Vocal Lesson TwoWorking with the piano

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Lesson Objectives:

• Tostrengthenourvocaltechnique.• Todevelopourarticulationthroughvowelexercises.• Todevelopourbreathcontrol.• Toincreasedexterity,accuracyandcontrol.

01 Vowel sounds with the piano

Inthisexercise,we’rewarmingupthevoiceandalsodevelopingourarticula-tionandpronunciation.Byusingallfivevowelsounds,thisexercisehelpsusshapethenoteswesingandcorrectlypronouncelyrics.

A E I O U A E I O U A E I O U

Etc..

Eb E F

F# G Ab

02 Major Scale 5 note exercise

Thisisaclassicvocalwarm-up:AscendthefirstfivenotesoftheMajorscaleandthendropbackdown.We’veattacheda‘Z’ontothestartofeachofthevowelsounds.HerearethefirstsixexamplesthatNataliesings:

Zee Zo

Zoo Zaa

Zee Zo etc...

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03 Breath Control

ThisexerciseusestheclassicMajorscalefive-notepattern,buthere,asweas-cendinpitch,welengthentheexercisebyrepeatingourphrase.Eachtimewemoveupasemitone,weaddonarepeat,sothebasicphraselookslikethis:

Asyoumoveupeachtime,singthefirsteightnotesaroundinacycle.Obviously,thefasteryousingthisphrase,themoretimesyoucanrepeatit,butforbreathcontrol,it’simportanttostrikeabalanceandtrytosinglong,fluidphrasesacrossasinglebreath.

04 Minor Scale Exercises

Inthisexercise,paycloseattentiontothenotelengths.(Shortinbarone,longinbarstwoandthree)Alsotakecaretogetthepitchingright–somanyvocalex-ercisesarebasedontheMajorscale,thatpitchingaminor3rdmayseemalittlealienatfirst.

Staccato Legato Arpeggio

05 The Chromatic Scale

TheChromaticscaleuseseverynote,soithasquiteanunusualsound.It’sveryrarethatyoufindsingersworkingontheChromaticscale(probablybecauseitcanbesotricky),soit’sagreatwaytobuildyourconfidenceandabilitywithpitching.

ThisisthebasicphrasethatNatalieusesfortheChromaticscaleworkout:

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06 Triad exercise

Triadsrequirelargerleapsbetweennotesthanscalepractice,soit’sgreatforourpitching.Makesuretousedifferentvowelsoundsforascendinganddescendingandbecarefulnottoslidebetweenthenotes.Targetingthenextnoteandhittingitrightonisimportantforbuildingvocalaccuracy.

A Ee

07 Chest and mixed voice

Thisisasimpleexerciseintermsofthenotesthatyousing,soreallyfocusonthesoundofyourvoice.We’reworkingoncreatingtherighttoneandfindingwaystomovesmoothlybetweenyourchest,mixedandheadvoice.

weah

10 Soul and pop warmup

Thisisagreatfunexercise.Alotofvocalexercisesarebasedonclassicalideas,soifyouaremoreofapoporsoulsinger,it’snicetowarmupwithsomethingthat’smoreinyourstyle.Thisexampleisagreatlinetouseforgroupwarm-upsifyousingaspartofachoirorsection.

Ev ery- time I get the opp or- tu- ni- ty- to warm up my voice

I'm gon na- warm it up warm it up

Ev ery- time iI get the opp or- tu- ni- ty- to warm up my voice

you're go nna- hear me say ye ah- ye ah- ye ea- eah

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11 Building Licks

Thesefinalexamplesaresimplephrases,usedtohelpbuilddexterityandac-curacy.Youcancreateyourownexercisestoo–themainthingstofocusonare:• Shortideas• Scaletypepatternswithsmallleaps• Fluidvocaldelivery• Goodpitching

11 Building Licks: Part 2

Thesephrases,oncepracticedcanbecomeanessentialpartofyourvo-cabulary,usedforimprovisingmelodiesordevelopingchorusad-libsattheendofasong.