/EINPresswire.com/ TakeLessons, the nation’s fastest growing music lessons provider, shares the simple – yet often overlooked – steps for learning a song.
Earlier this week, President Obama caught the media’s attention after singing a verse from “Sweet Home Chicago” at a White House event to celebrate blues and Black History Month. The video footage shows the band coercing Obama to sing the verse, as a spur of the moment performance.
TakeLessons (http://takelessons.com), the nation’s fastest growing music lessons provider, took the opportunity to share a link to the video on the TakeLessons blog, noting that truly learning a song can take a while. A singer’s job, TakeLessons explained, is to know the phrasing and structure of the song inside and out, and also communicate the emotions to the audience using attitude, expressions and movements. This may be easy for a well-versed singer, but for beginners still learning proper breathing and posture, it can seem a bit overwhelming.
The following is an excerpt from the TakeLessons blog, which listed out the 6 steps to learning a new song:
“1) Learning lyrics, melody, phrasing and structure
This means just knowing “when to sing” and “what to sing” to get through the song start to finish successfully, even if you have to think about it.
2) Internalizing lyrics, melody, phrasing and structure
Know how it all goes without even thinking about it.
3) Fine-tuning: pitch, when to take a breath, enunciation, etc.
Most songs offer some kind of new challenge. Even when you know how it goes, depending on where you are as a singer you may still need to fine-tune pitch entrances, runs, fast passages, enunciation, or where to take a breath.
4) Interpretation
Dynamics. Attitude. Vocal texture. Emotional expression. What are you going to do to make this song interesting and expressive?
5) Performance
Does the song merit movement? Interaction with band members? Emphasis of hits or breaks? Is there a solo where you’ll step back as lead singer and let the focus be elsewhere?
6) Ownership
After you’ve performed a song live for a certain amount of time, it finally “gels.” You figure out how to sing all of it in your style, you get inside of it, you relax into it, it becomes “yours.” That takes time, and also requires the previous steps.”
By sharing the list with blog readers, TakeLessons aims to continue engaging current students and teachers. Readers are invited to share their thoughts by commenting on the TakeLessons blog, where they can also learn how to handle a bad audition, and comments are also welcomed on Facebook (http://facebook.com/takelessons).
About TakeLessons
Headquartered in San Diego, CA, TakeLessons is America’s full-service music and voice lessons provider. With private lessons taught by TakeLessons Certified™ instructors in cities nationwide, students of all ages can start living their dreams through music. Founded in 2006 to help people discover their creativity and pursue their passions, TakeLessons also offers turnkey music programs for schools and community centers.
Mary Brooks
TakeLessons
877-231-8505
http://takelessons.com
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