Video transcript
Warm-ups for your choir (primary) - eClass 3 - Flexibility and blend - 2. Focus on blend

RACHEL KELLY: To achieve a unified sound, you want your choir to be well blended. It's important for each singer to listen to the sound they are making as an individual and as a whole group and for you as a conductor to listen. So try to avoid singing along too much.

Your first aim should be to produce a blended unison sound. Your singers should match one another in pitch and tone with the same pure vowel sounds. One voice shouldn't stick out more than another. When your choir has achieved a good unison blend, you can introduce exercises that practise blending in harmony. Make sure to listen out for a good balance between the parts.

OK, good. Last warm-up today is going to be about blending with each other. So altos, this is your note: (singing) one. Sing that for me.

RACHEL AND ALTOS: (singing) One.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Sopranos, one.

RACHEL AND SOPRANOS: (singing) One.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Da, da. (speaking) Sing your note to the word one, and--

ALL: (singing) One.

RACHEL KELLY: Very nice. Now on that note, we're going to sing the numbers 1 to 7 and back again. (singing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. (speaking) Making sure our vowel sounds are really beautiful. (singing) Here we go, da, da, (speaking) and--

ALL: (singing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

RACHEL KELLY: Excellent. So listening to each other, making sure that your notes are beautifully blending together. Let's try it again, and this time we're going to go up a semitone each time on our respective notes. (singing) So there's yours-- one, one. (speaking) Ready, and--

ALL: (singing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Up.

ALL: (singing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5--

RACHEL KELLY: Watch.

ALL (singing): --4, 3, 2, 1 1, 2, 3, 4--

RACHEL KELLY: Listen to each other.

ALL (singing): --5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

RACHEL KELLY: Excellent. We could make that a minor third instead of a major third. So it could be (singing) 1, 1. (speaking) Can we try holding those notes? Just to 1, and--

STUDENTS: (singing) 1.

RACHEL KELLY: Let's sing all the way to 7 and back on that 1.

STUDENTS: (singing) 1, 2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

RACHEL KELLY: And if we're feeling really adventurous, we could do a 3-note chord. So let's try altos on (singing) 1. We'll go down a little bit lower. Second sopranos, 1. First sopranos, 1.

(speaking) Sing me your first note, and--

ALL: (singing) 1.

RACHEL KELLY: Let's try that all the way to 7, and--

STUDENTS: (singing) 1, 2 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,

RACHEL KELLY: Up a semitone

STUDENTS: (singing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

RACHEL KELLY: More from the middle.

ALL: (singing) 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

RACHEL KELLY: One more.

STUDENTS: (singing) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

RACHEL KELLY: Beautiful work, junior singers. Thank you.

The words are mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. Say that--

STUDENTS: Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: Everyone sing the note they think would be a middle C, just to mee, and--

STUDENTS: (singing) Mee.

RACHEL KELLY: Let's see if you're right.

[middle C played on piano]

Unbelievable.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Mee. So we're all going to start on that one-- mee, meh, moh, moo. (speaking) Go--

STUDENTS: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: Yes, I didn't go (harsh singing) mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. (speaking) I went (singing) mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. (speaking) Sing.

ALL: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: Beautiful. (singing) Then sopranos, you're going up by semitones. You go to this one next. Let me hear it--

SOPRANOS: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Next one.

SOPRANOS: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) One more.

SOPRANOS: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) When we start on the first one, then you're going to go down. So, let's start on your first one. Ready, (speaking) and--

ALTOS: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: One more.

ALTOS: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: Good. (singing) Let's all start up on this one. Ready? Here we go. We all start in unison. (whispering) Ready, and--

ALL: (singing) Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo. Mee, meh, mah, moh, moo.

RACHEL KELLY: Beautiful.

We're going to sing a scale all the way from do, the low do, up to the high do, and back again. Let's just try that all together first.

(singing) Starting on this note. Ready--

ALL: (singing) Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do.

RACHEL KELLY: Good. So this is a warm-up to help practise blending as a choir. So we're actually going to sing it in 2 parts in a little mini round. So I'm going to ask the altos to start us off. When they get to mi, the third note, that's when you're going to start with do. And you just keep going up to the top do, you turn around and come back down again, and they're always going to be chasing after you and never quite catching up. Although, when you get to the very last note, I want you to hold it until they join you. So we finish in a lovely unison sound, hopefully.

(singing) Let's give it a try. So which note are you coming in on-- which of their notes? When they sing mi, you start on do. [hums starting note]

(whipering) Ready, and--

STUDENTS: (singing in a round) Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do.

RACHEL KELLY: Good. I heard a lot more of the alto sound than the sopranos. Rather than saying to the sopranos, sing louder, sing louder, sing louder. I think I'd like the altos just to go a little bit more gently and the sopranos to give it a bit more support. So we'll meet each other in the middle, volume-wise. (singing) Let's try that again.

(speaking) And we'll go a little bit slower. (whispering) Ready, and--

STUDENTS: (singing in a round) Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do.

RACHEL KELLY: Beautiful. You can also do that warm-up, holding each note and conducting the next one each time, so the choir has to watch the conductor, and then you can listen to blend each interval. So why don't we try that? So you can't sing the next note until I show it to you. (singing) Ready, (speaking) and--

STUDENTS: (singing) Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do, ti, la, so, fa, mi, re, do.

RACHEL KELLY: Did you notice something around the top? What did you notice, Zoe?

ZOE: We hit the same note at the same time.

RACHEL KELLY: Which note was it?

ZOE: Ti.

RACHEL KELLY: Ti. How did that happen? Did we make a mistake? No, Gabby?

GABBY: Because when they started going down, we were still going up.

RACHEL KELLY: You were still going up. You actually were on the ti together. And I don't think we would have noticed that as much if we hadn't've been holding and going slowly. It was like, woo. So it was a good thing to listen out for because we had to get a real unison sound instead of a lovely interval; we were getting a unison on that note. Good job. Sit down; you've worked hard.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo. Sing that for me, (speaking) and--

STUDENTS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: So it sits all on one noo. (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

STUDENTS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Part 2 goes like this. (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

STUDENTS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Sing me part 1.

STUDENTS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Part 2.

STUDENTS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Altos, sing me part 1, and--

ALTOS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Sopranos, sing me part 2, and--

SOPRANOS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Let's try them together.

(singing) So there's your starting note. There's your starting note, (speaking) and--

STUDENTS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Good. Then we're going to go up a semitone.

(singing) So that was your starting notes, so now that's it. And that's your starting note, noo. Ready, (speaking) and--

ALL: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Da, da.

ALL: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: (singing) Oo, there's your starting note. Noo, noo. Try that one again, (speaking) and--

STUDENTS: (singing) Noo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo, oo.

RACHEL KELLY: Good, again, that's the one that's a little bit easier to do when you've got the piano to help you with your pitch each time. But it's probably good for our ear training to be able to find those semitones ourselves.