10/1/13 In this assignment, I have been asked to create a blog, showing the process building my confidence whilst learning 2 contrasting songs. I will show how my musicianship skills improve throughout the term.

Choosing Repertoire:
Right now, I don't have any ideas as to what songs I am going to perform. Usually I tend to sing a lot of pop songs, however I am going to try and challenge myself by choosing a different genre to perform as one of my songs. I may still do a pop sing as one of my songs to make myself feel more confident in the performance. I like to sing a lot of songs which relate to love, as i real like i can relate to some of the lyrics.

Planning A Step By Step Practise Schedule:
I don't have a singing teacher, which means I will have to plan my own schedule, which I'm a bit worried about. I know that I need to listen to the songs over and over. Then sing along with the artist. Once I am more confident with the song I will start to sing along with the backing track. Then will move onto working with my accompanist. As part of my schedule I will need to do some vocal exercises before I sing, which I will record at certain points of the term. I am also going to be doing some vocal training on youtube as part of my schedule. If I struggle with certain points of a song, I will work on these points until I am confident with it.

Technique, Posture And Physical Aspects Of Singing/Playing:
I need to consider different singing techniques. These incluse:
- Breath control
- Voice placement
- Diction
- Chest or head voice
- Characterization
- Movement whilst singing
- Tuning
- Emotional engagement.
All these are important when considering what song to choose etc. I have trouble moving around when performing, as I have trouble with knowing what to do, if I haven't been choreographed. I get really worried that people won't like what they hear when I sing. I also get very paranoid that people with judge or laugh at me when I perform.

Confidence, Stage Presentation And Physchological Aspects Of Playing/Singing:
I have very little self confidence. I don't really believe in myself. People tell me I'm good, however I find it hard to accept people's compliments. THis is what I really need to  work on for the performance. However if I know excatly what I'm doing, I feel more confident. I would need to make sure I stayed focused throughout the whole process. Not just while perofrming.

Particular Problems And How You Have Addressed Them:
I need to work on my stage presence, the way I could do this is just performing regularly to different people, so it got to the stage where I wouldn't care what others thought of my performance. When I get nervous, I tend to go out of tune. I would need to work on my nerves for the performance, so it wouldnt ruin it. Also if there was a certain part of the song which I wasnt as confident with, may ruin my performance because I know it is coming up, so I would need to practise a lot, to make sure I was confident with the whole song.

Working With An Accompanist:
I haven't decided yet if I will have an accompanist. I think I will however, because I struggle to sing acapello. I tend to lose timing and focus. If i performed with an accompanist it would make me feel more confident, as I would know excatly what I'm doing, as I would follow the music with the accompanist when rehearsing. Also it would make the performance more interesting if I had a piano/guitar playing with me.

And now I leave you with this: