Singing off key...on purpose

Last week I had to purposefully sing off key. I learned a couple of things:

1. I HATE singing off key. 
2. It's hard to stay off key. I kept wanting to go to a harmony note.
3. I found myself wondering if that same frustration is felt by singers who struggle to stay ON pitch rather than me trying to stay OFF pitch...

It's that third point that really got me to thinking... People who are born with a certain talent (i.e. singing, drawing, spatial reasoning, or other certain "affinities"), often take these natural born talents for granted.  We say to ourselves, "why is it so hard for them to do that? All you have to do is ______". 

My goal is to try to put myself in the shoes of the person who was not born with a specific talent, but wants to work at that and learn how.  It's that "working hard and learning how" that is my job to teach!

O Happy Day! --Vocal warm-up

Anyone who has studied voice or had singing lessons knows that sometimes vocal warm-ups can get old, tired or boring.  A good voice teacher will try to come up with interesting vocalise exercises that still demand vocal concentration, intonation and endurance.

When "Mama-made-me-mash-my-M-and-M's" becomes mundane, try the warm up from this clip from Sister Act II (one of my favorite movies...ever):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=SLY7yI1xV-M

That warm-up contains:

A pentatonic scale

Arpeggio

Syncopated rhythm

Call and response

And on top of all that.....it's a pretty AWESOME arrangement of an AWESOME song!

I love the Backyardigans!

With 4 kids, I have watched ALOT of kid shows.  ALOT. And I definitely have my most favorites and my least favorites. (The Doodlebops were at the bottom of my list.)  At the top of the list are Backyardigans and Little Einsteins (see previous blog on that one!).

We're actually watching Backyardigans right now as I type---the episode is Elephant On The Run--- and once again, it's a good one!

Here's a short list of why I love the Backyardigans:

1. There's no baby talk. Baby talk bothers me.
2. They sing well. Not flat, not sharp.
3. They each sing in their own range. Ex: Tyrone sings an octave lower than Tasha sometimes
4. Their dance steps are usually in perfect time with the beat of the song.
5. Their dance steps help the kids to understand the mood of the music.

I'm sure I could go on and on, but for now I'll stop at 6 reasons. :)
I'm being summoned by my youngest to come to the couch and watch the rest of the episode with him!
Until next time!
Audrey

Rope them in!

Today's tip is Jump Rope. "What on earth does jumping rope have to do with musical foundations" you may ask... Remember when we were kids and would jump rope and sing songs? We were keeping a steady beat, learning about sub-divided beats, multi-tasking by singing, jumping and sometimes twirling the rope when we were jumping solo, not to mention getting some wonderful exercise! So get your kids out and jump rope with them-teach them the rhymes (you can find a wonderful list here).

www.gameskidsplay.com/jump_rope_ryhmes

Don't worry about explaining what they are learning to them...all that's important is that they have fun and learn through play!

The Five Senses - Hearing

Sense #2--Hearing


A musician with a loss of hearing---no wonder Beethoven went mad! Hearing/listening and music go hand in hand.
Listening to music though, really listening is very important to the budding musician. Encourage your child to listen to not only what he is playing, but how it sounds! If you have some kind of recording device, record his practice and then have him listen to it and describe what he hears. Does he think his beat is steady? Can he tell what song he is playing? If he sings while he plays, ask him if he thinks his pitch matches what he is playing. If you are really bold, record yourself singing along with his playing and ask him if your pitch matches his playing.


A listening challenge to the parents would be for you to truly listen to your child's playing. Close your eyes, and enjoy listening to their progress!

The Five Senses--Taste

Sense #4 Taste

Stop licking the piano keys!
No, seriously...in order to use the sense "taste" in music, it does not mean literally tasting the piano keys or the music on the stand.
The sense of taste uses mainly the tongue, but the lips, hard and soft palates, teeth and gums are all part of the big picture. We use these same parts every time we talk and sing. I strongly encourage young pianists to sing or speak while they are playing. Some options would be to sing the words to the song, speak the words to the song (especially if they are self-conscious about their singing voice), speak the counts "1-2-3-4", speak the rhythm "quarter note, half note, whole note", or the letter names of the notes (if its a simple melody).
This also aids in matching pitch and reinforcing the melody of the song. So sing away!

Hand Jive

My sister and I spent countless hours playing hand clapping games in the car during long road trips. One of our favorites began, "See, see my playmate, come out and play with me...." Another one was, "Count down, when Billy was one, he learned to suck his thumb...". Over and over we would play those games, until one of our parents would finally lose it and tell us to knock it off! Every time we played one of the games, we were practicing keeping a steady beat, clapping on the beat, sub-dividing the beats on multiple syllable words, crossing the mid-line of the body, and matching our partner in movement too.

So many educational foundations wrapped up in a little hand game....gotta love it!

Click here to find a huge list of popular hand games!
Hand Clapping Games

The Police Siren

Can you picture the screech and whirr of a police car siren?

One vocalise (warm-up exercise) that I use with my voice students is called a portamento. (It is defined as: a smooth or uninterrupted glide from one tone to another.)

I use it in a pitch circle which means we don't just "slide" down or just up, we make the whole circle. It sounds very much like a siren. This relaxed sliding is a great way to warm up the vocal chords, but it also can be used in other ways. Vocal range can be widened and muscle control can be strengthened, especially at vulnerable register switchover spots!

So next time the kids are playing cops and robbers, join in w/ them and see how high or how low the sirens can go!!

Drop a Bomb on Me!

If you were asked to make a sound similar to a bomb dropping and then exploding, what would it sound like?

Would it be a descending slide of notes followed by a KABOOM!

This descending chromatic scale is a great way to wake up the voice. It is also alot of fun to do and most likely will bring a smile to you or your child's face.

Start the "bomb drop" at different pitches and have your child try to match you, then....BOMBS AWAY! The explosions at the end are sometimes the best part!