Evaluation

After months of practice since September, I finally sang through my recital and achieved a Merit for my performance. Overall I thought my performance was good but I knew I could achieve better if I just got a little bit better. My first song, 'Thousand Years' by Christina Perry. This was my best song with accurate tuning and control of my voice to create a solid performance of the song. However my other two songs created the most issue in regards to my performance.

My next song 'On My Own' from Les Miserables the start of the song was going well, and sounded accurate. However as the song went on, the higher notes didn't sound as accurate and some I couldn't reach. However I carried on till the end of the song, where I sang the outro of the song with precision and held it well giving a strong end to the song. My last song 'Who Knew' by Pink, was overall a confident performance and gave some diversity to my performance.

Similarly to my performance of 'On My Own' the start of the song was good and the tone of the piece suited my vocal range and ability however there was a slight tune issue on occasion. Then, like On My Own, the ending is very powerful with high notes and alot of power behind which I did struggle with leading to that I need more control with my breathing techniques. It is a challenging song there is no denying it, it really just needs alot more practice for me to reach the high notes on the songs.

If I could re-do my performance again I'd work even harder on trying to achieve the high notes. However I am proud of what I have achieved over the past few months and that my voice has actually developed well. Six months ago I dreaded singing a song in my chest voice, I hated the sound and tone and though it was awful. But doing this practice and performance has made me realise that it is actually my stronger voice and it sound pretty good, although my range isn't as far as it was it's alot more confident which as a performer you need to be. So this unit has not only gave me the chance to perform my skills infront of an audience but also develop them and change me sound. For someone who once used to be strictly musicals, I have now got a much more broader range of songs to look and and perform which was seen in my song choices.

Final Song Choice!

For my repertoire my final three songs in order of performance are:

• Thousand Years - Christina Perry
• Who Knew - Pink
• On My Own - From Les Miserables

After much decision...

I was originally going to perform 'I Can Hear The Bells' from Hairspray. However, over the past few months my voice has developed as I have began working on my chest voice and some notes in the song I cannot reach very well. So I have began to look at songs that are in a lower range of voice but also away from a ballad type song.

So after looking around for a few songs, from Ed Sheeran to Paramore I have settled on what I think is an in between of the two. Pinks 'Who Knew' . Have a listen and see what you think:

On My Own

Over the past few months, my voice has begun to really develop into something. For a long time, I never really sang in my chest voice until this past year. I though it sounded horrible. Until I heard myself back, singing with a power I never realized my voice had from singing in a head voice all this time.

 

Can You Hear The Bells?

I've also been working on 'I Can Hear The Bells' which is sang in my head voice with a powerful musical theatre style performance. Alot of acting also comes into this as there is alot of expressionism throughout the song.

I have been working on the longer notes and projection and I believe it's going well! I'll post a video soon enough!

Working On a Chest Voice

For 'Thousand Years' I need to use my chest voice throughout the song as it is a lower range than what I'm used to. The only part I really have to use my head voice in is the pre-chorus "one step closer." which is an octave higher than the final note on the verse.

To get used to singing songs with transitions, I began to look at another Christina Perri song 'Jar Of Hearts' which is a very similar style and tempo as 'Thousand Years': 

This has actually helped me to develop my chest voice alot, and realise that maybe it doesn't sound as bad as I think it does. So it has actually boosted my confidence abit too!

Repertoire Change

I've hit a bump in the road! My repertoire was too long including all four songs that I would have performed consecutively, this was also wearing my voice out to get to the big finish of my songs. So due to this, I will only be performing my 3 vocal pieces:

• Thousand Years
• I Can Hear The Bells
• On My Own

 These are now my final song choices, at 12 minuets long. Rather than 15 which felt long and also caused some vocal problems. Hope you understand!

Initial Music Choices

The proposition of songs that I would perform in the summer is:

• A Little Less 16 Candles - Fall Out Boy (Uke Cover)
• Thousand Years - Christina Perri
• I Can Hear The Bells - (From) Hairspray
• On My Own - (From) Les Miserables

Here is a link to some examples of me singing through some of these songs:

Music BTEC Solo Performance Diary!

Hello musicians!

This blog was created to help aid my learning for my AS Music BTEC course. Throught my time blogging I will be informing you as to what I am doing to work towards my Solo Performances at the end of this academic year.

I will take you on the journey of how my skills as a singer are developing and my next steps into being a performer. This will come thick and fast in a variety of ways, text posts, videos, sound clips, the lot. I look forward to blogging my progress and keeping you informed. 

Lucy x