UNIT:101

Dear Diary,

Lately I have been finding it really difficult to sing the 'Little More Homework' song from the musical Thirteen as it requires a lot of repetition and no spacing to breathe in between words.

From the early stages off my life I didn't know how to control my breathing through singing long phrases so it always resulted to cutting downs words in songs, in which I remember being called a singing robot by my singing teacher when I was really young. 

So right now I've started to notice that it is a major issue that I need to work on, as it causes me to panic so much while singing. I started thinking that the only way to get better with my breathing through singing to do specific exercise for that problem that I am facing.

I decided to follow on a breathing exercise regime to help me get better into nailing this only solo song section that I have in the musical Thirteen.

A way to get better is to notice how you normally breathe during the day, which includes talking or working out in the gym. Once you are able to figure it out you should come to terms on how to master your breathing, this can only happen I believe is to being determined and spending extra spare time practicing.

The very first thing for me was standing straight while singing which includes having a strong posture, which enables the sound to efficiently travel through your diagram out from your mouth.

I've learnt that a way to test that you are breathing correctly is to breathe deeply and hold it while looking in the mirror. Breathing and your shoulders elevating is a no no, it should be your torso expanding in a widely. So as weeks went by I started to test this technique by placing both of my hands underneath my chest, right above my stomach. Which I started experiencing a more pleasant time breathing through a song, as I felt more in control of everything.

"OPPORTUNITY"

WEEK 1: Weekly Summaries: THIRTEEN

Weekly Summaries: THIRTEEN

Today is the first week of rehearsals and I've found it quite good but frustrating at the same time as we've been learning the opening song Thirteen and I felt quite annoyed that the other cast members we're finding it hard knowing on what beat to sing the phrase 'Thirteen!' on as I understand it comes quite on a off beat. In my opinion my cast members should take out their own time to listen to these songs so the recording could be stuck permanently in their heads. If we carry on like this I do question where we will be at in a few weeks time, as their is other songs to be learnt.

Other than that, I've fell in love with the song immediately as I get a feeling that we can be yourself on stage but just exaggerate being a lo younger. Even during the opening of the curtain call the way each individual character poses in a way to express the personality of the character, which I believe will give a great understanding towards the audience watching.

Therefore as me also being in charge of #PROPS I have decided to include props during the pose at the very start of the scene, mainly for the cheerleaders; Molly: reading a fashion/makeup magazine, Charlotte: Combing/Plaiting her hair, Kendra: Holding a bottle of perfume/Spraying herself and Lucy: Holding a mirror/Lipstick, pretending to put it on.

Ruth Martino

Final draft checklist

The Musical Thirteen

Final draft checklist

1). I need to spend a large time to research my character in depth, which would benefit me to be able to act out my character.

2.) Weekly, Practice the song parts that my character requires to sing and the ensemble songs as well.

3.) Be off book before the 2nd week of May.

5.) Make sure I study the whole script on being able to provide props for each scene, which is needed.

6.) Record a video, once a week of a musical number I am in. 

7.) Organise a day with the cast to discuss the props I think the musical needs and ask them what they think they want.

8.) Hand in my assignments on time, always and make a plan of the props that I was able to purchase and tick them off the list.

9. Meet up with my fellow cast members, on discussing upon our achievements and improvements which need doing.

10. ALWAYS BEING ON TIME AND ATTENDING TO ALL REHEARSALS!

First Draft : Checklist THIRTEEN

The Musical Thirteen

First draft checklist
1). I need to spend a large time to research my character in depth, which would benefit me to be able to act out my character.

2.) Weekly, Practice the song parts that my character requires to sing and the ensemble songs as well.

3.) Be off book before the 2nd week of May.

5.) Make sure I study the script on being able to provide props for each scene, if needed.

6.) Record a video, once a week of a musical number I am in.

7.) Organise a day and time for rehearsals for scenes with other people in my the cast.

8.) Hand in my assignments on time, always.

9. Meet up with my fellow cast members, on discussing upon our achievements and improvements which need doing.

10. ALWAYS BEING ON TIME AND ATTENDING TO ALL REHEARSALS!

PROPOSALS: THIRTEEN

Proposals

Musical: Thirteen

Ruth Martino - Role: Charlotte 
                           Role: Props

                         

My role for the end of year show ‘Thirteen’ is a female character Charlotte who is part of the cheerleading squad besides Molly and the leader Kendra. Charlotte sees through all of Lucy’s intentions and quickly tries to warn Kendra about Lucy, but Lucy lies and calls Charlotte the ‘Jealous’ one.

This role has the responsibilities of keeping the group very compact and united at all times when we make an appearance during the play. Being a cheerleader and followers of Kendra in a way definitely needs to be portrayed in the way I act in the play and in Kendra’s presence around me, demonstrating the urge of wanting to be like her, continuously agreeing with absolutely everything she tends to say.

The responsibilities of the role, is always attending rehearsals as a start, as it enables you as a person and character to always been on track. As the role of Charlotte doesn’t require that much dialog in the play, I do need to know the que’s for Kendra to enter stage for example, as we always seem to make an appearance on stage when she is on.

Within' the musical I also have a technical role of the 'Props'.
This role requires a very imaginative mind as you will need to identify from the script what props each scene or character needs inside the play. 

You will also always need to be always punctual to rehearsals and on top of your game any moment, as you'll need to always need to be prepared to write down notes,.

Responsibilities: 

• During pre-production Props organisers liaise with production designers and art directors to break down the script, and to determine what props are required. 

• At this stage Property Masters may work with production buyers who carry out research into period props, styles of furniture, etc., by referring to archives, internet files, books and photographs, or by discussing the requirements with specialized advisors.

• Property Masters subsequently draw up complete properties lists, and set up and label the properties tables, which are used during production. From the lists, Property Masters select which properties are to be bought in, or hired, and which are to be made. LINK

Term 3: 1st Half @PJ #Schedule

Term 3: 1st Half

From my last Practical Journal of 'term 2' it was very beneficial for me as the abdominal pulsing helped to massively improve they way I use to sing as I've always managed to run out of breathe quickly.I was practicing the vocal techniques of one-one two-one one-two-three-two one... which was one of the best techniques which I saw a change in my singing as it has helped to boost my breathing capacity.

I was able to witness a huge change in my singing in the last 'Individual Showcase' we had during the last week in the month of March. Which was a huge challenge for me as I had to prepare 3 songs and perform them one after each other on top of that having nerves building up inside of you and having the introduce each song beforehand. 

Unfortunately I don't think the Wednesday 'Nasty Nays' worked for me as I struggled to understand what it was used for, from my understanding I chose this exercise to enable me to know how to control a softer sound and gradually getting louder as one of my songs from the 'Individual Showcase' 'Maybe I like it this way' (The Wild Party) I felt like it needed that sense of timbre within your voice mainly at the start of the song as I believed it will make the audience understand the emotion the character would be feeling. 

However the only way that I managed to portray that in my song was by constantly practicing it while recording at the same time as I was able to listen back at it and repeatedly make it perfect as I believe in the quote - 'Practice makes Perfect'

My weekly schedule for the month of April is...

1. Always Use Less Breath

The most common misconception when preparing to sing a long, loud, powerful note is that you need to take a big breath. This is a misguided notion, but of course understandable. The relationship between breath and the vocal cords is this; the vocal cords allow and stop breath from passing through. When the vocal cords are closed they hold breath back and we slowly allow a small stream of air though them when we sing. The first principle of voice is contact between the two vocal cords, and when we belt we are aiming for thick vocal cord contact (more of the mass of the vocal cords touching). Considering all this, if we give the vocal cords more air to resist before we belt by taking a big breath, the vocal cords are more likely to blow apart causing the dreaded crack, or pushing tuning to the sharp side. The rule of thumb with breath when singing is this:

BREATH = MILEAGE
(NOT POWER or VOLUME)
 

The only thing we use breath for in singing is for length of phrase, never for power or volume. 

Here is a little exercise for you to try. Take a belted phrase in your song and isolate it. Blow some air out shortly and sharply as if blowing out a candle, then sing the phrase without breathing in first. Try it a few times and see if it feels a bit (or a lot) easier! You'll be surprised at how the sound can suddenly just pop out with ease. Watch this video for how to do it.

2. Use A Small Space

This is a good one, and it usually takes a bit of convincing when I first introduce students to it. We are going to experiment with using a smaller space in the mouth and jaw when singing high and loud. The common misconception is that you need a big, wide open mouth to make a loud and powerful sound.

Pop your finger on your larynx for a second. Now open your mouth wide. What do you feel? Most probably you will feel your larynx move down. If you keep your mouth in this position your jaw and tongue will keep your larynx locked down in that position and it will be considerably more difficult to get it to move up, which is generally where we want it to be for high belting. When we sing, we want a mobile larynx at all times. Opening the mouth too widely will simply keep your larynx locked in one position. 

Think about the instruments of the orchestra... which are the higher, piercing and more powerful instruments? Are you thinking about piccolos and trumpets...? This is because they are smaller and the sound waves resonate at a higher speed than the bigger, wider instruments. Same with singing. 

Here's something for you to try; put your little finger between your top and bottom teeth at the side of your mouth. Keep the top and bottom teeth resting on your little finger. The idea is not to let the finger go, but not to bite hard. Try singing your belted phrase on an 'aaay' sound using this smaller space. Give it a few tries to get used to the new sensation and watch this video for how to do it.

3. Sing On Pitch

This last tip is a nice simple one to implement, but must not be underestimated in how powerful it can be in refining your belt. Hitting your belted note or phrase bang on pitch is so important and will clean things up considerably. Bending up on to the note and falling off the note at the end is very common and is usually just down to habit. I want everything my students do in their singing to be their choice rather just habit. By bending up onto the note, and falling off the note at the end we are just creating a bit of extra and unnecessary work for the muscles to deal with. So to remedy this simply take a short, sharp breath in, which gets the larynx to a nice high position. The trick here is to breathe in on the pitch of the note you want to sing out. Essentially, your larynx is already in the position you want it to be in, creating less work and confusion. Give it a few tries and watch this video for how/not to do it.

NOTE: I told you earlier to breathe out before belting. This is just for practice to show how little breath you need to belt.

So there are my 3 tips for better belting. There is a lot more to belting technique than this, and I wouldn't advise you to practice belting continually on your own. Please contact a vocal coach you trust to assist you as there may be other things going on that you are not aware of. These tips are to give you a starting place to refine what you already can do. Please never try belting above your comfort zone without a coach. Practice in a safe area of your range. Please only practice belting exercises if you can achieve clean, clear tone. If you are breathy, constricted, or in pain then STOP!

LINK