Instrumental Study

1.1 Day to Day Maintenance Requirements of My Instrument

a) What are the maintenance requirements of my instrument?

I need to make sure I do not strain my voice. This will improve my singing ability and my marks. I can do this by, relaxing my voice via lip trills, not forcing high notes and by drinking water before singing. This will improve my overall singing ability and help me do w ell in this course and the future.

Lip trills- Release lip tension this releases tension. You have to press your lips loosely together release the air to create a trill . 

Forcing high notes- When you strain you damage your vocal cords and your toner pitch is poor.

Drinking water-To effectively hydrate my vocal cords, I need to drink lots of water. It could take around 30 minutes or more for water to reach my larynx and benefiting the voice, so I shouldn't just drink the moment before you sing.

b) What Can I undertake personally?
I can remain hydrated and not sing when my throat hurts. This will also help me sound better and feel more comfortable. I need to make sure I know the lyrics to songs I'm singing and make sure I'm relaxed. This will help improve my singing ability and help me achieve my personal goals. 

I can practise more vocal warm ups to make sure my voice is ready to sing. These warm ups include lip trills. 

1.2. Personal Health and Safety Issues 

a) What Health and Safety issues are there that you need to consider when playing your instrument, and when approaching your playing style?

I could hurt my voice. This can effect my vocal clarity and general singing voice. This will also help me achieve a better grade.  Making sure I'm hydrated can help this. 

1. Keep good posture. If you sing sitting down, you ultimately sing worse. This is because the air that you breath in, that you need to help you sing, flows better when you stand.
2. Take deep breaths, take it slow and you'll ultimately sing well. This is because it is a way to relax your jaw, this makes your singing more natural. 
3. Release mouth, reduce tension in your mouth and throat, to sing better. Reducing tension relaxes your jaw to help you sing better and reach high notes better.                                                                                                                                                                                                         
4. Drink a hot drink. This makes your voice sound less hoarse and stops your throat from hurting when you sing.
5. Sing some warm up songs e.g. The boy with a thorn in his side. Practise makes perfect. This will make you feel more relaxed and comfortable to sing a more challenging.                
6. Use a microphone if necessary. It is sometimes better not to, to make your voice louder. It really depends on the song you were singing. For example a quiet and melancholy song like Asleep by The Smiths is better to sing without a microphone, if you're singing to a small audience. While What Difference does it make sounds better with microphone.

b) How should you review your own approach to these issues when playing your instrument?
I should make sure I'm doing everything I can to relax and maintain my voice I can do this by looking tips up on the internet.

Problems while recording

1. People walking in 
2. People talking
3. voice cracks 
4. Distractions 
5. Being off key during a perfect recording 

What I need to record

1. A backing track
2. My voice
3. A phone

2.1 Reviewing Personal Goals

a) What are the personal goals that you would like to achieving in playing your instrument?

I would like to sing songs well and do the artist justice, by working on my stage presence. I believe doing this will help me in the duration of my course. I would like to achieve this before the end of the course, by January 2018 at the latest. 

I would like to improve my singing ability in general to assist me in this course, also I would like this so I am able to take music further. November 2017. I'm going to focus on breathing techniques to improve my singing ability. 

Finally, I would like to focus on improving my confidence. I rarely ever perform on stage. Therefore, I need to practice doing this, if I am to take singing further. I will try to do this before our recital. 

b) How do you intend to achieve these personal goals?

I intend to relax my voice, stop squeezing it and learn the lyrics I need to learn off by heart.This will again help me achieve a better grade. 

I need to work on my blog every week and make sure I can sing to and excellent standard to achieve a merit.

I need to work hard in my lessons to improve my singing for the future.

The agreed plan with my teacher is to:

1. Attend and take part in 1 hour of practical lessons per week, for a minimum of 15 weeks. 

2. Attend and take part in a 20 minute lesson for my instrument, for a minimum of 15 weeks. 

3. Review and reflect upon my lessons and progress each week on my blog, for a minimum of 15 weeks.  

c) Blog of all rehearsals - you must state what you have achieved, and what you plan to do next week. 

Week 1

Today the whole class did a performance of the song counting stars by one republic. I sung this beautiful piece of fine music. At first we sung to a backing track on the youtubes. We sung to this a couple of times, practising for the recording. We made sure everything was perfect before we started recording. When we started recording everything was perfect and all things were in time. However some people could of been better.

Week 2

What did we practice today?

Today we practised a number of different songs, to see what worked and what did not.

What was easy? What was hard?

Finding the right song was hard, there are so many songs to choose from. We need to choose one that is both relatively easy to perform yet challenges us as musicians. 

How did the tutor lessons go this week?

My tutor says I need to be more relaxed when I sing. I have been singing the song creep by radiohead.

Week 3

What did we practice today?

Like yesterday I practiced a number of songs. This is because James was not here therefore we did not work as effectively as last week.

What was easy? What was hard?
We could not practice due to absence of James, so Josh practiced piano and I practised my singing.

How did the tutor lessons go?
My tutor is teaching me to use my own voice, instead of the voices of other singers.

Week 4

 What did we practise today

  Today we practised our respective instruments.We also did a mini mock-recording to prepare for our recording tomorrow, it was pretty successful.

What was easy? What was hard?

Today was a challenging lesson, we need to practise a lot more. I hope that we can do some lunchtime rehearsals 

Tutor lessons

I doing here I am with my tutor. My tutor says everything is fine, I just need to practise more.    

Review of Performance:

This performance is alright. It is not the best, I think the main problem was I didn't relax my voice. I need to do this the led air flow freely, this helps me sing better. While this was alright for a first recording; I need to improve.

Week 5

What did we practise today

We did another practise recording, we did really well we might record tomorrow. This is because we think we're completely ready. I sung creep by radiohead, to a backing track. I was alright, could've been better.

What was easy? What was hard?

Today was really easy, but the bridge was a bit challenging. I just need to practise some more 

Tutor lesson

I doing the air that I breathe with my tutor I thought it went really well, I think I can move on to something else.

Week 6

 What did we practise today
I practised two songs to record. Now I just need to choose which one to record first; life on mars or creep.
  What was easy? What was hard?
Life on mars by Bowie was quite hard it goes from high to low, has no chorus which makes it hard to remember the lyrics. However creep was very easy, there are clear verses and chorus and usually stays at quite a low pitch; bar the end of the song. This may influence my decision on what to record. 

How did the tutor lessons go?

I practiced life on mars with my teacher. He said I was great. However I believe I need more practised.

Week 7

What did we practice today?

I practised the man who sold the world. Hopefully I will record next week. This is song by the acclaimed artist David Bowie.

What was easy? What was hard?

It was hard to get the volume of my voice right, the song can go from quiet to loud in a matter of seconds. This is the same with a lot of Bowie's songs.

How did the tutor lessons go?

I continued to practise life on mars and I started the man who sold the world. I think I could get used to practicing two songs at a time, this will help me record 15 minutes of music.

Week 8

What did we practice today?

I listen and learnt the lyrics of heaven knows I'm miserable now. I think this is a good song for me to sing this is because it never goes to low or high, apart from at the lyric "live or die". 

What was easy? What was hard?

Learning the lyrics was a bit tricky. This is because The Smiths are very unconventional band, with unconventional lyrics.

How did the tutor lessons go?

I practised this charming man with my tutor. I think all The Smiths songs suit me. 

  Week 9

What did we practice today? 

I recorded this charming man, I have put the evaluation at the bottom of my blog.

What was easy? What was hard? 

Finding the right tone to sing it in was difficult. 

How did the tutor lesson go?

The email that informs me what time my tutor lesson was, was not sent therefore, sadly, I could not attend my lesson.

Week 10

What did we practice today?

I practised life on mars? I feel like I could finally record it now. I also practised What Difference does it make? I feel like I could do something really good with this song. Just like the other The Smiths songs I can sing them really well. 

What was easy? What was hard? 

Warming up my voice was a tad bit tricky. I need to warm up faster; this is because I only have 1-2 hours of practical work a week. Life on mars? is a very challenging song; it goes from high to low very quickly and is very unorthodox when it comes to music as a whole. It is by David Bowie who was a very talented yet unusual musician.  

How did the tutor lesson go?

I am doing well in my tutor lessons; I keep practising songs that I will record after life on mars?. 

Review of Performance:

This was better. My voice was a little shaky, but a lot more relaxed. My voice better because of the relaxation. I'm getting better but there is still a long way to go.

In short this was better than the first but not as good as the second. I relaxed my voice, but I could have practised more and chosen a song that suited me better. I will remember this for next time.                                                                                                                    

Week 11

I learned how to warm up my voice. I usually practise a simple song e.g. Heaven knows i'm miserable now and Everybody wants to rule to world. I need to find out more warm-up techniques next week.

Week 12

What did we practice today?

I found out how to warm up my voice, I just need to sing some Morrissey. However I need add to my blog.  

What was easy? What was hard? 

Finding the right song was hard. It was a tough up-hill battle but thou prevailed. The boy with a thorn in his side was the best choice. It fits my tone of voice very well. 

How did the tutor lesson go?

There was no lesson this week.

Week 13

What did we practice today?

I recorded a boy with a thorn in his side and life on mars. I feel like if I keep up this current pace I could achieve great things, but I need to remain consistent.

What was easy? What was hard? 

It was relatively easy, however the backing track was a lot to get used to. I need to practise with backing tracks more.

How did the tutor lesson go?

I recorded life on mars with Mr Gower. It was great; I feel like I should start practising and recording one song at a time, this will help me record things faster in the long run.

Week 14

What did we practice today?

 I practised both Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and There is a Light and it Never goes Out. I don't know which one to record though.

What was easy? What was hard? 

Getting used to the backing track was very hard. I need to warm up my voice more, this will help me have more vocal freedom. 

How did the tutor lesson go?

Mr Gower said I was good, but I need to relax more.

                                                                                                           

Week 15

What did we practice today?

I practised Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and recorded There is a Light and It Never Goes Out this fits in with my new target; rapid progression. I believe this target is good to keep me on track, especially now in the last few weeks of the course. 

What was easy? What was hard?

I found the task itself easy, however keeping focus was quite hard, also it was a bit hard to control my voice.

This was the best recording I'd done. I was relaxed, using a backing track hydrated, and the recording sounded better because of it. I need to keep up the good work.

How did the tutor lesson go?

I recorded There is a Light and It Never Goes Out, with my tutor. It took a few tries but the final take was really good.

Week 16

What did we practice today?

I nearly finished my music style development, I've acted on all but one of my targets, to write about important indie rock dates. This is very important to my music style development.

What was easy? What was hard?

Stay focused was challenging, but I think I've improved my concentration. I need to continue improving my concentration though. 

How did the tutor lesson go?

I practised, do you remember the first time by pulp, I'll record tomorrow. 

3.1 Review of your progress

a) What comments has your tutor made about your progress?

My tutor says my voice is becoming more relaxed and free, in turn I am singing better.

b) What are their reports on your:

i) technical ability- You can learn your songs really well, always sing in tune, your diction is always clear 

ii) dexterity You can move your voice with ease. Could use slow practice to ensure scales are pressure.

iii) stamina

You chose appropriate songs and keys, there is never and issue with stamina.

iv) control of the instrument

You use a more open throat when you sing and that gives you more of an expressive range in your tone.
c) All recordings and dates of these recordings

                   
3.2 Final Evaluation

a) What are your achievements, in relation to the personal goals you chose at the beginning of the course

My voice is loosing up more in turn I am singing better;  this is because I have continued to do singing warm-ups, not forcing high notes and drinking water. I believe this will help me in my recordings.
I feel like I have become more confident. I am always practicing and rehearsing with other people in the room, and it doesn't bother me at all. I look forward to our recitals next year, and continuing with Music and singing in my future.
I have worked on my breathing and technical skills, and my tutor and I both feel that is improvement with this. 

b) What are the strengths in your progress?

My strengths are my ability to memorise lyrics well and adapt to different genres e.g. rock, classic, etc.  
c) What do you need to continue to work on as a performer?

I need to keep attending my tutor lessons to improve my singing and I need to continue to work on singing warm-ups and other preparation such as drinking water, this is crucial for maintaining my voice and helping me sing well. 

1. This Night has Opened my eyes is one of the best recordings I've done, bar the loud piano. I think I did a great job of getting across Morrissey's melancholy tone. 

2. Again, the piano was not as loud, however it was overall a good piece, I was able to capture Bowie's sense of wonderment. I also need to have a better knowledge of the song so I know what tone my voice needs to  be in. I also think I could have practised more before recording

3. The piano was no where near as loud, however it could have been quieter , however I think a was able to do that half singing half talking that Jarvis Cocker does so well. I think this a great improvement over the last recording. 

4. I thought this was on of my best recordings. I was able to capture the songs wonderment yet also was able to capture it's suicidal undertones. All though I could have practised a bit more and I could have sung louder. I need to remember this for my final performance.