This lesson was dedicated to singing some of the major group numbers in
the show, we worked on Rent and Will I. To begin with we looked at rent, as we
have only ever sung this with a backing track which is going to be different to
our live band in the final performances. We sang through Rent with the piano
and realized it needed work. We appropriately split into groups according to
the script, for example near the end of the song Roger sings some lines with
one half of the cast and Mark sings with the other which transitions into
everyone singing together but with the boys singing the lower melody and the
girls singing the same but on a higher octave. We stood in these groups best we
could so that we could get used to signing together and we could listen to each
other as we sing. This was really helpful as I don't usually sing the higher
octave because my voice is stronger on the lower one and it was therefore a challenge for me, someone suggested that
some of the girls sing the lower octave because there are so many more girls in
the cast and that the higher notes overpower the lower ones. This gave me
confidence because I know that I can sing the lower notes for now and when I
become more comfortable with more rehearsals and development I can sing the
higher notes when it comes to the final performances. After this we ran through
the song once more and some of us struggled with the groups, so we had the idea
to just have boys and girls instead. I didn't agree with this and when we sang
it through I raised the point that it sounds too feminine and loud then manly
and quiet. Therefore we returned to our original groups and decided that that
worked the best.
In
the second half of the lesson we looked at Will I, this song is difficult as it
is in the round and each group sings a different octave or harmony. Previously
some of us got together and sorted our groups, who is in them and the octave
they will sing at. This was very difficult ad there was only six of us and we
didn't know who would prefer to sing what or who would be more comfortable,
there is also the complication of double casting because some people won't be
able to be there for parts of it or not be able to be seen in the character
that they are. We organised ourselves into these groups and sang it through
roughly with a backing track we had found. This was successful but we needed to
work on the solo as Dannii wasn't feeling confident with it so she had worked
out her own harmony that she was much more confident with and wanted someone to
sing the melody with her. I volunteered because I feel I can help Dannii with
her confidence as I was in a similar position to her last year in that I knew I
had the talent to sing my solo but I wasn't used to singing in front of many
people or having the confidence to do so. We worked on this with the piano a
few times before running it with the whole class. This was successful as it was
all in time and the harmonies worked really well. Next we wanted to play around
with the volumes and dynamics of the song. We decided that once every group was
singing, we would crescendo before one person per group keeps singing at this volume
and everyone else in the group would sing quieter to highlight this one person.
I was chosen as one of the singers as it was originally Charley, however she
will not be able to sing it when she is on cast so we will swap around. I did
not have a chance to practise this but I think it sounded really good and in
sync, it flowed well and added something special to an emotional song. This
song already contrasts to a lot of the other fast paced songs and because we
have worked on it in such depth it will be very memorable and effective when it
comes to getting the audience emotionally involved.
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