Unexpected patterns

Recently, both in the music for the show and in songs I’m learning outside the show, I’ve noticed how composers will play with the patterns I expect to hear. This makes it more difficult to learn the music, because I’m fighting my brain which insists on hearing the music as it wants to, not as it is.

For example, the scales most of us are used to hearing are the major and two minors, and the chromatic. Even if you don’t read music or study music, you will be used to hearing music this way because it is what most of the music you hear is based on.

I’ve discovered my brain is very stubborn about what it wants to hear and what it wants to sing. To change the way it hears I need to play and listen to the new patterns over and over again to make them stick. Sigh. I would love if my brain would suddenly open up and just be able to hear what is actually there. I guess it’s a symptom of how we love to find familiar patterns in things. Singing a nice major scale is comforting and easy. Singing other patterns ain’t. Getting frustrated about it doesn’t really help either!

I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to start working in other music (non-Western) which doesn’t just have semi-tones but quarter tones too. Maybe I should do that next year as a challenge to my brain! Oooh and I’ve just discovered that Charles Ives had a play with quarter tones. Charles Ives is an awesome American composer who was way ahead of his time. His ‘Crossing the Bar’ based on the Tennyson poem is beautiful. Not that I can find it, sigh.

If you are a Wellington library card holder, log into the Naxos music database at http://www.wcl.govt.nz/mygateway/music.html and look for anything by Charles Ives (I do recommend Crossing the Bar). It’s worth it! Also if you haven’t logged in there before you should definitely do so more often, there is so much music available!

Sweet Adeliiiine…

OK, barbershop singing is FUN!! I went along tonight to a rehearsal of the Wellington City Chorus, a women’s barbershop group. Barbershop singing involves unaccompanied, closely layered, four part harmony. It’s beautiful when sung right, and that’s what these ladies certainly do! There were at least 50 of them, and I slotted myself in with some sheet music as they sang around me. I think I did alright! There is something so satisfying about singing in a group like that.

It’s different from the other choir singing I’ve done – lots more sliding to notes (but not lazily, everyone has to slide together in perfect unison!) and of course some choreography. For the most part it is just a few steps and some arms moving around, but en masse it looks amazing. Barbershop is a lot tighter and everyone has to have such a good ear and listen to what everyone else is doing. I think barbershop singing would improve my performance in any other group singing situation!

Right at the end they sang a beautiful hymn which is one of my favourites and almost made me cry it was so well sung and moving.  I have embedded a you tube clip of this song sung by an a capella group. They are guys so the sound is a bit different But after searching around, and listening to many clips, these particular guys do such an amazing job I had to use their version.

I’d love to go back and audition for the Wellington City Chorus, but I need to find out what the commitment is. I won’t be able to participate in the May competitions I know they are preparing for,  because I have my other show all through April, and I know this barbershop group will be doing lots of extra rehearsals leading up to comps. I also know I want to do the Cantoris concert at the end of the year which is Shakespeare songs. So it may not be feasible to do both. But Oohh I want to! So much energy in the room, and so positive. I don’t think you could sing this music and not feel better about life. Their musical director was also amazing, such energy and a real gift for getting the best out of his singers.

What I would really love is to sing barbershop in a quartet  Who will sing with me?!

Barbershop would also be good because it is yet another style of singing, and the more I do, the more aware I become of what I’m doing physically to make the style of sounds each time. Hmm. I will email them and find out more!

ETA: Cos I’m a geek as well as a singer. This is an awesome barbershop song about Star Wars.

Singing in tune is good

First singing practice of ‘Curtains’ has now been done, and the music seems like it’s going to be a lot of fun – really big Broadway show tunes with catchy melodies and harmonies to round everything up nicely at the end! The challenge will be to sing it while dancing! I’m looking forward to getting better at that

I have a new unaccompanied piece to learn too, ‘The Singer’ by Michael Head. It’s very pretty but, as it’s unaccompanied, requires me to really concentrate on my tuning, and it has some tricky chromatic runs.  Simple lyrics, and a lovely melody; the idea is to keep it sounding unstudied and beautiful (it’s a bit like ‘Heavenly Grass’ in that way) while at the same time not going horribly off key and warbling like an idiot. Mind you, that should probably always be a goal…

Here’s the lyrics for you:

I met a singer on the hill,
He wore a tattered cloak;
His cap was torn,
His shoes were worn,
And dreamily he spoke.

A wrinkled face, a cheery smile,
And a nobby stick had he;

His eyes were grey and far away
And changeful as the sea,
And changeful as the sea.

I offered him a piece of gold
And hoped that he would stay.
No word he spoke,
But shook his head
And smiled and went his way.

I watched the singer down the hill,
My eyes went following after,
I thought I heard a fairy flute
And the sound of fairy laughter,
I thought I heard a fairy flute
And the sound of fairy laughter.

There’s some ‘fa la la la’s in there too.

Can I find you a linky for it? I bet I can. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pIOK7aEJVw

There you go. This version sung by a girl called Eira for a recital. I think she does a lovely job.

New songs for a new year

Remember one of my wishes a couple of posts back? To do more singing in duets/trios? Well I walked into my lesson this week and the first thing I did was sing a duet with another student! WHEE! We may get to perform it later this year together.

The song is  ’che soave zeffiretto’ from the Marriage of Figaro (Mozart! Yay! On a related note, how much am I looking forward to the Marriage of Figaro that the NBR are putting on? Lots, that’s how much.)

Here is Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Ileana Cotrubas singing it. I’m singing the countess part which Kiri sings here.

It’s very sweet and a lovely song to sing with someone else.

I also got another new Mozart song to learn, ‘S’altro che lagrime’. It is beautiful and seems quite easy, right up to the end. Here is American soprano Barbara Bonney singing it beautifully. Listen for the high A’s right at the end. Two long ones in a row. Ack.

Neat trick to work on getting the high notes without tensing up is to flop forwards, with bent knees and relaxed arms and head down around your knees.  It seems to trick all the usual muscles which attempt to get in the way (they think they’re helping, it’s very sweet) to relax. Then I can straighten up and make the same noise. Hopefully. Because singing all flopped over doesn’t look great in performance.

Slowly slowly back into it

I’m here, I haven’t piked entirely! I have been terribly lazy over the Christmas period though. Not sung at all. I’ve played the piano a bit, and spent quite a lot of time figuring out the accompaniment to ‘Clair de lune’ (but not singing it, which would have been more useful!)

However, today I have a singing lesson, so I’m going to get my head back into the right space, and start making some noise again!

Things I might post about soon – the relationship to wine and music. I won a case of sparkling wine yesterday and it started me thinking about all the musos I know who love wine. Even the musical folk I follow on twitter are often discussing wine as well as music. So maybe I’ll try to find a musical match for all the wines I love!

Upcoming shows, and musings

I’m sitting in the sunshine listening to Die Fledermaus, for which I’ve just received the DVD for next year’s show. I’ve been cast in the chorus which should be fun. The only problem is I only have a chorus score, and to be honest most of the music I love the most is in the principal parts. Which means I’m going to have to shell out for a full score – sigh! The chorus don’t do a lot in Fledermaus but it should be a fun production, and I’ll get to hear some great singers!

A frustrating thing about being a beginning singer is not getting to sing some of the awesome duos and trios and quartets out there in the musical and operatic world. I can learn the parts, but until I can coerce find someone to sing them with, I just have to sing along with the soundtracks. Sigh.

Another frustrating thing is how there is a bundle of amazing music that I’m just not suited to sing! For example, Defying Gravity from Wicked. This is a show which has just bloomed in popularity in the last few years- and deservedly so. I caught in in 2005 in Chicago with one of my best friends. We were stuck for ideas what to do and wandered up a street which declared itself to be the Broadway of Chicago. We wandered into a theatre and saw there was a show on that night. So we booked tickets. We expected a pretty good show and a fun night out…

At half time we turned to each other, our mouths hanging open and our eyes shining  - ‘BEST SHOW EVER!!!’ I believe we declared. It truly was an amazing show, and I’m delighted it’s continuing in its popularity. If you ever get a chance to see it please please do!!  It’s not just awesome music, the story rocks, and the staging is truly impressive. Here’s a link to Defying Gravity if you haven’t heard it yet (where have you BEEN?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g4ekwTd6Ig

I also recommend ‘Popular’ which is hilarious. Again, something I’d love to sing, but requires a second person!

I’ve just spent some time sorting through some photos I had taken last week and getting my online casting profile sorted. I’d love to get some extra work next year. I’m happy with the photos and excited by new possibilities!

Here are some things I plan to do next year:

• Start dancing lessons ASAP!
• Work extra hard on my singing. I want to get that nice full sound that pops in and out to be my default sound!
• Find some people to sing duo/trio/quartets with!

Happy holidays everyone, I hope that 2010 brings us all exciting challenges!

Things I love Thursday (musical edition)

Ola! I love the Things I love Thursday idea that Gala Darling started, so I thought I would add it to this blog, but give it a musical flavour

• I got into the musical that I auditioned for on Sunday! I will be in the chorus hurrah! Come see me next April in ‘Curtains’ the Broadway murder mystery musical!
• Christmas carols – there was a moment outside the theatre last week as a group of five of us sang them acapella and the guys were playing round with the bass lines and there was harmony, and it was AMAZING.
• Singing silly songs to myself in offices
• Having my singing teacher enjoy my rendition of ‘Ich Liebe Dich’ at my lesson yesterday

Now here are two of my favourite Christmas carols for you to enjoy!

In Dulci Jubilo

Carol of the bells sung by ‘Celtic Woman’: ( I usually like it acapella, but this is a cool performance and the fiddle sounds great).

Flailing! Flailing!

Back now, audition was fine

Some scales to warm up, which were good. Then I used the previous auditionee’s CD because we were singing the same song, and it was a bit fast and tricky for the pianist (it is really fast!) It was mostly fine, except for the last note which started out OK then in the middle went all *BLARK* and I cracked. Just tired voice.

Then the dancing. Oh the dancing. It wasn’t (in the end) as bad as I thought. Though when the choreographer started out, and did some kind of kick step while gesturing with her arms and twirling I came very very close to saying ‘um thanks all, but really, I can’t do that, see ya!’ Fortunately I have not yet walked out of an audition or performance before I have finished and I didn’t want to start today. So I stuck it out. I asked to just see the feet again – I so can’t just pick up arms and feet at the same time Then I tried to add the arms in once my feet vaguely knew what they were up to. I think it is the kind of dancing I could definitely do with some practice, so that’s OK. There was a dancer in my audition group, who would be making grimaces when she didn’t extend her arms properly, where as my worries were more like ‘ow I hit myself in the head with my arm! How did that happen?’ ;P Not really, but the difference was clear!

Yeah, so audition was not so bad. There are a heap of girls auditioning, so I’m not too sure about my chances, but I’m glad I went and stayed. I freaked myself out so badly last night when I couldn’t get to sleep, couldn’t remember my words, hadn’t printed my audition form… I was quite tempted to ring up and just not do it. But the thing about performing is you have to keep trying for things. Because this show would be awesome fun to be in, and the music sounds cool. Sometimes it pays to ignore the little flailing voice in your head.

The Christmas show that finished last night was awesome. Here is a couple of photos of our beautiful set that was up in TWO DAYS. That is some kind of mad genius level of awesome.

Audition

Tomorrow I have an audition. Things I’m worried about re. the audition:

• New song I haven’t sung for people before. Argh words. Which is ironic because it’s all about how words are stupid and annoying.
• I failed to print the audition form because I’m not working in an office anymore and forgot to go find a printer.
• I have to dance in the audition.
• It is at 9am tomorrow.
• I’M TIRED AND I CAN”T SLEEP SO INSTEAD OF SLEEPING I’M BLOGGING ARGH CAPSLOCK OMG.

Things I’m happy about re. the audition:

• I like my song.
• Um.
• The other show I was in tonight was really cool and we raised money for charity. OK this one doesn’t have anything to do with the audition, but I’m going to take some of the happy from it and use it for auditioning.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

The flipside of singing fit – singing tired

Whoo. I am tired, not so much sleepy tired, just voice tired. I got to the end of my singing activities last weekend, which was a concert for my singing teacher’s students, and realised there is a certain point where your voice just croaks! It was OK, I was happy with most of the song, but boy am I trying to take care of my voice this week.

Things to do when singing tired:

• REST!
• Drink a million litres of water
• Go to the bathroom a lot (you don’t have to do this, but you will due to aforementioned million litres of water)
• Do lots of sobbing/crying warm ups to stay relaxed
• Use your body muscles even more than usual when singing

The plus side is that I’m getting even more aware of what muscles I need to use when singing, because I can’t get away with sloppy technique when my voice is tired.

In other news, the Christmas show opens tonight and all proceeds go to the organisation Birthright. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids. It’s sounding good, and the set is amazing! The set also went up in about two days which is truly awesome.