Performance | Lesson 25

Today we performed our 2 solo songs and our ensemble song in front of a class of year 7's.

The first performance of mine was 'Pompeii' and I think it went really well. I managed to hit the low notes in the song and the fast paced phrasing of some of the lines sounded good. I knew all the lyrics to the song I am very happy with the outcome of the performance. There were a few technical difficulties with the sound but I think I coped with that well and carried on with the song as best as I could. The audience looked like they enjoyed the performance and overall I think the performance went very well.

The second performance of mine was 'I Dreamed A Dream' and I am very pleased with the outcome of that performance. I managed to hit both the low notes and the high notes and the crescendo in the song turned out really well. The dynamics sounded very good and I am very happy with the outcome of this performance. The audience looked like they enjoyed the performance and felt a bit emotional through out which meant I added some emotion to the performance which I am very happy about. Overall I think the performance went really well, and I am very pleased.

The ensemble performance of 'Stay With Me' went really well and we were all a good volume. The harmonies sounded very good against the melody and we all remember what parts we were singing and  what harmonies we had been assigned. We are very pleased with how the ensemble performance went and are very happy with it.

Overall the performance went really well and I am pleased with the outcome of it.

Run Through | Lesson 24

Due to our performance being tomorrow, we decided we would do a run-through of everyone's songs and the ensemble song. Firstly, we needed to decide what order we would sing the songs in. To decide this we put everyone's names in a hat and Maddie picked out the first name and whoever was picked got to pick the next name.

My name was picked first which meant that I was going to be the first one to perform one of my solo songs. I decided to sing 'Pompeii' first as I knew it wouldn't use too much of my voice which means I can save the power in my voice for 'I Dreamed A Dream'. I then picked Maddie's name out of the hat and she decided to sing 'Love Story' by Taylor Swift first. Maddie then picked Amelia's name out of the hat and she decided to sing 'I Miss You' by Blink 182 first, which meant Evie would sing last and she wanted to sing 'Don't Stop Believing' by Journey first.

We then decided we would perform our ensemble song, 'Stay With Me', in between our solo's to add some interest into the performance. We agreed to use the same structure when choosing who would sing next. This meant I would sing 'I Dreamed A Dream' next, with Maddie following after me singing 'Hey Soul Sister' by Train. Amelia would then sing 'Money, Money, Money' from Mamma Mia, and Evie would finish the performance with 'Yours' by Ella Henderson.

When rehearsing the performance we sung it in the same order as our program. We rehearsed with the microphone this  time so we got used to how our song sounded like when singing it into a microphone. When rehearsing both of my ensemble songs I thought they sounded very good and I didn't need to make any last minute improvements, I just need to be confident with the song. When rehearsing the ensemble song, we were all happy with the outcome but we just need to make sure everyone is loud enough. Since we only have three microphone, we decided Evie and Amelia would have their own microphones and Maddie and I would share since our harmonies are similar.

Improving | Lesson 23

When getting the feedback for my solo songs, I know I needed to rehearse certain parts of my both of my songs to perfect both performances. In 'Pompeii' I needed to make sure I hit the low notes in the song, and also I sung the fast phrased lines well and clear. In 'I Dreamed A Dream' I needed to make sure the dynamics of the song were correct and effective, and also I needed to make sure I hit the low and high notes.

Before rehearsing my solo songs I used the warm up exercises I demonstrated in my warm up video as I knew they helped warm up my vocal cords well, and also they were effective the last time I used these warm ups. Once I finished the warm ups I rehearsed 'Pompeii' first as I knew I didn't have a lot to worry about due to my improving what needed to be improved. Then once I was happy with that performance I moved onto rehearsing 'I Dreamed A Dream'. When rehearsing I realised that the improvements that needed to be changed had been changed and I am happy with the performance.

When performing both songs I need to make sure I remember the lyrics, I accurately hit the notes in each song and I add some emotion into 'I Dreamed A Dream'.

Feedback | Lesson 21 & 22

We decided to work on our ensemble piece today so we could perfect the harmonies and go over some parts of the song that we weren't overly sure on. Before we did this we did a group warm up challenging our vocal range by going up and down the scale of C as far as we could either way. We made sure we had a bottle with us as well during the rehearsal so we were hydrated.

The harmonies in the chorus had been perfected and we all knew what we were singing for that part of the song, but we weren't too sure on the verses of the song. We went through them as a group and revisited some of the harmonies we weren't confident on just to refresh our memory. Once we had figured out the harmonies of the song we did a run-through all together and decided it all sounded really good.

We performed to our teachers and they both said it sounded really good. They gave us feedback explaining that there were a few parts that sounded a bit flat so we just needed to be confident with what we are singing. Our teacher also said we all need to be louder to balance out the dynamics of the song. Evie needed to make sure she was heard above the harmonies, but I needed to make sure I was equally as loud to help carry the song and help carry the other harmonies. With these pieces of feedback we went and worked together to make sure the dynamics sounded correct and also to make sure how harmonies all sounded correct. We chose parts of the song we felt needed a bit more work and went off in pairs to try and perfect them, then we all come back together and rehearsed as a group showing our improvements.

Stay With Me | Lesson 20

In the previous two lessons we had worked out the harmonies in both verses and the choruses, so this lesson we needed to work out the bridge and finish the song. We then need to assign different parts of the song to everyone and to a run-through of the whole song. Before rehearsing the song we did a warm up with the keyboard. We decided to sing our arpeggios since we have previously sung our scales. Doing the arpeggios warm up helped us when singing leaps in the ensemble song as challenged our vocal ranges. Once we had completed the warm up we did a run-through of the song up to the bridge of the song due to us not having worked it out yet.

When doing the run-through of the song with what we knew, we made sure we stopped at the places we found a little difficult or the places that we messed up to make sure we knew what we were singing. The bridge of the song is quite simple as we only have to sing "oh" to a certain melody. The challenging part of the bridge was finding the right high harmony to go along with it. We finally found the correct harmony and rehearsed that a few times on its own and along with the melody. Once we thought the bridge sounded good and the last chorus worked well, we started to assign parts to each other.

The first verse we decided would be myself and Amelia. Amelia will sing the melody and I will sing the high harmony along with her. Then all of us will sing the chorus with our assigned harmonies. Then Evie and Maddie will sing the second verse with Evie singing the melody and Maddie singing the high harmony. Evie and Amelia will sing the melody in the bridge and myself and Maddie will sing the high harmony. Then after the bridge Evie is going to sing the chorus first with me singing my harmony in the second line, Maddie joining in with her harmony in the third line and Amelia joining in with her harmony on the last line. Then all of us will come together with all of our harmonies to sing the last chorus and end the song.

We did a run-through of the whole song with our assigned parts and harmonies and agreed that it sounded good. We all agreed that we just need to rehearse our parts separately and come together too rehearse in our next lesson on the ensemble piece.

Pompeii | Lesson 19

Before starting this lesson I made sure I had my bottle of water with me, as well as having a suitable backing track for the song and lyrics so once I had finished with my warm up I could go straight onto rehearsing the song. As a warm up today I decided to do a siren with my voice challenging both the low and high ends of my vocal range. This helped me as I could reach some of the low notes that I have been finding quite difficult when rehearsing the song.

When doing a run-through to my teacher, he told me to be careful with the low notes and also make sure I rehearse the quick lines in the chorus and make sure they sound good because they will be quite challenging. He told me the song was a good contrast to 'I Dreamed A Dream' and it challenged my voice, I just needed to make sure the low notes where rehearsed, the lyrics were learnt and the fast phrasings were rehearsed as well.

When rehearsing the song  I made sure to note on my lyric sheet what parts of the song are quite challenging for me and what parts I need to work on the most. I recorded where the low notes are in the song, as well as recording where the quick phrases are. Doing this has helped me realise what parts need work, and this has helped me structure my rehearsals better rather than singing the song continuously. I know the song fairly well, so  I don't need to worry about not knowing the lyrics, but I need to make sure I am confident with all aspects of  the song before we go to perform the song.

I Dreamed A Dream | Lesson 18

Before starting the lesson I made sure to collect the book with the noted sheet of music so I could follow along with it when rehearsing the song and I found a new backing track to the sing since I didn't like the one I used previously. I also made sure I had a bottle of water with me so I was hydrated throughout my rehearsal.

For the warm up I started by singing up the scale of C and down the scale as well. We did this warm up as a class and experimented  with different vowel sounds and different wordings such as "Blah" and singing the name "Steve" as well. This warm up helped me reach both high and low notes which can help me when rehearsing the song as there are some really high notes as well as quite low ones as well.

In today's lesson I got some feedback from my teacher. She told me I should hold some of the phrases in the 1st and 2nd verses for longer than I was. I also had to work on the dynamics of the song by altering how loud and soft I should be singing in certain parts in the song. She said I should also make more of the crescendo when singing "shame" and the last part should be full of drained emotion to add to the performance.

In this lesson I decided to work on the dynamics of the song and see what parts should be loud and what parts should be soft. On the sheet of music there were phrases such as "mp", "mf" and "f" which helped when working out the different dynamics of the song. "mp" means quite soft, so when I saw that on the sheet of music I knew I had to sing softly and not over power my voice. "mf" means quite loud, so when I saw that on the sheet of music I knew I had to project my voice slightly. "f" means loud, so when I saw that on the sheet of music I knew I had to project my voice a lot and show a lot of power and emotion to create an effective performance. Also in today's lesson I worked on making the crescendo of "shame" louder and more powerful while still holding the note and gradually getting higher. This was difficult at first, but as I rehearsed it more I slowly got the hang of it, and it sounds fairly good.

To make sure I improve my performance in this song I need to keep following the sheet music and make sure I use the phrasing on the music when correcting the dynamics of the song.

Harmonies | Lesson 16 & 17

So in our last lesson we worked out the harmonies to the verse of the song, so in these two lesson we worked out the rest of the song. We started the lesson with a warm up that focused on both the high notes and the low notes. We sung up the scale of C and then back down the scale of C, we also sung a mix of vowels to widen our pronunciation. Then once we had completed the warm ups, we did a run through of the first part of the song to remind ourselves of the different harmonies we had learnt in our previous lesson on ensembles.

Once we had sung the first verse through we went through the harmonies again just to make sure we knew what we were singing. We then moved onto the chorus and the second verse. The chorus already had clear harmonies, it was just assigning them and finding the voice that suited them. We decided that Evie would sing the melody of the song as she knew it well and also the melody suited her voice well. Amelia would then sing the low harmony along with Evie as her voice suits low notes. Maddie would sing the high harmony due to her high vocal range, and I would sing the harmony in between Evie and Maddie. My harmony wasn't too high and it helped carry the song. Myself and Maddie would sing the same note for some parts of the chorus due to the harmonies in those sections being hard to pin point, but doing this helped create more power to the harmony which makes the dynamics of the song sound good.

We originally found the chorus quite hard to begin with as there were multiple harmonies that each of us had to remember and stick to. We sung the chorus through multiple times in the hope that we would know what we were singing and catch on to it fairly quickly. Repeating the chorus several times helped each of us remember our different harmonies, and I think if we keep doing this method throughout the rehearsal period then we will perfect the harmonies quicker. Once we all thought the chorus sounded correct and we were all pleased with how it sounded, we sung the song from the beginning bringing the first verse and the chorus together.

We then moved onto the harmonies in the second verse. These harmonies weren't too difficult to remember or learn as they were very similar to the first verse with the exception of the third line. "Deep down I know this never works." In the original song the artist, Sam Smith, sings higher than he did in the first verse, which meant we had to readjust some of the harmonies. We decided that the higher harmony would hold the same note until "this" and then it would follow down along with the style of the melody. Once that was all sorted out, we decided to sing the first verse, the chorus, the second verse and then the chorus again to see what all of the harmonies would sound like.

We started listening to and thinking about the harmonies in the bridge, but we decided to leave that until the next ensemble lesson as that gives as all time to perfect the harmonies in the verses and the chorus.

Finding the 2nd Song | Lesson 15

When looking for a second solo song, I needed it to be a complete contrast to 'I Dreamed A Dream' to show a difference between my songs when it comes to performing. This wasn't too hard at first, but then I decided it needed to be a song that I have never sung before, and it needed to be out of my comfort zone. This was decided because I wanted to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zone to show professionalism and also to show a range of different songs.

After warming up my voice by singing up the scale of C and back down again while singing "la", I browsed YouTube to find my next song. Many songs came to my mind, but I felt they were too easy for me or they didn't challenge my voice enough as I would have liked them too. I was looking for an upbeat song to contrast to my other solo song which could be classed as a ballad. I got Amelia to help me choose and she suggested 'Pompeii' by Bastille. I listened to the song and sung along with it and decided that it could be a good song for my to song. The song is quite low, which means I will be challenging the lower end of my vocal range, and the song is upbeat. When doing a run-through of the song, I realized that the song was quite low, and some of the phrasing is quite fast, so this is something I have to keep in mind when rehearsing the song.

I've chosen this song as my second solo song as it is out of my comfort zone and I know the song which means I don't have to worry about learning the lyrics, and I can focus on the low notes of the song.

1st Solo Song Choice | Lesson 14

My first solo song is 'I Dreamed A Dream' from Les Miserables, and this will be my notated piece. I had access to a Les Miserables Piano sheet music book, so I used the piece of music for 'I Dreamed A Dream' when rehearsing the song. I knew this song would be challenging to sing due to the well known crescendo in the middle of the song.

The first thing I did, before rehearsing the song, is warm up my vocal cords by using some of the warm up technique Amelia and I demonstrated in our warm up video. We used the siren technique (projecting our voice as high as we could go and down as far as we could) because we knew it would help both of us in our songs. This technique worked well for me as it could help me reach the high notes in the song and also help towards the crescendo in the song. Once the warm up was over, I moved straight onto rehearsing the song.

I found a backing track on YouTube and used the sheet music to help me sing the correct notes in the song. I already knew the lyrics before choosing the song, so I didn't need to worry about getting the lyrics correct which meant I could purely focus on the notes of the song and the leaps contained in it. I did a run through of the song so I knew what parts sounded good, and what parts needed a bit more work. With the run-through I realized that I was hitting the high notes in the song well, and also I was singing the low notes well. However, I wanted to make sure it sounded perfect, so I kept going through the notes I wasn't too sure on. Such as the low note in "When they tear your hope apart" and the crescendo.

I also decided I needed a new backing track because the backing track I used ended quite abruptly and I wanted something slow so I could build some emotional impact in the song.

Choosing an Ensemble Piece | Lesson 13

As well as choosing two solo songs, we needed to perform an ensemble song as a group. When choosing an ensemble song we wanted something with good harmonies and clear parts to it. Many songs were suggested and we listened to a few, but we all agreed on 'Stay With Me' by Sam Smith. We weren't 100% sure we wanted to perform this song just yet, so we decided to do a run through of it and see what it sounded like.

When rehearsing the song for the first time, a few of us tried out some harmonies that we could hear in the song and others sung the melody because we didn't have a clear structure of who would sing what. Once we listened to the song we all decided this song was a good idea as the harmonies were clear and all of us would have a part in the song. We picked out that there were harmonies in the verses and the chorus of the song so we knew we could fairly arrange who would sing those parts.

We chose this song as our ensemble piece due to the potential of the harmonies present in the song, and we already had the score for the song. When starting the designated roles of the song, we decided to work out the harmonies first and then once they were known we would split sections of the song for people in the group to sing. We started with the verse, which has a high harmony along with the melody. We decided Evie and Amelia would sing the melody of the verse while Maddie and I sung the harmony. Due to the melody having a range of notes, we found the harmony quite challenging to master. We had to alternate the notes we were singing along with the melody to create the best sound between all the vocals.

Once the harmonies of the first verse had been worked out we moved onto the chorus. We decided to leave this part and carry on when we next have a lesson on ensemble work so we can go away and work on our first verse.

Choosing Solo Songs | Lesson 11 & 12

Since we have finished the leaflet, we now need to choose some solo songs to perform. We needed two solo songs; One notated song and the other not. This means one song needed to be sung through the directions of sheet music and the other can be sung from a normal lyric sheet. The first song I wanted to find was the notated song as I knew that would the hardest song to find.

I was advised to choose a musical piece as it would show off my vocal abilities and also a musical piece would be fairly easy to find as sheet music. I looked through different books that were available to me and searched for songs that have been in musicals to get an idea of a song I could sing for my notated solo song. At first I thought about singing a 'Mamma Mia' song because I knew they would be up beat and they would challenge my voice slightly. With 'Mamma Mia' in mind I rehearsed 'The Name of the Game' to see how it suited my voice and whether I would find it challenging. When I sung the song I thought it suited my voice well and challenged my dynamics slightly, but I didn't like the instrumental breaks in the song. I couldn't find the song in sheet music, so I decided to find a new song.

I had previously sung 'On My Own' for another unit, so I really wanted to sing another 'Les Miserables' song. I asked my teacher and he advised me that I should choose another 'Les Miserables' as they challenged my voice and they were technically challenging. I decided to choose 'I Dreamed a Dream' because I knew it was hard a song to perfect, but I wanted to challenge myself. When rehearsing the song once over I realised the song was a good choice. I really liked the song, I knew the lyrics well and it was in my vocal range. It is challenging through the dynamics of the song and the emotion, so I decided I would do that song as my noted piece.

Finishing the Leaflet | Lesson 10

When finishing the leaflet I wanted to make it look eye-catching and interesting to attract the public and make them want to read the leaflet. At the back of the leaflet I added a shape that looks like a post-it note and added some tips that I found on the internet. I did this to attract all ages and also share some quick tips on how to warm-up. The tip section on the leaflet is useful as it means people can look at the tip part of the leaflet without having to read the whole thing if they are in a rush.

To finish the leaflet I added some colour to make it eye-catching and I read through it to make sure it makes sense and the wording is clear.

Research on Warming Up | Lesson 8 & 9

For these two lessons I started explaining what warm ups are and why they are important. I used the information I found in one of the previous lessons as well as other information I found through my own knowledge. I decided to make the warm up section of my leaflet the biggest part as I knew the warm ups would need the most information.

I started by explaining why warm ups are important and why you must do them before performing. Because I wanted the leaflet to be understandable and targeted at any age range, I made the language simple and didn't use too much sophisticated language. I split the warming up section into several parts.

1 - Why warming up is important. 

2 - What to do when you warm up. 

3 - A few examples of warming up techniques. 

I made the section on why warm ups are important quite big because there was a lot of information about why it is important and I wanted to make sure everything was said.

When writing the section on what to do when warming up I made sure to include what will happen if you don't warm up so the public know what the disadvantages of not warming up your voice are. I wanted to add some information about you can do to maintain a healthy voice so I used Google as my source and researched different things you could do to keep your voice healthy.

For the examples of warming up techniques I used the information I found off the internet again and described some ways in which you can warm up your voice. This part of the leaflet is probably the most helpful as it shows you how to warm up and what works well within different song types.

Research on Vocal Cords | Lesson 7

For the leaflet I had to some research on the vocal cords. I researched what their purpose was, what they do and why it's important to keep them safe. I used the information that I found last lesson and wrote it in my own words. I made sure to make the leaflet understandable so I tried to use language that most people would understand. I decided that I was going to highlight words that people may not understand in a different colour and add the definition of it later on in the leaflet. This is so people are aware of what the difficult words mean. I didn't want the information to be too scientific and hard to understand so I wrote. A brief summary of what the vocal cords are and what there purpose is.

Next lesson I will start explaining why warming up is important and how to do it properly. 

The Warm Up Video | Lesson 5

Here is the warm up video that Amelia and I created, filmed and edited.

Starting the Leaflet | Lesson 6

Last lesson we finished filming all the footage for our warm up video, so I decided to start on our next task. The task set was to create a leaflet about vocal cords and why it is important to warm up your vocal cords before you sing. When creating the leaflet I decided to use publisher as the templates are very useful.

The leaflet should include information on what vocal cords are and what they do, why warming up your voice is important, and how you should warm up. We can also include some easy warm ups to help the audience who will read the leaflet.

I decided to start the leaflet by researching the vocal cords; what they are and how they work. When researching vocal cords I used the internet as my source as I knew the information I found would be accurate and fairly useful. I didn't want to copy the information word by word so I used the research as a base and wrote the information in my own words. I made sure to make the text engaging and understandable so the public would find it interesting and useful when doing their own warm ups. Because the anatomy of the vocal cords include complicated language, I decided to highlight those certain words and explain what they are further on in the leaflet. This is so the public aren't left wondering what the definition of the words are.

I didn't want to include too much complicated language, and too much anatomy of the vocal cords as it's not that interesting, so I made sure to add the important information about what it does. I decided that once I had included what the vocal cords are and what they do, I would go straight into why it's important to warm up.

Before I started the leaflet I made sure to collect information about the vocal cords and the importance of warming up. I put this information into a PowerPoint so I could use that as a guide when completing the leaflet.

Filming the Warm Ups | Lesson 4

Last lesson we finished filming the talking part of the video, so this lesson we filmed the second part which is the actual warm ups. We made sure to film the long warm ups first and then the short ones as the most important thing that needed to be filmed were the long warm ups. Once we filmed all the warm ups through completely, we decided to film them once more to make sure we get good footage of the warm ups. This means we have more footage to work with when editing the video which means we won't need to film anymore for it.

Before we filmed the warm ups, we wanted to work out the scale that we would use in the warm up. We decided to film the scale on the camera, so we could put that in the background of our video. We found the scale of C, and started filming but realised that it didn't sound very good. We then asked our teacher if she could do the scale for us on the keyboard in the room and she agreed.

She played the scale of C while I recorded it on my phone through the voice recording app, and Amelia recorded it on the camera. We filmed on both so we could use the voice recording when doing the warm up, and also so we can add the music over the top when editing it. This helped us as we knew what to sing along to, and when the video is edited the tune of the scale will be clear and easy to follow.

We filmed the first warm up where we hummed along with the scale of C. We filmed it a few times before deciding that we were happy with what we had recorded. We then filmed the second warm up where we sung 'Moh' along with the scale of C. We also filmed that a few times before deciding we were happy with the footage. The quick warm ups were the next to be filmed, and we made sure to film them a few times to vary the footage. This is so we have more footage to decide on when editing the video.

Once all the warms ups were filmed, we filmed them through once more just to make sure we have enough footage of them. By the time we finished filming it was nearly the end of the lesson so we decided to look through our footage to make sure we had everything filmed.

Filming the Video | Lesson 3

Last lesson we finished the warm ups and we finished writing the script of our video, which meant we could use this lesson to film the video. We decided to split the video into two parts so it is easier for us to edit the video, and also so we don't rush when filming. The first part when we talk to the camera, and the second part when we do the actual warm ups.

Today, we decided to film the first part; talking to the camera. Before filming we had to choose a location and find somewhere to place the camera so both of us could be seen in the video. We chose to film in one of the practise rooms and place the camera on a high shelf so both of us were in the shot. It was quite straight forward when following the script as we had already given parts to one another. This meant we knew what we were saying and when to say it. We decided to split the script into a few sections to make it easier to remember certain lines and also so it was straight forward when it came to editing it.

The intro where we introduce the video and introduce ourselves was the first part we filmed as it was the easiest thing to memorize. Once we started the video we carried on with the rest of the script. We took turns when talking in the script so we could pick 2 lines and memorize them and then move on to the next two lines. This was useful for us as we didn't have to memorize the whole script. Also if we messed up we knew we could edit it afterwards, so we used the script as a base for what we were saying.

It took as a while to film the talking parts of the video as there was a lot that needed to be explained, and we wanted to make sure what we were saying was clear and understandable. We also messed up a few times because we forgot what we were saying, but that was ok as we could take it out when editing the video.

Finishing the Script | Lesson 2

When planning the video we have to create, we wrote a script for it so we knew what to say and how to explain instructions of the warm ups. As well as finishing off the script in this lesson we chose another exercise and came up with a few quick and easy exercises as well.

We started the lesson by looking through the script and the warm ups we had come up with in our last lesson. Using the same book we used last lesson we found another warm up to use in our video. The backing track of the scale was on a CD found in the book, and we thought about using that CD in our video. However, we decided that we would use the same exercise but do the scales ourselves on the keyboard, as we wanted it to be our own work. Once the first warm up was finalised and completed we moved onto the next one. Once that was finalised and completed we moved onto finding a new warm up.

In previous lessons for other units, we were given sheets of short quick warm ups that we could do. We decided to use that same sheet, and choose a few warm ups on the sheet to add into the video. We thought this was a good idea as some people might want quick and easy warm ups rather than warm ups that take time. When we did these warm ups ourselves before performing we found them useful. Knowing that we found the warms ups useful meant other people would as well.

Once we chose three warm ups we wanted to show in the video we added them into the script. We wanted the script to be entertaining as well as useful, so we made sure it had the basic information in there and we decided we would improvise a few other things in the video. When writing the script we fairly split each of the parts so both of us would have equal speaking parts. Once each of us chose what parts we were going to sing, we did a run-through of it without the camera so we knew roughly what we were going to say in the video and how we were going to show certain parts through camera angles.

Planning & Preparing | Lesson 1

Before using your vocal chords to sing and perform, it is vital that you warm up first to prepare your voice. If you fail to do so, your voice could get hurt and you won't be able to perform to the best of your ability.

 

We were given the task to create a video in which we present several warm up exercises and guide the audience through them. These exercises must be useful and the instructions must be easy to follow, so the public can use the video to help them warm up.

 

Today, we started planning our video, and the different warm up exercises we could include in it. Amelia and I are working as a pair to create this video as we feel having two people instruct the warm ups will show that they are suitable for a variety of different vocal types. We decided we would use YouTube as a source for our exercises, and some of the books that are available to us. Using these two media types as sources will help us come up with the most effective warm ups to show in our video.

 

Firstly, Amelia read the book we chose and I watched some YouTube videos in search for some useful warm up exercises. After 5 minutes of searching we found a few videos, and we learnt a few techniques from the book that were quite useful. We decided to try out some of the videos we found as we knew if we found the warm up effective other people would as well. When trying out some of the exercises we found, we agreed that they were effective, so we wanted to use that warm up, but interpret it to fit our style of voices.

 

Secondly, we found some paper and started writing a script for the video. We decided to write a script with a basic outline of each warm up as we wanted to be prepared and we didn't think improvising would be professional. We wrote down each of the different warm ups we are going to include in the video to help us write the script.

 

Watching and following the different YouTube videos we found influenced us when creating our own warm ups, and also it helped us have an idea of how to structure our video and how to make it entertaining to watch.

 

Here are some of the videos we used to help us when creating our own vocal warm up exercises:

 

 

 

 

In the next two lessons we are going to finish creating useful exercises, finish writing the script of the video, and film the actual video. If we get the video filmed by the third lesson, it means we can get the video edited quickly and get it completed soon.