Category Archives: practice

Pop songs for boys under 10

Teaching boys under the age of  10 to enjoy singing lessons and singing.

  1. Start with Fun and Playful Exercises: Introduce singing through fun exercises that engage their imagination and playfulness. Games like “Simon Says” where they mimic vocal sounds or animal noises can be great warm-ups. Encourage them to sing along to their favorite songs or cartoons, making it enjoyable and natural.
  2. Provide Positive Encouragement: Building confidence is crucial at this age. Offer plenty of positive reinforcement and encouragement. Celebrate their efforts, no matter how small, and focus on progress rather than perfection. Create a supportive environment where they feel safe to explore their voice without fear of judgment.
  3. Incorporate Visual and Kinesthetic Learning: Young boys often respond well to visual and kinesthetic learning. Use visual aids like diagrams of vocal anatomy to explain concepts in a simple and engaging manner. Encourage physical movements that help with breath control and vocal projection, such as stretching or pretending to blow bubbles. Incorporating movement into singing can make it more dynamic and enjoyable for them.

By combining these approaches, you can make learning to sing a fun and rewarding experience, setting a strong foundation for their musical journey ahead.

The following songs are popular, catchy, and have relatively simple melodies and lyrics, making them suitable for young boys to sing along with and enjoy.

Number One: Hound Dog by Elvis Presley

This is a very repetitive song and has a small vocal range, making it very easy for young boys to learn quickly, sing and enjoy.

Number Two: Here comes the sun by the Beatles

Always check the key the song is in and if that key suits the child.  Sometimes you may need to raise the key to make it easier to sing in their vocal range.  Remember, these voices are still immature and they don’t have the vocal chords that an adult male has, meaning they are not yet able to sing really low notes.

Here is the Beatles version, as well as the same song in a higher key.

Number Three: Count on me by Bruno Mars

Number Four: Rip Tide by Vance Joy

Number Five: Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas

Number Six: It’s a good day to have a great day by Russell Dickerson

click on CC (closed captions) to see the lyrics

Number Seven: Can’t stop the feeling by Justin Timberlake

Number Eight: Footloose by Kenny Loggins

Number Nine: Fireflies by Owl City

Number Ten: Lanterns by Birds of Tokyo

Number Eleven: Crocodile Rock by Elton John

Number Twelve: Best day of my life by American Authors

How do I sing high notes?

Singing high notes requires a combination of proper technique, practice, and understanding your vocal range.

Here are five essential steps to help you sing higher:

  1. Warm-up and Vocal Exercises: Before attempting to sing high notes, it’s crucial to warm up your voice. Start with gentle humming or lip trills to loosen up your vocal cords. Then, do vocal exercises that focus on expanding your vocal range gradually. These exercises could include scales, arpeggios, and sirens. Consistent practice of these exercises will help strengthen your voice and increase your ability to hit higher notes.
  2. Proper Breathing Technique: Proper breathing is essential for singing high notes effectively. Practice diaphragmatic breathing, where you breathe deeply from your diaphragm rather than shallowly from your chest. Engage your abdominal muscles to support your breath, allowing for better control and power when reaching for higher pitches. Learning to control your breath flow is key to sustaining high notes without strain.
  3. Relaxation and Posture: Tension in your body can hinder your ability to sing high notes comfortably. Maintain good posture by standing or sitting up straight, with your shoulders relaxed and your chest open. Tension in your neck, jaw, or throat can restrict airflow and make it harder to reach higher pitches. Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and gentle stretches to release tension before singing.
  4. Head Voice and Mixed Voice: Understanding the different registers of your voice is crucial for singing high notes. Your head voice is the lighter, higher register of your voice, while your chest voice is lower and fuller. Work on transitioning smoothly between these registers to achieve a balanced and connected sound in your high notes. Developing a mixed voice, which combines elements of both head and chest voice, can help you maintain a strong and controlled sound throughout your vocal range.
  5. Consistent Practice and Patience: Like any skill, singing high notes takes time and dedication to master. Practice regularly, but be patient with yourself as you work on expanding your vocal range and improving your technique. Record yourself singing to track your progress and identify areas for improvement. Seek feedback from a vocal coach or experienced singer who can provide guidance and help you develop a healthy and sustainable approach to singing high notes. Remember to listen to your body and avoid pushing your voice beyond its limits to prevent strain or injury. With consistent practice and proper technique, you can gradually increase your ability to sing high notes with confidence and ease.

Exhalation on a hiss

This breathing exercise is to help develop better breath control for good, well supported singing. Make sure the body is relaxed, the shoulders down, and you are breathing low in the body. Take a good breath and then hiss for as long as you can. Aim to keep the air flow steady, don’t let it shudder, and have a feeling of the air escaping slowly, don’t let the breath go all at once. Keep a steady, firm exhalation. Take a low breath, start the timer and see how long you can exhale for on a steady hiss. Do this regularly and keep a record of your time. See how much you can improve over a month.

 

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Practice, Practice, Practice

It has been a very busy week for me this week, as along with everything I usually do in a week, I am also preparing for an audition.  I haven’t done one of these in a long time, and although it is a little stressful, it is wonderful that things are starting to get back to normal so that shows can once again be staged.
Usually I like to be well prepared for auditions, but for some reason, this one has crept up on me. In an audition they usually ask you to perform something from the show, and then a section of a song that is similar in style to the show you are auditioning for.

I chose to sing the beginning of The worst pies in London from Sweeny Todd. Now Sondheim, the composer composes very challenging music.  You can watch a performance by the amazing Patti Lupone here.

The challenge here was the words. It is so fast and there is no time to think, they have to be known.
So how do you go about learning something like this in 4 days?  Well you practice really hard.

Some of the things I have done to learn the piece include: Listening to the recording at least 50 times, probably more. Chunking it up. Learn the first phrase, add the next and so on. I broke it up also into two sections, the first one has lots of fast phrases, the second section is more legato and you have a little more time to think. As soon as I wake up in the morning, I go through the lyrics for about 15 minutes, then probably sing through the song about 10 times.

Whenever I had a spare moment during the day, I would play the music on my phone. I would spend time in front of the music score looking for clues about how to sing the piece accurately, revise lyrics, rhythm and melody. I spent about an hour each day doing this.  After a couple of days I would start to attempt to put some moves with the music to be able to perform the song, not just sing it. Then go over and over and over it until I feel confident I can sing it accurately. I was even going through it in my head while swimming my morning laps at the pool.

In total I guess I have spent approximately 3 hours a day rehearsing.
This gives you a bit of a clue as to how much practice is required to learn a 90 second piece of a song.

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The Challenges of Performing

ANZAC DAY 2021

I had the joy and honour of singing at three Anzac Day Services on Sunday. It has been a long time since I have sung in front of an audience and it was wonderful to be able to sing for people again. There were good crowds at all the services and I had a lovely response, with many saying how much they enjoyed my singing.  I believe it is such an honour to be able to sing at an Anzac Day ceremony and to be able to sing at three was very special.

The first ceremony was actually held at the local cemetery.  In my town we have quite a beautiful cemetery, with beautiful gardens, a recently renovated band rotunda and a substantial newly built memorial in memory of returned service men and women who are buried at the cemetery. This year was the first year since 1946 that an ANZAC day ceremony was held at the cemetery. This is because the town cenotaph was built after the second world war and the yearly ceremonies are now held there. 

THE LAST POST

One thing I was able to observe in detail was the bugler at each ceremony. There was a different person at each ceremony and they all had a very different experience performing. One of the buglers was a mature person who had been performing for many years and was very experienced at performing. One was still quite a young person but had played for many Anzac Day ceremonies, even though they were early on in their performing career. The third was a young person, had been playing for a few years, but had not had experience playing to a crowd. It was interesting to note that they had all obviously practiced for the event and they could all play the last post, but they had very different experiences. None of them played it perfectly, but the mature person and the very young person continued on in spite of any little slips they made. 

The person who had never performed for an audience before did get through the performance, however I could see very clearly that they were extremely nervous and tension had built up in their body, and they simply could not get enough air in to support the notes fully.  They are to congratulated on their performance, performing for the first time and in spite of being nervous, they did get through the last post and overall it was played correctly. It was sad to see their response afterwards. I didn't get a chance to speak to them, but if I could have, I would have told them how well they played for a first performance.  

PERFORMANCES ARE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN

We can be so harsh on ourselves for performances that don't go as well as we would like. Especially when we are first beginning to perform for an audience. As I said previously, none of the performances were perfect, but the people who had performed previously did not worry too much about perfection, shrugged off a missed note and kept playing.  It is so important that we practice performing, getting used to being in the stressful situation of standing in front of an audience and playing or singing. I have been performing for many years now, and although I can still get nervous, I have performed enough times to understand how my body works and I can prepare and be aware of what I am doing, relaxing and breathing well for good breath support. That does not mean my performances are always perfect.  Usually I go off stage thinking about what I can do better, but generally I am pretty happy with what I have done. The audience wants you to do well, and are for the most part very supportive, so we shouldn't be afraid to perform for others. Perfection is hard to achieve, but we are often hard on ourselves when we don't achieve it.

So get out there and perform.  A LOT!

SINGING PRACTICE

5 Things you can do to improve your singing practice.

You can listen to this blog post here:

5-tips-for-better-singing-practice

As singers, we all want to be able to practice regularly to improve our skills. But sometimes we are not sure about what we need to make our practice sessions worthwhile.  Below you will find 5 tips to help you make the most of your practice time and achieve success.

Tip Number 1:

Make sure you have all the materials you need to practice.

  • Use sheet music when practicing, not just lyrics. We are musicians and should be able to read music.  The sheet music also gives important  clues about things like tempo and dynamics.

 

  • Invest in a music stand. It is important you have something to put your music on that you can stand at. You can get collapsible stands that fold away neatly.  I have a manhasset music stand which is more expensive, but is really easy to use and very solid. You can click on the pictures if you want to order them online.

    stand-foldupmanhasset-stand

 

                              fold away stand                                               Manhasset stand

 

  • Make sure any device that you use for playing backing tracks is loud enough to sing along with.  You might need to invest in some speakers if you are using an ipad or phone.  Don’t practice using headphones. This is a bad habit to get into as you can’t hear yourself properly.

 

headphones  Headphones are great for listening to music but not so good for practice.

Tip number 2:

Have a designated place to practice.

  • Have a special, clean, private ready to start in space.  Having a space always ready for singing makes it much easier to get started. If you are always having to pull things out to get started, or have to practice in a space where other people are, you are less likely to get going.

    practice-room

Tip number 3:

Be clear about what you need to practice.

  • Always have a plan about what you want to work on during the week between lessons.  Make sure you have discussed with your teacher what will be required and then have some way to record what you have done. This way you can account for your practice sessions.

Tip Number 4:

Make it part of your routine. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

  • Singing practice should be a part of your every day routine.  Just like brushing your teeth or having a shower, we need to find time each day to practice our singing. If you start this from the beginning it is easy to reinforce. For young students, parents really need to be present in the beginning to encourage this routine.  Make a time and stick to it, whether it be in the morning or afternoon. If no time is dedicated to practice, it simply will not happen.

    practice-poster

Tip Number 5:

Warm up, then chunk it.

  • Make sure you warm up well. Have a warm up routine that you can do in about 5 minutes.   Here is a link to a website with some great ideas on warming up. Click here.

  • Don’t try to do it all at once, break it up.  Hopefully your teacher has highlighted what needs to be worked on.  Focus on those small sections and get them correct, then put it all together.

  • A couple of 10 minute sessions each day is much better than trying to do an hour at a time. Committing to 20 – 30 minutes each day is quite achievable – this equates to at least 3 hours practice a week.

Use these five tips you are guaranteed to have success with your singing.  Remember singing is a skill and can be developed like any instrument.  Your success depends on your practice!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mary Mirtschin

Mary Mirtschin

Why have a singing teacher?

I have been visiting various singing websites lately and have found many of them to have great ideas and ways to help singers.

One thing I have noticed on a couple of the websites is their claim that you don’t need to have face to face lessons to sing well, just watch my videos and you can become the greatest singer.  For me this is a one way street.

My comment to this is if you don’t know what you are doing wrong, you can never know what you are doing right.

Feedback is integral to good progress.  Feedback is the rocket fuel that propels the acquisition of knowledge and without it, no amount of practice or watching videos is going to get you there.

A singing teacher is not merely there to offer encouragement and assessing levels of concentration, they are also on the lookout for small technical glitches that may have escaped the attention of their student.

You can get the basics from reading material or watching videos, but I would highly recommend you seek out a singing teacher or at least a mentor who can give you appropriate feedback and guide you on your musical journey.

teaching singing