Misc instruments "I can't sing" - course; very nervous

[mizmar]

Vem kan segla förutan vind,

learn the chords/rhythms on piano.

I didn't mention: this is in D minor and the intro, in the hand out, is

Dm | Dm/C | Dm/H | B♭maj7 |

".../H" ***. B

Otherwise, i have a F tin whistle and can do the tune on that as well - even with a C# towards the end.

 

[mizmar]

Well, That's useful.

I use Musicsheets Pro for organising my digital music resources. Turns out that I could track down just about everything for the above list in ChordPro format, supported by Musicsheets - giving lyrics and (some variation of) chords... And easy transpose. and MS allows annotation , embedded backing and links, eg to youtube etc.
And, bonus, as chordpro files are just text, I can thrown them into Google translate to help with words I don't know.

So, now I can sit at the piano and thump out some version of the harmony to accompany myself.

 

[mizmar]

3. Hjerteknuser
Hjerteknuser (sang) – Wikipedia
(Rock)

just for a little added culatural intrigue.
There's a version of this song (Not in the hand-out we where given nor the official video, but the chordpro I found) that has a Sami verse!

Soaitá ahte ii gávdno šat,
soaitá doaivva lea,
soaitá ahte jurddaš' mu birra.
Muhto vuorddán dan beaivvi go váccašetne,
don govret ja mun čuoččun juolgesuorpmain.

View: https://youtu.be/cAsrBTndlhM?t=154


and if you skip forward to 3:34, it finishes with a Joik
I wonder if, after a few more sining classes, I'll be able to joik myself?

rather nice.

 

[mizmar]

Week 2/10
Still haven't been pulled aside and told to mime singing. So that's a win.

This weeks technical innovation was singing through a straw. Well, although that seems widespread in Google; chappie actually asked us to bring a half full water bottle, handed out bits of tube (about a cm diameter) to be stuck in the water; and we had to humm, ahh, ooh and sing through that... Blowing bubbles

Apparently this is a Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercise. Lots of "vem kan segla förutan vind" hummed and sing with/without bubbles; and it was effective to see how after singing through the bottle, everyone's voice gained projection.
Also, I think, maybe, we'll see, that, indeed it'll

Maybe it'll improve my ability to growl?

It did a bit, I'll be practicing that daily...


The other thing was singing a two part cannon, with variations in melody. A room full of Norwegians and me trying to singing a cannon in Swedish!
This really forces one to sing ones own words and not lean in the room! So that's good teaching.

 

[mizmar]

Week 3/10
Still holding in there: just one dirty look from teach... So, maybe the clock is ticking.

I didn't mention. Our man starts with some physical and the voice exercises. The latter starts with ffff, shhs, thssss' etc. Then brrrrr, and rrrrr then ahhh, Eeeee, iiii, oooo; with and without strawbottle. This time he integrated counting 1-2-3-4 into some physical exercise - presumably to help folks improve time feel (although half the songs are in 3/4 or 6/8). and got people to do them while singing nursery rhymes... Norwegian ones I don't know :/ Anyway Fab

The bulk of today was about doing Vem Kan in all three voices. Quite challenging.
Then a run through of "Where have all the flowers gone" (someone fussing about the lyrics / version? ***) and Stjernesludd - I'd spent the week learning that so didn't trip over too many words...

In the week, apart from leaning words/tunes, I practice with the piano for in-tuneisation... Trying to keep ahead of Madam Guillotine....

 

[wakyct]

Does he have you do specific breathing exercises? I've been curious about those.

 

[mizmar]

Does he have you do specific breathing exercises? I've been curious about those.

I'm not sure!
He'll do "relaxation" exercise to open the chest at the beginning...
The sing, humm, ooo through a tube in bottle of water to - which, in part, exercise the abdomen air support (but, hay, sax!)
Other than that... Not obviously

 

[mizmar]

Week 4/10
No big news. No guillotine, which is good.

I used to have some mates in a big international organisation in Geneva - I won't say WHO; and when they went around the office going "Choir practice?" meant "down the pub?". I don't think their continental colleagues got it. They don't get it here either.
I remain a bit disappointed that all we do is sing.

 

[Digger2054]

they went around the office going "Choir practice?" meant "down the pub?"

We used to call it Band Practice.

Are you still enjoying it, and do you feel you're progressing week by week?

 

[mizmar]

Are you still enjoying it, and do you feel you're progressing week by week?

Thanks for asking.
I do.
The class song practices, particularly, are an particular experience as one really has to only give half an ear to the room both because we sometimes split into two halves with different parts and, obviously, because none of us know what we're doing. So, yeah, you really have to sing your self and not follow.
It's also an motivation to practice. Daily I sit at the keyboard and ooo,ahhh,eeee chords and scales etc. An intrinsic good, musically. I'm slowly extending my comfortable range.

Looking forward to the concert and being scouted for a new boy-band for the overa 60s or something...

 

[mizmar]

Week 5/10
No show!

Why? Høstferie.
In fairness, two others also got caught out.

What did we learn? When they send a list of dates, don't just go "oh yeah, every Monday for 10 weeks". Click, repeat, save.

FYI Høstferie is a secret, optional, week long public holiday you can take if you fancy it; but don't talk about it and certainly don't tell anyone when it is 🤫 (half-term, always a mystery to folks without kids)

Still, it's ok. I'm still snowploughing O Helga Natt and could use an extra week to get my mouth round Swedish å, ä and ö

 

[mizmar]

Week 5'/10

First, after some warm-up, we where introduced to a new English song. Not for the performance, though... "Papa's got a head like a ping-pong ball". Apparently, a known vocal warm up.

View: https://youtu.be/9vKMZyUCoBk


So that was fun.

We went through Vem Kan with all 3 voices.. also fun; the two modern songs (queue usual discussion about dialect). Then Where have all the flowers gone - I tired to get an argument going regarding English vs American dialect (eg ɡɜːl vs ɡɝːl) but no takers. Talking of which, I've more or less got the annunciation sorted for each song; but memorisation is gonna be hard.

Still no complaints about pitch. I can't get much above middle C, so I aim for an octave lower (we've had little direction). Seems ok and I practice scales with the piano.

 

[Targa]

Week 5'/10

First, after some warm-up, we where introduced to a new English song. Not for the performance, though... "Papa's got a head like a ping-pong ball". Apparently, a known vocal warm up.

View: https://youtu.be/9vKMZyUCoBk


So that was fun.

We went through Vem Kan with all 3 voices.. also fun; the two modern songs (queue usual discussion about dialect). Then Where have all the flowers gone - I tired to get an argument going regarding English vs American dialect (eg ɡɜːl vs ɡɝːl) but no takers. Talking of which, I've more or less got the annunciation sorted for each song; but memorisation is gonna be hard.

Still no complaints about pitch. I can't get much above middle C, so I aim for an octave lower (we've had little direction). Seems ok and I practice scales with the piano.

Annunciation?
You must have a very angelic voice.

 

[mizmar]

Annunciation?
You must have a very angelic voice.

I might do, but I don't 🙁

 

[Pete Thomas]

I feel so brave!

You are, and it seems you are learning a lot.

 

[thomsax]

FYI Høstferie is a secret, optional, week long public holiday you can take if you fancy it; but don't talk about it and certainly don't tell anyone when it is 🤫 (half-term, always a mystery to folks without kids

Höstlov/Höstferie = potatislov. The children were at home helping to take up potatoes.
Jullov/Julferie = the children have nearly 3 weeks vacation.
Februarilov = 5 days. Back then we couldn't get enough heat in old school houses. Later on they called it Sportlov.
Påsklov = 5 days "Stilla veckan" + eastern days.
Sommarlov = 7 weeks

In alles, nearly 12 weeks paid vacation for teachers! Some extra days for the children.

Hard to say why we still have the long vacations/holidays? But we know that Swedish students are not doing so well according to Pisa survey.

No problem down here with Å, Ä and Ö. We just don't care .....

 

[mizmar]

But we know that Swedish students are not doing so well according to Pisa survey.

Standards have plummeted in Sweden.
(Since private academies)

 

[Targa]

Höstlov/Höstferie = potatislov. The children were at home helping to take up potatoes.
Jullov/Julferie = the children have nearly 3 weeks vacation.
Februarilov = 5 days. Back then we couldn't get enough heat in old school houses. Later on they called it Sportlov.
Påsklov = 5 days "Stilla veckan" + eastern days.
Sommarlov = 7 weeks

In alles, nearly 12 weeks paid vacation for teachers! Some extra days for the children.

Hard to say why we still have the long vacations/holidays? But we know that Swedish students are not doing so well according to Pisa survey.

No problem down here with Å, Ä and Ö. We just don't care .....

It used to be more than12 weeks school holidays in England, maybe still is.
Six for summer, three each for Easter and Christmas plus half terms, the only reason most teachers did the job.
Then the parents now take the children out of school for holidays, unheard of not so many years back.

 

[MikeMorrell]

You don't need a great voice to be a good singer.

With practice, technique and skill any voice can be made musical.

Some great singers have "terrible" voices. Rod Stewart springs to mind. Great singer with a broken voice.

It was hearing Ronnie Drew that first gave me the confidence to air my tonsils.

View: https://youtu.be/Oo3S1lsZ290?si=nkJH67LmGla2XW9b

View: https://youtu.be/Vfi_xwOvlKY?si=g-pszJ_w1QPdn3An



It's what you play, not what you play it on.

It's been a long time since I listened to the Dubliners. Great to hear them again! I can't remember where I heard/read this comment but someone compared Ronnie's voice to the sound of a lump of coal being ground down under a (coalshed?) door 🙂.

When I still played folk/classical guitar, I was a big Folk Music fan. Especially of Irish and Scottish folk music: jigs, reels and slip jigs. When I started playing sax, my musical tastes somehow became more focused on Blues/Jazz (which I've always like too). I still go to folk concerts when the opportunity arises.

 

[mizmar]

Week: -1/0

I didn't post the last two week because there was little of specific interest - apart from a "lecture" on the vocal track... Which was no news to me. Anyway...

This evening it was practice in the target venue (little, old wooden church) that was quite fun and quiet exhausting.
Toward the end the "litt øvet" (more than total beginner) crowed arrived to practice Oh Hell with us. There where more of them (quite crowded) and stronger voices. And they had practiced the first verse for 4 boy voices and the second verse for 4 girl voices; the rest of us just sang the chorus. All in all a bit chaotic.

But it does mean I've managed to memories 95% of everything (as I was still working on the 2nd verse), which is nice.

1 week to go.