Growing up in American Samoa, singing was everything. You sing in church choir, Sunday school, at home in the shower, family evening prayer, in school, and mostly everywhere. Music is all about rhythm, and I’ve learned that you can always create your own music rather by rap, beat box, or in groups as well. It was a must for me and any other kid in American Samoa to be in the church choir or the Sunday school choir as an alto. We never get to choose but to be seated in the front row and be ready to sing. Back in American Samoa, family function or family celebration is a really big thing, whether a birthday party or a get together it also contains singing. Before everything, it is a tradition for us Samoans to always start anything/everything with a prayer and ends with a prayer. But before saying a prayer, we always have to sing a gospel song, and at …show more content…
It was more like an upgrade of music techniques and styles. I was able to sing and perform with different people, it was a different environment and good experience. So my experience in this particular group, every morning before singing, we always have to do the warm up technique. Which there are six steps, and every step has a warm that helps you prepare to sing and clears out your throat especially your facial movements. These six steps at first, it was kind of funny but then, at the end it really helped me as an alto singer. In our swing choir room, we have mirrors that surrounds the room. The mirrors helps us see how we sing, and gets that nervous feeling away. We sing in front of the mirrors, to help us be confident in ourselves. Everything I learned about singing all came from experience, and I am glad that I learned singing as a child till today. I don’t expect much from this class, but enjoying this class and getting my vocals back. Music is all about having fun and be the
Even if I didn’t make it, I don’t think anyone realizes what you learn when training in this profession. Musical theatre has allowed me to step up, commit to my work, become more confident and to have fun! You learn to become focused and pay more attention to detail. Building sets, reading scenes and learning music betters your communication and listening skills. All of these skills I have acquired over the last few years and I they are still helping me to grow. I think my biggest take away from this past summer is to become more confident as a person and in my work. Confidence is a big part of doing musical theatre. Some people having no confidence or a little too much. Trying to gain confidence has made me appreciate my body, the little things and what I do. I have already had many people come up to me at school and tell me that they’re loving my new glow confidence and love for myself. Overall, I see why people doubt the career, but they only consider the outside results. Musical theatre has made me the person I am today and I will never forget
Native American music has many different musical styles. Within every Native American tribe there is a variety of musical styles and instruments. In response to the research that I have conducted, there are three main musical styles that are going to be my point of focus. The Sioux Grass Dance, the Zuni Lullaby, and the Iroquois Quiver Dance are the principal methods which contribute to Native American music.
Music has always been a pervasive symbol of identity. It is a mode of expression that crosses gender, ethnicity and age. One need not understand the lyrics to identify with a musical genre; identification can be found through rhythm, tone of music, as well as other techniques in the music, unrelated to words. For example, most operas are in Italian and obviously everyone that attends an opera, does not speak or understand Italian. However, the audience is moved by the emotion conveyed through tone, facial expressions, and beat of the music. I believe this is relevant to the situation of Puerto Rican forms of music, and its success when Puerto Rican musicians migrated to the United States. Original forms had to be adopted to become popular in the United States, often assuming a heavier dance beat, but when the songs and musicians did become popular, it was not because a majority of Americans understood the lyrics in Spanish. For Americans, it was because the music provided lively background entertainment. However, for the Puerto Ricans, it meant much more. The music symbolized their background and struggles, what it means to be Puerto Rican.
Human voice is an expressive musical instrument as people use their own voices to perform pieces or songs with or without any other instruments. If the voice is damaged to a serious stage, it can be lost forever. Therefore, vocal health is important to singers to take care their voices. In the following discussion we will discuss what the vocal health is, why it is relevant to contemporary singing from vocal anatomy, physiology and voice function.
Written in the 1860s, I Hear America Singing, by the American poet, Walt Whitman describes the Song of America. This classic poem glows with Whitman’s optimistic view of the American dream that appears in many of his poems. Though life in the 21st century is very different from that of the 1800s, the principles embodied in Whitman’s free-verse poem still apply to our country. Whitman’s poem was the embodiment of the American dream, the idea that you could achieve success and happiness no matter your background. Whether your song is that of the mechanic’s, the carpenter, the mason, or even the CEO at the spire of a skyscraper, your song can become a success. This is the topic of my poem. America’s song is a still a great symphony comprised of the high notes of hope, the chorus of promise and opportunity, and rhythm of tension and balance.
Growing up in Jamaica, I enjoyed worship. I remembered looking forward to church. We clapped our hands and stomped our feet and made a joyful noise unto the Lord. We didn't have keyboards and drums. We clapped and sounded like timbrels. I remembered when I learned to testify and it helped me and several others to build our confidence. I would sing in the local churches when they have special events. I watched young people being filled with the Holy Ghost and I wanted it so badly that I would pray and ask God to give it to me. I remembered watching my mother and my sister speak in tongues and I so wanted to do it.
There are many different people living in this world with different culture diversity, and ways of making a living. American Samoans are one of these countries with different
Humans from the coast of West Africa arrived to the New World as slaves. Stripped of everything familiar, they brought with them their traditional ways of using music to record historic events, expressions, and to accompany rituals. While toiling in the tobacco fields of Virginia, slaves were not permitted to speak to each other. So, they resorted to their African tradition. They sang!
This class showed me how to have a good appearance in the way that I dress, how to have a formal and a proper way to dress for every occasion, when I started I didn't even know how to tie a Tie a Tie, or to keep the line of my pants and shirts vertical and straight, and keep my shoes clean, but now I know that.
As a background singer, I’ve sung with gospel artists: Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Donald Lawrence, Cece Winans and Marvin Sapp, as well as R&B vocalists: Stephanie Mills and Aaliyah. As a choral singer, I’ve sung with the Brazeal Dennard Chorale, Renaissance Singers, University Chorus, Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus, Oakland-East Bay Gay Men's Chorus, and The Fourth Choir in London. Recently, I sang the tenor solo in Mozart's Regina Coeli and Franz Schubert's Mass No. 2 in G Major, D. 167 at the Mondavi Center. I have studied voice with American Bach Soloists tenor Jonathan Smucker and soprano Christa Pfeiffer, I currently study with Vox Musica soprano Anne-Marie
Singing has positively influenced my life. Singing in front of crowds or in front of the
A cappella music is a very unique style of music that is strictly vocal, without any instrumental accompaniment. There are no instruments involved and every part of the melody and harmony is covered by a singer. The term “a cappella” was originally used to differentiate the styles of Renaissance polyphony, which is a style of music that contains multiple melodies, and Baroque concertato, which is a style of music where voices and instruments share a melody. A cappella music was originally derived from church music and most commonly Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant developed between the 9th and 10th century in the Roman Catholic Church, most commonly believed to be started and founded by Pope St. Gregory the Great. The 19th century sparked a newfound interest in Renaissance polyphony but grew old to the fact that many of the voice parts were doubled by instrumentalists. In order to satisfy this need the instrumental parts were cut out and performed by only vocalists, thus the birth of a cappella music.
It helped me learn more about the Deaf community and meet new people that I never would have met before. At first I was very nervous to start conversations, but once I started communicating with people, I did not want to leave because I enjoyed it so much. I was also nervous that I would say the wrong thing or that I would annoy someone by asking them to repeat themselves or ask what the sign is for a certain word in an environment where a majority of the people signed. Those ideas went away as soon as I got into the moment and was communicating more. There were other high school students there who were also just learning and helped me feel less nervous. Overall, I had a very positive experience. Everyone was so welcoming, patient, and kind. I did not expect to enjoy it so
We all file in one at a time and are greeting by about fifty girls singing all together with these giant smiles stretched across their faces and dressed to an intimidating level of perfection. As I entered, the scene overwhelmed me. All of a sudden I was taken away into this other room by one of the girls where we would talk for the next thirty minutes. The room I was in was unbelievably loud with the noise from all the chatter and conversations going on at the same time. It was challenging for me to stay focused on my conversation and not get distracted by everyone else in the room. It was also a little challenging to
Some may say that without a written language, literature cannot exist. However, to deny the oral traditions and songs of cultures prior to the existence of their written languages would deny the world some of the earliest literature of humankind. Whether passed down through oral or written means, literature consists of all stories, songs, and poetry every generation loves, inspires, and passes on.