We are put into bands for the year and in my band i have Christian, Cailean and Scott on guitar and switching on bass, Sarah on drums and Julia and myself singing.
We have been learning the Blues which is proving difficulty but so far we have covered "Further On Up The Road" and "Nobody Knows You When Your Done And Out". We all get on as a band which is a bonus and we all focus on our parts as hard as we can. We have trouble with Tempo and the way the songs are sung since the songs are very lazy and sometimes sung off beat but it's because this is the first time doing blues for all of us. We watched back our performances in class where we could identify what we did well and what needs worked on.
We are now onto Rock n Roll songs and we have recently performed one of Chuck Berry's songs called 'Reelin' and a Rockin' and Cole Porters 'Blue Suede Shoes'.
As a band we were all able to play the songs better than The Blues songs and got into the songs. Julia and i need to work on our stage presence and delivery of the songs more.
Recently we have been working on two new songs which are ''Money'' by Barrett Strong and ''Road Runner'' by Bo Diddley. As a band we all enjoyed the energy and vibe the song gave us and they were both very fun songs to perform. As the singers, we were told we don't look part of the band which got to me because i feel more comfortable on the stage this year and i want to move but the other singer in my band has became hard to work with and i feel restricted. I have however spoke to my teacher about this and he has given me some tips on how to get this problem sorted which i will put into practice next time we have performance class.
Today we performed two songs without rehearsal, one being a blues song and one being a rock n roll song. This is to get us prepared for our band performance exam next week. We got through both songs but still obviously needed to work on them.
Today we had our performance exam which was very exciting. Both groups in DFM came together in the auditorium and put on a great show. It was really good to see the talent in the other group. I somehow didn't feel that nervous before i performed, which is very unlike me. I think this is because i only had one song to perform so the pressure was off. I also sang on my own without the other singer on stage, having a song each, which allowed us both to have the spotlight individually. I tried my hardest to move and express myself and i will be able to see exactly what i looked like when we get to watch our performances.
We are now onto R&B which i think will be my favorite genre. My have chosen the song 'Sealed, Signed Delivered' by Stevie Wonder which Julia will be singing and i will be harmonizing at the chorus. It is a very good song and i enjoy the vibe i get with the rest of the band. I have chosen to sing either a song by The Supremes or 'Be my baby' by The Ronettes. I think these songs will suit my voice.
Unfortunately, the other singer has now left the band. This means i will be the main singer of the band. As a band we are still sticking to the song choice 'Be my baby' by the Ronettes.
Today, our lecturer mixed all of the bands up and i was placed with Amy (Vocalist), Ross (Bass), Brad (Drummer), Cailean and Sean (Guitar).
Each band was given a song to learn by our lecturer and my band had 'Stop in the name of love' by The Supremes. Compared to rehearsal with my original band, this rehearsal went smoothly and felt easier to get the job done even with me having to go to a singing lesson half way through rehearsal. Amy was put on main vocals and i sang on the chorus. We had actions and looked comfortable on stage.
Today we were mixed yet again. At first i wasn't looking forward to working with another new band. We decided to do the song 'You keep me hanging on' by The Supremes as it suited my voice. I found it hard to get comfortable with the band and it felt twice as hard as i felt the band wasn't working very strong and i felt unsteady.
We performed the whole song having a few mistakes. I felt the vocals were bare having no backing vocals and down to the fact that The Supremes is three girls and it was only me singing.
I did receive good feedback on my vocals as someone commented i sounded very strong and parts were very powerful. I think this is due to the fact i wasn't sure whether to sing it softly like the original or powerful. I think it ended up being a mix between the two.
Today only one drummer turned up to class which meant most of us had to do an acoustic set, which i always love. My band decided to do The Ronettes 'Be My Baby' as i thought it would sound really nice broken down. We decided to have two guitars playing, an acoustic bass and a shaker. We also added in backing vocals which were needed. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and thought it payed off only having 2 hours to learn it.
Today, all the bands were given the same song to learn by the Beatles being 'I feel fine'.
Our lecturer told us he was looking for a good harmony. We didn't have a drummer so rehearsal was quite difficult and i also had a singing lesson half way through. We weren't sure how the performance would turn out. The band ended up playing the song too fast but i felt that we were quite tight and got through the song to the end without any noticable mistakes.
Recently, we have all been preparing for our final performance assessment where each band performs four songs. We have all performed two of the songs in preparation so and we are having a mock filmed performance tomorrow. My band have chosen to do Help by The Beatles and Be my baby by the Ronettes which responded to good feedback when my band performed the two songs last week. I feel we need more vocals if possible and for the whole band just to be a little more tighter and lastly but not least, for me to give more of a performance.
We have been learning the Blues which is proving difficulty but so far we have covered "Further On Up The Road" and "Nobody Knows You When Your Done And Out". We all get on as a band which is a bonus and we all focus on our parts as hard as we can. We have trouble with Tempo and the way the songs are sung since the songs are very lazy and sometimes sung off beat but it's because this is the first time doing blues for all of us. We watched back our performances in class where we could identify what we did well and what needs worked on.
We are now onto Rock n Roll songs and we have recently performed one of Chuck Berry's songs called 'Reelin' and a Rockin' and Cole Porters 'Blue Suede Shoes'.
As a band we were all able to play the songs better than The Blues songs and got into the songs. Julia and i need to work on our stage presence and delivery of the songs more.
Recently we have been working on two new songs which are ''Money'' by Barrett Strong and ''Road Runner'' by Bo Diddley. As a band we all enjoyed the energy and vibe the song gave us and they were both very fun songs to perform. As the singers, we were told we don't look part of the band which got to me because i feel more comfortable on the stage this year and i want to move but the other singer in my band has became hard to work with and i feel restricted. I have however spoke to my teacher about this and he has given me some tips on how to get this problem sorted which i will put into practice next time we have performance class.
Today we performed two songs without rehearsal, one being a blues song and one being a rock n roll song. This is to get us prepared for our band performance exam next week. We got through both songs but still obviously needed to work on them.
Today we had our performance exam which was very exciting. Both groups in DFM came together in the auditorium and put on a great show. It was really good to see the talent in the other group. I somehow didn't feel that nervous before i performed, which is very unlike me. I think this is because i only had one song to perform so the pressure was off. I also sang on my own without the other singer on stage, having a song each, which allowed us both to have the spotlight individually. I tried my hardest to move and express myself and i will be able to see exactly what i looked like when we get to watch our performances.
We are now onto R&B which i think will be my favorite genre. My have chosen the song 'Sealed, Signed Delivered' by Stevie Wonder which Julia will be singing and i will be harmonizing at the chorus. It is a very good song and i enjoy the vibe i get with the rest of the band. I have chosen to sing either a song by The Supremes or 'Be my baby' by The Ronettes. I think these songs will suit my voice.
Unfortunately, the other singer has now left the band. This means i will be the main singer of the band. As a band we are still sticking to the song choice 'Be my baby' by the Ronettes.
Today, our lecturer mixed all of the bands up and i was placed with Amy (Vocalist), Ross (Bass), Brad (Drummer), Cailean and Sean (Guitar).
Each band was given a song to learn by our lecturer and my band had 'Stop in the name of love' by The Supremes. Compared to rehearsal with my original band, this rehearsal went smoothly and felt easier to get the job done even with me having to go to a singing lesson half way through rehearsal. Amy was put on main vocals and i sang on the chorus. We had actions and looked comfortable on stage.
Today we were mixed yet again. At first i wasn't looking forward to working with another new band. We decided to do the song 'You keep me hanging on' by The Supremes as it suited my voice. I found it hard to get comfortable with the band and it felt twice as hard as i felt the band wasn't working very strong and i felt unsteady.
We performed the whole song having a few mistakes. I felt the vocals were bare having no backing vocals and down to the fact that The Supremes is three girls and it was only me singing.
I did receive good feedback on my vocals as someone commented i sounded very strong and parts were very powerful. I think this is due to the fact i wasn't sure whether to sing it softly like the original or powerful. I think it ended up being a mix between the two.
Today only one drummer turned up to class which meant most of us had to do an acoustic set, which i always love. My band decided to do The Ronettes 'Be My Baby' as i thought it would sound really nice broken down. We decided to have two guitars playing, an acoustic bass and a shaker. We also added in backing vocals which were needed. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and thought it payed off only having 2 hours to learn it.
Today, all the bands were given the same song to learn by the Beatles being 'I feel fine'.
Our lecturer told us he was looking for a good harmony. We didn't have a drummer so rehearsal was quite difficult and i also had a singing lesson half way through. We weren't sure how the performance would turn out. The band ended up playing the song too fast but i felt that we were quite tight and got through the song to the end without any noticable mistakes.
Recently, we have all been preparing for our final performance assessment where each band performs four songs. We have all performed two of the songs in preparation so and we are having a mock filmed performance tomorrow. My band have chosen to do Help by The Beatles and Be my baby by the Ronettes which responded to good feedback when my band performed the two songs last week. I feel we need more vocals if possible and for the whole band just to be a little more tighter and lastly but not least, for me to give more of a performance.