Using these steps will guarantee you a great way to truly make a song your own. Audition panels want to see confident and well prepared competitors and choir masters and Broadway directors want to give pieces of music to their performers, confident that they will learn efficiently and thoroughly. So read on and see how much of this step by step plan you have mastered and how much you may still need to work on.
Wow we’ve covered a lot! Here's a much needed review
Whew, you’ve just learned a lot! Now, can you remember what the first step of learning a new song is? If you can’t, don’t worry. Use the handy review below.
STEP 1. Determine Do from the Key Signature
• Reading the key signature:
For flats: look at the next to the last flat. If there is just one flat in the group Do will always be F.
For sharps: look one space OR one line up from the topmost sharp to find Do.
If there is no key signature, Do will fall on C.
• Exception: Minor keys.
In the case of minor keys, the base note shifts from Do to La.
STEP 2. Ingrain Do in Your Memory
STEP 3. Understand the Song’s Meaning
• Ask yourself:
What is the song about?
Who is the song being sung for/by?
What message is the singer trying to get across?
STEP 4. Figure out the Rhythm and Tempo
STEP 5. Mark up the Lyrics
Add in: Lyrical emphases and places where you will take a breath
STEP 6. Practice the Notes
Write the Solfeg notation (Do, Re, Mi, et cetera) below each note
Beware of accidentals (sharps and flats).
Practice getting the notes right.
Sound out (i.e., hum or sing) each note, staying on pitch.
Sound out the notes again, this time following the correct rhythm.
Sing the notes using the sound “ah.”
Sing only the vowel sounds of the song.
Sing the full lyrics, consonants included.
STEP 7. Dynamics and Style
Build your dynamics from the “climaxes” in the music and mark them into the music.
Sing the song again, adding dynamics and style to the rhythm and notes.
STEP 8. Personalize Your Song
• Consider technical changes in:
Timing
Key
Rhythm
Entries into phrases
Consider stylistic changes (from country to pop, for example)
Coming Up...
Nice work! In that simple review, you have a great foundation to not only ‘wow’ your friends and audiences, but learn a song so well that no audition panel will be able to say no to you! Now its time to step out of student mode, and take your place on stage with a band. Bands are great fun and an excellent way to hone your performance and vocal skills. Keep an eye out for “Rehearsing with a Band”
Another Singorama Success Story!
John Shea
Leesburg, VA, US
Hi Folks, I have been involved in community theatre for many, many years, both as an actor and as a techie. I've performed a wide variety of roles and done many different design and support jobs, but I never had the courage to audition for a musical part. I have always sung, could find and keep a pitch, and remember melodies, but my range was limited and I could not get volume without strain. It has always been a source of regret that I did not have what I thought it took to perform musically. Recently, I stage managed a production of Side Show, which has some glorious music and is sung throughout. I found myself so moved by the wonderful performances that I decided that I must force myself to audition sometime soon. But I knew that I needed help to improve my skills. I started looking for a vocal coach, but that was a tedious and frustrating exercise. And then I found Singorama on the web and decided to give it a try. The instructions were easy to follow and made sense. The exercises were engaging and not hard to stick with. Now, I am no spring chicken, and wasn't sure that much improvement was even possible. but it wasn't long at all before I started feeling results. By the time I had been at it a month, my range had started to extend, and not only higher, which I was expecting, but lower as well. But even more importantly, I learned how to understand what was happening physically and how to control what I did, so that I could expand and support my voice until it felt stageworthy. So, I went to a musical audition for the very first time and I rocked! I was confident, I felt wonderful, and my friends were amazed. Of course, I didn't get cast, but that is so not the point. My success is that I can now audition, I know that I will get cast and perform, and a new dimension in theatre is now open to me. I am so grateful and totally attribute it to your course. Thank you,
Now you can not only make songs your own, you can write your very own songs!
Singorama 2.0 offers you specific training on singing original songs AND songwriting so you can express all those ideas you have through original song! So instead of only singing other peoples songs, you can compose and write till your hearts content. Check out how to do all this and more with Singorama 2.0