As easy as breathing in and out?

Is this always the case in singing? As we have discovered the two items that we want to work on are breathing and diction. But what do I mean by this?

This week we worked on these items in some detail. I don't intend these weekly blogs to be very long but just to recap on the principle and give one simple reminder of the weeks points. And of course feel free to post comments on this blog!

Good diction is about much more than "spitting out those consonants", the things we were working on this week are all about uniformity. This means that in order to get really accurate tuning the vowel sounds we produce need to match each other very closely.

Tuning is the process of producing a pitch in relation to one produced by another singer , both matched at the unison inside your section but also with the other sections in the choir who will be singing different notes. So when I say that a chord is "Out of tune" I am referring to a pitch that is too high or too low, or sharp or flat respectively.

But, I hear you ask, what has this got to do with diction? If our vowel sounds do not match there are very small differences in the sound, in essence this means that it will be impossible to create a true unison. This is a particular challenge in our choir as we all come from such diverse backgrounds, Ulstermen, Brummies, Welsh, Cockneys, Yorkshiremen et al, all with their wonderfully rich accents when speaking, I love hearing regional accents in speech but we need uniformity in singing.

So have a look at the picture above - this is the basic principle we started with on Tuesday in order to start thinking about open vowel sounds. I'll start looking at the vowels next time.

Breathing was the other item we worked on on Tuesday evening, I'll just recap the basic principles that we worked on here. A good air supply is fundamental to producing a good choral tone, good musical phrasing, good tuning and it makes it much easier and more enjoyable for you too!

So here are the headlines from Tuesday

• Breathe quietly through your mouth. A deep breath will relax your body
• Prepare your mouth for the vowel your are about to sing, for example if you are about to sing the word "Holy" breathe in to an "oh" vowel
• Make sure you don't suck the sound through your teeth
• Keep your shoulders relaxed and down
• Breathe in slowly until the air fills up your tummy very low down. Feel the air fill up the front and then the back of your abdomen!

If you could think about just these two ideas when practicing during the week it will make such a difference!

As you know I have given you midi files of the music with your part accentuated to help you learn the notes, if you are feeling brave here are some links to this weeks music with the parts and accompaniment all at equal strength, see if you can sing your part without extra help! If this doesn't work for you yet go back to your original file and try and master your own part - then try again!

for Sailing - click on this one

http://media.putfile.com/Sailing-all-parts

for Close thine eyes - click on this one

http://media.putfile.com/Close-thine-eyes---all-parts

See you all on Tuesday