Over the last year I feel that I have improved a lot as a singer and as a musician. My singing lessons with Taylor have definitely played a major role in my vocal development. One of the things that we have worked a lot on was the preparation, breathing, resonation and keeping a focused sound until the end of each phrase.

Taylor spoke to me about support and has given me exercises to strengthen the muscles involved in the abdominal area, lower back and pelvis. When I warm up I usually incorporate this exercise as I feel that it warms up the muscles involved in the breathing process and support.

I have had a lot of difficulties in terms of creating the space and making the sound resonate in the right place. It was only after a few very frustrating months that I realised what I was doing wrong. I was creating the space and lifting my soft palate but once I started singing or making a sound I wouldn’t keep the space. It took me a long time to be able to feel and identify the correct way to do it.

We worked a lot on Vaccai’s practical method for singing, which I really enjoyed. I felt that my technique got better and I would come out of the lessons feeling like I had learnt something new that was really valuable. I just wish I had had more time to work on it and practice more. That was the first time that I started approaching a song in a different way, working on it in sections. Learning the melody and taking each phrase slowly, singing it with the right rhythm. Then, we would analyse the words and the way to pronounce them. Only after that we would put both melody and words together. This has also improved my sight- reading and I think that I became more aware of the intervals between the notes. Working on my technique and on Vaccai is definitely one of my goals for the summer holidays.

Another major problem that I had was engaging in everything I sing, being focused in what I am doing. By the end of this term I think I was getting better at it and I feel like I am starting to apply it in my singing as well. One of the things I am trying to correct is singing every note until the very end of it, not loosing focus as I usually get slightly out of tune when I do so.

I noticed a major development as a performer. I feel like I overcame the psychological barrier that was stopping me from going for it. I am more aware now of the importance of knowing a song inside out and finding the emotional connection with the lyrics. Another important aspect in a performance is the facial expression and the body language; I have started practicing in front of a mirror so that I can see what I am doing wrong; I can see my facial expression, body movement and most important how convincing I am being.

I also think that I have developed a lot since I was chosen by Music For Scotland. It has been hard work but a very rewarding experience. The main difficulty I found was singing for longer periods of time than I was used to. I have been more careful in terms of the volume I sing and the importance of using my technique properly when singing. I am also more aware of how to look after myself and my voice.

The pieces that I decided to do on my Solo Performance assessment were The Girl From Ipanema by Vinicius de Morais and Antonio Carlos Jobim, and All These Things That I've Done by The Killers. The way I approached both songs was very similar. I started by learning buying the sheet music for both of the so that I could learn the parts properly and I analysed the lyrical content of both songs. Although I had sung both of these songs before I wanted to correct possible mistakes I was doing and really work in the way I sang them.

The Girl From Ipanema
I decided to do my own arrangement of the song. In the Solo Performance Class I had performed this song accompanying myself on the guitar. In order to focus on the vocals and really work on my technique I bought a few backing tracks for this song, edited each instrument so that it fitted the genre and the feel that I was looking for, and mixed the track. As the original song is in my mother language - Portuguese, I decided that I would start singing in English, then I would repeat the verse and chorus but singing it in portuguese, then I would improvise during the verse and finish with the chorus. Although it is the same song, singing it in both languages was quite hard. First, it was like learning two different songs as the phrasing is different from the English version and the Brazilian accent is really different from the Portuguese. Because I speak fluent English and Portuguese it is quite hard to switch from one language to the other during the song. I recorded myself singing the song a few times so that I could listen back and correct possible mistakes. I have also practiced soloing during the verse by recording myself and listening back to it. I worked on this song with Taylor who gave me some tips in terms of my technique, performance and improvisation. 
I listened to a lot of different versions of this song that inspired my performance such as Tom Jobim, Caetano Veloso & Roberto Carlos, Frank Sinatra, Amy Winehouse.
In my interpretation of the song I pictured myself at the beach in Portugal having a drink watching a tanned girl passing in front of me. During the verses I wanted to give an idea of confidence and a cool guy that usually gets all the girls, and in the chorus I wanted to change the mood as the lyrics change to a much sadder, lonely and almost heartbreaking situation. I found it particularly hard to sing the chorus in tune because of all the chromatic notes and key changes but I think that I managed to do it in the end.

All These Things That I've Done
All These Things That I've Done is a rock song by the Killers. I had performed this song in the Solo Performance Class and some of the feedback I got included the lack of energy in my performance and some technical aspects in my singing in terms of the high notes and singing until the end of the phrase. I worked on these aspects with Taylor but I think that i still need to work more on my technique. I think that I go out of tune slightly when I don't support enough and don't sing the phrases until the very end. 
In my feedback I was also told that it would be a good idea to get a band to play with me as it would probably make it easier and it would be much more comfortable for me to perform. I asked a few people and we had one rehearsal. The rehearsal went really well and everyone knew their parts but we needed a few more rehearsals. I wanted to be sure no one would make any mistakes and that it was really tight. I booked three further rehearsals but people ended up cancelling which meant that the only rehearsing time that everyone could make was on the day of the assessment. I decided that I didn't want to take the risk and would rather sing with a backing track. I bought a backing track, changed the tempo of the intro and brought down the volume of the backing vocals in the mix. 
In terms of the performance I wanted to connect with the song in a more intimate way therefore I tried to link the lyrics to some experiences I had in my life. I have watched a lot of The Killers live performances so that I could get an idea of their stage presence and Brandom Flowers movements. Here are some of the videos I watched:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y08SYui2ZLU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm5n1aimznE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Wi_MDYiVw

I knew that it would be really hard to perform it without a band but I told myself I would do it. I had to picture a big crowd in front of me and think that I was in a massive stage. I think that I managed to sing the song with the right feel and I was really happy with the mark I got. 

I first sang this song at the audition for Music for Scotland. That was when I decided that I would like to choose this song for my solo performance assesment. I thought it would be a good idea to do some research and perforn it in the class in front of everyone.

All these things that I've done is one of the most iconic songs by the Killers. I thought this song would be challenging for me because it covers a wide range of my voice, and some of the high notes are at the very top of my voice. I worked on my technique and Taylor gave some tips of what to do in terms of support, breathing and space. When I was practising the song I worked on it by sections and focused on the parts that were harder for me. 

To me this song is about facing difficulties, going through hard times and overcoming them. When I practised the song I tried to relate the words to some of my life experiences and to different situations. This helps me staying in character when I'm performing. All These Things That I've Done is a rock song therefore it needs a lot of energy so that the song is delivered properly to an audience.

I got a backing track online and I wanted to push myself and perform as if I had a band playing with me. I practiced some actions but I wasn't very confident and ended up not doing what I had previously practiced. When I was performing I didn't get into the song and didn't perform it how I had planned it.I think that I was too cautious and was trying to focus on my technique. In order to improve, I want to get a band to accompany me on my solo assessment as I believe this will help me getting a bit more confident and relaxed. I also think it will allow me to explore the dynamics of the song a bit better.

There were a few things that I wanted to work on since my last solo performance. Connecting with a song and singing it with the right emotion is one of the things that I find quite difficult to do. Another thing that I also find quite hard is singing with a backing track. Therefore, I decided to look for a song that would challenge me, putting me out of my comfort zone and allowing me to work on those things.

One of the artists that crossed my mind was Damien Rice as I think he is an artist that is quite emotive. I started learning Blower’s daughter but somehow it didn’t feel like I was connecting with the song. I though of picking a different song, maybe something that I could identify myself and connect with. Trouble by Ray Lamontagne was my next choice. It was a song that would allow me to work on all the points that I wanted to and would also challenge me in terms of timing and diction. Trouble is in 6/8 and there is quite a lot of syncopation in the vocals.

The next step was getting the right backing track. There was a karaoke version on YouTube but it didn’t follow the normal structure of the song. I kept on looking for a backing track and ended up buying a backing track from Karaoke-version.com.

Ray Lamontagne was one of six children (from various fathers) and when he was a kid his mum travelled from Utah to Maine, taking her children with her and stopping wherever she could find a room. Trouble includes themes and references such as vulnerability, heartbreak, love and trouble in various ways. In order to be able to sing this song with the right emotion I tried to link the words to previous experiences that I’ve had in my life as well as put myself in Lamontagne’s shoes. This allowed me to connect a bit better with the song.

I think my performance could have been better in terms of diction but the verses are quite fast and the sentences are a bit long. I also want to improve in terms of intonation and placement. 

Ella Fitzgerald was an American Jazz singer who is considered by many the Queen of Jazz.  Fitzgerald had a vocal range that spanned three octaves and was noted for her purity of tone, great diction, phrasing and intonation. Ella had an amazing ability for improvisation, particularly in her scat singing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dMuynmTukA

I enjoy listening to listening to Ella Fitzgerald improvising as it gives me ideas of different sounds and different ideas that I could use when I’m improvising. I usually end up improvising with the sound “tee” or “e” and I want to be able to have a wider range of possibilities for improvising.

I have been working on Cantaloupe Island and I have been listening to live versions of the song, with long piano and saxophone solos. Here is one of those tracks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKlFv0mhi3s&NR=1&feature=endscreen

I want to transcribe some of the solos played by the sax and apply Ella Fitzgerald technique to improvise. 

For my second research piece I decided to choose a song called The Girl From Ipanema. The piece was originally written by Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Vinicius de Moraes wrote the lyrics in Portuguese and has later on adapted it to English. I decided to sing the Portuguese version because it has a lot of sounds that usually drop back on my throat when I sing them and I wanted to work on my resonation. It is also a hard song to sing because it changes the key a few times.

I decided to accompany myself. It helped understanding the feel of the song and how the vocal rhythm sits on the one played by the classical guitar. I started practicing it by learning the guitar part. Then, I divided the song into a few different parts and learnt the melody. I had some difficulties on the phrase “A beleza que nao e so minha, que tambem passa sozinha”. Even though I practiced the melody on its own I had some difficulties in terms of intonation on this particular part. In the end of that phrase, I had to sing a note that doesn’t belong to the chord I was playing and it made harder to sing it.

I though the performance went quite well. I was a bit nervous and I lost the rhythm in the improvisation part because my leg started shaking. There was some good feedback about my facial expression, diction, feel of the song, and tone of my voice. I am going to sing this song on my final solo performance and I will organise a band to accompany me. That will give me more freedom to sing and improvise. I would like to sing it in English and Portuguese as I think it would make it a bit more interesting.

For my first solo performance I have decided to perform one of my own songs. I decided that it would be a good idea to perform one of my latest songs as I have adopted a different practicing method.  This was the first time I was paying attention to some details while I was writing this song and I have tried to fit the vocals better into the rhythm and chords played by the guitar.

When I wrote Save me from hell, I was inspired by the breaking up of one of my best friend’s relationship. I was aware of the way he was feeling and I have tried to include feelings like anger, desperation or insanity in the way I sing. As the song progresses to the chorus, there is a build up that is related to someone getting agitated.

Once the song was written and finished, I have tried to apply the breathing techniques learnt in my singing classes and I have tried to work on my placement. Once I felt confortable singing the song accompanying myself on the guitar, I have started focusing on the performance itself. My girlfriend is a Drama teacher and as she has a Degree in Performing Arts, I though it would be a good idea to ask he for some help. I usually find it quite hard to connect with the songs I sing, as I have never had Drama classes at school. It was quite interesting working with her on this song.

We started by reading the lyrics and talking about what they mean. After that she read the lyrics as if she was telling a story, and acted it as a monologue. Furthermore, we worked on putting myself into character and I have sung the song a few times. We recorded a couple of performances and I noticed that I managed to get into character. It sounded better than the version I was originally singing and I suppose it gave me confidence.

On the day of the performance, I decided to warm up my voice properly and play the song a few times to get in the zone. Once we went in the class I had to wait for other people to perform and I think it has affected my concentration a little bit. Once I started performing I felt that there were some problems with the sound and changes in volume. I don’t know if the sound was too loud and the sound guy changed anything but I felt that I didn’t have full control of the microphone. At some point I was going to move away from the mic as I was going to sing louder but the volume of the microphone got lower. Therefore, I felt like I was constantly adjusting. I believe that I should have spent longer sound checking to avoid similar situations.

Although I felt like I could have got more into character and perform it with more emotion, I think that it was a good performance. I want to work more on my performing skills and how to get more into the song, transmitting more emotion and feelings to the audience.