Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.

PART 1: Planning

Title of the solo song/ pieces your are going to perform.

Hard Work - Ella Henderson

Listen to the recording you have made and identify (list) your strengths and weaknesses in the performance and label them (e.g. 1 =biggest strength → 5 greatest weakness). These must identify music issues e.g. intonation, diction, phrasing, rhythm etc. not emotional issues such as nervousness; and they should identify specific areas of the song/ piece e.g. chorus, phrase 1 + lyric(s) or bar numbers and beats.

Strengths WeaknessesRhythm - 1Dynamics - 2

Timing - 3 - during the first bridge I come in late as im not sure of the timing for me to come in so I need to work on this.Diction - 2 - At the end of the 2nd verse I am not sure how to sing the line ‘ And even thinking is tough’ and on my first video this is clear as I miss it out completely. Also sometimes my words are unclear.Phrasing - 1 - The beginning of the song has very short snappy sentences and I do not make them as snappy as they should be so I am going to work on this.Tone- 4 - During the bridge I am straining to reach the higher notes especially on the

Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.words ‘Running away’ and ‘A little bit of love is all it takes’

Breathing - 5 - In some parts of the song I am not breathing correctly and this is causing me to strain especially during the bridge so I need to work on this.

RESEARCH – Make a list of “technical exercises” that are used by musicians to improve performance and what element of musicianship they are intended to improve.

Technical Exercises Intended outcomeLip rolls while doing scales, this exercise reduces throat tension, warms up and strengthens the upper register and reduces vocal fatigue, this will help to strengthen the voice and help the mouth to prepare for better diction and phrasing when singing.

Using Yah-Yah / Uh-Uh warm ups, in scales, to help improve vocal tone. By doing this warm up the voice becomes fuller/richer, high notes become clearer and this helps so that you don’t have to push/strain your voice to reach higher notes.

For diction and phrasing to be better when singing.

To be able to reach higher notes.

Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.Breathing in and out to counts of 4, 8 and 12 is a good warm up for breathing. You must inhale for 4 beats, hold for 4 beats and exhale for 4 beats, this should be repeated 3 times and after a few times of doing this you should be able to do the same with 8 beats and then 12. This is designed to help you control your breathing and feel your diaphragm working properly.

Tongue Twisters are perfect exercises to help improve diction as they use the tongue, teeth, lips and jaw. They work by getting all of these places moving and getting them used to working in the correct way. Some of these tongue twisters include ‘ I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop’ and ‘ A proper cup of coffee from a proper coffee pot’.

To be able to control your breathing using your diaphragm.

To have correct diction.

Which “technical exercises” will you use to improve the weaknesses you have identified in your performance?

Weaknesses Technique that you will use to improve it.Diction

Tone

I am going to use tongue twisters to improve my diction when I am singing.

I am going to use Yah-Yah / Uh-Uh warm

Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.

Phrasing

Breathing and Timing

ups, in scales, to improve my tone.

I am going to use lip rolls when I am doing vocal exercises to help my phrasing, these are also good for diction.

I am going to use breathing to different beats so that I know how long I can hold notes for and so that I am breathing in the correct places of the song. I am going to do this while using a metronome so that I keep in time and this will also improve my timing along with my breathing.

Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.

Part 2: Practicing

You need to practice regularly to improve your performance; you will need to demonstrate progress in lessons.

● Keep a practice diary, using the log below or similar, for at least 10 practice sessions before your performance. You must also record (2 – 3 minutes of) at least 10 practice sessions, which show you using a practice technique not you performing the piece or song.

Practice Session

Target: Specifically (e.g. bar numbers and beats) which weakness are you addressing1.

What technical exercises are you going to use to address the weakness (be specific)

Evaluation: How much progress have you made towards your target? How effective was the technique you used? Did you modify the technique e.g. change from “normal” scales to scales in 3rds? What technical exercises will you use next time (if different) to improve further?

AV recording made:

Y/ N1 I am going to be

working on my diction for the first verse of the song as I am not getting the words as snappy as they should be.

I am going to use different tongue twisters to help strengthen my diction.

I have done a mixture of different tongue twisters to help towards my diction and they were very difficult and I think that I still need to work on them a lot.

YES

2 I am going to work on my breathing and timing. My breathing is an issue throughout the whole song so I

I am going to be breathing in and out to beats of 4 and 8 using a metronome.

I think that this exercise is going well and is helping me to get my timing correct and also my breathing is becoming more relaxed and I am not struggling as much as what I was anymore.

YES

1 The initial sessions should focus on the weaknesses you addressed in part 1 but may change as you progress through the practice cycle.

Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.really need to practise this and my timing is an issue, mostly in the second verse.

3 Phrasing is the weakness that I am going to be working on for this session as at the beginning of the song the words arent as snappy in the first verse as they should be.

I am going to use lip rolls to scales during this session to help my phrasing.

This technique is helping slowly I can now hear myself singing some words differently but not perfect yet, also I am not able to do this exercise without moving my hands away from my cheeks so I think once I have gained this skill I will see a difference in my singing too.

YES

4 I am working on tone in todays session and this is to help me reach higher notes in the bridge that I am slightly struggling with at the moment.

I am going to use Yah-Yah / Uh-Uh warm ups, in scales, to improve my tone.

This technique is helping slowly. I can almost reach the notes that I need to and I think that with a bit more practise using these techniques I will be able to reach the notes in the bridge by my deadline.

YES

5 I am working on diction again during this session especially for the second verse on the words ‘even thinking is tough’ as I sometimes cannot sing them in the correct rhythm.

I am going to use different tongue twisters to help with my diction.

Im not very good at doing tongue twisters but I can finally, after this session sing this part of the second verse correctly and I am no longer struggling to fit the words in with the rythm.

YES

Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.6 My phrasing for the

first verse has improved but I now need to work on the phrasing for the second verse so that the words are more snappy.

I need to do lip trills so that my phrasing can be improved. I will do scales while doing the lip trills.

I struggled to get the scales correct but the actual lip trills themselves have helped me when phrasing for the second verse as after doing these my mouth has become more relaxed and I can now make the verse endings more snappy and still have them in tune.

YES

7 When singing the first verse I need to make sure that it is very soft, almost like I am speaking and then when I get into the chorus I need to build up my dynamics more so to do this I need to work on my phrasing.

I am going to do lip trills in scales to work on my phrasing and also I will do them loud and quiet so that I am working on my dynamics while I am doing this technique.

From this session I can now do lip tills correctly with scales which shows that there has been improvement over this session. Also shaking my head has helped me to relax when singing the first verse and it has become a lot easier to sing it softly.

YES

8 I am going to work on tone for this session as in the bridge the words ‘running away’ are still a little bit flat.

Yah-Yah / Uh-Uh warm ups are going to be used, in scales, to improve my tone.

After this session I can see a difference when reaching higher notes and I can feel my throat struggling less when trying to reach the high notes which is a huge improvement from always being flat when I get to the note.

YES

9 I am working on my timing during this session as through different parts of the song I am still coming in slightly late,

To work on my timing I am going to be breathing in and out to beats of 4,8 and I am going to try and push myself to 16 while

I manages to push myself to 16 when doing this exercise so I can now see that these ecercises are helping me with my breathing and when I have run through the song I have not come in late on it and I feel confident that this technique is helping.

YES

Unit 23: Music Performance Techniques (solo) Planning and Practice log.especially after the chorus’.

using a metronome.

10 I am again working on my breathing and timing for this session just so that I know everything is in time and that I am going to be breathing correctly and holding notes for the right amount of time.

To improve my breathing I will be breathing in and out to beats of 8 and 16. I will also be using a metronome so that I know that the breaths are evenly spaced.

I was struggling at first when breathing for 16 beats but after practising for an hour this became a lot easier and I can now hold my notes for the right amount of time without struggling to breathe.

Link to videos - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8I9wPnchIsHS7KvuwQ7Ah5Y1I11DfFMf