goal

What will you accomplish with this song in the next week?

Congratulations! You are now a successful Problem Solver!

50 years of The Sound of Music

At the Oscars this year The Sound of Music celebrated 50 years. I love the Sound of Music (I have performed twice in this show, once as Sister Sophia and once as Mother Abbess, and I have also helped with a performance last year with my daughter’s school. By the way, Rose also had the role of Sister Sophia). The music is simple but beautifully arranged and I like to use the pieces My favourite things and Do re mi when I begin young students with singing lessons.
It was an interesting decision that was made at the Oscars to allow Lady GaGa to perform a medley of the songs. No one would think that this was her style of music.
Lady GaGa did train classically, but went another way obviously with her outrageous style of music and persona. However, I would have to say that she did a wonderful performance at the Oscars. Very tastefully dressed and she performed the songs with confidence and style. Apparently she practiced every day for six months for this gig. (makes you realise it never ends, even for professional singers).
I have posted a video of the performance for you to have a look at. What is your opinion?
I would be interested to know what you think.