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I believe that this song worked really well. We made no mistakes during the performance, and we had a really good, completed structure. https://youtu.be/yQJO1pKXh6o. I think we worked very well together as a group. If i were to do this performance again I would concentrate more on rehearsing my guitar playing and working on staying in time with the other members of the group.

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At the end of a rehearsal, I usually spend five minutes evaluating the practice I have just completed. I think about if I had practiced to my full potential, and whether or not I have strengthen my skills to a good enough standard. I also make sure I am prepared for the next week. I plan some targets and aims for the next time I am going to rehearse, so I can make the best use of my time and generally just get the most benefits out of practicing. After this, I think it's important to relax and jam out a few songs to cool down. I usually spend around five minutes doing this; I play some of my favourite songs on the guitar and sing along.

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During a practice, and also to aid as a final warm up, I will sing through the songs I am meant to be rehearsing for the coming weeks. This helps to familiarise myself with the material I'm working on, so I'm comfortable singing it. It also helps me to identify where the problem areas in a song are, whether its a struggle reaching some notes in a bridge, or if I am struggling with timings. After I have run through these songs, I will work on the areas that I am having difficulty with. For example, when running through 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow', I noticed that I was having some trouble reaching the notes towards the end of the song, as they start to become quite high, and I have a slightly lower vocal range. To combat this issue, I sung these lines over and over again, each time practising and concentrating on my breathing, to help support my voice through the higher notes. After approximately ten minutes of this, I was able to breathe correctly and hit the notes just right. During rehearsal time I accompany my vocals by playing the acoustic guitar, as I find that this helps me to stay in time and in key. It also enables me to practice by guitar skills, as for some of the songs i have performed on this term, I have been playing the rhythm guitar solo instead of singing. An example of this would be that when I rehearse my guitar part for our cover of 'Put Your Records On', I also sing along, as this adds extra chance for me to keep my voice working hard. This process overall takes half an hour.

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My vocal practice routine usually lasts around an hour or so, and I do this at least three times a week. I begin every practice with a warm up, which usually takes about 20 minutes if done correctly. To warm up, I begin by taking deep breaths, which allows my stomach muscles to relax, and therefore assist me in reaching higher notes safely and comfortably.  Performing a siren (making a “woo” sound whilst sliding from a low to a high pitch, and going up and down scales) improves the sound of my vocals and stretches my vocal chords, meaning I can reach both higher and lower pitches effectively, whilst still maintaining a good sound and keeping my vocal chords away from damage. A gentle hum to cool down my vocals after a practice is also beneficial for me, as it will help to rest my vocal chords, so I am able to sing safely and well again. I also keep my vocal chords lubricated by drinking warm water, as this helps to keep them relaxed enough for effective rehearsal. Drinking cold water can discourage muscle function, whilst very hot water can relax the vocal chords too much. Lubrication of vocal chords helps them to vibrate effectively, and also reduces the risks of irritation and inflammation. Warming up the voice is an essential part of a practice routine, as it will enable me to reach my full potential when practicing, and will also keep my vocal chords from being damaged.

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Uploaded by QS16 - WORKING AS AN ENSEMBLE on 2017-01-24.

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I thought I'd be here forever
But now we're just plain old strangers
Show me the way to your heart
Show me the way to your heart

Running away from the future
But we're only getting older
Now we're so far apart
Now we're so far apart

I knew it'd be a long road
But now I don't know who you are
And I'm starting to lose control
Maybe we're better off alone

Somehow I was blind by your presence
I was stuck in the same position
Over and over we tried
So I could just stay by your side

My heart will forever remember
That beautiful timeless face
I think we should say our goodbyes
So long my love, goodbye

I knew it'd be a long road
But now I don't know who you are
And I'm starting to lose control
Maybe we're better off alone

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This week, we continued work on our 80/90s ballad. Malique was absent this week, and Yvie joined our group. This meant that we had lost an electric guitar, but gained a singer. We added to our original lyrics, building on them to create a chorus and a second verse. We stuck with the key change at the instrumental pre chorus, and changed back to our original key. We still decided to keep in the guitar solo, played by Matt on the acoustic guitar. This added a nice sense of variation and contrast to our piece. We also used big powerful notes within our chorus, as most ballads of this time focused mainly on vocal technique.

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This week, I worked with Simran, Matt, and Malique. This was the first week of 80s and 90s songs. During our preliminary planning, we had decided to take influence from pop ballads from this time. Some examples of these songs would be:

The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (1986)
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - The Power of Love (1984)
Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It? (1993)

Considering this inspiration, we decided to write lyrics about a lost love, as most pop ballads usually tell a sad story, typically about heartbreak. Our first verse lyrics:
Chords: C G D F C G
I thought I'd be here forever
But now we're just plain old strangers
Show me the way to your heart
Show me the way to your heart

Running away from the future
But we're only getting older
Now we're so far apart
Now we're so far apart

Most ballads of this time used acoustic guitars, and common chord patterns were basic, such as C, G Em and D, as they were mostly focused on the vocal technique. Most of these popular ballads had a 4/4 time signature, so we adopted this for our own piece. Synth was also commonly used as a bassline, and was used alongside the guitar to drive the melody and the beat. Considering this, we used a synth effect on the keyboard, played by Simran, and two acoustic guitars, played by Matt and I. We decided that it would be a good idea for Malique to use his electric guitar, to pluck some melodies over the top of the acoustic guitars, which mainly played the rhythm. This added variation to our performance, and made the instrumentation more complex and therefore more interesting to listen to. To further build on our theme of variation, we decided to add a key change after the verse. This proved difficult at the beginning, as Matt and I were using capos on the fourth fret, and as Malique wasn't, it was hard to get us all playing the same notes. It took us a while to figure out the correct chords we should be playing, but eventually, and after a little encouragement from Loz, we managed to play the right notes, and got our key change to work. In this piece, we have worked on incorporating elements from traditional pop ballads, and we will experiment with working on different sections, which will in turn flow into different things.

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This week was my first week at magnet this term. I was in a group alongside Pixie, Rueben, Beth and Matt. I missed a week last week as I was off ill, so didn't get a chance to input in the preliminary planning of this song. The lyrics we used were written by Pixie; she was the lead vocalist, Matt took lead guitar, Beth on backing vocals, Rueben on the keys and I played the ukulele for the first part of the rehearsal. We used the ukulele and other acoustic instruments such as the electric guitar because we were trying to accentuate the folk music revival of the 60s. Folk music uses lots of acoustic instrumentation, such as banjos and tin whistles. Songwriters such as Donovan inspired the contemporary folk revival of the 60s, with songs such as "Song for John" and "Celtic Rock."

Traditional folk music lyrics are usually focussed around story telling and moments from history. Inspired by this, Pixie's lyrics are written as a story telling point of view, detailing some tough times she has experienced.

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This week, I was in a group with Otis, Simran and Callum. Today we were exploring 70s and 80s songs.

As we had a keyboard and Simran's lovely jazz like vocal technique, we decided to create a song inspired by the icon herself, Aretha Franklin, who produced such 70s hits as "Son of a Preacher Man". We also had a keyboard and Simran's skills to out advantage, so we were able to use this to enhance our Aretha Franklin inspired vocals.

The lyrics Simran and I chose to write were based on love and romantic relationships, as classic 80s songs mostly are. Our chorus line: "when I wake up, you're the one I think of" was inspired by Aretha Franklin's song "Say a Little Prayer for You" - the first line is "when I wake up, before I put on my make up, I say a little prayer for you". Our aim was to keep the vocals simple, so we were able to focus more on soulful expression, inspired by 70s/80s artists such as Stevie Wonder. During this time most lyrics and choruses were catchy and simple, to enhance the power of the soulful vocals.

We didn't have many instruments available to us, and during the first part of the session, we started to lean towards the idea of using a guitar part which had a reggae feel; Bob Marley's music during the 80s stimulated this idea. One of the songs that inspired use to make use of reggae style guitar vibes was his song "Could You Be Loved". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr-yQaMbQ3o. The lyrics for this song are also based around the idea of love. We also had a keyboard to use, and instead of just the basic grand piano preset, we decided that to accentuate further the 80s vibes, we would use an electric piano setting, as many bands and artists during this time period would use synth piano melodies/bass chords. A popular 80s song which makes use of synth piano is "Africa" by Toto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTQbiNvZqaY&list=PL59A0983A5B618302. Similar to our song, the electric piano plays bass chords underneath the guitar melody.

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As last week's session was mostly spent figuring out which vibes we were aiming for. After we had finally settled on a soulful, R&b inspiration, we had time to rehearse and make our song perfect. To add variation and excitement into our piece, we decided to add a tempo changes the chorus, to ensure it was more upbeat and catchy, like most traditional 80s songs. We also decided to make use of a cajon, a Spanish drum played with the hands, to provide us with a steady beat so we were all able to stay in time with one another.

Overall, our performance went really well. We were very well rehearsed and made little to no mistakes; the ones we did make were hardly noticeable and did not detract from there performance. I think we worked very well together as a group: all ideas were shared confidently, and incorporated as best as possible. To improve my personal performance, I would make sure that I am thoroughly warmed up, and that I'm breathing correctly, so I managed to hit all the high notes well, and sometimes I struggled with this. Overall, my performing skills were good, but I could have been more confident, I believe that this will come with time and practice.

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Uploaded by QS16 - WORKING AS AN ENSEMBLE on 2017-01-30.