Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

Welcome to this lesson on effective rehearsal for a singing performance.

This is from our Singing for Performance Unit, where we are conveying emotions and character through our performances.

My name is Mr. Croughan, and I'm delighted to work with you today.

We are bringing to life the witch's song, and there's some really gruesome and wonderful lyrics to get our teeth around.

Are we ready? Let's go.

In this lesson, we are preparing for a singing performance by using effective rehearsal techniques.

Let's look at our keywords for today.

We have rehearsal.

This is our practice session in which a performance is prepared.

Staccato, performing in a short, detached way.

A lip trill, this is something you might do when you're chilly.

(trill lips) It's a safe vocal exercise to ensure our voices are fully relaxed.

Sirening, another safe vocal warmup technique to help support and develop our vocal range.

And staging, where we're making decisions about creating a performance of our version of the story.

We'll begin by warming up.

There are three warmups.

We have character roll call, spell casting, and the witch's cauldron.

Remember, these are all delivered by artists and practitioners from the opera house.

So it's time to get our dramatic face on and go for it with each of these warmups.

Are we ready? Let's go.

<v ->Let's warm up our voices</v> through an activity called character roll call.

<v ->In this activity,</v> we'll introduce the main characters from our opera, Hansel and Gretel.

<v ->Let's use our voices</v> and movements to act like each character, show their feelings and learn their special motif, the music that matches them.

The story starts with brother and sister, Hansel and Gretel, who are at home doing chores.

They are tired and hungry.

Gretel, the most confident of the siblings, says that they should do a dance to cheer themselves up.

She sings.

♪ Little brother dance with me ♪ <v ->Gretel is a very good dancer,</v> so let's add a dance move to go with the line and make sure you're using your most confident voices.

<v ->Yes.

Off we go.

</v> ♪ Little brother dance with me ♪ <v ->Excellent.

Now let's hear from Hansel.

</v> Hansel is Gretel's clumsy, younger brother.

He sings.

♪ Witch is left and witch is right ♪ <v ->That must be hard for Hansel.

</v> Maybe we can hear the confusion in his voice and show that with our bodies like this.

<v ->Off we go.

</v> ♪ Witch is left and and witch is right ♪ <v ->Oh, no.

Poor Hansel.

</v> And even worse, mother comes home and catches them not doing their chores, but dancing.

She says angrily.

<v ->(gasps) Hey you.

</v> <v ->Oh, do you think we should add a point</v> for the moment she sees them? <v ->Yes.

Off we go.

</v> (both gasp) ♪ Hey you ♪ <v ->She chases them outta the house in a rage</v> and sends them off to the forest.

We then meet our next character, Father, who comes home cheerfully with a huge sack of food.

He sings.

♪ Tra la la la, tra la la la ♪ <v ->Should we do a cheery walk just to show how happy he is?</v> <v ->Off we go.

</v> ♪ Tra la la la, tra la la la ♪ <v ->When Father hears that mother has sent the children</v> to the forest, he is horrified and tells her of the legend of the Gingerbread witch who lives there.

The witch sounds like this.

(claps hands) ♪ Watch me fly ♪ <v ->Wow, I love that body percussion.

</v> Maybe we can use that rhythm to cast a spell, which helps us fly.

<v ->Off we go.

</v> (both clap hands) ♪ Watch me fly ♪ <v ->The forest is dark and scary,</v> but full of magical creatures too.

They meet a mysterious figure who is called the Sandman, who sprinkles dust into the eyes of Hansel and Gretel to help them sleep.

The Sandman whispers calmly.

♪ I have not come to harm you, sh ♪ <v ->Can you show us that you're a mysterious figure</v> who's sprinkling magic? <v ->Off we go.

</v> ♪ I have not come to harm you, sh ♪ <v ->What other magical creatures might be out there?</v> What if Hansel and Gretel encounter the Gingerbread witch? I don't think they'll be as kind as the Sandman.

<v ->We'll find out.

But first it is time for the roll call.

</v> Let's remind ourselves of each character.

When I call out their name, I want you to perform their motif, their special music that we've learned.

Mother.

<v Both>(gasp)Hey, you.

</v> <v ->Sandman.

</v> ♪ I have not come to harm you, sh ♪ <v ->Hansel.

</v> ♪ Witch is left and witch is right ♪ <v ->Gingerbread witch.

</v> (both clap hands) ♪ Watch me fly ♪ <v ->Gretel.

</v> ♪ Little brother dance with me ♪ <v ->Father.

</v> ♪ Tra la la la, tra la la la ♪ <v ->I think that it's time that we put a spell all together.

</v> Remember, it starts over your right shoulder.

Off we go <v All>Sh, sh, sh, sh.

Ss, Ss, Ss.

</v> F-sh, f-sh, f-sh, f-sh.

<v ->Again.

</v> <v All>Sh, sh, sh, sh.

Ss, ss, ss, ss.

</v> F-sh, f-sh, f-sh, f-sh.

<v ->Wiggly (indistinct)</v> <v All>V-hhh.

</v> <v ->Even wigglier.

</v> <v All>V-hhh.

</v> <v ->Wigglier.

</v> <v All>V-hhh.

</v> <v ->One last one.

</v> <v All>V-hhh.

</v> <v ->Give it a stir.

</v> <v All>Zhhh, zhhh.

Zhhh, zhh.

</v> <v Instructor>Take in that smell.

</v> (all inhale) <v All>Mmm.

</v> <v ->Even yumier.

</v> <v All>Mmm.

</v> <v Instructor>And again.

</v> <v All>Mmmm.

</v> <v ->One last one.

</v> <v All>(inhale) Mmm.

</v> <v ->The steam.

(all imitate hissing)</v> Take a taste.

(all panting) <v All>Woo, woo.

Woo, woo.

</v> <v ->In Hansel and Gretel,</v> we meet a wicked witch called the Gingerbread witch who lives in a house made of yummy gingerbread and sweets.

The witch tries to trick children into coming inside to push them in the oven and turn them into gingerbread.

We are going to become the Gingerbread witch and use body percussion and our imagination to create our own magical potion in a warmup called the witch's cauldron.

I want you to imagine that there's a witch's cauldron in the center of our circle, and we have all become the Gingerbread witch.

So I'm gonna count down from three, and I want to see a room full of witches.

Three, two, one, freeze.

Even bigger for me now, three, two, one, freeze.

Lovely stuff, back to normal.

So what we're going to do is we're going to create some magical potions in our cauldron.

But to do that we need to learn a magic spell.

I'm gonna do it first and then you'll do it back to me.

The magic spell looks like this.

My turn.

(claps hands) Your turn.

(all clap hands) Amazing.

But remember, we are all witches.

So I want you to use different parts of your body to send your magic spell into different directions.

Twice through.

Let's try it all together now.

(all clap hands) (shoes squeaking) Amazing stuff.

Okay, so no potion is complete without some magic ingredients.

So we need to throw some ingredients in.

Maybe we'll sprinkle in some cinnamon.

What would that look like? Let's get that a go.

(all imitate whooshing) Nice.

Maybe I'll throw in a big bucket full of stinky cheesy toes.

Go.

(all imitate whooshing) Lovely stuff.

So we need to think of some things to throw into the cauldron.

What's an idea from the group that we could throw in? Yes.

<v Kid>You can throw in tons of rainbows.

</v> <v ->Tons of rainbows, and what will happen.

</v> <v Kid>It'll give you the power</v> to make everything into gold.

<v ->So everything you touch turns to gold.

You ready?</v> We are gonna throw the rainbows in.

We are gonna do the spell.

It's gonna bubble, hopefully, if we are magic enough.

And then everything we touch will turn to gold.

You ready? Get your rainbows.

Throw 'em in.

(imitates whooshing) Magic spell.

Let's go.

(all stump feet) (all clap hands) It's bubbling.

Bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling.

Ah.

Everything you touch turns to gold.

Wow.

(kids speak indistinctly) How do you feel about that? (kids speak indistinctly) Lovely stuff.

And back to me.

Who's got another idea of something we can throw into the cauldron? Yes.

<v ->We could throw in a goblin's tail.

</v> <v ->We could throw in a goblin's tail.

I love it.

</v> And what will happen when we throw in a goblin's tail? <v ->We turn into goblin.

</v> <v ->We turn into goblins.

</v> Are you ready? Brilliant.

Show me your goblin's tail.

Mine's gonna be teeny tiny.

And let's throw it in.

And magic spell go.

(all clap hands) (all imitate whooshing) (feet thumping) And it's gobbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

(gasps) It's worked.

We've turned into goblins.

(footsteps thumping) How can you use your body (indistinct) faces? Amazing.

And back into the circle.

Lovely, lovely goblins.

We've had some examples from the group.

Now it's your turn to all do your own ingredients.

So I would like each of you to think of your own ingredient and the effect it's gonna have.

And we're gonna try them all at the same time.

Think you've got your ingredient ready? <v Kid>Yeah.

</v> <v ->Show me your ingredients.

</v> Show me in your body how it is to hold.

Is it massive? Is it tiny? Is it low? It high? And we are gonna throw it in the cauldron after three.

One, two, three.

(imitates whooshing) Very nice magic spell.

Last time, off you go.

(all clapping hands) (all thumping feet) Bubbling, bubbling, bubbling, bubbling.

And show me what your ingredient does go.

(kids speaking indistinctly) (shoes squeaking) You've used, your imagination and your body to conjure up some magical potions, just like the wicked Gingerbread witch.

<v ->Wonderful.

Well done for all of that.

</v> Hopefully your voice is feeling warmer.

Your body has had a chance to move.

And we've got a bit more understanding about those characters too.

Very well done.

There are two learning cycles in today's lesson.

The first one is singing with conviction.

Kind of singing like you mean it like we know what we're talking about.

And the second one, characterization and rehearsal.

Let's begin with singing with conviction.

In "Hop Hop Hop," that witch goes through a whole range of emotions.

In the beginning, she talks to her broom.

She says, "Hop, hop, hop.

Galop, lop lop.

You lazy broom, be off you sloth." She calls her broom a sloth.

She sounds frustrated, agitated, a bit irate.

She's not settled, is she? For whatever reason, her broom has made her cross.

And later on when she's taking a dead of night, when out of sight, the witches give the kids a fright.

She gets a very excited at this point.

Oh, I love frightening children 'cause I'm a horrible character.

She's more energized at this point.

She's more thrilled and possibly a bit bitter too.

For whatever reason, this character doesn't seem to like children.

Then when she's talking about, "Oh, I'll boil her bones, I'll make a stew.

I'll do all this wonderful stuff in my cooking." When she's saying "It's such a sweet, delicious treat," she's really excited and she's eager and she feels delighted at the whole thought of it.

And then at the end when she's clearly not crossed with her broom anymore, she says, "Watch me fly, fly magic broom." She's daring, she's determined, and she's free as she saws off into the night sky.

Well, she goes.

If you think about that, frustrated into thrilled to excited and delighted to daring and free.

We are gonna explore the witch's personality throughout this song.

I'd like us to watch this bit.

This is the gruesome bit where we discover the witch's recipe ideas.

Have a watch of this clip.

♪ The oven's hot ♪ ♪ I'll make a brew ♪ ♪ Her bones I'll boil ♪ ♪ The boy I'll stew ♪ ♪ It's such a treat ♪ ♪ To taste the sweet ♪ ♪ And tender flesh ♪ ♪ Of children's meat ♪ (all clapping hands) ♪ It's such a sweet delicious treat ♪ (calm music) <v ->Delicious, delightful.

</v> And now I'd like you to sing this section of the song, remembering we're no longer frustrated by the broom, instead, oh, I'm feeling more eager, more excited.

Quite delighted at the very prospect of all of this food.

So I'd like to find a space.

I'd like you to pause the video and I'd like you to explore singing this section remembering where short and staccato and that bit you can see after children meat.

God, it's so disgusting.

We get right, left, right clap, right left, right clap.

We need to think how we're gonna do that body percussion if you are eager, if you're excited and delighted.

She's quite heightened at this point.

She's really wound herself up into this frenzy.

And then it finishes with.

♪ It's such a sweet, delicious treat ♪ It's like she can't contain her excitement.

So think how you will deliver it, okay? Pause the video here and practice that where you are.

Fantastic.

I'm sure there's so many gruesome and wonderful witch characters already.

Well done.

Unlike "As We Close Our sleepy Eyes, that smooth the Legato song "Hop Hop Hop" is sung staccato.

And the clues that help us in the music when we're reading that notation is the short notes followed by a rest.

So you can hear it in hop, hop, hop.

It's all short.

And that tells us to clip those words.

We're not holding any long notes.

I think the only long note we hold is the, "Watch me fly" right at the end.

At the start of the song, we've talked about the witch feeling frustrated and irate, a bit cross.

So we're going to use the staccato to bring that emotion out.

For whatever reason, she's cross with her broom.

So we've got her broom here and she's giving it a telling off to ♪ Hop, hop, hop, galop, lop, lop ♪ ♪ You Lazy broom, be off you sloth ♪ She's really quite cross with it.

And we're using that short staccato sound to show that frustration.

Why she's crossed with her broom? You can choose.

Make sure we are continuing to emphasis that staccato singing throughout.

When we get to this bit and she's discussing how she might cook her feast of children.

She's utterly revolting.

She's more energized, she's excited, she's into this.

And we're going to use those short notes that staccato sound to bring out the excitement and how energized and delighted she is.

And we've got lots of the letter T.

So we've got.

♪ It's such a treat to taste the sweet ♪ ♪ And tender flesh of children's meat ♪ That's all short spiky.

Ooh, yes.

Wonderful.

And then she has a little bit of body percussion.

(harmonizing) She's winding herself up into quite a frenzy at this point.

And then she's going.

♪ It's such a sweet, delicious treat ♪ She's really quite heightened by them.

So you can go for it with that energized.

As long as we are keeping it short, sharp, and clipped.

I would like you to sing this section, focusing on that short, excited, staccato singing.

You're gonna pause the video.

You can do this a couple of times.

Remember when you're adding that body percussion in, how will that show as well her excited, energized feeling? And how will you keep those short notes staccato to bring up that excitement too.

Pause here.

Off you go.

Marvelous.

And now we get to the climax of the song.

Where the witch is finally feeling daring, she's determined and free.

She's gonna soar off into the night sky.

And this is where we are holding some longer notes.

So if you look.

♪ Watch me fly, fly magic broom ♪ And we have a high note at the end.

So to help us get there, there is a clip from an artist from the opera house who's going to run through some tips on the vocal technique of reaching those notes safely.

So there are lip trills, that (trills lips) Some sirening.

(harmonizing) And that fly on an ♪ Ah ♪ Open vowel sound.

All of these are gonna help us to sing that higher note at the end without damaging our voice.

Watch the clip from this opera singer now.

<v ->A lot of people think opera is all about singing</v> really high notes.

And while not every note is high, some definitely are.

So how do we learn to sing those high notes with ease? We can practice this with the ending of "Hop Hop Hop" where the witch finishes on quite a high note singing the words magic broom.

Let's learn to sing that note confidently like a witch, soaring high on their broomstick.

First, let's make sure our voices are fully relaxed from bottom to top.

We'll try a lip trill like this.

(trilling lips) Just imagine you are Hansel at the beginning of learning his dance when he's feeling a bit fed up.

(lips trilling) I'm now going to use the melody from the end of "Hop Hop Hop" and perform it with a lip trill.

Remembering to keep that relaxed feeling.

You shouldn't feel like you have to work too hard.

(harmonizing) Great.

Now let's try exploring these higher notes with a siren sound.

Use this word.

♪ Sing ♪ And taking the ng sound of the word sing, the siren and using it to explore lots of notes like this.

(imitate siren wailing) I'm now going to use the word fly and explore that full range of my voice again, just like how the witch would fly low and high on their broomstick.

When I sing the word fly, I'm actually singing an ah vowel like this.

♪ Fly ♪ Now we can try using that in the melody.

The FL in the word fly should be super fast.

So we get to that R sound really quickly like this.

♪ Watch me fly ♪ ♪ Watch me fly ♪ But what about the final phrase of the song? It finishes on quite a high note.

We can use our body to help us sing this.

Use your arm to guide the sound downwards rather than up like you're diving on your broomstick like this.

♪ Fly, magic broom ♪ You could also try a different movement to help to make your sound more stable.

Let me show you how to do it with a squat like you are landing on your broomstick.

♪ Fly, magic broom ♪ I'm going to put all of these ideas together, listen to this.

♪ Watch me fly ♪ ♪ Watch me fly ♪ ♪ Fly, magic broom ♪ These are some of the things you can use to sing those high notes at the end of "Hop Hop Hop.

I've shown you lip trills.

(lip trilling) A siren.

(imitates wailing siren) Using the R in fly to explore a higher range.

♪ Fly ♪ And using movements to help to stabilize your voice.

<v ->Very good.

</v> And for the first time, we're allowed to use our longer held notes.

So I would like you to sing from the "Watch me fly, watch me fly, fly, magic broom." Bringing all of those techniques into place.

Pause the video here, use the track to help you.

You're just singing this last part, okay? Off you go.

Now I tell you what, you are working hard.

This is super.

So you're now gonna sing the second half of "Hop Hop Hop." We'll put those parts together, adding in that body percussion.

To be successful, this is what you are going to do.

Sing staccato throughout.

Don't hold any song notes apart from the very, very, very end.

Remember the witch's emotion, she's excited and energized.

And then finally she feels determined and free.

Remember, this is from where she's deciding what she's going to cook for dinner.

And then going off for a fly later.

Sing the high notes with an open vowel sound and an open mouth.

And using those gestures like the swooping low on a broomstick to help you reach those notes safely.

Practice things like the lip drills and the sirening before you begin.

That's gonna help you find those higher notes in your voice.

So when you pause, it might be an idea just to run through a couple of those vocal warmups of the lip trill and the siren.

And then you're feeling where those notes are.

And we're not afraid to have a lovely open vowel sound to sing them in the song.

Both parts are here.

There's the recipe section and there's the flying section.

Pause here, use that track to help you sing through a couple of times.

Enjoy.

And I'll see you when you're done.

Fantastic.

Really well done.

<v ->This is you applying techniques, new techniques</v> and trying them and singing a song in a character.

There's lots of work going on.

Really well done.

I'd like you to watch this clip of some pupils singing this section.

Lovely.

And now you've seen that.

Let's answer these questions.

When you sang, did you use staccato to bring out the witch's excitement and her determination? Did you use gestures? Someone warming up with the vocal sirening and the lip trills using your breath control to help you sing the higher notes.

And if that top note does feel completely out of your range, like.

♪ Magic broom ♪ You could go down the (indistinct) to.

♪ Magic broom ♪ As an alternative, okay? Really well sung, very well done.

Onto our second learning cycle now, characterization and rehearsal.

In this song, we're all playing the witch.

So when we think about the staging, we want to consider how are we gonna fill that space.

We want it to look like we've all are bringing our own individual witch in us and our own characters.

But it needs to look like an ensemble performance.

Sophia says, I'm gonna try being cross with my broomstick before I get carried away mixing my cauldron.

And Alex says, I'll try leading with my shoulders up to be the witch.

I think it'll help me move in a jerky way that matches the staccato effect of the music.

Nice thinking.

If we put the witch through each of our character building blocks, we might get a more thorough understanding.

So first of all, action.

What is it she's doing? Well, she's planning to go out for a fly.

She's planning her dinner.

She's telling her broom off.

She's doing quite a few things.

Why is she doing it? Well, I think 'cause she really doesn't like children.

She's got this hatred towards children.

Unless they're in her cooking pot and she likes going out for a fly.

So she has a temperament that is not particularly stable.

Which parts of the body is she using? Well, this depends on you.

Is she leading from the shoulders like Alex suggested or her nose 'cause she's got a nose in everyone's business? Or is she leading from her knees? 'Cause she spends so much time on her broomstick that her knees go a bit funny.

Up to you.

The quality of movement.

How will she move? Well, we're thinking about mirroring that staccato feel of the music.

So it's a bit spiky.

Maybe she hurries and scuttles, entirely up to you.

But think about that.

And where do you move? We're thinking, well, she's in her own house.

So you feel quite confident in your own house.

You're not sort of super aware of worrying about if anyone's watching you.

So she probably feels quite relaxed.

But remember there's lots of us playing the witch, so we don't want to move about too much.

But maybe there's moments where we do think, oh, should we all come together and be this coven altogether? And then back to our own individual witchinesses.

You've got these options.

And the relationship, who do you do this with? Well, she has her broom perhaps she tells off, but she's sort of away with her thoughts and she gets herself excited and worked up.

So sometimes it's in isolation.

We can think about all of these as we carry on with our rehearsal.

We're gonna watch a film of people's creating ideas for how they might stage "Hop Hop Hop." And I want you to listen carefully to the questions that the pupils have to answer about the staging, including the use of body percussion as part of the witch's character.

While you listen, you'll be thinking as well, what building blocks do they talk about? And after we've watched this, we'll ask you the same questions, okay? Listening carefully.

Here comes the clip.

<v ->It's time to create our staging of "Hop Hop Hop."</v> In this song, we meet the terrifying Gingerbread witch for the very first time.

The witch has lured Hansel and Gretel into the delicious gingerbread house.

Let's have a go at staging it.

Here are three questions that I want you to think about.

The first one is, how are we going to use our bodies and the space to become a witch? Have a chat in a pair.

See what you think.

Off you go.

(all chatter indistinctly) Fantastic.

I can see lots of amazing ideas.

Let's see, what do you think? <v ->So you can use like one of your body parts to lead with.

</v> So if you lead with your shoulders, you can like become a grumpy witch and you can use your arms and legs to make it look like you're using more space and you can like be closer to more witches to make it look like you're in a group of witches.

(indistinct) <v Instructor>Amazing.

Like a coven of witches.

</v> <v ->Yeah.

</v> <v ->That's a brilliant idea.

Thank you.

</v> Second question.

Are you ready? How are we going to use the body percussion moments as part of the witch's character? Have another chat.

(all chatter indistinctly) I can already see fantastic ideas.

Let's see, what do you think? <v ->I think as they're doing this,</v> they're like firing spells at everywhere.

So it makes them look powerful, unstoppable.

<v ->That's an amazing answer.

What a brilliant idea.

</v> Let's definitely put that in.

Okay, third and final question, everybody.

How are we going to show the witch's evil personality through our singing? One more discussion.

Let's go.

(all chatter indistinctly) <v Kid>More clear for the audience.

</v> <v ->Okay, so how are we gonna use our voices? Let's see.

</v> What do you think? <v ->So we're going to make the words</v> more clear for the audience by saying the consonants better like bright and stuff so the audience can hear it better and make it sound like it spells and stuff.

<v ->That's fantastic.

What a brilliant idea.

</v> Let's get our mouths around those words.

Thank you so much.

<v ->Excellent.

Good.

</v> So you now get to decide on your answers to those questions.

I've put in green as the building blocks for your staging ideas of things we're gonna think about.

We'll pause the video to answer these questions.

The first one, how are you gonna use your bodies and the space to become the witch? So you're thinking about your body, you're thinking about the quality of movement and you're thinking about that relationship whether with your house, with your broom in your own little world or if there any interaction with other witches as you come together.

Question two, how will you use your body percussion moments as part of the witch's character? So now we're thinking about the actions we're doing, our motivation behind it.

Maybe the body percussion is a bit more erratic or wild when she's really excited by what she's going to cook and in her body, where are you going to put that body percussion? Is it the same as each other or individual? Entirely up to you.

Question three, how are you going to show the witch's evil personality through your singing? So that super clear diction, how excited she gets to the most revolting parts and using that witchy vocal timbre.

So pause here and answer each of those questions where you are.

Off you go.

So now there's lots of creative ideas buzzing about the room.

I'd like you to watch this example staging.

And you can mag by any ideas that you like to add into your own performance and build from there.

Here comes an example staging.

(cheerful music) ♪ So hop hop hop ♪ ♪ Glop lop lop ♪ ♪ You lazy broom ♪ ♪ Be off you sloth ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ When up I spring ♪ ♪ The bat takes wing ♪ ♪ The hell cat sings ♪ ♪ The death nell rings ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ The dead of nigh ♪ ♪ Went out of sight ♪ ♪ The witches give ♪ ♪ The kids a fright ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ The oven's hot ♪ ♪ I'll make a brew ♪ ♪ Her bones I'll boil ♪ ♪ The boy I'll stew ♪ ♪ It's such a treat ♪ ♪ To taste the sweet ♪ ♪ And tender flesh ♪ ♪ Of children's meat ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ It's such a sweet delicious treat ♪ (all cheer) ♪ So off I fly into the night ♪ ♪ The air is calm, the moon is bright ♪ ♪ Watch me fly ♪ ♪ Watch me fly ♪ ♪ Fly, magic broom ♪ <v ->Grand.

</v> So now you've seen that you're gonna think about some decisions and some things that you're just gonna explore in your rehearsal.

I'd like you to decide which body part are you individually as your witch going to lead from.

And I'd like you to decide how you're going to use your body percussion as part of the witch's character.

So think where you'll put it, how that body percussion changes each time you do it.

When is it the same? When is it different, okay? Are you doing the same or different from each other? Think about how you're gonna use that full space.

And are there moments where you think all those characters might come together as a coven of witches, is the more than one point? You can have a think about that.

And do you choose to have an imaginary broomstick at any point? You can pause here and work through those ideas.

Just checking that each witch in your classroom is all on the same page and has similar ideas that are going to work together.

Just pause for a moment, work through those four bullet points.

Off you go.

Great stuff, lots of ideas, bit more clarity on who's doing what and where.

You're now going to decide for each section of the song, we have our introduction.

Decide, do you start on stage or are you going to enter on your broomstick? Up to you? Do you start in a freeze? Do you start (imitates whooshing) suddenly filling the space with witches? You get to choose that bit.

As long as you're ready for the "Hop Hop Hop" then you're fine.

Decide with the body percussion, how you're going to play it.

How in character will you make that body percussion come to life while keeping it super sharp? Do these witches come together at any point? So this bit just as a suggested example might work.

We've got the rise in the pitch from "Aa dead of night, well out of sight.

The witches give the kids a fright." Maybe there's something there about coming together 'cause it's witches, plural, ready to feel so excited about frightening children.

Gosh, they really are horrid characters.

Then we have our body percussion there.

So we're thinking about that.

the witch is plotting her dinner at this point.

How do you show someone plotting? Hmm, that oven's hot.

What should I do next? Well, I'll make a brew.

Then I'll boil the bones.

That'll be nice.

Yeah, I'll make a stew.

That'll be good.

Yeah.

Oh, it's gonna be a delicious dinner.

How are you going to show that? And then how carried away does your witch get.

This short bit of body percussion? (harmonizing) She's really quite heightened before she sings.

♪ It's such a sweet, delicious treat ♪ She's thrilled by the idea at this point.

So how wild does that get before we contain it again? And then finally the witch becomes freer, happier, more determined.

Towards the end she's thinking, well, I'm going for a fly now.

This will be right.

Nice.

Consider your final pose.

What's the last thing you want the audience to see? Will you all levitate and take off and soar away? Or more realistically, are you going to be on your broomstick or do you do that kind of head nod thing that we saw in the example staging? What lovely pose would be a great finish, so the audience goes, whoa, these witches mean business, don't they? How strong and successful can you sound and look as your witch? Remember you need to be in a position where you can sing those.

Finally, we get to sing those sustained notes at the end in that higher note, okay.

I'd like you to pause here and work through those last three slides making decisions at each point.

So you've got a rough staging of knowing who is where, what you're doing, what the body percussion looks like, and how it.

Your starting pose or how you enter.

And your finishing pose is.

Prop those bits out now.

Off you go.

Super.

It feels like we've got a sketched out version.

We know what is happening, where people are-ish for now.

What I'd like us to do is turn back to focus on the singing and how we might use the witches vocal quality that (imitates laughing) whatever it is, to sing the song.

So we'll play the animated score for you.

That's where the score moves as you sing.

And I would like you to just explore where you are using that witchy vocal quality.

Okay, are we ready? Here comes the animated score.

(cheerful music) ♪ So hop hop hop ♪ ♪ Glop lop lop ♪ ♪ You lazy broom ♪ ♪ Be off you sloth ♪ (cheerful music) (singers clapping hands) ♪ When I spring ♪ ♪ The bat takes wing ♪ ♪ The hell-cat sings ♪ ♪ The death knell rings ♪ (cheerful music) (singers clapping) ♪ At dead of night ♪ ♪ Well out of sight ♪ ♪ The witches give ♪ ♪ The kids a fright ♪ (cheerful music) (singers clapping hands) ♪ The oven's hot ♪ ♪ I'll make a brew ♪ ♪ Her bones I'll boil ♪ ♪ The boy I'll stew ♪ ♪ It's such a treat ♪ ♪ To taste the sweet ♪ ♪ An tender flesh ♪ ♪ Of children's meat ♪ (cheerful music) (singers clapping hands) ♪ It's such a sweet delicious treat ♪ (cheerful music) ♪ So off I fly ♪ ♪ Into the night ♪ ♪ The air is calm ♪ ♪ The moon is bright ♪ ♪ Watch me fly ♪ ♪ Watch me fly ♪ ♪ Fly, magic broom ♪ <v ->Wonderful.

</v> So we have the shape of our staging, the rough shape.

We know how we're gonna begin, how we're going to end.

We might know what body part we're leading from, and we're exploring, playing our body percussion and now we're adding in that vocal quality of the witch.

This bit is your opportunity to take some time to agree on more of the details of the staging for each part of the song.

Now, when you rehearse, there's often different people with different ideas and you're gonna have to compromise in those ideas.

It's worth trying a couple of them out and seeing which one is clearer for an audience to read.

How are you telling that story of that witch super clearly? Remember, the clearer your characters are, the easy the story of the song is for us all to understand.

So think of those witch's emotions.

Oh, I'm so cross at you broom.

Oh, I'm so excited about cooking this revolting dinner.

Oh, now I'm going off for a fly.

What's a lovely day? All right, so think about her emotional journey and how you show that in your body and your voice.

So pause here, have another run through, but just of little bits at a time so you're painting in those details.

Off you go.

Brilliant.

And now you're gonna run through the whole thing.

We've picked out bits, we've had new ideas.

We're gonna put that together as our first rehearsal of the song with staging.

Now remember it's the first time we've brought our voice and our body together for the full song as a full rehearsal.

So be kind to yourself.

It's the first time we're doing it and you've still got opportunity to play and experiment.

This isn't set in stone.

This is opportunity to go, oh, I'm gonna try my body percussion this way.

Oh yeah, still in time.

It looks really good too.

When you've done it, you can think about what you might keep, if there's anything you want to change.

How do we make it super clear to an audience? And is there anything we need to add or take away? So pause here and rehearse the full song through with your movements and vocal quality.

Off you go.

Superb.

So when you've done that, what you start to think about is what staging do I really like? I love it when we all rush together or I like how neatly spaced out we are to begin with, where we all begin with our individual brooms or whichever it is.

Is there anything in that staging that you think, (smacks lips) that might need to be clearer for an audience? 'cause it's a bit scrappy, it's a bit messy, it's not as neat as it could be or as clean or clear as it could be.

And then is there any other elements that you'd like to add in? Now it could be something that all the witches do together, whether that bit of body percussion just happens absolutely in sync doing the same.

Maybe you know, some kind of little funky movement that you all want to go, what if we all did this the same? It's an idea.

Mixing the cauldron.

Is there any moment where, have you got an individual one? Is there a shared one in the example video? I think they sort of put their finger in to have a taste of how it's going so far, ugh.

And the grabbing of their broomstick.

Is there anything you're doing with a broomstick? Do you have a broomstick? Decide is there any little further details you want to paint in? Might just be simply making your characters appear more clearly.

So we're really clearly seeing that emotional journey of the frustration, the excitement, and the freedom.

And lastly, what building blocks did you use? Did you think about your action, your motivation? What do I want to achieve here? How am I using my body? How am I using the space? And how are we working together? Think all these through.

We'll have a little pause and then you've got a time for a short discussion on things you might consider changing and those bits that you absolutely loved, okay? Wonderful.

Well done.

You've got some great ideas.

They're developing nicely and you are showing that you are working as a team.

Fantastic.

To summarize today's learning, then we can use our bodies and our voice to convey a character and their mood, vocal timbre, and our diction.

Well, we can use that to create a singing quality that suits that particular character.

We can use things like lip trills and sirening and open vowel sounds as well as movement to access our higher singing voice.

And teamwork and compromise are key elements to a successful rehearsal.

I would also add in repetition because things don't go right straight away, but with practice we make them neater and better.

Also, we can create a scene by thinking about those building blocks.

If we apply the building blocks of space, quality of movement, what body parts are we using? Why are we doing it? What do we want? We can really begin to tell the story of our characters.

Fantastic work today.

Very well done.

I will see you for the next lesson next time.

Bye for now.