It's been a long time since I've made a post...oops. This doesn't mean I haven't been working on things, just not documenting them. So, since my last post I've gotten a few more vocal lessons from different people, I've added the growl to my “toolbox”(the growl is awesome, but for the most part only do-able in the chest voice), I've made some audio recordings and although it doesn't seem like a big deal(it is for me), I've sang in front of people. Not big showy stuff, but just actually doing it. For most people, not a big deal, but for me, yeah it is a big deal.
The lessons from different people were definitely good. Different perspective is for sure good. Different analogies, etc. I've decided that although doing a piece of classical vocal repertoire would be awesome, I don't have the background to make it feasible and realistically, it's not the most important thing for me as a music teacher. No where near, I would say. BUT, that particular lesson was really cool nonetheless. In addition to a few more vocal lessons there was also a vocal workshop in my music teachable class, which really offered a variety of exercises as well.
The growl I got my own actually. It was one of those things that was really tough to get, but as soon as I started to get it, it was there immediately. I was in an elevator at the time. Elevators have cool acoustics when you're alone. When you’re not alone people look at you strange for trying to make vocal growls in the elevator…
The recordings have been a cool experience. I wish I had better equipment. I would post some recordings, but the blog will only let me post pictures and videos... Making and posting a video feels to personal at this point in time, so… we’ll see what happens.
At the beginning of this blog I made a very ambitious list of things I wanted to work on. I have definitely explored all of them. I’ve worked on everything a little bit and some things a lot. Right now I feel that I have accomplished everything I set out to do in a very basic sense. I’m looking for my next step with this project and right now I’m leaning towards this: Make one recording (maybe video) that I am happy with and feel completely comfortable letting anyone hear. It will probably be of one of the John Mayer tunes and it will definitely require many, many takes, but just simply me singing with my guitar. My range has grown exponentially, I’ve learned that I have, and realized, a chest, head and falsetto range. My ear training has grown a ton. I can sing in tune and put inflection on my voice. But, the recordings I have taken to date seem to be lacking something. Once I’ve been able to identify the missing element and add it into the picture, I will be satisfied…for the time being.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Friday, November 27, 2009
Last Day of Practicum
Today was my last day of practicum. I've been thinking about my whole practicum ever since I got home. It was an absolutely amazing experience. My Associate Teacher was more amazing than I could have ever imagined and I was at an awesome school. I was completely spoiled by both of these. Every time I go on Facebook I read of the problems one or another of my colleagues is having at their school, I didn't have any problems.
In regards to my singing project, I also got a lot out of my practicum. I taught grade two to grade eight music. The grade twos do singing, the grade threes and fours do singing and recorder, and the the fives to eights do band instruments. I saw an awesome overview of the process John (my associate teacher) uses to create the really amazing singing found in the grade fours. Getting students, sitting up straight, using good posture (sitting on the front edge of the chair, with their feet flat on the floor and their backs straight), and singing in their head voices. The hardest part of this is the head voice, a large part of achieving which is the warmup. In addition to the warmup done every day in class (which I intend to post on here, eventually), I copied John's vocal resource binder, which had it's own section just on different vocal warmups, as well as many other awesome resources.
Between the advances I've made in my own singing, and the experience of having taught vocal classes, and all the resources I have, I now have very little anxiety about teaching vocal music. That being said, this project is definitely not done. It will never be done, but realistically it will eventually fall into the background just as all the other musical skills I've worked on have. I don't have time to practice all the instruments I play regularly, this is just a fact of life. But for now, singing is still in the foreground. The better I am as a singer, the better I will be as a music teacher, especially in the junior division where vocal music is almost a guarantee. My focus right now (outside of the approximately 50 pages of assignments I have to write in the next three weeks), is to start accomplishing some of the goals I laid down in my initial blog post.
Thanks for reading,
Trevor
In regards to my singing project, I also got a lot out of my practicum. I taught grade two to grade eight music. The grade twos do singing, the grade threes and fours do singing and recorder, and the the fives to eights do band instruments. I saw an awesome overview of the process John (my associate teacher) uses to create the really amazing singing found in the grade fours. Getting students, sitting up straight, using good posture (sitting on the front edge of the chair, with their feet flat on the floor and their backs straight), and singing in their head voices. The hardest part of this is the head voice, a large part of achieving which is the warmup. In addition to the warmup done every day in class (which I intend to post on here, eventually), I copied John's vocal resource binder, which had it's own section just on different vocal warmups, as well as many other awesome resources.
Between the advances I've made in my own singing, and the experience of having taught vocal classes, and all the resources I have, I now have very little anxiety about teaching vocal music. That being said, this project is definitely not done. It will never be done, but realistically it will eventually fall into the background just as all the other musical skills I've worked on have. I don't have time to practice all the instruments I play regularly, this is just a fact of life. But for now, singing is still in the foreground. The better I am as a singer, the better I will be as a music teacher, especially in the junior division where vocal music is almost a guarantee. My focus right now (outside of the approximately 50 pages of assignments I have to write in the next three weeks), is to start accomplishing some of the goals I laid down in my initial blog post.
Thanks for reading,
Trevor
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Purpose of the Exercise
The whole exercise of becoming a better singer was for purpose of being a better music teacher. I haven't had a lot of time to sit down and work on singing lately. Well not in the way I envisioned this process taking place. I've been in my practicum. But, the whole practicum experience is definitely helping me a lot. Obviously for teaching, but also in my singing journey. I've been doing singing with about half of the classes I teach and it's really helping my singing out. Especially the head voice. My tone, tuning, range and head voice have all improved immensely from using them teaching classes. Yesterday I taught three songs by rote to a grade 3 class for their holiday concert. I had no problem singing in my head voice (to model singing in head voice for the students), and that whole class went really well. Although I haven't had time to work on the rep I've chosen to deal with, my singing is improving immensely and it's working great for the situation that I actually wanted to improve my singing for.
In other news, my practicum is also going really well. I do not want to leave my school at all and go back to classes. I'm loving teaching and my students as well.
Thanks for reading,
Trevor
In other news, my practicum is also going really well. I do not want to leave my school at all and go back to classes. I'm loving teaching and my students as well.
Thanks for reading,
Trevor
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Practical and Successful Application
Yesterday was an interesting day. I taught a grade four class, which started out with a vocal warm up. It went pretty well, no major problems. I pulled out some falsetto to sing in their range and it worked great. I haven’t had a lot of time to practice lately due to a lot of school work, but I will definitely be making time this afternoon. I will be upset if any of my progress regresses.
Thanks,
Trevor
Thanks,
Trevor
Sunday, October 18, 2009
First lesson
“The definition of a good teacher is one who makes their students want to learn.” This is especially true for music teachers. I have no idea how Shannon got my head voice to start working. I somehow was having some weird problem getting it to work, and then all of a sudden, somehow, it was just working and I added almost a 10th to my range. It was huge, it was ridiculous, it was awesome. I don’t think she intended to save the fireworks (making me blow myself away with my own falsetto) for the end, but the last 10ish minutes where I sang higher than I thought I would ever be able to, was pretty amazing.
The whole lesson was pretty amazing actually. I had gotten a voice lesson from Shannon about two years ago; most of the information had been forgotten, but some had been assimilated. For example, I remembered not to wrinkle your face, but I couldn’t remember why. Anyway, we basically recovered all that material, talked about what’s happening in your body with different things and then talked about falsetto. I also recorded the lesson, which means I’ll always have all the info.
Some points to note from the lesson:
- Falsetto and head voice are NOT the same thing. For now I’m using the term interchangeably (as most people do). This is going to be my first research topic: finding out the difference, finding out what I’m doing now, and hopefully becoming able to do the other as well.
- I had some friends who were classical vocalists, and they always said about how alcohol could ruin your voice. I know it can really lower your voice (I totally went home and nailed an Eb that was over an octave below the bass clef on Thursday night). Anyway, the big thing that alcohol does to hurt your voice is dehydrating you. Your vocal folds are in your trachea and pouring water down your esophagus does not hydrate them. You must keep your body hydrated. Ergo, the dehydrating effects of alcohol are the big problem with alcohol (there are other minor ones, but they don’t really apply to me, and definitely won’t apply to my students…). The same goes for anything that dehydrates you. Tons of sugar (which is a problem for me since I drink a lot of iced tea), is just as bad.
- A lot of talk about how the vocal folds work and how to not damage them. A big point was that ROD STEWART is what someone who has damaged their vocal folds sounds like (take that, mom). What a node is, what it does to your folds, etc…
Anyway, it was a great lesson. For now I’ve got lots of stuff to work on. My first priority is really getting all over the falsetto. Bringing the falsetto lower and mixing both head and chest voices to make gradual changes and put in different inflections.
Anyway, thanks for reading
Trevor
The whole lesson was pretty amazing actually. I had gotten a voice lesson from Shannon about two years ago; most of the information had been forgotten, but some had been assimilated. For example, I remembered not to wrinkle your face, but I couldn’t remember why. Anyway, we basically recovered all that material, talked about what’s happening in your body with different things and then talked about falsetto. I also recorded the lesson, which means I’ll always have all the info.
Some points to note from the lesson:
- Falsetto and head voice are NOT the same thing. For now I’m using the term interchangeably (as most people do). This is going to be my first research topic: finding out the difference, finding out what I’m doing now, and hopefully becoming able to do the other as well.
- I had some friends who were classical vocalists, and they always said about how alcohol could ruin your voice. I know it can really lower your voice (I totally went home and nailed an Eb that was over an octave below the bass clef on Thursday night). Anyway, the big thing that alcohol does to hurt your voice is dehydrating you. Your vocal folds are in your trachea and pouring water down your esophagus does not hydrate them. You must keep your body hydrated. Ergo, the dehydrating effects of alcohol are the big problem with alcohol (there are other minor ones, but they don’t really apply to me, and definitely won’t apply to my students…). The same goes for anything that dehydrates you. Tons of sugar (which is a problem for me since I drink a lot of iced tea), is just as bad.
- A lot of talk about how the vocal folds work and how to not damage them. A big point was that ROD STEWART is what someone who has damaged their vocal folds sounds like (take that, mom). What a node is, what it does to your folds, etc…
Anyway, it was a great lesson. For now I’ve got lots of stuff to work on. My first priority is really getting all over the falsetto. Bringing the falsetto lower and mixing both head and chest voices to make gradual changes and put in different inflections.
Anyway, thanks for reading
Trevor
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Cold is lifting...
Ok, so the cold is pretty much gone, there's still a bit of gruffness in my throat, but for the most part it's gone. I think persistently trying to sing while sick probably prolonged the throat soreness. I'm having my first lesson on Saturday with Shannon (I think I mentioned her before, but just in case: Shannon Kerr, we did undergrad together, she's an awesome singer).
Yesterday I had a small personal victory where I sang some solfege in front of a class (as an example), I picked a range low enough I could handle it and I had the confidence to really belt it out. It was in tune. It had a nice tone (anything that low really booms). A couple people in the class were even like "whoah". So, it may not seem like much, but it was actually a pretty big deal for a guy who is usually too embarrassed to sing in front of people.
Then both this morning and yesterday morning, before class, I grabbed the guitar and sang 1235321 patterns from as low as I could to as high as I could. Yesterday I started at the C below the bass staff, and today I could start at the Bb. Yesterday my range maxed out at middle C, but today the top end stopped at the G in the treble staff. So... quite a range difference in basically 24 hours. 2 octaves, to adding a 6th the next day. As much as probably every guy wants a lower range, a higher range is much more practical. I would guess that there's not a lot of music written lower than my range, from an arranging standpoint, things get really muddy down there. I think a warmup can help with keeping my range bigger, I'll definitely bring this up at my lesson on Saturday. I want to talk about everything at my lesson on Saturday, but I know that time is going to be limited. Range and warmup are probably the two most important topics right now. I hope there's time for falsetto too. Falsetto seems pretty important since my range is so low, and every time I do it, my throat gets really tight and really hurts.
Thanks for reading,
Trevor
Yesterday I had a small personal victory where I sang some solfege in front of a class (as an example), I picked a range low enough I could handle it and I had the confidence to really belt it out. It was in tune. It had a nice tone (anything that low really booms). A couple people in the class were even like "whoah". So, it may not seem like much, but it was actually a pretty big deal for a guy who is usually too embarrassed to sing in front of people.
Then both this morning and yesterday morning, before class, I grabbed the guitar and sang 1235321 patterns from as low as I could to as high as I could. Yesterday I started at the C below the bass staff, and today I could start at the Bb. Yesterday my range maxed out at middle C, but today the top end stopped at the G in the treble staff. So... quite a range difference in basically 24 hours. 2 octaves, to adding a 6th the next day. As much as probably every guy wants a lower range, a higher range is much more practical. I would guess that there's not a lot of music written lower than my range, from an arranging standpoint, things get really muddy down there. I think a warmup can help with keeping my range bigger, I'll definitely bring this up at my lesson on Saturday. I want to talk about everything at my lesson on Saturday, but I know that time is going to be limited. Range and warmup are probably the two most important topics right now. I hope there's time for falsetto too. Falsetto seems pretty important since my range is so low, and every time I do it, my throat gets really tight and really hurts.
Thanks for reading,
Trevor
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"Categories"
Since my cold is hanging on, and I'd really like to be working on this project (and am actually frustrated that I can't), I've decided to put down some thoughts. One thing that I think is important for the sake of gaining knowledge in the full spectrum of singing is making "definitions" between styles and then making a specific attempt at each style. I usually hate creating labels: jazz historians get caught up on the differences between "post bop", "hard bop" and "cool bop". Trust me, Horace Silver and Clifford Brown didn't make a distinction. So I am hesitant to make a label, but I do feel it necessary.
So here are the categories I’ve created for the purpose of this project:
Singer songwriter/vocal and guitar
I’ve decided to make this my base, or my comfort zone. Being a big John Mayer fan is a large factor in this decision, especially since I’ve worked on his music a lot on guitar.. When I started this blog I threw down the names of a bunch of tunes, most of which fall into this category, or I envisioned being able to be adapted into this category. I definitely want to branch out to other styles, but I think this makes sense to be my “home base”. Maybe it just seems less daunting.
Jazz
Definitely an important style to check out. As my undergrad was in jazz, I have a lot of friends who will be able to help me with this. One of the big challenges I’m anticipating with this style is the desire to really go out and not sound like anyone else. With the other styles, assimilation seems desirable to varying degrees; whereas in jazz, “finding your own voice” was always the goal. For the purposes of this project, that seems a bit excessive as it is usually a lifelong process. There will definitely be some discussion of this in lessons.
Western Art Music (Classical)
This is also definitely an important style to explore, especially since I have very little knowledge of it in a vocal context. One friend recommended Bach’s “Bist du bei mir” for me to work on. I found sheet music online in no time (so I’m assuming it’s a common piece), but the music is for soprano (http://artsongcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/ps014.pdf). I’m told that it is commonly transposed and sung by baritones and basses, so I just need to find out what key I should transpose it to. It’s an excellent suggestion given that I (somewhat) speak German. The language in this is much more manageable by me than say, Italian. It seems like a really good starting place. At present, my plan of attack is to get the text and melody down, and then get some lessons to work on the stylistic nuances. I have four recordings right now (three sopranos and I’m not sure whether the fourth recording is a bass or a baritone, but I know it’s in B major). I have the piano part which I will put in MIDI for practice purposes.
Pop/Rock/Blues
Although I was tempted to group Blues with Jazz, I’ve decided to put it with Rock. It definitely could go either place, or be its own group altogether. The big challenge with this category seems to be competing/blending the voice with electric instruments, as is the forte of vocalists of this genre. Although there is a stigma that exists, I will argue forever that Michael Jackson, Elton John, Robert Plant, David Lee Roth and Justin Timberlake are excellent singers. John Mayer sings differently on “Who Did You Think I Was” than he does on “Comfortable”. One technique in specific that I really wish to work on is the growl. It transcends these styles with jazz as well (Ella has an amazing growl, and so does Stevie Ray Vaughn). Every time I try this I massacre my throat, so it will definitely be a lesson topic.
Although I feel it necessary to make categories for the sake of zooming in on technical aspects, there is obviously crossover between all of these styles. The areas that crossover are probably the most important (tuning comes to mind). Something I want to keep in mind throughout this, is that I need to look at what I’m doing both from a close-up lens (getting all the subtle stylistic things) and from a wide-angle lens (more broad aspects such as tuning).
Thanks for reading,
Please feel free to comment,
Trevor
So here are the categories I’ve created for the purpose of this project:
Singer songwriter/vocal and guitar
I’ve decided to make this my base, or my comfort zone. Being a big John Mayer fan is a large factor in this decision, especially since I’ve worked on his music a lot on guitar.. When I started this blog I threw down the names of a bunch of tunes, most of which fall into this category, or I envisioned being able to be adapted into this category. I definitely want to branch out to other styles, but I think this makes sense to be my “home base”. Maybe it just seems less daunting.
Jazz
Definitely an important style to check out. As my undergrad was in jazz, I have a lot of friends who will be able to help me with this. One of the big challenges I’m anticipating with this style is the desire to really go out and not sound like anyone else. With the other styles, assimilation seems desirable to varying degrees; whereas in jazz, “finding your own voice” was always the goal. For the purposes of this project, that seems a bit excessive as it is usually a lifelong process. There will definitely be some discussion of this in lessons.
Western Art Music (Classical)
This is also definitely an important style to explore, especially since I have very little knowledge of it in a vocal context. One friend recommended Bach’s “Bist du bei mir” for me to work on. I found sheet music online in no time (so I’m assuming it’s a common piece), but the music is for soprano (http://artsongcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/ps014.pdf). I’m told that it is commonly transposed and sung by baritones and basses, so I just need to find out what key I should transpose it to. It’s an excellent suggestion given that I (somewhat) speak German. The language in this is much more manageable by me than say, Italian. It seems like a really good starting place. At present, my plan of attack is to get the text and melody down, and then get some lessons to work on the stylistic nuances. I have four recordings right now (three sopranos and I’m not sure whether the fourth recording is a bass or a baritone, but I know it’s in B major). I have the piano part which I will put in MIDI for practice purposes.
Pop/Rock/Blues
Although I was tempted to group Blues with Jazz, I’ve decided to put it with Rock. It definitely could go either place, or be its own group altogether. The big challenge with this category seems to be competing/blending the voice with electric instruments, as is the forte of vocalists of this genre. Although there is a stigma that exists, I will argue forever that Michael Jackson, Elton John, Robert Plant, David Lee Roth and Justin Timberlake are excellent singers. John Mayer sings differently on “Who Did You Think I Was” than he does on “Comfortable”. One technique in specific that I really wish to work on is the growl. It transcends these styles with jazz as well (Ella has an amazing growl, and so does Stevie Ray Vaughn). Every time I try this I massacre my throat, so it will definitely be a lesson topic.
Although I feel it necessary to make categories for the sake of zooming in on technical aspects, there is obviously crossover between all of these styles. The areas that crossover are probably the most important (tuning comes to mind). Something I want to keep in mind throughout this, is that I need to look at what I’m doing both from a close-up lens (getting all the subtle stylistic things) and from a wide-angle lens (more broad aspects such as tuning).
Thanks for reading,
Please feel free to comment,
Trevor
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