Singing Class

Singing Class
Originally uploaded by joywilson.

So last night was my first big class, kind of a warm-up for the clinic I'll give on Saturday. By now, I have figured out that no matter how much I plan, everything always ends up being improvised in the end. Last night, I had planned on doing a lot of warm-ups and breathing exercises, and then we would talk about improvising harmonies, and by ear, we would create a 3-part arrangement of Aclame Ao Senhor (Shout to the Lord). The warm-ups were a lot of fun--we did a lot of breathing exercises and I had them doing sirens and sighs, which made everyone laugh because, well, I guess it sounds funny to have a room full of ambulances. But my idea about improvising an arrangement of Shout to the Lord (which I had done in another clinic last year) didn't really work too well in Atibaia for some reason. The crowd was a little older than I had expected, with 15 out of 20 being women, and at the beginning, we had a difficult time even descending a major scale in unison without going flat. So trying to teach how to hear harmony parts (alto, tenor, etc) ended up being such a subjective process that I scratched the whole idea after 2 times through the song.

Vocal Technique

So instead of the class improvising, it was me who improvised! It was late at night and we were tired, so we took a break from singing to talk about how the vocal folds function in the larynx (good thing I had printed out a diagram a few hours before!) and how to get rid of breathiness in our singing tone. We also worked a little more on intonation, and by the end of the class, the group had really improved and we learned a simple chord progression in 3 parts.

Thanks for your prayers for the class--I had been giving lessons all day every day since Monday, and my voice was really tired, but I made it through and slept really well last night! And as always when I'm teaching, I learned new Portuguese words from my students, like the words for "harmonic series," "larynx," and "row."

Brazilian Smiles

Brazilians are so friendly and accepting! I am SO thankful for this. Even though I constantly have to talk around what I'm trying to say because I don't know the words, and I'm always making mistakes, everyone is always willing to help. I have yet to meet a Brazilian who has anything less than a warm, grateful attitude towards a little American girl with broken Portuguese.

Tonight we have college group at the church--I'm excited to see all of the friends that I have yet to see again! Please pray for tomorrow's music clinic. I don't know how many people will be there, or what assortment of instruments, but I have a lot of materials we could go through. Please pray for my Portuguese tomorrow--that I am able to communicate effectively enough to share my heart for the Lord and my passion for music. Thank you again for all of your encouragement and support!

Abraços,
--Joy