Hey everyone, I hope your midterms are going smoothly. By the end of the week, I would like you to either have had a sectional or have scheduled your sectional. It is very important that you get together! In this email, I will write down a list of items to address in your sectional. I've decided on set tempos for each song. Please practice with a metronome--especially soloists and rhythm section! This is the speed we will go with for each song.
TEMPOS:
- Like Someone In Love: Quarter note=168 (the entire song)
- Magnolia: Quarter Note=152 (Opening should sound relaxed and on the back end of the beat, ending groove buildup should be locked right in with that speed and slightly more on top)
- Want You Back = Half Note=108 (Quarter=216)
Feel it in 2, practice with the metronome at 108
ITEMS TO PRACTICE:
Like Someone In Love:
- Transition from Swing to Bossa -- don't let the tempo change
- Tighten up the Bossa section, practice it in tempo, "lock-in"
- Expression of the lyrics, overall flow and feel from line to line
- Getting the "background" line in the solo section in tune
- Releases and dynamics (in the coda in particular)
Magnolia (spend most of your time on this one, letters in order of importance)
- Letter S: Spend time on this one! Slow it down, get all the lines/syllables CLEAN, unified
- Letter C & I: Diction, tuning, blend--each section should sound like one voice
- Letter A/O: "oo's"-- singing as "whoo" in-tune with matching vowel shapes that are open on the inside (remember the pencil drill from the clinic)
- Letter B/D/K: Singing with more aggressiveness/confidence and unified rhythms/pitch
- Letter P/Q: Clarity of words, blend, tuning, entrances/releases -- practice with a metronome
- Overall text expression and meaning...what does it mean to you? Portray that emotion!
Want You Back
- Letter H&N: Clarity of diction and vocal parts really in-tune with the singers in your section
- Confidence and dynamics: Measures 75-77 & 151-153
- Timing, tempo, diction, and confidence from Letter K-Measure 20
- Transition from Letter H to the CODA --Make it Smooth!
- Overall: Staying locked in to the tempo--practice with the metronome,
- Don't Let the energy drop!!!
Hannah & Lindsey: Make sure you are working on really analyzing the text and coming up with the emotional expressions to match the solos--especially on "Like Someone" and "Magnolia". Hannah, work on clarity of your diction and tuning of entrances and the buildup on Magnolia. Lindsey, work on the tuning of your lines and entrances in the beginning of Magnolia, and be thinking about different ways to really bring it home at the end of Want You Back. I'll want to meet with you both next week to go over these solos.
Berklee Website:
Finally for those interested you can hear recordings from last year's competing jazz choirs at Berklee by going to the website: http://festival.berkleejazz.org/ You then click on Competition Results: 2015 Festival: Ensemble Recordings. You can see videos of the space we'll be in by going on Youtube. It may be a good idea to check out recordings and videos of some of last year's winners to get an idea of what you're up against.
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