SING SESH 1

'Singing Sessions' for those who love to sing!!!

We thought it would be a good idea to put some vocal coaching tips onto the blog for everyone to have a look at in their spare time to help with vocal technique and performance. The first sing sesh focuses on breathing taken from Roger Love's 'Set Your Voice Free' (Love, Roger 1999) 'Chapter 3 Breathing' in 'Set Your Voice Free' by Roger Love 1999.

1. Good Posture
Stand up straight, with your feet shoulder width apart. Roll your head around to ease any tension in your neck, then hold your head level, with your chin paralell to the ground, not tipped up or down. Let your shoulder blades slide toward the centre of your back so that they're back and down.What were looking for is the physical ease that comes from good alignment.
Bend your knees slightly-just relax and unlock them- tuck your pelvis under

2. Inhale
Place your hand on your stomach, with your middle finger on your belly button. Imagine that your stomach is a baloon, and as you inhale, let it fill with air. When it is full, blow the air gently out through your mouth.
Try this for a few minutes, remembering that you just want to blow up like a balloon without lifting your shoulders or puffing up your chest.

3. Focus on the Exhale
As you exhale, keep your hand resting on your stomach, and be conscious of when your muscles tighten. Remember, the goal is not to pull anything in. Just let your stomach fall to its neutral position.

please comment? In what way has this helped you?

Sophie, John,
Hellen and Dan

Well here it is, our first Blue Jam Blog Post

JOHN

"Feel really positive about our rehearsal sessions today, finding my song 'Malted Milk' very hard but me and Dale have now tried to simplify the chords first so we can get an idea of the song. was really worried when we had so many songs to learn but you guys (1st Years) were great and we even managed to play some of the tracks already which was cool. Oh and thought it was really good session to learn about singing amazing grace and me being a tenor! also love the Bass singers, hope you all liked our Blue Jam Proposals?"

SOPHIE

' I really enjoyed our rehearsal session today, it was great to work with the first years, and everyone was really positive. I particularly enjoyed the group work on 'Amazing Grace' and even though it seemed daunting at first for some we all pulled together and it sounded great. It was good to hear everyone on their instruments for example - Abi on drums and Helen on keys for 'I Just Wanna Make Love To You' it was wicked to work with different people and experiment. '

HELLEN

I thought the rehearsal with the 1st years was excellent and we achieved much more than I would have thought for a first rehearsal. Scott was really helpful in organizing others and helping with their techniques. I also thought 'Amazing Grace" was truly amazing - those students who thought they couldn't sing and might have been intimidated by the situation - really shone through and just participated enthusiastically. I'm really grateful for the level of commitment of our students.

"Blue Jam" Tour is on!!