practicing Music

The purpose of practicing is to achieve your goals. You will have, as a part of any practice session, multiple goals: These can be to warm up the voice, exercise it, learn notes to a song or piece, memorize part of a song or an entire song, learn pronunciation , practicing performing or have fun. You need to have in mind the goal you are working on and a way to measure it. For example, your goal may be to learn the first verse to a song with 60 percent accuracy or it may be to learn all the words so they fall off your tongue with only three places where you stumbled. Your goals must be clear to you and clearly measurable.

Suggested Procedure

Warm up 5 minutes

Exercise 5-10 minutes

Easy song (not demanding, vocally)

Another song

Another song

Another song

(Intersperse the songs with light vocal exercises)

Steps in learning a song:

q Do all the preliminary activities listed on the handout Preparing Music for Performance.

q Acquire the music (including a copy for the accompanist) and any practice or performance CDs or tapes

q Analyze the music. Know the overall form, know where the musical phrases are, know biographical material about the composer and the poet,

q Know and mark in your music all your phrasing (where will you breathe)

q Know all the notes and rhythms

q (Foreign language) Know the meanings of all the words (word by word translation)

q Know the overall meaning of the text and its dramatic context

q (Foreign language) Know how to pronounce all the words

q Know how to pronounce all the words in rhythm

q Learn the song using the words and incorporating the phrasing, dynamics, and overall expression

q Go over the spots in the song many times during the practice session where the vocal technique is not right (Appoggio, “spin”, resonance, clarity, etc.)

q Memorize it.

q Arrange for an accompanist. Get them their music ahead of time (4 weeks?)

q Practice it in various locations- especially where you will perform it.

Your procedure for learning will be like concentric circles. You will begin with large concepts and then narrow it down to the finest of details:

An Example: Phrasing

Notes and Rhythms

Expressive tone

Dynamics

Memorization

Performance