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This week, we recorded our songs as a set list. We also worked our new song 'My Girl' by The Temptations. This song took a little while for us to learn, as most of us were mostly unfamiliar with it. Adam struggled at first to figure out the bass, but Callum was patient with him and we gave him all the time he needed to get it right. Simran and I were nor totally comfortable with the melody of the verses, so we altered them slightly to suit our voices. Rueben took on piano and backing vocals on the chorus, to add variation and to keep the song interesting. Simran and I alternated the lines we were singing, and it added a nice tone to the song. Our first song, 'This Old Heart of Mine' still needs some rehearsal. We struggle often with timing issues, and this may be due to the absence of a drummer. In future we could work with a metronome or some simple percussion like a tambourine or some hand drums like bongos, to help keep us in time. The rehearsal moved on well today and we got many things accomplished. In the next few weeks leading up to the end of term, we will work on the songs we have to make them fluent and perfect.

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Today was the first day back after half term, so we decided it would be a good idea to run through all of the songs we currently have, to refresh our memories and to warm up for the rehearsal time ahead. Matt unfortunately left our group this week, to rehearse songs on his own, as he was fairly fair behind with our songs, due to being absent. We bang work on our fourth and final song. We rejected all of our song suggestions from the last session where they were discussed, as we felt as though they didn't suit our group properly. Because we don't have a drummer, we try to select songs that are not heavily percussion orientated, so our pieces don't sound empty and hollow. Our first idea this week was to pick a song from the 90s. We first decided on 'Say My Name' by popular girl group Destiny's Child. However, we soon rejected this idea, as the vocals are very fast paced, and it would be difficult for Simran and I to master perfectly in the time we have available to us. We then decide to play 'My Girl' by The Temptations; a song I had unheard previously. This meant it was difficult for me to sing. Reuben was also unfamiliar with it, but I do believe that if we listen to this song and practise at home, we will be able to get the hang of it. next week we will be rehearsing this song until it is up to the professional standard we know we can attain, alongside our other songs as well. We intend to be able to play through them all fluently, with flair and confidence by the end of the next session, so we are fully prepared for out performance to the group in a few weeks time.

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This week all members of our group were present. We had the task of attempting to teach Matt the chords and strumming to 'Treasure'. This proved difficult, as it was only Simran and I trying to hep Matt, and we don't really know the chords very well as we are the vocalists. Callum, Reuben and Adam were unhelpful - they could have done more to assist Matt with learning the chords and rhythm, and this therefore would have saved time and helped the group move on with the rehearsal. We will also have to teach Matt the chords to 'Isn't She Lovely', but that song is not solid and perfect yet so this should prove simpler. As group, I do feel we need to work together and communicate to a higher standard, as I believe this would aid the group in making better use of rehearsal time. I felt that Reuben and other member os the group could have worked more with Matt to help him understand the songs we are playing and to include him more in the group. We ran through all of the songs we have, and realised that our weakest song is 'This Old Heart Of Mine'. We need to work out which lines Simran and I are singing, as we kept getting confused and singing the wrong parts at the wring times, or not singing at all. We are also considering adding harmonies at the end of 'Isn't She Lovely', but we intend to work on this in later weeks. We drafted a few ideas regarding which will be our fourth and final song to learn, and some contenders were:
No Doubt - Don't Speak
The Smiths - This Charming Man
Lionel Richie - Hello
Kool and the Gang - Get Down On It
Nirvana - Come As You Are
The songs we choose need to be inclusive to all members of the group, not just those with specific talents.

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This week, alongside rehearsing our previous songs 'Treasure' and 'This Old Heart of Mine', we began work on a new song - 'Isn't She Lovely' by Stevie Wonder, written and realeased in 1976. As usual, Rueben played the keys, Simran and I sang, Callum provided electric guitar and Adam gave us bass. Unfortunately Matt wasn't present again this week, so we will have the task of catching him up on the song and working out where he will fit in next week, which means this may hinder our progress. Initially, we thought that Isn't She Lovely could use some synth sounds instead of classic grand piano, as this would be very era appropriate, but we decided against this idea as it just didn't fit with the sound of the song. Instead, we stuck with classic grand piano. I did however struggle a little this week, as I am not overly familiar with this song, so I think it would be very helpful for me to go and listen and rehearse this song at home, to ensure that next week I am more comfortable and am able to concentrate on my vocal technique, instead of worrying about the tune or the lyrics. We also decided to add a piano solo between the second verse and the third verse, and between the third verse and the end. We decided to do this as it would make the song more interesting, and add variation, so it not to be following the same structure all the way through. This is also a good opportunity for Reuben to show off his talents as a pianist.

Reuben had returned from his absence last week, so our task now was to begin to work out how he would fit into 'Treasure'. He tried to harmonise over all the lyrics, but I didn't like this idea because it sounded too busy and messy. We agreed that Reuben would on the third verse and parts of the final chorus. He also played the keyboard for this song, playing chords to match and respond to what Callum was playing on the electric guitar. Again, if Matt is present next week, we will have to work out how to fit him into the song as well.

Our next task was to rehearse 'This Old Heart of Mine', as this song is not as strong as it could be. I personally feel that I need to work on not breathing between words when I'm singing, although the melody lines are quite long and I often feel myself struggling. But, I believe that as I get more used to this song - and with more practice - this will become easier. I also feel that as vocalists, Simran and I really need to go for it and feel confident with this song, as I feel it will benefit our performance technique in the future, and make the whole song sound better and all the more powerful.

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This week we began work on a new song from the present day - 2000s. The song we chose to cover was 'Treasure' by Bruno Mars, released in 2012.

We thought this would be an appropriate song choice, because the instruments we had at our disposal were two vocalists (Simran and myself), electric guitar (Callum) and the bass (Adam). We didn't have a secondary guitar or keys as Matt and Reuben were both absent. As a consequence of this, I believe our progress in the next session will be hindered, as we will have to spend time working out how we will incorporate the two absent group members into this song, instead of working on something new.  We were also unable to practice fully our cover of 'This Old Heart Of Mine' from the last week, as Rueben was not present to add his parts or play his freestyle solo. At first we were unsure if Matt's acoustic guitar would fit in with the other electric instruments, but after some thought we agreed that it may add some deeper, subtle undertones to the song, therefore making it varied and different from the original version. We will begin work on this next week, if all members of the group are present.

Simran was already quite familiar with this song prior to the rehearsal session, so her vocals were strong and confident, and this also meant that she was able to guide me and support my vocals, as I was not as familiar with song. We decided that the best way to perform this song would be to sing a verse and a chorus each, in an alternating fashion. We attempted to harmonise on the middle eight section, just before the final chorus. We struggled with this, as I found it hard to sing my part in tune. This is something that we will concentrate on and develop and improve in the coming weeks. At the beginning of the rehearsal I was not very comfortable with singing this song, as I didn't know the melody or the timings very well. However, as the rehearsal session advanced both Simran and I began to feel more confident in our vocals, and were able to channel that confidence into our performance and into working on our presence on stage.

The group communicated very well this week, and I believe that this is because we are now comfortable around each other. This meant that we were able to address problem areas as a whole group and work on improving them together. This made us stronger as a team, which I think will definitely benefit rehearsals in the future, as we will be able to work together more effectively.

We also rehearsed our cover of 'This Old Heart Of Mine' during this session. Unfortunately, this song is not as strong as 'Treasure', and I think it likely that this is because neither Simran nor I have previously listened to this song. I do believe however, with more practice this song will be ready to perform accurately and fluently.

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Our group this week consisted of myself, Simran, Matt, Rueben, Callum and Adam. Our task for this week was to cover a song from the 60s, and we chose  'This Old Heart Of Mine' by the Isley Brothers. It was released in 1966. It took a while for me to get used to the tune of this song because I previously had not heard it before.