Vocal Workshop
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Crash course in voice, harmony and keyboard.
There is one major area that poses a significant challenge to the majority of smaller churches and almost all singers. This is the issue of accomaniament.
Even in churches and groups where there is a reasonable level of musicianship, there can still be issues surrounding harmony vocals. Indeed, many singers, and therefore their congregations, do not regularly enjoy the pleasure of the beauty and lift that is associated with harmonies.
The solution is really quite simple. Not only that, it doesn't take a Johan Bach, or even a lot of lessons, to make a noticeable difference.
Today, we are going to look at both of these areas. In a single session, I believe that you can learn enough to be able to accompany yourself (or a group) for perhaps the majority of songs.
In addition, this same principal will provide you with the basic tools for implementing 3 part harmonies equivalent to most of the best contemporary vocal groups.
Even for those who are not interested in the principles of harmony, it is essential to have a point of reference for maintaining good pitch.
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Music Composition
The first step is to have a basic understanding of chords.
All music is based upon a chord structure. The really good news is that most songs only have a small number of chords in their structure. Some of the most popular choruses only have 2 or 3 chords in the whole song.
Even better news is that the chords are usually written above the words in sheet music. This means that all you have to do to play music is read a few very simple Chords.
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Playing the Music on a Keyboard
You will note from the diagram below (which we will utilise extensively in this exercise) that there are 12 notes, which keep repeating.
As you will probably remember from somewhere in life, the piano (or any keyboard for that matter) is made up of black & white notes. The pitch (or tuning) from one note to the next is exactly the same, whether or not the next key is black or white. So the pitch difference from B to C is the same as it is from C# to D or from D# to E or from E to F.
A second thing to note is that C# is exactly the same note as Db and D# is exactly the same note as Eb and so on. In fact, all of this is easy.
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Scales
A scale is a sequence of notes that keeps on repeating all the way up the keyboard. Perhaps the most well known "scale" is the major scale, or the "Doh Re Mi Fa Soh La Ti Doh" scale. This is the one that we are going to work with and for our purposes will suffice. (There are other scales though, not just the minor scale, but as many as there are sequences that you could make from a combination of one or more of the 12 notes. The most popular "other" category is the minor scale)
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Timing
You might not believe this, but it's true. Bad timing is worse than being out of pitch. There are many examples of famous recording artists who sang out of tune. However, there are none that I can think of that have bad timing. So, the first thing we need to establish in a song is the timing.
This is not meant to be a music lesson so we don't need to know about time signatures. We don't even have to use the same time signature in which the song was written. All we have to do is count and keep the time and the accent beat (the note(s) that are more pronounced) constant.
I.e. 1234123412341234 or 123123123123123 or 123456123456123456123456. These are probably the most common, if not all the possibilities you will face in a normal worship environment.
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Composition & Chords
Because most music has a very simple structure, or composition, it stands to reason that it is simple to play. Some instruments, such as guitars and Ukuleles have proven this concept as many people mastered them with little or no tuition.
It is a myth to think that the keyboard is hard to play in order accompany yourself. Hence, this crash course in how you too can add enjoyment to your singing by playing along. I have seen people catch on in 15 minutes.
The majority of songs can be played by knowing just 3 chords.
First of all, a chord is made up of two or more different notes from a scale. Once again there are a lot of different chords and we are only going to look at 2 types - the major chord and the minor chord. Both the major chord and the minor chord are made up of 3 notes.
Let's look at the major chord first because comes right out of the "Doh Re Mi" scale. In fact, the major chord is "Doh, Mi & Soh" all played together. The interesting thing is that this is exactly how we build harmonies. So learning the keyboard and composing simple harmonies are one and the same thing.
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C Major Chord
(Major chords - play the name key, skip 3, play the next, skip 2 & play the next)
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F Major Chord
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G Major Chord
These 3 chords are the most common in any song played in the C major scale. When playing these chords on a piano or keyboard, you play a bass note with the left hand that corresponds with the Chord name and then play the 3 notes with the left hand.
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e.g. C Major Chord (almost always called a "C" Chord)
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F Chord
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G Chord
Well, that is about as far as we can go in one session. However, it is possible to work out any major chord. Listening is a key as major chords always have a happy sort of a sound and the keys you play always have the same number of non-playing keys in between (make sure you count the black ones). E.g. E Major chord = E, G#(Ab) and B and F# Major chord = F#(Gb), A#(Bb) and C#(Db). See, none of them are hard.
Minor chords are the second most common chords and are almost identical to the major chord EXCEPT that they have the middle note different and sound sadder and more dramatic. The middle note is played ONE key to the left.
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e.g. C Minor Chord (often written Cm, Cmi or C-)
(Minor chords - play the name key, skip 2, play the next, skip 3 & play the next)
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Harmonies
In most praise and worship songs, a very good contemporary sound can be obtained by having the melody sung by the sopranos (ladies with higher voices). The tenors sing the harmony note above the melody and the Altos (ladies with a stronger lower range) sing the harmony note below the melody.
To work out what those notes should be, you just look at the chord that is playing and work out which note is the melody. Sometimes it may require a little bit of adjustment since the note is not always in the chord, but these guidelines will set a good base to start with.
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Vocal Technique
There are without doubt many techniques for singing in the world and who am I to say that this is the one that is right for you. However, this technique is an established procedure for vocal production that a few years ago was utilised by the majority of Australia's most renowned actors, newsreaders and several singers. It is a technique to reduce strain on the vocal chords and enable sustained quality in the voice over long periods of time. Pain in the throat is always a bad sign in my opinion. My recommendation is to get prayer and completely rest the voice until healing occurs.
Do not strain to reach notes that are outside you range. Get to know the limits of your voice and pick parts that are in the ideal range. If you are responsible for choosing the praise and worship songs, choose songs in keys that cause the melody to fall between Middle C and the next C up the keyboard (D at the very highest). The average person will be struggling to sing as high as the C let alone D.
Step 1
Relax - Open - Send
Relax
Relax all muscles, especially those in the throat
Open - Send (the means of projecting the Voice)
The best posture is that going to throw up.
When someone throws up several things happen (which are not repulsive, so please don't be)
that are conductive to very good singing with no strain.
- Lower stomach muscles contract
- Ribs Expand
- Larynx drops
- Throat opens
- Lower jaw drops
- Everything is concentrated in the "resonance" or "mask"
Step 2
Lean on the consonants
Step 3
All vowels are to be in the same "O" shape
Step 4
Listen carefully
- Listen to your own voice BUT DO NOT BLOCK OUT EVERYTHING ELSE
- LISTEN TO THE MAIN BAND INSTRUMENTS
- Compare the two to see if they are in perfect harmony
- Listen to other voices - To ensure that you are in tune with them, too.
NB: Don't criticize anyone else. Our responsibility is to uplift and encourage.
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Microphone Technique
Microphones are often very different. The most important things are to get a clear, undistorted sound and to know when to move away from the mike to avoid distortion or being too loud. Some mikes need you to be right up close with your lips almost touching, while others are very sensitive (usually only in recording studios) and you need to be right away from them to get good sound. Most churches and live singing only use the fist type where you have to have your mouth right up close. When you go for the "big" notes move away from the mike to compensate for the increase in volume. Listen carefully to how you sound in the speakers. Remember, if you can hear more of you than the rest of the band, you are probably too loud and there is a significant chance that you will start to sing out of tune.
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Helpful Tips
There are several things that help to keep your voice in fine shape and good technique is only one.
· Always warm up your voice before you sing.
Do not whisper if you have a sore throat - it make s it worse.
Humming loudly is good therapy to warm up and revitalise the vocal chords.
· Inhale steam - it helps a myriad of throat problems (honey can help too)
· Exercise your singing voice every day - vocal chords are muscles and respond to regular exercise - don't overdo it! But, don't be lazy in developing your gift either.
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