A Little Musical Inspiration

A Little Musical Inspiration
"The singer has everything within him. The notes come out from his very life. They are not materials gathered from outside." ~Rabindranath Tagore

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Tips for Developing a Strong Speaking Voice

Hi everyone, I know it has been a long time since I've posted on here, things have been very busy as of late. Here is a Wikihow article I found that addresses the issue of having a soft speaking voice. I've struggled with having a light, soft speaking voice my entire life and it can be a pain. With a soft voice, people tend to either not take you seriously or not hear you the first time you say something. If you guys are like me, you wish you could sing everything because your singing voice is so much louder than your speaking voice. Like building muscle or creating good habits, achieving a strong speaking voice takes time and effort, but it is worth it in the end. So get out there and let your voices be heard! https://www.google.com/amp/m.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Perfect-Speaking-Voice%3famp=1

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Be Brave!!

Don't be afraid to try different styles of singing, you could end up finding something you love and discovering a new outlet in which to use your voice. Stepping out of your comfort zone gives you new life experiences, opening doors for you to meet new people and to make valuable life long connections along the way. So get out there and audition for that accapella group, local opera, musical, jazz or choral group, you might be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Acting and Singing by Rebecca McKinley

Singing beautifully is one thing, but being able to portray emotions and a story to an audience is quite another. It doesn't matter whether you are singing in English, French, German, Italian or any other language; if you can't connect to your audience and tell a story, you are missing a major part of your performance. Be sure to thoroughly research the story behind your song and create a subtext, it will add a whole other dimension to your performance.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Sight Singing Tips by Rebecca McKinley

Here are 5 quick ways to improve your sight singing skills.

1) Practice identifing notes on the Staff and on the keyboard. Drill yourself until you can recognize them in your sleep.

2) Learn how to identify key signatures in sheet music using the order of flats (b) which is B, E, A, D, Greatest, Common Factor. The second to last flat in the sequence is the key signature. For key signatures with sharps (#) the sequence goes Fat Cats Go Down Allys Eating Birds with the key signature being a half step up from the last sharp.

3) Download pictures of the solfeg hand signs and practice singing Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do while making the signs with your hands. Remember that you can start on any note as "Do" (also called the tonic and name of the key signature as well) and sing the scale in any key you want. Then simply write in the solfeg for any song that you've identified the key signature of.

4) Practice your rythms. When practicing, remember that each type of note (whole, half, quarter, 16ths..ect) is composed of shorter notes of half its value and that dotted notes add half of the note's value. Also, remember to practice and recognize triplets and any other tricky rythms that you might have trouble recognizing right away.

5) Once you are comfortable with all those individual parts and pieces, put them together and practice. As with any learned skill, practice is essential.

Good luck everyone and happy practicing!!:)