Today's rehearsal was our first with the whole band. We had picked the songs 'Candy' by Paolo Nutini, 'Sunshine on Leith' by The Proclaimers, 'Mountains' by Biffy Clyro and 'Shout' by Lulu.
For today, we were each to learn our separate parts. Apart from a couple of parts (David was unsure of the melody for the last part of Candy and I had to learn the instrumental part for Mountains during practice, for example.) everyone had learnt what they needed to learn, mostly. However, I feel that we, myself included, should have went a bit further than learning the chords and structure and learnt our in-depth parts back to front. Since we didn't, we had to sort out some wrong parts in the songs, so next time I will make an effort to learn every single song/part for every instrument like the back of my hand.
Practice today went well. We nailed Candy, but I will keep giving Kelvin nods when we change parts, because it differs from the CD version (only in the way that the end is shorter). Structurally, Candy is spot on. Ryan just needs to learn the proper solo and David needs to become confident with the vocals at the end. After going through Candy, we went onto Sunshine on Leith.
SOL went well; Ryan and I had a discussion over disputes in the chords we were playing, and Ryan's version was correct, so we changed it there. There are talks of getting one of the violin players to play the 'solo' heard after each chorus, but I may just play a shortened version on piano. Today we started focusing on dynamics after Annette came in and sang it with us. It is amazing how much of a difference the singer's effort into the song can influence the band members. When Annette starting playing with dynamics, I naturally played up or down to support her, and it not only filled me with more confidence while playing, but it made it sound fantastic. David and Aimee are to put the same effort they'd put in if they were performing live every time we rehearse it.
Lulu proved a challenge, simply because of the various stops between verses. I had to explain to Ryan how the chord changes stop/double/half after each verse, and he caught on very quickly. I feel that was the least practiced song, as everyone but Oliver (when he came in) stopped at different times. We need to work on this. Apart from the stops, the song contains 2 chords (apart from the end where an extra A is added) and is very simple. We agreed simply to learn it properly for next week.
Mountains was a bit different. We had to stop and go back over that several times, due to conflicts surrounding what happens after the first chorus. Obviously, we hadn't listened to this one much either. After settling that, we played through the song, stopping after each chorus (as each is different) until we had them right. Mountains wasn't very tight at all, but we got the structure learned as a band. For next week, we need to learn it properly, so that we can come in and just play it.
We went over every song a couple of times after that, until it was time to leave. After this rehearsal, I was feeling a little worried about the performance. We need to put in more work.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Group Performance - Rehearsal 1
Today we had our first rehearsal for our group performance exam in May. We had been given two songs just before the Easter Holidays and had to pick two. Naturally, we hadn't had a practice until today. The exam is three weeks away.
My band is comprised of myself on keyboards, Aimee and David on vocals, Ryan on guitar, Oliver on Bass and Kelvin on drums. The songs we had been given by Annette were Candy by Paolo Nutini and Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers.
We started off with Candy, since I know the song like the back of my head due to playing it with Music for Scotland. Oliver was rehearsing with his other band, so I took lead.
Ryan wasn't there today, so I began to play Candy on the acoustic guitar, since it is a Guitar driven song, and it didn't feel/sound right when I played lead on piano. We spent roughly 40 minutes-an hour on the song, mostly getting the structure right. It is simple until after the guitar solo, where everything drops out. I had to spend time counting the bars between where the drums start, build up, and then come in fully. When I play the song with music for scotland, we go through three lines of "i'll be there waiting for you" before bringing the whole band in; I decided to do the same here, for simplicity's sake. I nodded at Kelvin when to bring his toms in, and eventually, the whole kit. After much discussion and playing around, we decided to play the song for a bit longer at the end, to emphasise the build up. Amy and I will do backing vocals while David sings the main melody. It sounded strange because he didn't know the song properly, but we nailed the structure so it was a productive practice. We are to learn the song inside out for next week.
Sunshine on Leith was a bit different. I jumped back onto the piano for this, as it is a piano driven song. The chords I had differed from the song. Again, we focused on the structure, but only after listening to the song countless times. For now, David and Aimee will be doing the vocals themselves, but I may provide harmonies once I learn it properly. It seemed to go alright, but again, we need to each learn our individual parts before we can rehearse it effectively.
Oliver came in for the last half hour. We forgot to tell him about the extra lines at the end, but apart from that, it went well. Oliver will learn sunshine on leith like the rest of us for next Tuesday.
Once we'd rehearsed, we thought of two other songs to do - Annette picks two songs and we pick two songs, but they must have links to Scotland, for that is the theme of our end of year concert, where we will be performing. Initially, we picked Mountains by Biffy Clyro and a song by Rod Stewart, but Annette had problems with that. Aimee suggested we play 'Shout' by Lulu, as she is Scottish, and again, I had played that song in Music for Scotland. Annette approved of this.
As soon as practice was finished, I spent time on my laptop in the Music Box foyer creating a group on Facebook; Facebook is perfect for social networking, and has been used by every band I've played with, be it outside or inside of college for the past year. I invited the band members to the group, linked each of our four songs via Youtube and reminded everyone to learn their parts for next week's practice.
The songs have been picked, so Ryan will just have to accept them!
My band is comprised of myself on keyboards, Aimee and David on vocals, Ryan on guitar, Oliver on Bass and Kelvin on drums. The songs we had been given by Annette were Candy by Paolo Nutini and Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers.
We started off with Candy, since I know the song like the back of my head due to playing it with Music for Scotland. Oliver was rehearsing with his other band, so I took lead.
Ryan wasn't there today, so I began to play Candy on the acoustic guitar, since it is a Guitar driven song, and it didn't feel/sound right when I played lead on piano. We spent roughly 40 minutes-an hour on the song, mostly getting the structure right. It is simple until after the guitar solo, where everything drops out. I had to spend time counting the bars between where the drums start, build up, and then come in fully. When I play the song with music for scotland, we go through three lines of "i'll be there waiting for you" before bringing the whole band in; I decided to do the same here, for simplicity's sake. I nodded at Kelvin when to bring his toms in, and eventually, the whole kit. After much discussion and playing around, we decided to play the song for a bit longer at the end, to emphasise the build up. Amy and I will do backing vocals while David sings the main melody. It sounded strange because he didn't know the song properly, but we nailed the structure so it was a productive practice. We are to learn the song inside out for next week.
Sunshine on Leith was a bit different. I jumped back onto the piano for this, as it is a piano driven song. The chords I had differed from the song. Again, we focused on the structure, but only after listening to the song countless times. For now, David and Aimee will be doing the vocals themselves, but I may provide harmonies once I learn it properly. It seemed to go alright, but again, we need to each learn our individual parts before we can rehearse it effectively.
Oliver came in for the last half hour. We forgot to tell him about the extra lines at the end, but apart from that, it went well. Oliver will learn sunshine on leith like the rest of us for next Tuesday.
Once we'd rehearsed, we thought of two other songs to do - Annette picks two songs and we pick two songs, but they must have links to Scotland, for that is the theme of our end of year concert, where we will be performing. Initially, we picked Mountains by Biffy Clyro and a song by Rod Stewart, but Annette had problems with that. Aimee suggested we play 'Shout' by Lulu, as she is Scottish, and again, I had played that song in Music for Scotland. Annette approved of this.
As soon as practice was finished, I spent time on my laptop in the Music Box foyer creating a group on Facebook; Facebook is perfect for social networking, and has been used by every band I've played with, be it outside or inside of college for the past year. I invited the band members to the group, linked each of our four songs via Youtube and reminded everyone to learn their parts for next week's practice.
The songs have been picked, so Ryan will just have to accept them!
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