To begin with, we all rehearsed “Feed the World – Band Aid”. I play bass for this, Isaac and Ellis have split rhythm and melodic keys, Ben and Niall have split guitar parts and then Abi drummed. All the singers split they parts as the instrumentalists were learning their parts. We did this just as a class for now because the first years weren’t in yet.
I learnt my part from the sheet music above. To start with, I struggled on the timing because the F and G were held half as long as the C but I kept holding them all the same amount of time so I fell behind. I fixed this by practicing to the track at home. However, as you can see, I wrote on my sheet music to group the chords together and how many times they were played so I could remember the structure easier.
To begin with, the lead keys were a little too loud and they had to be turned down on the mixing desk because they over powered a little too much. To avoid this in the actual show, we can just do sound check to be double sure that everything’s at a good level. I played percussion on this one instead of bass so I was a little bit out of time at some points. Keeping time is easier to do if I focus on hitting it with the toms and then I’ll be able to follow better. I think I could vary when I platy so it doesn’t get too repetitive. We’re all supposed to be singing the chorus too and I think it was just the singers singing it. For the actual show, it’ll be good if everyone sang it because then the audience will sing along too and it’ll kind of be like how we got everyone involved in the song when we did “Seven Nation Army”. Everyone enjoyed getting involved it that one so it’ll be fun to end the show like that again. Lastly, the performance aspect needs some work but this was the first time with everyone practicing as a whole so once everyones comfortable, they’ll naturally move around more.
Starting off, I actually forgot the rhythm of the guitar so I need to keep practicing in my own time so that doesn’t happen again. I also got a little lost in the instrumental section, because I played the intro again instead of doing the verses, and at the end so I really need to keep practicing so I don’t forget anymore. My guitar strumming needs to be sharper and I could slide from the first fret to the 13th on the second chord to make it sound a little more like the original track. Towards the end, there’s a bit where we hit the & beats so that needs to be tighter, into the ending which also needs to be tighter. The bass is going to be play the 1 and 5th variation to make the song sound a little less repetitive. On the descending part, everyone needs to be playing the same chords so it doesn’t sound messy and everyone needs to play at the same time. Lastly, we all need to improve on the performance aspect but that’ll come after we know everything we’re playing.
All the instrumentalists, except the drummer, are using tabs/sheet music so we all need to learn our parts off by heart if we want to start working on the performance aspect. After the chords change, in the second verse, I get a little lost so I need to practice in my own time so I know the structure and all my parts. There’s a little break where it’s only the keys playing and I need to remember not to play them, which again is just remembering the structure. Talking of structure, the singers got a little bit lost on the last chorus and ending so they could do with listening to the song to remember the structure too. Lastly, we need to slow down the ending and ring out the last note so it’s a nice smooth ending.
Solo:
Initially, I was supposed to be doing 2 solo’s with Millie, both of us singing on “Sorry – Lauren Jauregui” and then me playing keys for her on “Easy On Me – Adele”. However, when we practiced “Sorry ” the guitar was just a little empty, because the original song is more orchestral so the guitar bit was only 2 chords and there was no resolution of the chords.
You can’t really hear the vocals that well because the guitar was closer to the mic so it picked up a lot louder. Meaning, the vocals needed to be stronger, especially on the chorus. However, the falsetto parts suited the song really well. The original song is actually really heavy on orchestral instruments so when it was stripped to just guitar, it sounded quite bare. It made the song quite repetitive and I don’t think I pushed my voice enough for the vocals to carry the song so it didn’t really work. The vocal harmonies sounded really good with the other singer but we didn’t get any footage. Overall, the song needed more powerful vocals and to quieten down the guitar playing. However, it was quite repetitive so it just didn’t work and got cut.
We then swapped the song to do “Beggin’ – Maneskin” but because it was a last minute change, it was just really messy and we didn’t really have the time to practice it so we just cut it. However, we’re still doing “Easy On Me”.
In the beginning, it’s just piano so it’s good to start off strong and powerful. However, when the first verse started, I think it would’ve worked really nicely if the piano lowers right down, so we have variation in the piano and so we can hear the singer more, and build up nicely into the soft part. For example, if it starts off strong, then softens when the singe comes in, and gradually gets louder towards the softer parts, before falling soft again creating like a false build up. The soft notes really worked because the vocals kind of harmonise with the piano and it sounds really soft. With variation in the verses, the chorus can be nice and strong with the vocals. I think we both showed really good expression in the song though and that’s why the song worked really well. The ending is my favourite part, when Millie goes into falsetto and fades out so it’s just soft piano, I think it’s the perfect ending for the song and she carried it out really well.
Mock Performance:
Nic actually played for us last minute so we were really unprepared. This was my first time singing in front of people so you can tell that I was really nervous. I needed my phone for the lyrics and I wasn’t really sure on the timing. If I were to do it again, I’d have definitely have been more prepared and then maybe I would’ve hate been so nervous. I did practice so the karaoke version and the original song but I guess nerves just made me fall out of time because I had so many things to focus on.
The transition into Easy on me was done really smoothly and fast. We had really good timing throughout. However, the dynamics of the keys still lacked so there wasn’t a lot of build up, it was just really powerful throughout really. Like I said before, I think it should start heavy until the singers in then go softer, building up louder before falling to soft again to give variety. Millie had a really powerful voice throughout so she was able to switch from chest into falsetto really nicely, which worked beautifully in the choruses. The bridge is always quite difficult to get because the piano doesn’t always follow the vocals, but it sounded really good here! I love the ending, as always, it ends on a nice soft falsetto note before fading to just keys and it just works really well.
“somewhere Only we Know” was a pretty good run through, music wise. However, when me and Niall swap over, there was barely any talking and it was quite a long and awkward pause so it’d be better if the singers had something to say whilst we swapped over. Remembering the structure of “Rocking’ Around the Christmas Tree” need some work. For example, I went into the verse chords after the instrumental when it was supposed to go into the pre-chorus chords. Also, the ending went on for a little too long and it sounded messy because we were playing different chords.
remember ending chords – rocking’, performance, talking in-between change over, remember to go into the ‘bridge’ part after the instrument part (rocking’), structure of the song (rocking’), ending too long and not tight (rocking’)
Solo Practice:
I was practicing this because there were some chords I hadn’t played before so I kept stumbling over chords. I wasn’t playing with the track or a metronome so I was playing way too fast but I thought if I could get speed up the chord changes it’d be easier when I slow down to the right tempo. On the bridge, the Bm didn’t ring out properly so I need to work on that. I like the slide on the second chord to the twelfth fret, it mades it sound more like the original and gives something more fun to play. I did keep getting lost on the last part, especially with the notes that are hitting the “&” beat and then back into the chords.
This is the ending part of Rocking Around the Christmas Tree because I couldn’t get the notes to hit the “&” beat and then switch back into chords. I probably had to practice this the most because it was really difficult to catch the “&” beats.
A really strong start with the piano. It was a good idea for Millie to practice standing up so it’s more like the actual performance. Again, the piano overpowers the vocals loads, I think that it’s to do with the phone resting on the piano so it’s closer to the mic. However, the piano still could’ve had a little more variation in dynamics. We both performed with a lot of expression which really makes the song. The timing was almost perfect throughout, except Millie was a little off on the bridge, but it was just because she was ill here. Nice smooth ending.
I was stood up so the balance between guitar and vocal pick up was much better. You can hear more power in my voice this time, but it still needs a little more. I did like the falsetto parts though, they were really smooth. Again, the guitar is just a little too repetitive so I feel like it’s a little boring. However, it was a really nice ending.
Final Performance:
Easy on me: To begin with, the piano intro was really nice and strong, in time and started off the performance at a high bar. The piano does quieten down slightly when the vocals come in, but I feel like I could’ve gone softer. Millie had incredibly powerful vocals throughout the performance and really delivered the emotional aspect of the song. I could’ve looked up more but I feel like I still appeared quite confident, because I did look up from time to time and I was smiling when Millie hit the high notes. The bridge was really strong and the timing was tight, which is an improvement from some of the rehearsals when we had weak timing. The ending was so soft and ended up on a really beautiful note. If I were to perform this again, I’d look up a little more or just look like I’m into it more and work on the piano dynamics more, like I said in the rehearsals.
Somewhere Only we Know: Throughout this performance, I feel like I didn’t really show that I was interested in the song because I kind of just stood there and didn’t move. However, I was smiling a bit with the other band members, which did show that I did actually want to be there. If I were to do this again, I would’ve swayed more or just moved a little more. However, I do feel like I came across confident still. Everyone knows the song structure really well so when it got to the break down, the drop out was really clean. Music wise, I think the song did really good, everyone was in time and knew their parts, but I feel like we could’ve moved more and focused on the performance aspect. At the end, me and Niall were supposed to swap but I think Niall forgot because I had to walk up to him and remind him so it took a little while to actually swap.
Jingle Bell Rock: The instrumental start was really good, everyone hit every beat and it started off really strong. I definitely feel like we all looked more confident here, we were all moving a little more etc, I think this might’ve had something to do with the fact that we had to retake it 3 times because of the singers saying the wrong words which lightened the mood. Millie’s harmonisation in the instrumental parts really made the song go nice and soft and it kind of mellowed out the song. I think we all conveyed confident energy and everyone was smiling, and Millie even started dancing a little. The ending, which was the hardest part for us all, actually went really smooth! Overall, I think this was our stronger song, which was the complete opposite when w were practicing it.
Feed the World: This was the final song so everyone came out and performed together. It was actually really fun for everyone to perform together and there was a much lighter energy in the room when we did this song. However, you couldn’t really see everyone because some of the taller people were in front. Throughout the song, it was clear that they were a little unprepared because you could hear Lucy say “that’s everyone” as she sang and Faith sang her part a little late but because it was just a bit of fun, it didn’t really matter that much. The energy was much more lively in the chorus part, where everyone really got to just be as loud as possible really and just have fun with it. The “Merry Christmas” at the end added a bit of humour to the show, which was good. I think it was fun but it was quite difficult to work with that many people. The rehearsals to begin with were really difficult because it was just kind of noise as everyone was trying to find their places in the song. However, I think Nic really helped guide us and we sounded pretty good after the first lesson. I think I would do it again but maybe have the singers a bit more prepared with the lyrics.