Sight Singing Crash Course: Part 3

I will teach part 3 of my Sight Singing Crash Course this Saturday, May 5th, 10-12 at my home in Charlotte.  The cost is $20.00.  You are welcome to come even if you haven't been at part 1 and 2, but you might want to look at these Sight Singing Lessons to see what you've missed.

Overview of Part 3:
*syncopated rhythms (introduction)
*dotted rhythms (practice)
*rhythms in simple and compound meter (practice)
*key signatures (major and minor)
*lots of practice sight singing in various keys and time signatures

great lead sheet website

I found this really great wiki site for lead sheets, www.wikifonia.org. You can print out a nice clean copy of a melody line with chords and lyrics. The coolest thing about the site is that it will transpose to any key that you choose.

classes for May and June

I am offering the following classes at my home in May and June.  Please contact me by phone or email to register and/or for more information.

*Sight Singing Crash Course: Part 3 of 4  (See posts below for material covered in parts 1 and 2)

Saturday, May 5, 10:00-12:00, $20.00  

*Everybody Sing: A Class for Shy Singers

Wednesday evenings, May 16, 23 and 30, 7:00-8:30,  $45.00
There is an African proverb that goes: “If you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can sing.” This class will help you find or reclaim your singing voice in a fun and non-threatening atmosphere. Ages 14-adult

*Make a One-String Banjo (rain cancels) 

Saturday, May 19, The project takes 30 minutes to an hour.
Come anytime between 10AM and 1PM.  All ages
$15.00/banjo (includes a song/instruction booklet)

*Singing Harmony by Ear

Monday evenings, June 11, 18 and 25, 7:00-8:30,  $45.00
Learn to use the chordal structure of a song to find and sing harmonies.  The only requirement for this class is that you can match pitch.  Ages 14-adult

*Ukulele Crash Course

Saturdays June 23 and 30, 10:00-12:00
$45.00 (includes an instruction/songbook)  Ages 14-adult
You will learn basic chords, strumming patterns and how to transpose any song into a ukulele friendly key. I can order you a nice sounding Lanikai ukulele for $55.00 if you let me know by May 31st.  

Sight Singing Crash Course - Part 2

I will hold part two of my Sight Singing Crash Course on Saturday March 31, 10am-12noon at my home in Charlotte.  Contact me for more information and for the address.

What we'll cover in the class:
*time signatures (how many beats per measure and how is the beat divided)
*dotted rhythms
*rhythms with sixteenth notes
*rhythms in simple (2/4, 3/4, 4/4) and compound (6/8, 9/8) meter
*C major scale with solfege (do, re, mi,...) and note names
*melodies in major and natural minor that have mostly stepwise motion
*melodies that outline the tonic triad
*hearing the tonal center

Click here for lessons that review what we did in Part 1.

Sing and Ring Along

I will host a Community Sing and Ring Along at my home (7107 Valley Haven Drive, Charlotte, 28211) on Sunday, February 19, 2PM-4PM.  We will sing a variety of songs and accompany ourselves on hand chimes.  This event is for all ages and you don't need to read music.  Children should be accompanied by an adult.  Please let me know if you are coming so that I know how many to expect.

Sight Singing Crash Course

If you enjoy singing or playing an instrument and would like to learn to read music, then this class is for you. Being able to read music is a wonderful, liberating skill that enhances your ability to learn by ear. It allows you to sing or play a new song just as you would read a new book.

Sight singing (as opposed to sight reading with an instrument) is especially useful because you need only your voice to make music. Singers often rely on a piano to play the music before singing it. This is not necessary. Once you learn to recognize the relationships of the notes to one another, sight singing is not so difficult. We will use the moveable "do" system of solfege to learn these relationships. Don't worry if you don't know what this means. The first session will start at the very beginning...You know, just like in The Sound of Music.

The class will meet once a month on Saturday morning, 10-12 at my home in Charlotte (email me for the address) starting on March 3rd. and continuing on April 7th, May 5th and June 9th. This is not a lecture class. We will be making music as we learn about music. Each session will build on the knowledge and understanding from previous sessions, but you can still participate even if you can't make all of the sessions. The cost is $20.00/session and you only pay for the sessions you attend. You will receive a listening CD and handouts that will correspond to what we do in the sessions. After each session I will post follow up lessons and an overview of the next session.

Overview of March 3rd Sight Singing Session (it's a lot...remember this is a crash course)
The musical alphabet (What is a note and why do we name them?)
The musical staff
Note equivalencies (types of notes and how they are all related)
What is a scale?
What is a key and why is it important to know?
Major and minor keys
Steady beat and meter (is it a march or a waltz?)
Rhythms using quarter, eighth and half notes and rests
Songs using do re mi fa so (the first five notes in a major scale)
Songs using so la do re mi so la (i.e. Tom Dooley, Amazing Grace, Swing Low)

How Deeply You're Connected to My Soul

This is a great song.  I am singing the melody and two harmony parts.  Listen and try to hear each of the parts.

How could anyone ever tell you that you're anything less than beautiful?
How could anyone ever tell you that you're less than whole?
How could anyone fail to notice that you're loving is a miracle?
How deeply you're connected to my soul